If you’re not getting enough roughage in your diet, you probably didn’t consider devouring on the paper plate underneath your sandwich. There are a few serving utensils, however, that don’t just look good enough to eat, they actually are edible.

The only thing cooler than sipping a mojito while lounging in a hammock, is munching your way through the edible drinking cup when you’re done. This vegan drinkware is made of agar and created in different flavors, like lemon-basil or ginger-mint. Once you’ve slurped down your cocktail, nibble your way around the edges or drop in a compost heap to biodegrade on its own.

Edible bowls – think taco salad – aren’t particularly new, but Italian entrepreneur Tiziano Vicentini has a pretty inventive take on the idea. He’s created a plate made from 100 percent biodegradable dough that’s sturdy enough to withstand soggy soups and sauces, and can even manage a trip through the microwave. Though the center of the plate isn’t meant to be eaten, its perimeter is designed to be torn off and eaten as a cracker or dipping bread.

The next time you’re debating whether to use a big batch of plastic eating utensils at your next party or consider using your own and face washing 200 knives and forks, think about laying out edible cutlery instead. Eco-packaging company Casetta makes forks and spoons out of vegetable pulp and sorghum, which also happen to be naturally high in nutrients like iron, folic acid, and carotene. The utensils are sturdy enough to use in hot or cold food and stay crunchy enough to much when you’re done with your meal. If you do decide to toss them out instead, the cutlery naturally disintegrates within a day.

Blisstree discovered this neat Cookie Cup formed into a cup-shaped pastry and covered in waterproof icing. It’s a perfect way to quaff your coffee or hot tea, then ditch the single-use “trash” in a responsible way. If munching through the used cup doesn’t grab you, at least you can throw it in the garden or compost pile with a clear conscience.

We’re crazy about these gorgeous serving bowls Dutch artist Geke Wouters shapes out of vegetable fibers. Of course their shelf-life is somewhat limited but they’re a perfect way to lend a touch of elegance to your next cocktail party or birthday bash.

The post 5 Kitchen Items You Didn’t Know You Could Eat appeared first on EcoSalon.

As the ball dropped at midnight, did you resolve that this will be the year you try your hand at the cut back or eliminate meat from your diet? You’ve scoured the Internet for information, read books, planned menus, and now you’re ready to take the plunge. Lots of us have been there and so let us play big sister for a minute and share nine surprising and fun things you need to know about becoming a vegetarian.

You don’t have to live on tofu – Tofu is a protein-packed tasty and versatile ingredient in your vegetarian arsenal, but it’s not the only thing on the menu. In fact, there are several yummy options for getting your protein needs met, including veggie burgers, quinoa, and a whole parade of legumes to choose from.

Even if you’re not all-in, it still counts – If you’re drawn to the vegetarian philosophy, lifestyle, or menu but aren’t sure you can give up meat entirely, we’re giving you permission to just do what you can. Any reduction in meat intake is good for your health and great for the planet, so whether you start with Meatless Mondays, double up on vegetables at lunch, or just read a cookbook, any step at all is a good one.

People will annoy you sometimes – People mean well, but are apt to say the darndest things when they discover you’re a vegetarian. You’ll hear everything from “Are you sure you’re getting enough protein?” to “My friend’s sister’s brother-in-law’s cousin’s hair fell out from lack of iron.” Unless you really enjoy the thrill of a long debate about the merits of your new lifestyle, just be polite, arm yourself in advance with pleasant responses, then change the subject.

You’ll be smart and famous – Well, maybe not famous, but at least you’ll be in good company. Alicia Silverstone, Kristen Bell, and Alanis Morisette are among the many celebs who’ve sworn off meat. A recent study also shows that vegetarians are smarter and have higher IQs than their flesh-eating counterparts, although the jury’s still out on just how valid the results are.

You might turn your pets into vegetarians, too – Once you find the meatless method is very much to your liking, you may end up deciding to take Fluffy and Fido along for the ride. Whether you choose environmentally-responsible pet food or simply look for ways to green your pets’ environment, it’s quite possible you’ll find your new lifestyle impacts your pooch in the same positive ways it’s impacting yours.

The dinner parties you throw will still be awesome – A quick whirl through your library’s cookbook aisle or a 10-minute search on the Internet yields a huge batch of recipes that are so insanely good, your guests will never miss the meat. If you need instant ideas, here are 7 finger licking good recipes for meat eaters to get you started.

Your beauty routine might get caught up in the action – Once you cut meat from your diet, you may start looking for other ways to devoid your life of animal products. From organic deodorant and dental products to bath and body scrubs, your bathroom is a great place to start.

Your food budget might go down a little – The key to enjoying a vegetarian diet is to mix it up and keep things interesting. You don’t want to live on brown rice and broccoli, so try a wide variety of foods you’ve ignored in the past (daikon, anyone?) to see what grabs you. Buying what’s already in season is key to keeping costs down. Also be sure to invest in herbs, spices, and condiments to jazz up your meals and tease your tastebuds. The good news is, the upfront cost of stocking your larder (which evens out over the first few weeks) is nothing compared to the money you can save not buying those expensive cuts of meat.

You will learn to love your kitchen gadgets – Expect your pressure, slow, and rice cookers to become your best friends. If they’ve been collecting dust in the lower recesses of your kitchen cabinet, now’s the time to haul them out and put them to work. Vegetarian soups and chilis are out of this world when simmered on low all day, and you can cook your beans in a fraction of the time with a good pressure cooker. Make your rice cooker do double duty – use it to steam vegetables and make cakes.

Image: The Bitten Word

The post So, You Want to Be a Vegetarian: 9 Things to Know appeared first on EcoSalon.

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1. Dating back as far back as 2006, several states have reported water shortages near water-bottling plants across the nation – including Florida, New Hampshire, Texas, and Wisconsin. Any chance the underground water situation has improved over the past four or five years? Not likely.

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2. Less than one percent of all the world’s fresh water is available for human use in the form of lakes, underground sources, and reservoirs. The rest is soaked into the soil, too deep underground to reach, or manifests itself in the icecaps of the world’s polar regions.

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3. Props to the folks that spend a long time tracking down clothes that are manufactured responsibly, but don’t forget that much of the environmental damage occurs after you’ve bought that gorgeous new dress. Between thirsty washing machines and the half-loads we throw in when we’re pressed for time, we send gallons of wash water down the drain every time we run the spin cycle. Let’s face it, none of us have time to scrub our clothes on a rock over a rain puddle, but do take a few steps to reduce the amount of water you use washing your clothes.

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4. It may seem like there’s a new cure for whatever ails you but, in the end, water really is your BFF when it comes to battling everything from puffy eyes and insomnia to hangovers and candy overload.

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5. Reports estimate the average person uses around 160 gallons of water per day. Where does it all go? Two-thirds literally gets flushed away, set aside two gallons if you leave the faucet running while you brush your teeth, and another 55 gallons for that 10-minute shower.

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6. For a mere 20 bucks, you can join Charity Water in building the infrastructure necessary for clean water in developing nations where people often have to walk miles just to dip drinking sludge from a polluted swamp.

Now that you’re filled with information about water that you didn’t have 10 minutes ago, what are you going to do with your new-found knowledge? Pay attention to the way you use water and figure out where to cut back, even if you just shorten your shower by 60 seconds, or give your plants a drink with the water you just used to wash your lettuce.

Blog Action Day is an annual event held every October 15 that unites the world’s bloggers in posting about the same issue on the same day with the aim of sparking a global discussion and driving collective action. This year’s topic is water.

Images: FreeWine, mandiberg, reurinkjan, Shandi-lee, Conor Lawless, jeckert gwapo, Charity Water

The post 6 Things You Didn’t Know About Water appeared first on EcoSalon.

Water: we bathe in it, wash with it, drink it, swim in it, and package it in ways destined to help kill the planet. Most of us even know it takes two hydrogen and one oxygen molecules to create water, but there’s lots more to the stuff that covers the majority of our planet. Read on to get wowed by six things you didn’t know about water.

1. Dating back as far back as 2006, several states have reported water shortages near water-bottling plants across the nation – including Florida, New Hampshire, Texas, and Wisconsin. Any chance the underground water situation has improved over the past four or five years? Not likely.

2. Less than one percent of all the world’s fresh water is available for human use in the form of lakes, underground sources, and reservoirs. The rest is soaked into the soil, too deep underground to reach, or manifests itself in the icecaps of the world’s polar regions.

3. Props to the folks that spend a long time tracking down clothes that are manufactured responsibly, but don’t forget that much of the environmental damage occurs after you’ve bought that gorgeous new dress. Between thirsty washing machines and the half-loads we throw in when we’re pressed for time, we send gallons of wash water down the drain every time we run the spin cycle. Let’s face it, none of us have time to scrub our clothes on a rock over a rain puddle, but do take a few steps to reduce the amount of water you use washing your clothes.

4. It may seem like there’s a new cure for whatever ails you but, in the end, water really is your BFF when it comes to battling everything from puffy eyes and insomnia to hangovers and candy overload.

5. Reports estimate the average person uses around 160 gallons of water per day. Where does it all go? Two-thirds literally gets flushed away, set aside two gallons if you leave the faucet running while you brush your teeth, and another 55 gallons for that 10-minute shower.

6. For a mere 20 bucks, you can join Charity Water in building the infrastructure necessary for clean water in developing nations where people often have to walk miles just to dip drinking sludge from a polluted swamp.

Now that you’re filled with information about water that you didn’t have 10 minutes ago, what are you going to do with your new-found knowledge? Pay attention to the way you use water and figure out where to cut back, even if you just shorten your shower by 60 seconds, or give your plants a drink with the water you just used to wash your lettuce.

Blog Action Day is an annual event held every October 15 that unites the world’s bloggers in posting about the same issue on the same day with the aim of sparking a global discussion and driving collective action. This year’s topic is water.

Images: FreeWine, mandiberg, reurinkjan, Shandi-lee, Conor Lawless, jeckert gwapo, Charity Water

The post 6 Things You Didn’t Know About Water appeared first on EcoSalon.

Back in the day, finding an environmentally-aware college was a tough assignment, but these days the amount of universities with green programs and sustainable energy or food policies courses are in the hundreds. Ferreting out 10 of our favorites was tough, but having so many awesome colleges to choose from is a great problem to have.

University of Colorado at Boulder (shown above) – CU-Boulder is just about the greenest university you can imagine. It’s got 27 different degree, major, or certification programs related to environmental studies and cranks out more scientific publications on environmental research than any other institution in the nation. Folsom Field, home of the Colorado Buffaloes football team is a zero-waste stadium and the college’s campus-wide recycling program is run by students. This year, the school partnered with Zipcar to encourage ride-sharing and carpooling to reduce greenhouse gas emissions.

Unity College – Wow, students from this college in Maine recently had a meeting with White House staffers to discuss putting solar panels on the Presidential abode. The White House didn’t agree to do it, unfortunately, but these kids get an “A” for effort. Meanwhile, back on campus an Environmental Stewardship Curriculum is built into every student’s education so they graduate prepared for “leadership roles in environmental issues, on levels ranging from local to global.”

College of the Atlantic – Here’s one college cafeteria you’ll enjoy eating in. Almost all the beef it serves is grass-fed and the produce comes from local farms or the campus’ own organic farm. Recently-built student housing is powered by renewable energy and all new construction is built with water-and energy-saving details in mind. The school also runs shuttle to ferry students to back and forth to a nearby town and provides bikes for on-campus use.

Middlebury College – This small liberal arts college in Vermont thinks big when it comes to environmental awareness. Local farmers and on-campus gardens supply food to the cafeteria and wind turbines power the school’s recycling facility. An $11-million biomass plant is being built on the campus so the college can be carbon neutral by 2016, but in the meantime students are keeping busy participating in the Green Finger Project, a viral campaign aimed at raising awareness of the disturbing effects of climate change on the planet.

University of Maryland – The administration at this College Park campus puts their money where their mouth is. Students, faculty, and staff with big ideas that promote on-campus environmental sustainability can apply for money to fund their projects and make them a reality. The school schedules regular presentations and film screenings on everything from climate change to reducing energy use, and sponsors 15 different sustainability-related clubs for students to join.

New York University – NYU is well-known for its arts and drama departments, but it’s got one heck of a sustainability program going on, too. It offers grad and undergrad degrees in subjects like urban planning, environmental health, global affairs, and more. Campus projects include a bike-sharing program, sustainability task force (think Green Police), and an environmental health clinic for students and faculty.

Warren Wilson College – This small college in Asheville, NC takes its impact on the environment very seriously. They’ve got their own Climate Action Plan that serves as a roadmap for the school’s vision of the “practice of sustainability.” Students grow food in the Cow Pie garden (um, yum?), power school-owned vehicles and equipment with biodiesel fuel, and live in eco-friendly dorms. They also design and participate in outreach programs that educate elementary school students and participate in the National Audubon Society Seabird Restoration Program.

University of Oregon – Students at this school have a long list of choices when they’re ready to make a positive impact on the environment. For instance, Project Tomato sends incoming freshman on a four-day bike trip to local farms to harvest tomatoes. They bring their haul back to the dining hall and make about 64 gallons of pizza sauce – enough to serve a week’s worth of pies – all the while learning about sustainable agriculture.

Evergreen State College – This cool school gets huge brownie points for creativity thanks to its Sustainable Prisons Project. Paired with the Washing State Department of Corrections, students help figure out ways to reduce the footprint of prisons through environmental awareness and sustainable practices. On campus, you’ll find a salmon-safe certified organic farm, conservation programs, and study halls outfitted with solar panels.

Arizona State University-Tempe – ASU’s renewable energy policies alone are enough to make this school stand out in the crowd. The campus sports six wind turbines and several buildings are already solar panel-equipped, with more to follow in the next few years. Annual recycling drives let students donate old belongings to charity rather than dump them at the curb at the end of the school year, and the Electric Vehicle Club submits a hybrid race car for the yearly Formula Hybrid Competition in Loudon, NH.

Image: Stuart Yeates

The post Sustainability 101: The Greenest Colleges and Universities in the Country appeared first on EcoSalon.

Just because your guilty pleasure is watching “The Bachelorette,” that doesn’t mean you must have your television sitting center stage in your living room the other six days of the week. Check out these five clever ways to disguise or outright hide your TV when it’s not in use.

Stashing the boob tube in the fireplace is a common approach when you want to make the TV disappear into the decor. Interior designer Kelly Giesen took the idea a step further and installed a faux fireplace around the television with the express purpose of using it to hide the box. A mirrored fireplace grate rests in front of the TV when not in use for an elegant look that ties together the whole room.

If you’ve got paneled walls, see if there’s any dead space behind it – say, underneath a staircase, for instance. If so, consider burrowing into the wall and creating a platform for television storage. Put the missing wood panels on hinges or sliders so they’ll stash out of the way for easy TV viewing.

If you’ve got room for an extra piece of furniture, have a look at these elegant media centers by Reversica. They’re specifically designed to look like cabinets and bookshelves, with a little James Bond magic behind the shelving. When you’re ready to watch TV, just spin the bookcase around 180 degrees to expose the set, then hide it again when you’re done.

Finally, two-way mirrors are good for something besides watching criminals be interrogated in jail. Several companies now manufacture special mirrors meant to be permanently mounted in front of TV screens that disappear once the set is turned on. This is a perfect look for televisions mounted over a fireplace shelving unit, or other wall space where a large mirror is a natural fit.

Show your appreciation of art by covering your TV with a painting when it’s not in use. For about seven grand, you can get your favorite still life imprinted on a screen that rolls up and down in front of the television – kind of like a window shade.

Image: Terren in Virginia

The post 5 Clever Ways to Hide Your Television appeared first on EcoSalon.

Just when I was starting to feel good about my DIY granola bars, along comes a couple with a do-it-yourself project that makes my attempt look small time. Portland, Oregon residents Mariah Morrow and Ryan Lingard built themselves a 130-square foot cabin in the mountains where they can retreat, relax, and go completely off the grid.

The couple named the cabin The Signal Shed and outfitted it with, well – nothing. There’s no running water or electricity and it relies on a wood-burning stove for heat. That said, this rustically luscious cabin is beautifully decorated and cozy.

Morrow and Ryan chose the location carefully so it would blend into its surroundings, then built it on a platform designed to protect the delicate foliage of the forest floor. Using recycled building parts and uncovered treasures on Craigslist, they built the structure in a mere two weeks. The cost? $57,000 which includes the price of the land.

For $1,000, you can buy the plans from Lingard and build the same cabin in your neck of the woods. Or, for $18,000, he’ll deliver a ready-built Signal Shed right to you. If you want a tiny, eco-responsible getaway of your own, you can’t top a cabin like this. While you’re there, you can practice making granola.

The post Tiny DIY Cabin Gets You Off the Grid and Back to Nature appeared first on EcoSalon.

In the heat of summer, there’s nothing like a refreshing dip in a cool swimming pool. Between the chemicals, energy-hogging electric filter, and the regular water refills it takes to keep evaporation at bay, sometimes pools can be more harmful to the environment than they are soothing to the soul.

Before you drain your pool and turn it into a sunken garden, here are five things to can do to lessen the impact it has on the environment without sacrificing your daily dip.

Harness the sun – Choosing solar panel heating equipment over an electric heater will save you bundles of money and cut down on the amount of energy it takes to maintain your pool. Solar paneling can carry a hefty up-front cost, but they quickly pay off with reduced energy costs and consumption. Toss a solar pool cover over the water when you’re not swimming for even greater savings.

Choose the right filter – One area of pool maintenance where you can’t skimp is the pool filter, unless you like swimming in green-tinted slimy water. A good pool filter cleans out the crud and keeps the water sparkling. Choose an eco-friendly model with large-capacity filters to cut down on how often they need to replaced or cleaned. Avoid sand-based filters that use a ton of water to get the job done and choose a cartridge model instead. Also, look for filters with low pump speeds to minimize energy use.

Cut the chemicals – The typical swimming pool is so chemical-laden you can often smell the chlorine before you even get in. New pool maintenance systems use ionization to keep the water clean and clear. Installation can run up to $5,000 in some cases, but it beats swimming in bleach water. Some folks swear by salt water pools but beware, you’re still exposing yourself to chlorine emitted by the salt system – just in lower quantities.

Go au natural – If you’re in the planning stages of investing in a new swimming pool, give some thought to building a natural pool in place of a traditional concrete model. Instead of cement, filters, and chemicals, natural pools are made of gravel or clay and stay clean thanks to the natural filtration power of strategically-placed plants. Besides being simply gorgeous, it’s a fairly self-maintaining ecosystem that costs a fraction of what it costs to build a standard pool.

Timing is everything – Make sure all your pool maintenance equipment is on timers so they run at maximum efficiency. Set your heater and filter to run overnight when the overall demand for energy isn’t as high. Timers are also important so your equipment will shut off after a period of time in case you get busy and forget to do it yourself.

Image: leozaza

The post It’s My Backyard and I’ll Splash If I Want to: Smart, Sustainable Pool Tips appeared first on EcoSalon.

Don’t be shy – calculating your carbon footprint is right up there with weighing yourself – it’s vital information we can’t ignore. Did you know that carbon offset programs that let you calculate the carbon footprint of your daily activities by donating money to carbon reduction programs are pretty popular these days? A quick search on Google returns thousands of carbon offset programs, all vying for your attention. Trouble is, how do you know which carbon offset programs are real, and which are potential scams designed to take advantage of environmentally-aware consumers?

Think credible – Make sure the program you choose is certified by a reputable, neutral agency to ensure your money is really being spent to plant trees, reduce methane gas, or whatever claims are being made. A great place to start independent consumer protection website, Green-e. It keeps an eye on carbon offset programs and certifies the validity of those which it confirms spend contributors’ dollars properly. Whichever program you choose, be sure to ask for a public disclosure statement to verify how funds are spent. If the program can’t or won’t provide one, move on.

Think local – Many local government agencies are getting on the carbon offset act and developing their own programs close to home. Solana Beach, CA residents can contribute to the preservation of an Ecuadorian tropical forest, while residents of western North Carolina can buy offsets for local renewable energy projects. When you’re ready to buy carbon offsets of your own, look around for programs close to home before grabbing an organization off the Internet.

Think specific – Consider buying offsets related to the specific way you leave your carbon footprint. For instance, United, Continental, and many other airlines have carbon offset programs of their own, so if you’re a frequent flier, that might be a great place to make a contribution. Residential energy companies are pretty sensitive to their environmental impact, so don’t forget to check with your local electric or gas company to see if they have programs in place to help you offset your cooling and heating emissions.

There are plenty of reputable carbon offset programs out there, but we need to choose carefully – not every one of them has the best interests of the planet at heart. Even the most well-intentioned among us can sometimes get taken in by programs that talk a good game but don’t deliver. To see just how critical it is to choose wisely, have a look at this episode of Penn and Teller: Being Green. Beware, there’s a lot (and we mean, a lot) of swearing, but the point is still valid: all carbon offset programs are not created equal and it’s easy to be duped.

Image: joiseyshowaa

The post Caveat Emptor: Carbon Offset Programs appeared first on EcoSalon.

Allergy sufferers often wish they could live in a bubble because watery, itchy eyes and a red nose aren’t the best look for most of us. A hermetically-sealed life would be rather complicated, however, so we just have to do the best we can. Vacuum cleaners are often our first line of defense against sneeze-inducing pet hair and other buggers, so it’s important to choose one that will get the job done.

The first thing you want to look for is a vacuum with a HEPA filter system that traps mites, dust, spores, and other ickies in between layers of microfiber. Buyer beware, not all HEPA systems are created equal. Some low-end vacuums slap a single HEPA filter near the vacuum bag and call it good enough. You want a full-blown HEPA system that seals to the vacuum cleaner with rubber gaskets at every point where dust and can escape and redistribute itself back into the air. You don’t need to spend megabucks to get a good vacuum, just look for one that’s solid and well-constructed, with a nod to keeping allergens in the vacuum and out of your lungs.

Next up, you want a vacuum that can handle bare floors. Sure, you could just sweep tile or wood flooring with a broom, but that will kick up loads of pet dander, hair, and dust in the process. In a pinch, you can use a damp mop to corral the mess, but the key to staying sneeze-free is sucking all the nastiness into a vacuum for permanent disposal. Not all vacuum cleaners are created equal, so don’t just assume you can use yours on a bare floor. Unless it has settings to accommodate flooring, you could end up breaking the carpet-beater roller or scratching the bare surface.

Some allergy experts recommend checking the air flow rating of a vacuum cleaner before you buy to make sure it will effectively suck up all those tiny particulates you want to avoid. The higher the air flow rating, the more efficiently the unit will move dirt and dust into the disposable vacuum bag or removable dust bin.

Speaking of bags versus bins, a vacuum with sealable HEPA filter bags may have a slight edge over bagless varieties since emptying a dusty vacuum bin into a trash can is likely to release allergens into the air. By contrast, a vacuum cleaner bag can be removed and disposed of with a lesser chance of re-contaminating the air around you. Of course, those bags ultimately end up in landfills so you’ll need to weigh your health needs against your environmental concerns and do what works best for you.

Vacuum cleaner shopping isn’t glamorous or exciting, but if you’re an allergy sufferer, it’s one of the most important household appliance purchases you can make. We’d love to hear from readers about what vacuum features and techniques help keep your sneezes and watery eyes in check. Let us know in the comments.

Image: garethjmsaunders

The post Vacuum Cleaners: How to Make Your Allergies Suck Less appeared first on EcoSalon.