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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