Conscious Living | Green Living

Gloss How-To: Read Produce Stickers

produce stickers Gloss How To: Read Produce Stickers Those really annoying little stickers that you have to peel off your apples should be paid attention to, as they have a code on them, which tells you whether or not they are organic or genetically modified. With all the recent business about whether or not we should know if our food is genetically modified or not – hello…OF COURSE we have a right to know!! – it’s useful to at least be able to de-code produce stickers.

All you need to know is that every produce item that’s sold in a grocery store comes with a 4-digit PLU (price look-up) code on the sticker. Some produce items have an extra digit added to the beginning – a number 8 or a number 9. 8 means that it is genetically modified, 9 means that it is organic.

Here’s how I remember:

3 or 4 is a BORE

8 – I HATE

9 is FINE

So the next time you go grocery shopping check out the stickers, especially in stores like Whole Foods, which purport to carry everything organic, but when you start looking at those stickers, you’ll realize that you have to sometimes hunt long and hard to find digits beginning with a #9.

Finally, here’s a quick reminder of the produce items that you really do need to buy organic (because of pesticide exposure), listed in descending order of importance:

1. Strawberries (and all berries)

2. Peaches

3. Nectarines

4. Pears

5. Apples

6. Celery

7. Sweet Bell Peppers

8. Potatoes

9. Spinach

10. Lettuce

About the Author

Sophie Uliano is a passionate environmentalist who has developed an earth-friendly lifestyle that appeals to women who don’t want to compromise their glamour and style. She is the New York Times Best Selling author of “Gorgeously Green”, “The Gorgeously Green Diet,” and the newly released “Do It Gorgeously.”

Read more amazing tips from Sophie at GorgeouslyGreen.com

Earth Hour 2011: Will You Go Dark This Year?

earth hour 2011 Earth Hour 2011: Will You Go Dark This Year? In observance of Earth Hour on Saturday, March 26th, an event the World Wildlife Fund organized to create awareness of climate change, landmarks, businesses and homes across the world will be going dark for an hour at 8:30pm. Starting at the International Date Line, Paris’ Eiffel Tower, London’s Big Ben and Rome’s Colosseum followed Sydney’s Opera House and Beijing’s Forbidden City will be joining the campaign again this year.

Last year, more than 126 countries participated and as Earth Hour approached the United States, the Empire State Building, Coca-Cola’s Atlanta headquarters and even the Las Vegas Strip went dark along with 90,000,000 American households.

Earth Hour 2011 is tomorrow: will you go dark — shutting off lights and appliances — for earth hour?

What is Fair Trade?

fairtradecoffee 300x180 What is Fair Trade? October is officially Fair-trade month and I plan to celebrate it by purchasing a few fair-trade gifts. I like to get my holiday shopping done super-early so I don’t get that nasty panic coming over me mid-December. Actually, I’m going to try to do what my mom does – she get’s everyone’s gifts by the end of October, wraps them and puts them up in a cupboard. Although it’s super-annoying to be asked what I want for a gift in early October, it does free her up to enjoy the holiday season doing things other than traipsing around malls with ghastly holiday muzak and that toxic fake mulled wine scent, which is sprayed everywhere.

I like to purchase gifts that have a soulful/good energy about them. I know that sounds horribly new-age-ish, but when you stop to consider that we are all interconnected, and that what you do to others/the environment, you do to yourself – it makes sense to purchase items that leave everyone feeling happy. I’d hate to think that a purse, piece of jewelry or a shirt that I might purchase, was made by someone who was suffering as they made it, or by someone who was paid a pittance, while the giant global company employing them raked in huge profits! NO that’s not a feel-good gift at all.

Fair Trade basically means that the company/artisan who produces the good is paid a fair wage, and is treated decently. It’s a horrible reality that as we speak, millions of workers across the globe work in appalling conditions – cockroach infested sweatshops where more than one bathroom visit a day is not allowed. It’s even more horrendous to realize that even swanky high-end designers utilize this cheap labor, in countries where they are safely under the radar. This is unfair trade on a massive scale and I want to avoid it as much as I can. Although it may not be possible for us to buy everything fair-trade, various companies have now made it pretty easy for us. One such store is World Of Good, where you can literally find a holiday gift for every member of your family and all your friends. I love that The World of Good Store carries incredibly unusual gifts, things like hand-woven hammocks or hand-embroidered meditation cushions. I particularly love their toy section, which shows me that there is no need to buy plastic toys, which are often toxic and most certainly not fair-trade. I also dig that you can click on any item in the store and read the story of the artisan/company who made it – these stories always make me feel grateful for what I have, and more inclined to help someone less fortunate than myself, by supporting their tiny business.

BTW – if you fancy a trip of a lifetime – enter The World Of Good sweepstakes now to win an amazing trip to Guatemala – I would LOVE to go on this journey!

Almost every item in the Gorgeously Green Store is also Fair-trade. I prefer to deal with vendors whose manufacturing practices I know and understand. Check out Coco-zen exquisite Truffles and Zhena’s Gypsy Coconut Chai Tea – both perfect holiday gifts.

Fair-trade has become a buzz word now that’s often thrown into the same category as “eco” or “organic” – but as far as conscious living is concerned, it’s a really important one. My philosophy is always that small changes make a big difference. Although you may not be able to find that pair of trendy Fall shoes on a Fair Trade site, you will be able to find almost every gift you need for this year. You can also do a world of Good by choosing to buy fairly-traded coffee, tea, sugar, and chocolate at the grocery store.

Find out where to buy Fair Trade staples in your area by clicking on this convenient map.

About the Author

Sophie Uliano is a passionate environmentalist who has developed an earth-friendly lifestyle that appeals to women who don’t want to compromise their glamour and style. She is the New York Times Best Selling author of “Gorgeously Green”, “The Gorgeously Green Diet,” and the newly released “Do It Gorgeously.”

Read more amazing tips from Sophie at GorgeouslyGreen.com

Top Five Ways to Green Your Fitness Routine

hikink 300x199 Top Five Ways to Green Your Fitness Routine It’s really easy to green — or be more conscious about — your fitness routine. Here are my top tips to Green Your Fitness Routine:

1. Develop a quick home workout. 10 -30 minute workouts are great because those of us, who are really time-challenged, don’t have an excuse! I love the Kettleworx workout for a quick killer routine.

2. Try some yoga – it can literally be a few simple poses that you can practice just once or twice a week. Yoga connects your breath with your body, helping you to feel balanced, grounded and aware – just what a green girl needs.

3. Start doing some strenuous work at home or in your yard. Digging will get your heart rate right up there, as will washing your own car.

4. Get hold of a bicycle no matter what. I’m in love with my Electra Townie and use it at least once a day for a short trip (to the bank or cleaner). I use a backpack and my bicycle basket when I go to the grocery store.

5. Go for a walk: Duh! Seems obvious, but lacing on a pair of shoes and taking a 10-minute strenuous walk or hike can work wonders.

Whatever way you choose, don’t forget your reusable water bottle.

About the Author

Sophie Uliano is a passionate environmentalist who has developed an earth-friendly lifestyle that appeals to women who don’t want to compromise their glamour and style. She is the New York Times Best Selling author of “Gorgeously Green”, “The Gorgeously Green Diet,” and the newly released “Do It Gorgeously.”

Read more amazing tips from Sophie at GorgeouslyGreen.com

Mindful Eating

mindfuleating 300x245 Mindful Eating One of the most powerful ways in which you can change your diet, is to start eating mindfully. Many of us are subject to conditioning and habit — we reach for what we’re used to having and we eat it unconsciously. When you really begin to understand exactly what is in your food and how it was produced (where it came from, how far it traveled, how many sprayings of pesticide it received, how many hidden additives are packed into it, and finally how heavily processed it is) you start to make radically different choices.

Being green is really about being aware — and when we are truly aware, a plethora of choices begin to open up to us. Mindful eating also helps tremendously with weight-loss. Unconscious eating is one of the top reasons why people overeat. Just think about how much popcorn you can get through while watching a movie. A fascinating test was done on a group of people who were given really stale popcorn in enormous buckets to eat while watching a movie. Even though they thought the popcorn tasted bad, they all finished it!

Here’s a few tips for eating mindfully:

1. Examine the ingredients in everything your purchase. Look for fewer ingredients, which means fewer additives.

2. Chew slowly and enjoy experiencing the different tastes and textures of each mouthful.

3. Put down your fork between every mouthful (harder than it sounds, but makes a huge difference as many of us rush through our meals, which encourages us to overeat)

4. Before you eat, take a few minutes to look at the food on your plate and reflect on how it got to you, how it was produced and how fortunate you are to be able to eat healthy food.

About the Author

Sophie Uliano is a passionate environmentalist who has developed an earth-friendly lifestyle that appeals to women who don’t want to compromise their glamour and style. She is the New York Times Best Selling author of “Gorgeously Green”, “The Gorgeously Green Diet,” and the newly released “Do It Gorgeously.”

Read more amazing tips from Sophie at GorgeouslyGreen.com

Interdependence Day

interdependence 300x225 Interdependence Day I think we need a National “INTERDEPENDENCE DAY” — where we raise awareness about the interdependence of every living thing on this planet. I’m lucky enough to be sitting here watching the sun rise on the gorgeous Big Island of Hawaii –- an island that boasts 10 micro-climates and is in my opinion, as close to Paradise as you can get.

I’m on an eco-vacation — not in a sweat or eco-lodge (you know that’s not my thing!!) — but traveling as a girl who is not averse to a bit of pampering. HOWEVER, I travel with a conscience. I have a heightened awareness on an island like this that my footprint needs to be extremely light. I want this environment to stay pristine, and as so many beautiful spots in the world rely on tourism, it’s my responsibility as a visitor, to leave it exactly as I find it.

Snorkeling and scuba diving along the reef here brings this point home: Down in the quiet murky blue depths, with the only sound being one’s breath, I’ve learned that in the watery depths, where life on Earth began, everything is completely interdependent. It is incumbent upon me as a stranger swimming through, not to meddle in anyway with what I find. The tiniest amount of fiddling, like “ooh, I want to touch that turtle or take a bit of that coral” disturbs a delicate system.

A great example is sunscreen – I absolutely have to wear non-toxic/biodegradable sunscreen or it can affect the reef and the fish. So my diving etiquette is:

- Don’t: Wear toxic sunscreen
- Don’t: Touch anything whatsoever
- Don’t: Take anything or feed the sea life.

It’s their world and I happen to be swimming through it. The photograph above is of my husband scuba diving close to a gorgeous turtle. He is a passionate diver – and he has taught me much about how the health of the coral reefs around the world reflect the health of our environment as a whole.

This respect holds true for everywhere I visit on land too. It’s odd that as humans we feel such an innate need to show our dominance over nature –- to leave our mark: we need to etch our names on Redwood Trees and ancient monuments, even on the sides of cliffs – we want to show that we’re in charge and we’ll somehow leave our legacy, however, when we’re long gone, these natural treasures will hopefully endure for hundreds of years.

A cab driver here told me that the islanders just take what they need from the Ocean and leave the rest. He was boiling with rage about the oil spill in the gulf. His family and friends are fisherman here and he feels the pain of the fisherman in the gulf. “It’s just greed,” he said, “they can’t stop taking from the Earth!” By “they,” I think he was referring to the Oil Industry, or perhaps just shooting at everyone who he considers to be greedy: oil men, fishermen who over-fish, even regular people like you and me who unwittingly over-consume.

Back home in Los Angeles we have a lot of spiders at this time of year. There’s always a massive one – we call him “Mr. Jackson” — who weaves his web over the entrance to our garage. My daughter Lola used to be totally freaked out by Mr. Jackson and wanted him destroyed, until we explained how valuable dear Mr. Jackson is — he eats all the insects and mosquitoes, etc). Now ,she loves Mr. and Mrs. Jackson and their enormous family!

Mercifully, I’m in a resort that absolutely respects the biodiversity of life and interdependence of all things. They even use a water-based ionic cleaner, as they know the run-off from regular cleaners go straight into the bay.

I have been asked to release one of four baby turtles, which have been nurtured until old enough, into the ocean on July 4th. This is how I’ll be spending my Independence/Interdependence Day! By respecting the interdependence of life, the Mauna Lani Bay Hotel (who runs this program) will have given independence to this turtle.

I leave you with a powerful quote:

“Our future is dependent upon increasing cooperation and interdependence in a world tied ever more closely together by technologies of communications and travel. The emergence of a truly global civilization has been accompanied by the recognition of truly global challenges that require global responses that, as often as not, can only be led by the United States — and only if the United States restores and maintains its moral authority to lead.” – Al Gore.

About the Author

Sophie Uliano is a passionate environmentalist who has developed an earth-friendly lifestyle that appeals to women who don’t want to compromise their glamour and style. She is the New York Times Best Selling author of “Gorgeously Green”, “The Gorgeously Green Diet,” and the newly released “Do It Gorgeously.”

Read more amazing tips from Sophie at GorgeouslyGreen.com