Archive for May, 2009


22
May

More natural beauty solutions you can DIY

Friday | Filed in: DIY | green living

Hand and Foot Cream
A quick face mask will help make you look great in not a lot of time, but hands and feet require extra care. Use ½ cup of olive oil mixed with natural sea salt and massage into your hands and feet. Leave a few minutes to soak and then rinse off with warm water. When it comes to natural beauty products, these recipes are just the start. You can find hundreds of different combinations in natural beauty books, magazines, and on the internet. Or you can go to your kitchen cabinet and make your own special creations.

Hair Conditioner
Many people pay a lot of money for a conditioner that actually makes your hair look and feel good. Here’s a great natural recipe to save you money and help your hair. Just mix an egg yolk with a tablespoon of castor oil and apply to hair. Let sit for about ten minutes and rinse out. You can use this every so often as a conditioning treatment for healthy shiny hair. If you like being experimental, you can try mixing other kitchen items, herbs, and natural items with eggs for healthy, shiny hair.

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19
May

DIY your own natural facial mask

Tuesday | Filed in: DIY | green living

Nature is the newest trend in skin and hair care. For years, we’ve been putting toxic chemicals into our bodies that build up and make us feel tired and sick, regardless of whether we eat them or if they seep though our pores. And people are finally catching on that natural is better.

Most stores now have a line of “natural” beauty products. Unfortunately, they often come with a big price tag attached too. Often times many of these products are not actually “natural” so it does pay to do your homework to ensure you are getting what you pay for.

Fortunately actually making beauty products yourself isn’t too difficult. So if you want beauty products that you know are natural and are also inexpensive, just make them yourself. Here are 5 quick and easy recipes you can make at yourself.

Face Mask
Eating good food helps give you the right nutrients you need to look good. You can get more of these vitamins and minerals by putting the good stuff right on the skin.

Combining a mashed carrot, mashed avocado, and a beaten egg with a half cup a few tablespoons of honey creates a great face mask that provides vitamins, and improves the tone and texture of your skin. Just stir well, apply, let sit for about 15 minutes, and then wash off with cool water.

After you’re washed and nourished your skin, you can use grated cucumber or diluted lemon juice as a toner to help tighten your skin and close up your pores to close your pores and keep your skin looking great.

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16
May

Green investing for healthier investment returns

Saturday | Filed in: Sustainable practices

Green investing is a great way to not only find some healthy investment returns but also make sure your money is funding socially responsible companies. Green investing means your money is earning you an investment return while you’re helping to back the companies who are doing the right thing by the environment or by the community.

With green investing you could be making money while you’re helping the environment. An example of green investing could be to invest your money into companies researching and developing alternative energy sources or by investing into companies that make a positive impact on the environment.

Socially responsible investing began by appealing to investors who preferred not to have their money funding companies involved with things like tobacco, gambling or alcohol.

In more recent times green investing now screens out companies who are abusive or irresponsible toward the environment or their communities, companies who might practice poor labor relations or lack corporate integrity. This also means their green investments advocate companies that are making a positive impact on the environment or the community.

So how do you get started in Green Investing?

The simplest way to put your money to work in green investing is to invest it into an SRI mutual fund. A Socially Responsible Investment mutual fund does all the management of choosing green companies with decent returns for you.

A side effect of green investing is that over time as more people pour money into socially responsible companies, this action is sending a message to those companies who are guilty of extreme environmental pollution or poor labor practices that the community has become less tolerant of their corporate practices.

Are Green Companies a Good Investment?

Many governments around the world have begun legislating greener practices relating to a lot of industries in response to public feedback and concerns for environmental damage. As more companies scramble to find ways to comply with legislations and also find ways to meet public approval, green research and environmentally friendly products are on the rise.

This means many green companies are increasing their market share over time, but it may not necessarily make it a good green investment.

As with any other investment, it’s wise to check the individual company for how they generate revenue and whether the company is performing well in terms of available cash flow and overall profitability.

For example, a new green start-up company specializing in green energy research might be funded by government loans, grants and investor money, but may not be producing any revenue of its own, so trying to calculate investment returns on a green investment like this would be difficult at best.

Overall, green investing is a great way to have your investment money aligned to your personal preferences but it’s still important to consider the total investment package and how your money would be put to work before jumping in.

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9
May

Saving the planet with green home building

Saturday | Filed in: Sustainable practices | green living | reduce carbon footprint

Green home building, or natural building, utilizes natural and eco-friendly materials instead of man-made construction materials. Products that do not require considerable energy to manufacture or transport also qualify as green home building materials. The main tenet of this practice is to use building techniques that do not further contribute to the pollution of the environment, or use more resources than are absolutely necessary.

Green homes feature less square footage, alternative energy sources such as solar panels, working with the natural lay of the land, and using natural insulation to decrease the need for energy. Green home building incorporates as many of these ideas as possible in addition to using sustainable construction materials.

There are a wide array of materials and techniques used in green home building. One of the most popular is strawbale building. Straw is a renewable resource and a fantastic insulator. It is easy to build with and costs significantly less than traditional construction materials. It has become so popular that many banks are willing to lend on the technique. In the Southwestern United States, strawbale homes are becoming commonplace. Strawbale home construction uses about 15% less wood than traditional home construction.

In addition to straw, there are many other renewable resources used in green home building. Adobe homes are made from moistened dirt combined with straw or other natural materials and dried in the desired shape. Cob is a technique similar to adobe building. Earth and straw are combined in the same way, but with a higher concentration of long straw fibers. It is extremely labor intensive as it must be applied by hand, but provides a low-cost, low-impact, green home building method. Rammed earth is another form of building using clay and straw. However, the materials must be tamped down, usually by heavy machinery.

Poured earth is a green home building material similar to concrete. It is mixed and formed in the same way as concrete and even uses Portland cement as a binder. However, poured earth does not contain the sand or gravel aggregate used in concrete. Instead, soil is used, resulting in a medium strength concrete that is very easy to maintain. Resistance to the elements is high and maintenance is virtually non-existent once the building is established. The construction costs can be significantly higher, as much as 20%, due to the labor involved in the process.

Earthbags, or sandbags, are another popular material used for green home building. They are inexpensive and can be readily and quickly constructed. Homes built from earthbags are resistant to severe weather, and offer superior strength and durability.

Cordwood building features short pieces of wood, normally about the size of firewood. This technique makes it possible to use wood that might not otherwise be useful for construction. The process is similar to laying bricks and mortar, with the cordwood functioning as the “bricks”. It is an inexpensive and beautiful green home building technique that is gaining in popularity.

Other methods of green home building include using materials such as bamboo, lightweight concrete, and stone. Natural builders use these materials to produce beautiful, functional homes without unneeded stress on the environment and to conserve precious energy, both in the short and long term.

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