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My Top Eco-Living Tips

Looking to make your house more eco-friendly? Try out some of these methods I implement in my home.

The term “Eco-Living” covers a large spectrum of practices and habits that help to reduce our carbon footprints. I could write books on everything from creating a zero-waste home to eco-pet basics, but this is a blog post. So, if you are looking for ways to make your home as green as it can be, then try out some of my favorite practices.

Throw Away the Trash Can

One of the easiest ways to cut down on waste is by starting a compost bin. This allows me to re-use what would normally take up space in a land fill. Plus, it makes great fertilizer for my plants and garden!

Anything organic can be turned into compost, even the “cardboard” from egg cartons. It’s also an easy DIY project you can finish in a weekend.

Ditch the Grocery Bag

More and more stores like Whole Foods, Market District, and even Aldis are offering canvas bag alternatives instead of wasteful plastic ones. While it might cost you a few dollars, the benefits are worth the initial cost.

First of all, I used to find few things as frustrating as the gallon of milk I just purchased tearing through the grocery bag and breaking in the parking lot. Canvas is so much sturdier, making it useful for carrying milk jugs, soda bottles, and even for holding a few extra items when moving or heading on vacation.

Secondly, I’m doing my part to cut down on the roughly 10 billion bags making their way to land fills in my state. That means my state has to charge less taxes for the resources to dispose of those bags as well. It’s a win-win in my book.

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Cut out the Meat

A plant-based diet has plenty of health benefits, but it can help reduce on nitrous oxide emissions at the same time. A recent study by the United Nations showed that nitrous oxide has 296 times the impact on Global Warming that CO2 does. These gases come from the massive amount of livestock being raised for consumption.

Cutting back on your meat intake means fewer cows, pigs, and chickens pumping out concentrated amounts of greenhouse gases and more land set aside for recreation.

Reduce Water Waste

This one is as simple as cutting back your shower time and using a low-flow shower head. I like to put two of my favorite songs on a playlist to help me keep track of my time spent bathing. It’s an enjoyable way to shorten your shower time.

Cutting back on bottled water purchases and investing in a purifier for your sink is another great way to reduce usage. I saved an easy $30 a month that way!

These are just a few of the ways I choose to make my home more eco-friendly that you can try out as well. What are some of your favorite eco-living habits? What are your favorites and how did you make the switch?

The Modern Makeup Killer

Cosmetics and makeup might make us look beautiful, but at what cost to our well-being?

It’s no secret that switching to a plant-based diet, swapping out harsh cleaning products for natural ones, and changing out synthetic skin care products for organic ones are all part of changing your life for the better. However, one of the easiest to overlook areas is the makeup we ladies apply nearly every day! From the mascara that takes your eyelashes to a whole new level to the foundation that seems to erase time, modern beauty products can have a high cost to your health.

The FDA

Currently, the FDA does not require cosmetic companies to conduct safety assessments on their products. Toxic chemicals are labeled in disguise as “fragrance” or nearly impossible to pronounce names like methylisothiazolinone.

The products sitting on your vanity or bathroom sink may or may not contain these toxins, but how would you know? It’s not like makeup companies warn anyone about what they put into their products. Here are some of the awful chemicals I found out were in my beauty products.

Phthalates

These nasty toxins mimic estrogen, effectively disrupting the endocrine system. They can lead to reproductive issues including abnormalities in unborn babies and premature delivery.

You can find phthalates in everything from deodorant to nail polish and scented lip balm under the ingredient “fragrance”. Since fragrances are considered trade secrets by makeup companies, they get away with not having to tell us what lies inside of them.

Lead

This one hasn’t been an issue since lead paint the 50’s, right? I wish. The truth is that lead can still be found in foundations, lipsticks, and even whitening toothpastes!

The worst part is that we as a nation know lead is bad for us. It leads to miscarriage, delays puberty, and is poisonous when ingested. You won’t find it any ingredient list, but over 400 popular brands were found to be contaminated with it nonetheless.

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Formaldehyde Releasing Preservatives

Formaldehyde is classified as a human carcinogen by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Researchers, as well as the International Agency for Research on Cancer. You will most likely find this toxic gas resulting from the breakdown of Quaternium-15.

Q-15 is found in everything from pressed powders to eyeliners. While a company could choose rosemary, tea tree oil, or even vitamin E instead, they stick to this tried-and-true poison instead.

Just the Tip of the Iceberg

I could get into parabens, butylated compounds like BHT and BHA, and PEG compounds, but I think it’s more important to talk about safe alternatives for a moment. While nothing is ever 100% toxin free, there are products you can buy to decrease your exposure risk.

Just like with food, look for organic ingredients like almond oil, rice, and hemp. There are organic, cruelty free, toxic free, and vegan-friendly alternatives out there. What would you recommend?

The Importance of Healthy Fats

Fats are something we’ve all been trained to avoid, but there are a group of fats that our bodies need to stay healthy.

During the carb-crazy dieting years, fats received a lot of flack from the general public and dietitians alike. As it turns out, some fats are actually good for you. What foods contain them, and how much should you eat in a day?

If you’ve been searching for an answer to the fat dilemma, then I have the answers you crave.

The Two Fats

Not all fats are created equal, and it is important to understand the differences between them. There are mainly two types; saturated and unsaturated.

Unsaturated fats are oils, meaning that they stay liquid at room temperature. Saturated fats, on the other hand, turn into a gelatinous solid at room temperature. While we do need both in out diet, less saturated fat is what we should be aiming for.

How Fat Helps

Our bodies use both types of fat as a source of energy as well as a way to store it. It also helps us to absorb certain nutrients, like vitamins A and E, along with antioxidants. I was surprised to find out that these fats also help support our cell structure.

So, fat really isn’t that bad for us after all! We need it, we just don’t need it in the same way we need water.

Where to Cut Back

The trick to not letting fats make us fat is by cutting back on the saturated kind. Unsaturated fats are filled with heart healthy Omega-3s. A simple solution would be to avoid processed meats, pizza and fast food, as well as processed snacks.

However, knowing what to eat might be a bigger help. Besides, hearing the things you can eat when dieting, or making a lifestyle change, is a lot more satisfying that hearing the list of the things you should avoid.

Eat Up!

There are more delicious things than I originally thought that have a ton of healthy fats just beneath the surface. If you’ve gone veggie, skip the first four on this list.

  • Grass fed beef
  • Wild salmon
  • Tuna
  • Duck
  • Avocado
  • Walnuts
  • Olive oil
  • Canola oil
  • Flax and Chia seeds
  • Spirulina

 

The list might not be long, but it’s hard to deny how delicious some of these are. Plus, they can be easily added into any diet without having to sacrifice a hearty meal.

Do you know of any other foods packed full of healthy fats that I could add to this list? What ways do you incorporate healthy fats into your diet?

The Benefits of a Vegetarian Lifestyle

Ever wondered what the science behind eating a plant-based diet looks like? Here are the top benefits a vegetarian diet has to offer.

Why should anyone go vegetarian? I mean, people need to eat meat, right? Do the benefits actually outweigh missing out on a perfectly cooked filet mignon?

It might seem like a common sense diet to some, but there still seems to be a mass of confusion around why anyone would strike meat from their diet. So, let’s clear the air! Here are the scientific facts proving that a plant-based diet is the only diet anyone should be eating.

Down With Disease

By removing saturated animal fats and cholesterol-laden meats from their diets, vegetarians are less likely to develop any form of cardiovascular disease. The CDC estimates that 610,000 people die from heart disease each year, accounting 1 in every 4 deaths.

Eating a diet high in red and processed meats has also been linked to multiple forms of cancer including, prostate, colon, gastric, and breast cancer. These meats can have up to as many carcinogens as five cigarettes, not to mention an excessive amount of hormones and steroids from the animals’ diets.

Goodbye, Cold

I used to get a cold each and every Fall, which made enjoying one of the best seasons out of the year incredibly difficult. Going veggie meant eating more fresh fruits and vegetables than I ever had before. This leads to an increased amount of antioxidants in my diet, effectively pumping up my immune system to keep it fighting off infections better than ever before.

Tired of Being Tired?

Eating all of the saturated fats associated with meat causes them to build up within your bloodstream. This stops muscles from getting proper amounts of oxygen, which makes anyone as sluggish as a Monday morning. Switching to leafy greens not only eliminates the fat, but adds energy boosting carbohydrates (the complex kind) that have ended my 2pm slump at work.

Toxins Kill

I used to think plants were the culprit of pesticides found in our diet, but it turns out that 95% of those toxins actually come from meat. That doesn’t include the hormones, carcinogens, heavy metals, and other chemicals these animals are pumped full of. Maybe it’s just me, but I’m pretty sure people aren’t supposed to eat toxic chemicals.

Animal Friendly

I always pictured a farm like you might see in the commercials, one with lots of open space and plenty of room for the animals to graze freely until it came time for the farmer slaughter them. Yeah, that place doesn’t exist. American “farms” keep animals shoulder to shoulder, wading in their own waste, ridden with disease and open sores, only to kill them in some of the most torturous ways imaginable.

If you need proof, look into independent documentaries like The Sustainability Secret or What the Health. If everyone in the U.S. cut one meaty meal out every week, 1.4 billion of these animals could be saved from their disgusting, inhumane conditions.

Just Do It

If you had told me I would stop eating meat altogether just a few years ago, I would’ve scoffed in your face. No bacon cheeseburgers, pepperoni pizza, or a perfectly cooked steak? I couldn’t have comprehended life without them!

However, after just a few months of changing my diet I started to feel healthier than I ever had before. Plus, I know I’m doing my part to end animal cruelty and the disgusting practices of the meat industry in out nation.