How-To | Green Living | ecoGLOSS

Gloss How-To: Make the Perfect Salad

salad 300x199 Gloss How To: Make the Perfect Salad I am a big-time salad girl. It’s my default food and I’m forever searching for interesting, new combos. I’ve spent many years perfecting a basic salad, from which you can build and I believe there are basic rules that I need to follow if I want a crisp & enticing bowl.

My husband is right on board with the daily salad thing, as long as it’s not what he calls “those awful soggy leaves” — I know exactly what he means: those ubiquitous “baby salad greens” that come already triple-washed (in chlorine), so you can throw them straight in the bowl. The problem is, the moment you add dressing, they kind of smoosh down, losing half their volume and their appeal.

To create a great salad, you need to consider the 4 following rules:

1. Taste Rule: Combine sweet & tangy with herbs.

You need to get creative with the taste and the easiest way to do this is to use loads of fresh herbs. I highly recommend you start growing the following herbs – planters and containers (on windowsills in winter,) work well: Parsley, Tarragon, Mint, Chives, and Basil (in the Summer). These basic herbs will totally transform the taste of your salad. The other taste tip is to make sure you include both tangy and sweet flavors. I love to throw dried cranberries, cherries or chopped apricots on my salad to add sweetness to the tang of a balsamic dressing. Dressings are obviously integral to the taste, but we’ll come to that in a bit.

2. Texture Rule: Crunchy not Soggy!

It’s all about the crunch! There are many ways that you can create a really crunchy salad, however the first thing to consider is the base of the salad, which in most cases is lettuce. How you wash and dry your salad leaves is the first thing to consider because if they’re not totally dry, you’ll end up with a wilted/soggy bowl of leaves. My favorite salad spinner is the OXO stainless steel – leaves come out bone-dry and you can serve straight out of the stainless bowel.

Baby salad leaves & mixed leaves have the least crunch, so I would suggest going with a hardy Romaine lettuce. Iceberg has a good crunch, but it’s the least nutritious of the lettuce family, so I tend to avoid it. Think outside the box in terms of texture – a great way to get that crunch is to start with a base of finely chopped kale or Swiss Chard. When building your salad, hard veggies will obviously provide maximum crunch! (carrots, radishes, jicama etc).

3. Bite-Size Rule: Gotta be easy to eat!

The problem with many salads, is that they’re not chopped enough. There’s nothing worse than having to stuff over-sized leaves dripping with dressing into your mouth – especially at a restaurant or fancy dinner. I think that second to the crunch is the chop-size. A well-chopped salad is ideal because it’s simply easier to eat – you can also combine all the different flavors and textures into one forkful. The best implement I own for a perfect chopped salad, it the OXO salad Chopper and bowl. It does the job in a matter of seconds and most importantly doesn’t over-chop, which could create mush.

4. Color Rule: The Full-Spectrum

We’ve all heard it before: “eat the colors of the rainbow” and it’s true – getting a huge color spectrum into your salad will ensure you’re getting all the anti-oxidants you need – and much better this way than buying expensive supplements. The color also creates a beautiful visual – grated beets/carrots, yellow bell peppers and creamy white jicama look gorgeous. A really pretty touch is to add pomegranate seeds when in season, as they resemble little scattered jewels. I also love to sometimes go for a plain green salad, but love to use loads of different shades of green to create a depth of color: dark green Kale, bright green romaine with pale green chunks of crispy apple.

The Dressing:

Having created the perfect salad, you want don’t want to ruin it with a bitter or bland dressing.

Here’s my basic go-to vinaigrette, which I build on:

Vinaigrette Salad Dressing Recipe

3 tablespoons balsamic vinegar
1 tablespoon Dijon mustard
1 garlic clove, minced
1tsp raw honey
1/2 cup olive oil
Salt and freshly ground pepper

Tip: Don’t skimp on buying cheap olive oil or balsamic vinegar. I recommend buying the best quality Extra Virgin (cold-pressed) Olive oil that you can find. The key is never to use it for cooking – it’s a total waste of money and should never be used to fry anything because it has a low smoke point. Hide it away for your precious vinegarette. Also, keep it in a cool, dark cupboard to help it preserve it’s anti-oxidants. The same deal with Balsamic Vinegar – you get what you pay for – small expensive bottles from gourmet stores might seem like an silly indulgence, but you want it to be aged, thick and syrupy if possible.

Variation:

I sometimes add a little Tamari to this basic vinaigrette, or I’ll shove it in the blender with 1/2 cup of Silken Tofu to create a creamy vegan variation.

Toppings:

Having assembled the whole hog, it’s time to figure out if I want a topping or not. I think of the protein as a topping. This might be grilled salmon, chicken, feta cheese, hard boiled eggs, or cubed Tofu. I like to toss my protein (unless it’s salmon, which falls apart) into the salad. It’s important, however, to do this after you’ve chopped the main body of the salad.

Finally, you may want to dust some sesame or other kinds of healthy seeds on the very top. Check out these wonderful Seed Blend by eSutra – I love to have these to hand, as they add healthy Omega’s and fiber to every bite.

Finally, make sure all of your salad ingredients are organic if possible. I’m not a zealot when it comes to organic food, and certainly don’t think we need to buy everything organic, however, most of the fruits and veggies in my “Must buy organic” list are the kinds that you’ll use for a salad. If a certain veggie isn’t in season, substitute with another.
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

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Gloss How-To: Detox Your Skin

I always ask Gorgeously Green guest expert, Dr. John Douillard, DC, for his recommendations for healthy, glowing skin. Here’s what he has to say: Let’s face it, we all spend way too much money on skin care…But, did you know that the skin that wraps our body is only a small percentage of the skin of the human body? Most of the body’s skin, and clearly the most important skin, is on the inside.

How is Your Inner Skin?

According to skin care specialist Ben Fuchs, eighty percent of how your skin looks on the outside is dependent on how well your skin functions on the inside. Both the inner and outer skin is made up of a few types of epithelium. Epithelium lines many of the surfaces throughout the body. It lines the intestines, respiratory tract, heart and arteries, just to name a few.

Wherever the inner or outer skin, or epithelium, interacts with the outside world, something very interesting happens. The outer skin, for example, acts like a filter that brings nutrients in and toxins out. Just beneath the skin is a layer of lymphatic tissue, which is where the immune system waits to attack any unwanted toxins that make its way through the skin. This lymph is called SALT, or skin associated lymphatic tissue.

Your Most Important Skin

The lymph that lines your intestines is where experts believe 80% of the body’s immunity lies. Here, the lymph waits for undesirable bacteria, parasites or pathogens to leak through the gut wall and attack them with white blood cells. This lymph is called GALT, or gut associated lymphatic tissue. It has the highest concentration of lymph in the body, making the skin lining the intestines the most important skin in the body. In fact, it is the skin and villi of the intestines in combination with the lymph on the outside of the gut that I call the most important half inch of the body. From the Ayurvedic perspective, it is here in the digestive system that is the cause of 80% of all disease. If the lymph around the intestines is clogged, then the drains throughout the body will be clogged as well.

A clogged drain means dry, wrinkled and lack luster skin. Detox the lymph and watch your skin come back to life!

In the body there are various types of lymphatic concentrations. In the upper respiratory tract it is called LALT, or larynx associated lymph tissue. In the mucous membranes in the body it is called MALT, or mucous associated lymphatic tissue.

Healthy Lymph = Healthy Skin

So now, with an understanding of how the skin actually detoxifies itself through its associated lymphatic tissue, we can help the skin detoxify. This is best done by de-stagnating the lymph beneath the skin. The good news is that when you clean one lymph system, you clean them all. So, as we focus on making the skin glow by cleaning the lymph, the lymph throughout the body will drain as well, improving digestion, detoxification, immunity, energy, breathing and much, much more. Read more about lymph here.

Skin and Lymph Cleansing Strategies

Luckily, nature provides a harvest of skin and lymph cleansing foods throughout the year. Eat more of these foods when they are in season and naturally keep your lymphatic system moving and your skin glowing.

The lymph movers and skin detoxifiers are typically the foods that are red or blue and will stain your skin on contact.

In the Spring and Summer eat more seasonal berries and cherries.
In the Fall and Winter eat seasonal beets, cranberries and pomegranates.

In the Spring and Summer the harvest is a more alkaline rich vs. acid rich diet which naturally moves the lymphatic system and cleanses the skin. See my list of these foods here: ALKALINE & ACID FOODS.

Dehydration may be the number one cause of congested and lack luster skin. See Rehydration Therapy below.

Manjistha – Rubia Cordifolia – is an Ayurvedic herb that is a powerful blood and skin detoxifier and lymphatic de-stagnator. Learn more about this amazing herb here: MANJISTHA

Neem – Azadirachta Indica – is called the Queen of Skin and is the most powerful healing and detoxifying herb in Ayurveda for the skin. Read more about Neem here: NEEM

Two Week Skin – Lymph Cleanse

Rehydration Therapy

Sip plain hot water every 10-15 minutes throughout the day for 2 weeks.
In addition to the hot water, drink 1/2 your ideal weight in ounces of room temperature water each day for 2 weeks. For example, if you weigh 120lbs, drink an additional 60oz. But if you weigh 200lbs and your ideal weight is 140lbs, drink 70oz.
Eat 70-80% alkaline foods and 20% acid foods for two weeks. ALKALINE & ACID FOOD LIST
Eat significantly more seasonal berries, cherries, beets, pomegranates and cranberries.

Dr. John Douillard DC writes a Free Video-Newsletter and directs an Ayurvedic Retreat and Detox Center in Boulder, Colorado. Please take the FREE SKIN TYPE QUIZ and determine your skin’s Ayurvedic imbalance at www.LifeSpa.com.

Visit sophie at www.gorgeouslygreen.com

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Gloss How-To: Make Your Own Aloe Vera & Rose Facial Cleanser

This is one of my very favorite cleansers and is so easy to make. It’s soothing, moisturizing, antibacterial (so great for problem skin,) and smells wonderful.

1 fl oz aloe vera gel

2 fl oz olive oil

1 fl oz rose water*

4 drops rose Essential Oil

2 drops grapefruit seed extract

* You can easily make rose water by steeping 1 tbsp of dried rose petals in 1 cup of boiling water. Steep for 20 minutes and then strain.

Blend all the ingredients in a blender. Keep in fridge. Shake bottle before use. Apply to face and neck and use a muslin face cloth or a terry face cloth with warm water to cleanse. I prefer a muslin cloth in hot water as it helps to exfoliate as you rub in circular motions over your face.

Visit sophie at www.gorgeouslygreen.com

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Gloss How-To: Follow Recycling Rules

recycling rules 300x225 Gloss How To: Follow Recycling Rules This week, I’ve found myself with a number of bulky materials that I cannot toss into my curbside recycling bin. I made a big box of these items, alongside a smaller box containing items that need to go to the hazardous waste unit (batteries, paint cans etc)–I’ve been putting off that trip for quite some time!

I’ve just got back from the UK and I was so impressed with their whole recycling deal there. Everything is recycled and the local council provides all the bins, bags and a mega collection service to this end. They even provide a small kitchen bin for ALL your food scraps, which you bag up and put in a larger bin on a daily basis. Virtually nothing goes to landfill.

So back in the US, I decided to refresh my memory on the items that I cannot — or should not — throw into the recycling bin…items that mess things up considerably for the guys in the recycling depot. In the US there are no general guidelines across the board because each city will have a different policy. For example, here in the City of Los Angeles they now (quite recently,) have started accepting juice and milk cartons, and even the long life juice containers (aseptic, which is a mix of paper and foil,) whereas in many other cities across the country, they don’t. To my amazement, they also now accept polystyrene, whereas most cities across the Nation don’t. So Google your local bureau of sanitation to see what can’t go in to your curbside recycling. If you haven’t checked in the last year, check again as things change pretty quickly.

Oh – remember that you don’t need to thoroughly rinse out every jar you put in the recycling bin. They tell you to rinse them out, but frankly, once they get to the depot, they use a mega powerful water spray to clean everything anyway. The amount of water that I would use to rinse out one peanut butter jar is ridiculous – so I don’t waste my time or my expensive water!

No-no’s across the Nation:

For the most part, the following items should not be placed in your curbside recycling period.

Contaminated Paper:

Any paper that is covered with grease, food or any other gross substance cannot be recycled. So no greasy pizza boxes, soiled kitchen towel or parchment paper, sanitary products etc.

Broken Glass:

Broken glass is not supposed to be put in the recycling bin and can be really dangerous for the people handling it. The glass in bottles is also different from the glass used in mirrors, glasses etc and these different types of materials cannot be mixed. The best way to deal with broken glass is: Get a large piece of old cloth (the thicker the better,) and place the pieces of glass in it. Wrap the glass up and use a hammer to break the glass into smaller pieces. Find a box with lid and place the whole lot in. Seal it and write in big letters (a red marker is good,) “Broken Glass”. Put the box in your regular trash can.

Some plastics: Ugh – it gets so complicated with the numbers, so to keep things really simple, just know that the easiest plastics to recycle are the #’s 1 & 2 in the chasing arrows on the container. Other numbers are a little more complicated in that some cities accept them (like plastic grocery bags and tupperware containers,) and some don’t – so you have to check. The kinds of plastics that are not recyclable are ones that either have a #7 or no number at all. Items like battery operated plastic appliances and toys, and sanitary products should never be tossed in your curbside recycling bin.

Annoying bits & pieces: When in doubt, you probably shouldn’t toss it in your recycling bin. Try your hardest to find a second life (thrift stores etc,) before sending it to the landfill. Annoying bits & pieces include: wooden items, kitchen utensils, electrical cords, mini blinds, old drapes, any kind of cloth/fabric, old towels, old ceramic dishes and mugs, chipped chinaware, old pens.

You can always go to Earth 911 and type in the item you want to recycle and your zipcode. Although they have an answer for everything, you’ll get great information about where your nearest hazardous waste drop-off is and where you can recycle bulky items like bits of metal.

The most important thing is to think about the cradle-to-grave cycle of every single item you buy. If you shop more consciously, you won’t have so much useless packaging and “stuff” to get rid off. Always consider what the grave site of your every purchase will look like. When I shop with this in the forefront of my mind, I’m less likely to throw cheap things in my cart – items which are clearly supposed to only last for a few months anyway. Sometimes it pays to pay a little more.

The #1 no-no is plastic grocery bags. Apparently, they’re really problematic for the machinery in the recycling depots and a total nuisance for the dudes who operate them. If you do find yourself with a few hanging around your house, take a trip to your local grocery store, where you should find a special bin designated for used plastic bags right outside the store.

The #2 no-no is polystyrene (also known as Styrofoam): I never choose to bring these eco-nightmare materials into my home, however, it’s often used as the padding for big box items. As you know, almost every appliance you buy will be encased with huge chunks of the stuff and then we’re faced with a big promblemo: how on earth should we dispose of it?

Polystyrene packing peanuts are easy — your local shipping / mailbox center will gladly accept that to re-use. But what to do with the massive chunks? You can break them down into smaller chunks and keep in a box as padding for breakables that you may be shipping in future, or you can break them into even smaller pieces and put them in the bottom of planters to assist in drainage.

You can also do the totally responsible thing, which is to ship them to a company who will actually be able to recycle them. EPS Recycling is the place to go. They have a list of drop-off locations (nowhere near me), or you can ship your white chunks to them. You’ll have to pay for shipping, but it’s a small price for doing the right thing, or in comparison to schelpping around in your car to deliver them somewhere else.

What else shouldn’t go in?

- Soy milk cartons are asceptic (foil and plastic), and most municipalities won’t accept them. Similar scenario with frozen food boxes, which are sprayed with a plastic coating that cannot be recycled.

- Toys, old rags, towels and clothes also shouldn’t go in the curbside recycling.

- Old or broken drinking glasses or glass vases shouldn’t go in because they are a different kind of glass than bottles and harder to recycle.

- A big problem for the recycling depots is any paper with adhesives on it – so avoid tossing anything with adhesive labels or tape in your blue bins.

The important thing to realize is that by tossing inappropriate items into the recycling stream, you’ll actually cause much more trash to go to the landfill. Huge volumes of recyclables contaminated with a few of these n0-no items, will be hauled away to these overstuffed and oftentimes leaching pits.

It seems so much easier to just toss everything into that recycling bin and hope that it will somehow be spirited off to recycling heaven, but the reality is very different – we can all help facilitate the massively important recycling industry by sorting things through before we toss them in.

Remember that every city and municipality has different recycling policies, so when in doubt, visit Earth 911 to find out where and how you can recycle questionable items near you.

Visit sophie at www.gorgeouslygreen.com

Gloss How-To: Afford Healthy Food

shophealthy 300x195 Gloss How To: Afford Healthy Food Can you afford to eat really healthy food? The question should actually be: Can you afford to NOT eat healthy food? Last weekend, I found myself with my daughter Lola in a very low-income area of LA. It was getting late and I needed some arugula and Mozzarella cheese for a homemade pizza I’d promised to make Lola that night.

After cruising past endless strip malls and convenience stores, I spotted a Vons/Safeway and we ran in. Unlike the same store in my neighborhood, there was no arugula in sight – in fact I was hard pushed to find any kind of green salad leaf that looked fresh. All the produce looked old/tired and the selection was extremely limited. If I’d asked for organic produce – I clearly would have been laughed out of the store.

We legged it to the dairy counter to grab some mozzarella. By this time I was pretty sure that Buffalo mozzarella would be out of the question and so I was ready to settle for one of those plastic-like blocks (which really shouldn’t even be called mozzarella,) but they didn’t even have that. The closest was a packet of pre-sliced thick, white plastic slabs and the label read “Mozzarella Style Cheese” hmmm style cheese – does that mean slices of plastic that have been styled after the real thing? We left empty-handed.

As we drove home, I got me thinking about how unfair it is that healthy, never mind organic food, is out of reach for so many folks in this country, and yet healthy eating is the first step in preventative health care. Every time I fork out extra hard-earned dollars for fresh, whole and preferably organic food, I just know that I’m filling my family’s heath bank account. More so than expensive supplements, whole foods can really go some way to preventing many diseases. The produce sections of mega health stores like Whole Foods, are like a God-given pharmacy.

Yes, Whole Foods is for very good reason also known as “Whole Paycheck,” so how can regular folks afford to eat healthy? Here are some tips that may help.

1. Prioritize: Over the past few years, I have met a number of families who were forced to get healthy. Often prompted by one family member getting sick, the main decision-maker decided to make a radical change and go for only organic and super-healthy food. One mom told me that they made it affordable by changing their priorities: they got a cheaper cable package, canceled a gym membership that she never used, shopped thrift stores for many of their clothes, and stopped eating out, and only stopped at Starbucks for a treat. She said the money they saved made the extra dollars for food available. Sometimes I have to ask myself if a pair of expensive boots or organic whole foods is more important!!!!

2. Less Meat: Cutting back on meat is just about the most positive step you can take in 2011. It will cut your grocery bills by at least a third, help your family to lose weight if they need to, and will just be healthier all the way around. I only buy food that hasn’t come from a factory farm, so it’s way more expensive. This prohibits our family from eating meat very often, so we have it on special occasions or if someone who likes meat is coming for dinner.

3. Less Waste: Americans throw 25% of their food away. Its a horrifying to realize this, but it’s a fact. The key to not wasting food is to plan your meals. Make a list at the beginning of the week for each of your planned meals and stick to it. I always get in trouble if I deviate from the list – I might spot something I’ve always wanted to try or I’ll grab another bag of spinach, thinking I’ll probably use it. The first thing that needs to be thrown out is generally veggies, so if you buy organic, be strict with yourself. The second is dairy – again only get what you know you’ll eat that week. If you buy sliced bread and aren’t sure if you’ll get through all those loaves, freeze half of it.

4. Only buy the items that need to be organic: Not all produce needs to be organic. For example, things like broccoli, bananas, avocados etc don’t have too many pesticides on them, whereas, potatoes, spinach, bell peppers etc do.

5. Beans & Legumes: One of the most budget-friendly and healthy staples that I recommend adding to your diet are beans and legumes. If you buy dried beans from bulk bins and soak them overnight, they are especially reasonable. Canned beans are easier, but be aware that most brands (Eden Foods excluded,) have can liners, which contain BPA. Lentils are a much overlooked food that are packed with protein and fiber. Try making a veggie chili or bulk out a regular chili, soup or stew with cups of different beans. I make a big pot of lentil soup almost every week.

6. Soups: At the end of every week, I make “Sunday Soup”. This is so satisfying because I clear out my fridge. Last Sunday I made a huge pot of veggie soup which contained carrots, leeks, parsnips, celeriac (celery root) and ginger. All these veggies were on their last legs but boiled up to make a luxuriously satisfying soup. I froze most of it in small pyrex containers for my husband to take to work with him (much healthier than all the to-go food they order up at his office!).

7. Go bulky: Whatever you can buy from bulk bins, do! Whether it’s rice, legumes, cereals or dried fruit, it’ll always be cheaper – so much so, that you should be able to afford organic. I make my weekly batch of granola from the bulk bins. It’s truly more delicious than any granola I could buy in a box and costs half the price (even when it’s 100% organic.)

8. Store brands: Look for store brands. They often have sales on in-store brands – so keep out a beady eye. I use tons of Virgin Coconut Oil and have found the Whole Foods 365 brand to be really reasonable compared to other brands. Safeway/Vons also have their own organic brands that is nearly always on sale.

Above all, think of your shopping cart as being preventative health care at it’s best. Fill it chock-full of all the wonderful fresh, live foods that give us energy, vitality and that help ward off disease and premature aging.

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

What Can’t I Recycle?

Tips on what items you can and cannot toss in your blue recycling bins.

Gloss How-To: Start A Garden Effortlessly

earthboxes Gloss How To: Start A Garden Effortlessly Now’s the time for EVERYONE to get growing! Whether you live in a White House-style mansion (think Michelle Obama!), or a tiny apartment in a city, you’ll be able to grow at least a couple of foods you love and nothing is more delicious than homegrown anything. And, the cost savings of growing your own fresh produce — along with the nutritional benefits — should be enough to motivate anyone to start a garden before Fall.

Starting a garden can be easier than it seems. My favorite gardening find? Earth Boxes. What are Earth Boxes? I first came across them when I bumped into Jo Anne and Alejandro of Two Dog Nursery at my local farmer’s market. They had a bunch of these boxes set up, overflowing with produce. They also showed me photos of the corn, broccoli, beets, carrrot, chard, spinach and much much more, that they’d grown over the last year in the magical Earth Box.

Since I get very little direct sun in my back yard, Earth Boxes seemed like a perfect solution for me — especially since they are on casters…I can push the boxes around in order to follow the small amount of sun as it moved around my yard. Within a few months of starting my Earth Boxes, I had buckets of broccoli, chard, kale and gourmet lettuces. The feature I love most about the box design is the water tank and irrigation system, which saves a tremendous amount of water. You simply top off the reservoir every few days and that’s that. Perfect when the sun’s hot, as it eliminates evaporation.

I took a pair of scissors to them at lunch today and snipped off just the right amount of each kind of leaf for an anti-oxidant packed salad. Just think how much nutrition is in a mouthful of something that is almost still alive. Remember, the moment you pick something, it’s on a ticking clock of its nutrients diminishing. The taste was exquisite and so far superior to those bags of triple-washed-in-chlorine bags from the grocery store; a lot less expensive too!

Ok, so if I’ve sold you on Earth Boxes, let’s move onto essential supplies:

Gardening Gloves: The most fantastic gloves I’ve found to date are Ethel Gloves. They’re pretty, really comfy and durable enough to completely protect your manicure.

Seeds: Have a look through the catalogs at Seed Savers and Heirloom seeds to whet your appetite and get them started either in little pots and then transfer to your Earth Box or plant them in your box. Since Fall will be here soon, you may want to visit your local nursery and pick out some (organic) produce plants that have already been started to ensure a good crop before it gets too cold.

If you decide to go with an Earth Box, you won’t really need anything else. The Complete Kit comes with fertilizers, mulch covers and easy-to-follow instructions so you can have a great garden going before the end of summer!

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

Gloss How-To: Composting 101

composting101 300x199 Gloss How To: Composting 101 It was such fun stumbling upon the Compost Collection at Union Square Green Market while in NYC recently! What a fantastic idea – the Compost Collection basically encourages apartment dwellers to recycle their kitchen scraps into “Brown Gold.” Four days a week you can schlep either your kitchen scraps, which they suggest you stash in old milk/juice cartons or plastic bags, and bring them down to Aurelia. She’ll then feed them to her red wiggler worms and that’s that! You can also do your own composting if you have a patio/balcony, or small yard and then bring the compost down to Aurelia, who’ll be sure to make very good use of it.

Composting is much more of a no-brainer than most people think. I’ve had quite a few emails about it recently – so here’s my attempt to really simplify the matter. First thing to get out of the way – composting doesn’t have to be smelly, nasty, gross or just for hemp-wearing sandal types. It’s actually one of the most efficient ways of getting rid of much of your food waste and is takes away much of awful guilt that comes from stuffing your trash can with yet more food. I can’t bear to send scraps to the landfill, which could otherwise be fertilizing my yard. The key is finding the right composting bin for your home.

My Favorite Composting Bins

The Garden Gourmet

gardengourmet Gloss How To: Composting 101 Love this bin and you may well find that your local city sells this kind of bin at a discounted price. What I love is that it’s huge and has the door at the front, so when the compost is the bottom of the bin is ready, you can lift the door, shovel it our and start using it, while the upper layers are still processing. I use this model at my daughter’s school, where we have 3 of them on the go all the time. This model is perfect if you have a small to mid-size back yard and you don’t typically get rodents.

I actually had to abandon my Garden Gourmet, because we live quite near a creek, which runs through the city. What I didn’t realize was that a lot of rats hang around in gangs down by that creek and apparently got wind of my yummy gourmet bin. I’ll never forget the day I went down to empty some scraps in it. I flicked open the lid and quick as lightening, an enormous rat leaped out towards me. I nearly had a heart attack and from that day on (until I switched bins,) walked down with a 6-foot pole, which I would whack the bin with (rats don’t like to be disturbed) and then would flick the lip open with this pole, before running and chucking it’s contents from a distance. I carried on with this charade for a while, as I didn’t want to admit to my husband that there actually were rats down there (he’d warned me about that before getting the bin, but I was “la la la – I see your lips moving but don’t hear anything!!!). It was only when mom, a women whose phased by nothing, came to visit and said she didn’t fancy going near that bin, that I looked for model #2.

Don’ t let the rat story put you off though – many of my friends in LA have the Gourmet and LOVE it.

How to use: It’s easy to install (1/2 hour) and then you are good to go. Just start throwing in scraps. Have a bin or pile nearby of brown/dry matter (dead leaves, garden waste, saw dust,) and make sure that for every layer of scraps you put in, you add a layer of this dry matter. Don’t get neurotic about the layering – if you can’t be bothered one or two times, it’ll be fine. Every couple of weeks, turn the whole pile with a garden fork to ensure it’s well oxygenated. Finally, make sure that the pile doesn’t get too dry in the summer. When turning, just check that it looks a bit damp – if it doesn’t throw on a bucket of water.

Ecomposter

ecomposter Gloss How To: Composting 101 This is my current model and I just love it. It’s a spherical design – like a huge green ball, which sits atop a metal base and can ostensibly spin around, while aerating your compost. What works for me is the fact that it’s rodent-proof. Nothing and I mean NOTHING can get inside this baby – a fruit fly perhaps, but that’s it! The downside is that when it’s full, which will take half a year anyway, you’ll need to leave it for a couple of months (depending on outside temperature) while the scraps decompose, and before you can harvest the compost. The other downsides are that it’s actually incredibly hard to spin around when it’s more than half full. It’ll take two strong people to get that heavy ball to turn! Also the idea is that once ready, you take it off it’s stand and roll it to where you want to empty it – fine in theory, but you’ll need 2 or 3 strapping lads or lasses to get the thing off it’s base and roll it.

How to use: It takes a while to install, as the whole thing comes in small parts, which have to be assembled like a giant 3-D jigsaw. If you have kids or anyone in you’re house who is good at putting things together – tell them you’ve got the project for them! Once assembled, it’s really easy to twist the top off, as it comes with a handle thing that you press onto the lid to turn. You then just dump in your scraps with no fear of any furry friends jumping in your face!

Here’s a simple list of what can/can’t go in:

Can: Fruits & veggie peelings and pits, non greasy food scraps, rice, pasta, bread, cereal, coffee grounds with filters, tea bags, egg and nutshells, cut or dried flowers, houseplants and potting soil without disease.

Can’t: Meat, chicken, fish, greasy food scraps, fat and oil, dairy, dog or cat feces, kitty litter, coal or charcoal, diseased plants.

So why not have a go if you’re not already doing it. You will get so much satisfaction from not sending all those scraps to the landfill. It’s also become rather trendy — ever since my pal Julia Roberts shared that she’s very into composting!

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