Feeling Flushed

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It’s a dirty subject, but someone has to talk toilets and it might as well be me.

As an interior design consultant, I’ve shopped dozens of low water use models for bathroom remodels in the past. But the truly evergreen bath goes one further with a composting toilet (also known as dry, biological, or waterless toilets). Sure, some of them look as appealing as a bad motor home or an above ground hot tub, but more stylish choices are coming to the market for those of you committed to self-contained systems.

Reliable Friends

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In first grade, my family moved from Northern California to Washington, and the adjustment was not easy for me. Plucked out of my happy classroom and dropped into another mid-year, I felt strange and shy with my new peers.
To cheer myself, I spent recesses collecting "friends" – pebbles nestled in the cedar and fir woods surrounding Sunset Elementary. My teacher caught on to my desk full of smooth stones and called my mother, who realized my playroom’s toy and book shelves were lined with dozens of tiny, polished agates and rocks I’d

Fashionably Paperless

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It’s not uncommon for me to have a week old collection of receipts living in the bottom of my handbag – from the ATM, Starbucks, my local pharmacy and dry cleaners. Just the other day as I dug through the overflow in search of my ringing cell phone, it occurred to me that I could save a lot of trees if I stopped uselessly collecting receipts.

I went paperless long ago, converting all my billing and banking to the internet. Now I check balances and transactions any time of the day or night. So unless I need …

Reclaimed Cashmere for Your Four-Legged Friend

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How could anyone resist that precious face and that stylish pink sweater? The hounds must be lining up for her number!
Truth be told, I am a cat person. But I am surrounded by dog people, especially tiny dog people. You know the ones – sparing no expense to dress up their miniature pups and tote them everywhere in chic dog carriers. (Mom, I’m referring, with love, to you. )
For you hopeless wee-dog people, the ingenious folks behind Remnant Clothing have spent time developing a clever and practical way to keep …

Stylish Letterpress, Meet Green

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Lately my obsession for letterpress cards has turned into an obsession with letterpress posters. Fortunately for me, Keep Calm Ltd. and its founders, Lucas & Hayley have expanded their business. You may have heard of them: they made quite a splash last year with their reprint of the popular British poster "Keep Calm and Carry On" from the ’40s, which are printed on 100% recycled off-white art paper. 
They are working with several talented graphic designers, illustrators and artists to create high quality prints on recycled paper – and all …

Style Is Always in Fashion

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As eco-conscious shoppers, we’ve been bypassing the plastic or paper option for a while now. Most grocery stores even have their own brand of reusable bag for sale at the check-out line. It’s not as if we’re without options. But doesn’t it appear that every week a different celebrity is spotted with the new “it” reusable grocery bag? Always something new and different, and how reusable is that?

If you’re a busy working woman with a PDA full of meetings (like me), it’s hard enough keeping up with the dry cleaning let alone the

Euphoria Without the Snickers

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Every woman knows chocolate is good for the soul, but did you know it’s good for your heart and nutritious, too?

Raw cacao (ka-KOW), the bean from which chocolate is made, is the richest source of antioxidants of any food. Cacao also contains a high source of magnesium, which is very important for heart health, bone health, and stress management.

Now, I’m not talking about eating candy bars, which have far more trans fat and refined sugar than actual cacao content. Typical chocolate candies use highly processed cocoa

Orange Knockout!

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Orange TKO is wonderful stuff: it’s a highly-concentrated multipurpose cleaner and de-greaser made from orange peels that is organic and delivers an energizing burst of natural fragrance.

I first came across Orange TKO at an eco-product expo, and I was immediately impressed by the live stain-removal demonstration. This isn’t just a cleaner that has a cursory bit of orange extract in it, but rather the authentic substance. It cleans windows, carpets, floors, counters, sinks – virtually every surface.