Hug It: Dana's Top Five

1. Leverage your impact with CarrotMob.com and their new ways of activism. In the first ever Carrotmob event, a liquor store agreed to invest in upgrades that made their store more energy-efficient. In exchange, hundreds of Carrotmobbers showed up at once to support the winning liquor store.

2. Win a Green Home from HGTV. Enter until June 5, 2009.

3. Research Shows Dancing Improves Health for Seniors.

4. For the birds. Check the Audubon's Climate Change Quiz and see if you can beat my score: 7 out of 8.

5. MACA urges O'Bama's to use pesticides in their organic garden because, among other reasons, "Americans don't have time to grow their own food."


This blog is for bottom-up dispensers of cool who enjoy eco-travel deals and healthy living. We feel that "the small, the slow, the local, and the personal" will build the new economy. Your comments will help enrich this information for all of us. Please share your tips and experience.

Conscious Holiday Consumer: Real or Fake Christmas Tree?

Is it more responsible to buy an artificial tree you can reuse again and again or to chop down a tree for Christmas?

Last year, I bought a tree and planted it. But there is no more room for planting trees in my area, so this year, I was "stumped" ho-ho, about what to do for a Christmas tree. I went looking for answers that matched my concerns for the environment and my family's health. What I found surprised me.

I discovered most artificial trees on the market were made in China and contain lead and can out-gas hazardous chemicals into the air. Given that indoor air is likely to be two times more polluted than outdoor air, I figured why add to that risk?

I also learned that I'm not really taking a tree out of the forest when I buy a cut tree. US farmers grow Christmas trees as a crop, replanting the trees every year. No forest is cut down. If I find a tree that isn't sprayed with green spray paint (yes, they do that to make it more uniform in color) or sprayed with fire retardant, I can avoid exposing my family to more toxins. And if I chip the tree up after Christmas for mulch or reuse it in another way, a cut tree is my greenest choice.

In our guest homes, we don't put up religious or secular decorations out of respect for the many cultural backgrounds of our guests. You will find festive lights twinkling and a box of decorations made of natural materials for guests who will celebrate solistice or Christmas. The box includes a sparkly tree made of repurposed wire and crystals that don't out-gas. Now I can start worrying about whether or not the wire has lead in it...

Joe The Plumber? Survey Says...

The early results of my survey about this blog indicate readers want to know more about how to save money going green and more green freebies. No one mentioned Joe the Plumber. Phew.

Ask and you shall receive.

Terra Furnishings is holding a drawing to give away cool home accessories (think “Free Holiday Gift” or keep it for yourself). Enter here. Don’t wait, last entry must be in by Halloween.

The face? McCain says he made it because he couldn't figure out which way to get off the stage. Odd to me that this photo made front page news in five European countries that I could find, maybe more?

World of Good Launches at eBay

Earlier this year I toyed with the idea of online selling the hip, green furnishings that our guests love to buy from our vacation rentals.

But my market research didn't support launching an effort with only 100 guests a year. My research did show it was a good idea for a business with a broader audience. And eBay must think like me cuz they just launched a beta site for socially responsible sellers.

If you wanted me to sell through EcoLuxury Lodging, I encourage you to try it. As for you shoppers, I'll keep you posted if I see the fab wash cloths, soft linens, green cookware, and other stuff we stash in our vacation homes for sale on World of Good, especially if it seems eBay has worked out the kinks in the beta site. You can shop for green gifts, fair trade handicrafts, delicious gourmet foods, unique arts and more at eBay's new WorldofGood.com online marketplace.