With massive crowds, fathoms of electricity-consuming equipment and a trail of waste left in the wake, music festivals have often been areas of environmental dismay. This summer, however, saw a surge in greening the scene; Rothbury Festival brought artists like Of Montreal and Snoop Dogg together while promoting sustainability and operating as near to zero-waste as possible; Lollapalooza utilized organic local foods, compostables and carbon offsets and even featured a Green Street where festival go-ers could learn take-home tips about green living.

As the festival season wraps up and you move your listening to your living room, do your part by making sure your sound system is great AND green. Click here to read more

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If you own a dog you may be looking ahead to fall (and the winter that always follows it too closely) and thinking the only thing you need to do is get an eco-friendly dog bed to keep your best friend warm. Shedding, you may be thinking, is what happens in the spring when your dog ditches its winter coat. Unfortunately, shedding is a problem both in the spring when a lighter coat needs to grow in, and in the fall when a longer coat needs to replace it (leaving the short coat all over your lovely beige carpet).

Regular brushing is always important, but Halo Dream Coat, a cold-pressed oil concoction, can also help with the problem. A powerful mix of oils like wheatgerm, garlic and cod liver provide essential fatty acids that most dogs miss out in their food. Click here to read more

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Once fall rolls around and the dewy humidity disappears (just like those sun-inspired freckles on your nose), along comes the dryness of cooler temperatures and the redness and irritation of skin in transition. In turn, out comes the foundation to cover up dermis difficulties. But with long lists of chemical ingredients that have been shown to irritate skin (like phenoxyethanol)and be toxic for our nervous systems (as in the case of micronized titanium dioxide) and for our skin (cue the propylparabens), some cover-ups may hurt, not help and thus continue the cycle of irritated skin that you want to disguise.

NVEY Eco Moisturizing Liquid Foundation comes from an Australian brand that recently began offering truly organic make-up in the U.S. NVEY Eco Moisturizing Liquid Foundation offers chamomile, cucumber and calendula to soothe and moisturize your face (with a forgiving tint), while rose absolute comes to the rescue of dry and sensitive skin. Click here to read more

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Frequent teeth brushing gets pushed on us from an early age, with creepy cavity cartoons in books, on TV and at the dentist’s office trying to get us to the sink twice a day. But when you take a minute to think about the fact that you may be filling your mouth with ingredients like triclosan (a registered pesticide), parabens and artificial flavors when you brush, your mouth might suddenly feel less than clean.

Instead of putting a ban on brushing (which your loved ones would probably never appreciate), try swapping to a natural version, like the Nature’s Gate Organics raspberry mint whitening toothpaste. You’ll lose things like parabens, sulfates and colorants and gain things like antioxidant-boosting fig, anti-inflammatory licorice root and bamboo (to get your pearly whites a little whiter). Click here to read more

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Wisteria Lane resident Nicolette Sheridan uses Mrs. Meyer’s products to keep her house clean and smelling fresh – she likes the line because their liquid products are all biodegradeable, and they “make her whole house smell incredible.”

The brand uses naturally derived ingredients from corn, sugar cane, coconut, and palm whenever possible – and stick to synthetics that have been proven safe when there’s no natural alternative. Click here to read more

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We were so excited to read about the Safe Toy bill passing in Senate last week – the new bill bans 6 phthalates, eliminates lead in toys for kids under 12, requires unbiased pre-market testing, and doubles the Consumer Product Safety Commission’s budget by 2014, among other things. Despite industry lobbyists’ protests, the House voted 423 to 1 and the Senate voted 89 to 3 – a definite step towards corporate accountability that will hopefully become more widespread in other industries.

But until all of those safer toys hit stores’ shelves, companies like Plan Toys, which we’ve written about in the past, provide educational, fun playthings free of preservatives, additives, or harmful paints. Plan Toys’ Dancing Alligator is a great option for toddlers – the pull toy helps develop gross motor skills, and the bright colors stimulate active minds. Click here to read more

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Looks like the cast of Gossip Girl is taking a page out of the cast of Entourage’s book: they’ve greened the show’s set by banning plastic water bottles and cups and replacing them with reusable ones. Not only that, but the cast and the CW have also put together a video, with sponsorship from the National Resources Defense Council and Stop Global Warming to encourage viewers to do the same. Cast members Blake Lively, Penn Badgley, and Leighton Meester suggest carrying resusable mugs, throwing on a sweater instead of wasting energy, and canceling magazine subscriptions. Could this be the influence of ultra green fellow cast member Kelly Rutherford?

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Even if you stick to the less expensive, run-of-the-mill lunch takeout options like Subway or the local Chinese joint, lunch can run you anywhere from $5 to $10 bucks, especially if you buy a bottled beverage. Not only is that a lot of cash per week, it’s a lot of packaging that ends up in the waste stream. Even if you want to recycle your plastic utensils or food wrap, type 3 plastics like these aren’t recycled in most cities. Ordering delivery is even worse: restaurants throw packaged utensils, condiments, and moist towelettes into plastic bags, regardless of whether you actually need them.

Bringing your lunch can save you upwards of $50 a week – but skip the brown paper bag! Reusable bags save cost in the long run and obviously reduce waste – but make sure you get one that’s ultra durable so you can get the most use out of it. We particularly like Laptop Lunches’ Lunch Date, which comes with not only a reusable hemp bag, but also a Bento Box with sleeve, an 18 oz. stainless steel lunch jar for hot or cold foods, a reusable icepack, and a stainless steel drink bottle. Click here to read more

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As appealing as free electricity sounds, solar power has been a costly and sometimes frustratingly inconsistent resource. Photovoltaics have relied upon expensive silicon cells in the past, making it nearly impossible for solar energy to make the jump to mass energy source. But with the advent of thin film solar cells, solar power is becoming a cost-effective, more efficient alternative.

Reware has capitalized on this thin film technology, creating light, ultra-flexible, powerful solar bags and accessories, making chargers almost obsolete. If solar bags aren’t quite up your alley, the Juice Solar Power Pocket accessory is a great alternative. Believe it or not, this small solar panel charges electronics at nearly the same rate as plugging them into a wall socket does - making keeping cell phones, iPods, and other small electronic devices charged and ready for use. Click here to read more

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Americans buy, and eventually toss, about 3 billion batteries per year, and the majority of them are Alkaline batteries. With the average price of a four pack of AA batteries running between $12 - $14, that’s a lot of cash. And we hate feeling like we’re always replacing them.

Just as CFLs are a cost-efficient, more convenient, eco-preferable alternative to incandescent lightbulbs, rechargeable batteries definitely trump disposables in several ways.

First, after the initial cost of purchasing a charger, rechargeables save you from having to reach into your pocket over and over again for a product with a very short life expectancy. Rechargeable NiMH batteries can be recharged 500 or more times, saving hundreds of dollars in battery purchases over time. We’re fans of Greenfeet’s NiMH/CAD Battery Charger, $29.95.

Plus, rechargeables often last longer than disposables between charges, meaning less time spent purchasing and replacing batteries. Click here to read more

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