180 handy uses for 9 items you already have in your pantry.

Looking to simplify your life, save money or cut the number of chemicals you use around the house? Chances are, you’ve already got nine natural, versatile products in your pantry that can do far more than you think. There are literally hundreds of surprising and unusual alternative uses for olive oil, wine, salt, garlic, coffee, lemon juice, baking soda, vinegar and honey. Here’s a roundup of EcoSalon’s 20 Unusual Uses series.

Coffee

Even after those rich, earthy grounds have given you your must-have pot of coffee in the morning, they can do so much more. Unusual uses for coffee include nourishing your plants, massaging away your cellulite, dyeing fabric, growing mushrooms and keeping cats out of your garden.

Read 20 Unusual Uses for Coffee

Lemon juice

Using lemon wedges solely as a pretty garnish on the edge of a glass is actually kind of insulting considering all that this little citrus fruit has to offer. Its acidity enables it to preserve foods, whiten fingernails, clean glass, highlight your hair and brighten your white laundry without bleach.

Read 20 Unusual Uses for Lemon Juice

Olive oil

Mmm, olive oil. Besides being the most perfect bread dip ever, it’s ultra-moisturizing, making it an ideal solution for all kinds of things you never realized. Olive oil has all kinds of beauty and household uses like conditioning your hair, removing stickers, getting a smooth shave, buffing stainless steel to a shine and removing heavy eye makeup.

Read 20 Unusual Uses for Olive Oil

Garlic

This broad-spectrum antibiotic is a must-have for colds, cuts, cold sores and ear infections. And, though it may sound weird at first, garlic has plenty more uses outside the kitchen. It makes a highly aromatic yet effective cleanser for your skin, mosquito repellent and hair growth tonic. If you’re lucky, it might even turn you on.

Read 20 Unusual Uses for Garlic

Salt

We simply can’t live without salt. Our bodies require it, and our food tastes bland without it. But chances are, you’ve been underestimating just how much it can do for you. Salt will sanitize your sponges, heal canker sores, keep milk fresh, preserve sliced fruit and keep your clothes from freezing on the line.

Read 20 Unusual Uses for Salt

Wine

So you’re not crazy about that bottle of cheap Merlot that you got as a gift. What are alternative uses for unwanted or sour wine? Well, you could add it to your bath, use it to clean your countertops, trap fruit flies, heal bruises and maybe even slow down the aging process. Filling up that wine rack has never been more of an imperative.

Read 20 Unusual Uses for Wine

Baking soda

Stop buying toxic oven cleaner, expensive fruit and vegetable sprays and special face scrubs. Baking soda can do all of these things and more. This cheap household essential is usually kept in the fridge to cut odor and added to recipes to make baked goods rise, but once you learn all of these surprising uses for it, you’ll start buying it in bulk.

Read 20 Unusual Uses for Baking Soda

Vinegar

Discovered thousands of years ago when wine, beer and cider was accidentally allowed to spoil, vinegar brings out the flavor in so many foods. But this acidic condiment also has some benefits that might surprise you, like dissolving rust, cleaning crusty paint brushes, soothing sore muscles and removing those ugly pit stains from your clothing.

Read 20 Unusual Uses for Vinegar

Honey

Tasting sweet is just the beginning. Honey is antibacterial, anti-fungal, nourishing and moisturizing, and its many uses are pretty amazing. Make your own luscious homemade lotion, heal your sore throat, boost your athletic performance and eliminate that hangover. It even helps heal cuts and scrapes.

Read 20 Unusual Uses for Honey

Photos: selma90, fdecomite, dailyinvention, brickvicky, visualpanic, neilconway, bgottsab, carbonnyc, rahim packir saibo, photoskate,  don hankins

The post Unusual Uses for 9 Pantry Items appeared first on EcoSalon.

When life gives you lemons, use them to clean your house.

Juicy, aromatic and highly acidic, lemons bring out the flavor in sweet and savory foods but they nearly always play a supporting role in the kitchen. Stop relegating them to the rim of your glass and give these winter citrus fruits their due – because they’re serious cleaning and freshening powerhouses. These 20 unusual uses for lemon juice will make your home look and smell fresh, brighten your laundry, and improve your hair, nails and skin.

Quick tip: roll a fresh lemon under your palm on the countertop to soften it up for easier juicing.

Fingernail Brightener

Nails looking dull and yellowed after a long period covered in dark polish? Just squeeze a lemon into a small dish, clean your nails and soak them in the lemon juice for a minute or two. Some women claim that this treatment will also make nails stronger, particularly when adding a tablespoon or so of olive oil to the dish.

Food Preservative

Keep cut fruit and vegetables like apples, pears, avocados and potatoes from turning brown by squeezing on a little bit of lemon juice. You can also perk up droopy lettuce by soaking it for an hour in a bowl of cold water and the juice of one lemon.

Emergency Deodorant

Caught smelling less-than-fresh, with no deodorant around to save the day? Cut a lemon in half (or snag a wedge from your drinking glass) and rub it under your arms. The citric acid in lemon juice will reportedly kill odor-causing bacteria. In fact, you could use this trick to ditch conventional deodorants altogether.

Odor Destroyer

Even garlic, fish, mothballs and that disgusting gunk in your garbage disposal can’t stand up to lemon juice’s odor-eliminating power. Use a cut lemon or fresh-squeezed lemon juice to remove bad smells from your refrigerator, cutting board, microwave or practically any other surface. You can even add it to the cooking water of stinky foods like cabbage, or just simmer lemon peel in water on the stovetop as a natural air freshener.

Insect Deterrent

Many insects are highly sensitive to smell, including spiders, ants, fleas and typically so-hardy-they’re-almost-alien cockroaches. Squirt lemon juice in windowsills, the thresholds of doors, along baseboards and into any cracks where insects might get into the house. Add lemon juice to your floor wash for even more insect-repelling action.

Lighten Age Spots and Freckles

There’s some debate as to whether this actually works, but if you’re desperate to reduce the appearance of freckles or dreaded age spots, lemon juice might be worth a try. Apply lemon juice with a cotton ball once per day and over time – we’re talking months – they may lighten a little bit.

Glass Cleaner

Lemon juice will make hard water stains, debris and other marks on glass disappear. Use straight lemon juice on a sponge for tough jobs, or dilute a few tablespoons in a cup of water and spray it on. Wipe it off with newspaper for totally transparent windows (that might just kill a bird or two.)

Stain Remover

Sweat, mildew, berries, wine, oil – pretty much any substance that leaves a stain on fabric can be removed with good old lemon juice. Durable fabrics can be rubbed with a paste of lemon juice and salt while more delicate fabrics might require a gentler touch, saturating the stain with lemon juice and then washing it out.

Sore Throat Soother

Gargle with a teaspoon of lemon juice in 1/8 cup of warm water to help shrink swollen throat tissue and kill bacteria. Frequent cups of hot tea made with a tablespoon of honey and a tablespoon of lemon juice will also do the trick.

Toilet Cleaner

When mixed with household borax (not the insecticide kind), lemon juice can remove even those stubborn rust stains from the toilet bowl. Make a paste of borax and lemon juice and apply it to the stain with a scrub brush or sponge. Let it sit for up to two hours, then scrub away.

Metabolism Booster

Does lemon juice really boost metabolism? Some of the claims raise red flags as being a bit too enthusiastic, and most of these lemon-based “metabolism boosters” are recommended as food replacements in starvation diets. But hey, adding a little lemon juice to your water every day will make it taste better, and drinking more water can definitely help you lose weight. So, there’s that!

Dandruff Treatment

Lemon juice may not cure dandruff or prevent it from occurring in the first place, but it can remove flakes that are already present so you don’t have to worry about them making an appearance on your clothing. Massage lemon juice into your scalp, leave it on for ten minutes and shampoo as usual.

Metal Polish

Slice a lemon in half, dip it in salt and rub it onto metal surfaces like stainless steel ranges and copper pots to eliminate grime and make them gleam.

Rice De-Sticker

A few drops of lemon juice added to simmering rice will keep it from sticking to the pot, making clean-up a lot easier.

Hair Highlighter

You can achieve natural-looking highlights at home with nothing more than a little lemon juice, a sunny day and something to occupy your hands for an hour or two. Either apply it directly to the strands you want to highlight or get an overall lightening effect by spraying on a diluted mixture of 1/2 cup lemon juice to 1/2 cup of water. The intensity of the lightening will vary depending on your hair type and texture.

Laundry Brightener

Just as it removes stains, lemon juice can act as a natural, non-toxic alternative to bleach. Add a quarter cup of juice to the washing machine to brighten whites. Lemon juice’s stain-removing power is further heightened by hanging the treated laundry up to dry in the sun.

Heartburn Relief

The efficacy of this trick depends on whether your heartburn is caused by too much acid in your stomach, or not enough. If it’s the latter, drinking a little lemon juice in water can quickly relieve discomfort.

Facial Treatment

Applied with a cotton ball, a little lemon juice acts as an astringent, eliminating oil and tightening pores for a smoother look. Mix salt and lemon juice into a paste for an all-natural exfoliant.

Itchy Skin Soother

Apply full-strength lemon juice to unbearably itchy skin rashes like poison ivy to soothe them and keep them from spreading.

Hangover Help

The next time you’re groaning in pain the morning after enjoying just a tad too much alcohol, try drinking a little lemon juice squeezed into warm water or tea. Not only does it help you re-hydrate, but the lemon juice can reportedly help balance the pH levels in your body and replace the vitamin C lost in the binge.

ALSO CHECK OUT:

20 Unusual Uses for Wine

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20 Unusual Uses for Coffee

Photos: neil conway, ninetwoseven, corbin_dana,  conanil

The post 20 Unusual Uses for Lemon Juice appeared first on EcoSalon.

More ways to justify your addiction to caffeine.

Can you imagine life without coffee? We’d all stumble around like drones for hours every morning, lost without our precious fix. We love coffee for its flavor, its aroma and of course its pick-me-up, but there are at least 20 more compelling reasons to stay stocked up. These tips will give you surprising and unusual uses for fresh coffee beans or grounds that have gone stale, the pounds of used grounds you toss out every week and the dregs at the bottom of your cup.

Kill fridge odor

Wouldn’t you rather smell coffee than two-week-old leftovers, half-rotten produce and spoiled milk? If your fridge is a nightmare of foul odors, place a bowl of fresh, unused coffee grounds inside and leave it for a day or two. The coffee will absorb the odors and you’ll crave a cup whenever you open the door. This odor-killing trick works for practically anything else as well – just place the item in a sealed plastic bag along with an open can of coffee grounds and bye-bye stank.

Reduce cellulite

Pricey cellulite creams almost always have one major ingredient in common: caffeine, which supposedly enhances fat metabolism, reducing the appearance of these fatty pockets under the skin. To make your own coffee cellulite treatment at home, mix warm used coffee grounds with coconut oil and rub it onto your skin in circular motions for a few minutes before rinsing.

Erase smells on your hands

Garlic, salmon, cilantro – there are some things that smell delicious when cooking, but aren’t so pleasant hours later when they linger on your hands. Get rid of them by rubbing a handful of used coffee grounds on your hands and rinsing with warm water.

Make rich compost

There’s a reason so many gardeners swear by adding used coffee grounds to compost. The grounds are rich in phosphorous, potassium, magnesium and copper, they release nitrogen into the soil as they degrade and they’re a little bit acidic, which is great for certain soils. If you compost on a large scale, you can get used grounds for free at your local coffee hot spot or mom-and-pop cafe.

Get shiny hair

Who doesn’t want shiny, healthy-looking hair? Coffee is often recommended as a simple, natural treatment to make hair extra-glossy. Brew up an extra-strong pot, let it cool and apply it to your dry, clean hair. Leave it on for at least twenty minutes, then rinse. Keep it up once a week or so for best results.

Natural dye

The natural pigments in coffee make it a great natural dye for fabric, paper, Easter eggs – even your hair. Brush paper with strong brew and let it dry, or soak fabric items in hot coffee. The results won’t be color-fast, and may bleed out onto other items, so it’s best to use this on items that won’t be washed very often if at all. Using coffee as a hair shine treatment, as previously mentioned, may temporarily lend a rich, dark tint to your hair.

Reduce fireplace mess

Want to clean your fireplace without causing a dust storm? Wait until the embers are cool, sprinkle damp coffee grounds all over the ashes , let them sit for about 15 minutes and then scoop out the whole mess into a metal ash can. The coffee grounds cling to the ashes, so they don’t  spew dust nearly as much as they would otherwise.

Pin cushion filler

Dried, used coffee grounds are the perfect filler for homemade pin cushions. Just wrap them in some scrap cloth, tie it off with a rubber band and place the cloth in an egg cup or other small container. The grounds will keep your pins from rusting, too.

Exfoliate skin

The same properties that reportedly enable coffee to reduce the appearance of cellulite can smooth and tighten your skin, and the texture of ground coffee will buff away dead skin cells, too. Make your own coffee-based scrub by combining a tablespoon of coffee grounds with half a tablespoon of olive oil and, optionally, a drop of your favorite essential oil.

Repel ants

Sprinkle dry, used coffee grounds in problem areas where you notice ants in your home or yard and they might just pick up and leave. To tackle huge ant mounds, pour an entire pot of brewed coffee right on the mound.

Fertilize plants

Acid-loving plants will thank you for sprinkling your used coffee grounds around their roots. Azaleas, blueberry shrubs and rhododendrons are just a few of the plants that flourish when treated with coffee thanks to all those nutrients. You can also dilute the leftover coffee in your mug and pour it right into your potted plants (as long as you don’t use cream and sugar, of course!)

Keep cats out of your garden

To you, that little garden in your yard is a beautiful source of fresh herbs, fruits and vegetables, but to seemingly every cat in a five-mile radius, it’s a giant, irresistible litter box. Just use the trick mentioned above, sprinkling used coffee grounds on the soil, and cats will want nothing to do with it.

Scrub all kinds of surfaces

Mildly abrasive and acidic, coffee grounds are great for scrubbing surfaces like countertops, cooking ranges and refrigerators. Use them alone or mix them with a little dish soap.

Auto air freshener

Next time you accidentally spill coffee grounds on the floor, don’t just sweep them up and toss them in the trash. You can use them to make an all-natural DIY air freshener like this one at Instructables. Try to use an old ripped pair of pantyhose and spare string to make this an even more eco-friendly project.

Grow mushrooms

Used coffee grounds are an ideal medium to grow many kinds of mushrooms, including oyster mushrooms. You can actually purchase mushroom-growing kits from a company called Back to the Roots which includes reclaimed coffee grounds, mushroom roots and a mini spray bottle. The kit can produce up to 1.5 pounds of oyster mushrooms within 10 days.

Repel fleas

Rub used, damp coffee grounds through your pet’s fur after bathing to repel fleas without questionable, likely-toxic chemical treatments. If nothing else, it will at least improve that post-bath wet-dog smell that gets all over your furniture.

Pretty vase fillers

Stale or dirty coffee beans are still a thing of beauty. Use them as vase fillers, or in cups or jars full of pens and pencils. Not only are they pretty, they continue to smell good for quite a while, too.

Start vermicomposting

Red wriggler worms, the sort used in vermicomposting systems, love coffee almost as much as we do. It’s not really clear why, but if you want a thriving community of worms to devour all of your kitchen waste (and those nasty little things really are amazingly efficient), be sure to add used coffee grounds to their bedding on a regular basis.

Secret recipe ingredient

Just a little hint of coffee can be the ingredient that becomes your undisclosed “magic touch” in foods like chili, ice cream and chocolate cake. Use a little bit as a marinade for steaks and not only will it make them unbelievably tender, it’ll also provide a hint of deep, smoky flavor.

Touch up furniture scratches

Scratches on wood furniture disappear almost instantly by simply rubbing in a little bit of instant coffee dampened into a paste with hot water. Repeat if necessary until the scratch matches the surrounding wood.

ALSO CHECK OUT:

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20 Unusual Uses for Lemon Juice

Photos: visual panic, mzpromise, selma90, laflaf

The post 20 Unusual Uses for Coffee appeared first on EcoSalon.

Olive oil glides into place as a must-have household and beauty product.

Life without olive oil would be sad indeed. Since antiquity, this miracle substance has been revered for its wonderfully fruity flavor, but it’s so much more than a healthy topping for salad and a heavenly dip for fresh-baked bread. Olive oil has dozens of unusual uses around the house, not to mention its powerful moisturizing and healing properties on the hair and skin.  Check out 20 reasons why you should never be caught without it.

Paint clean-up

When your hands are covered in paint, sap or any other sticky substance that’s hard to remove, try scrubbing them with olive oil and a little salt or sugar. The paint will come right off and your skin will be soft and exfoliated.

Eye makeup remover

Even the heaviest, drag-show-worthy makeup job can’t stand up to the removal power of olive oil. Dab a little on a cotton pad and your eyeshadow, eyeliner and mascara – including waterproof formulas – will wipe right off.

Furniture polish

Olive oil helps remove dust from furniture and gives it a shine. Add a teaspoon to a quarter cup of lemon juice, and you’ve got a non-toxic, petroleum-free polish that also gently cleans wood surfaces.

Skin moisturizer

You might think using olive oil as a moisturizer would leave you with oily skin, but that’s not the case. Used in small amounts, it seeps in completely, eliminating dryness and reducing the appearance of wrinkles without clogging pores.

Shoe polish

What, exactly, is it in shoe polish that has such a headache-inducing smell? It could be any number of potentially toxic ingredients. Banish them from your house and use olive oil instead. Just buff onto your leather shoes with a cloth.

Hinge lubricant

WD-40 shouldn’t hold a monopoly on squeaky door hinges when simple, natural olive oil works just as well. Wipe it on with a cotton ball or use a spray bottle to lubricate the hinge and eliminate that annoying creak.

Bath oil

Add a few drops of your favorite essential oils to 3-4 tablespoons of olive oil and you’ve got a custom bath oil that will gently scent and moisturize your skin.

Stainless steel shine

Olive oil alone will buff stainless steel and brass surfaces to a brilliant shine. Just wipe off any debris and allow the surfaces to dry completely, then pour a little oil onto a clean, soft cloth. Buff in circular motions with firm pressure.

Smooth shave

Slick and moisturizing, olive oil will help your razor glide along your skin for a super-close, smooth shave with fewer nicks.

Throat soother

Got a big singing performance or speech coming up? Swallow a tablespoon of olive oil just before you step on stage and you won’t have to clear your throat nearly as often. This trick also works to soothe itchy throats and lubricate the back of the mouth and tonsil area, which may lessen snoring.

Hair treatment

Sure, you could buy a fancy commercially-prepared hot oil treatment for your hair – or you could just grab the bottle of olive oil that’s already sitting on a shelf in your kitchen. Apply a few tablespoons of warmed olive oil to damp hair, massage into the scalp and rub through the ends, then leave it on for thirty minutes to an hour. The oil will clean and condition the scalp, soften the hair and help the cuticles lay down flat for a sleek look.

Ear ache relief

A little warm olive oil is a fast, effective means of relieving painful ear aches. Just place the bottle in a bowl of warm water for a few minutes, then pour a few drops into the affected ear. To cure ear infections, infuse the olive oil with a crushed clove of garlic, strain the garlic out and drip into the ear.

Sticker remover

Dab olive oil onto a sticker or label, let it sit for a few minutes and the sticker will peel right off. No scraping needed, no annoying residue left behind.

Lice treatment

Olive oil has long been a preferred natural treatment to eliminate dreaded head lice. It reportedly helps to dissolve the exoskeleton of these little parasites, and smother the ones that are resistant. Pour it on to dry hair liberally, comb out any visible lice with a nit comb and then leave it on under a shower cap for up to 8 hours. Follow by coating the hair in apple cider vinegar; leave it on overnight, shampoo as usual and then comb out any remaining eggs.

Hairball prevention

Nobody likes the sound of a cat loudly hacking up a hairball, especially since it always seems to happen when you’re trying to eat or sleep. Help it pass through your cat’s system more easily by adding 1/4 teaspoon of olive oil to his or her food each day.

Lamp fuel

A blizzard just hit, the power’s out and you realized that you’re out of batteries and candles. Do you just sit around in the dark? No, you grab that bottle of olive oil – because by now you should know that it’s an absolute essential in your life – and use it to fuel a lamp. You can purchase specially made olive oil lamps, or simply pour it into a glass jar, poke a hole into the jar lid and insert an oil lamp wick.

Chewing gum remover

Whether your child comes home from school with a mass of sticky pink bubble gum in her hair or you find yourself the victim of a wayward wad, you don’t have to resort to any crazy tricks or – gasp – scissors to get it out. Apply olive oil to the gum and the surrounding hair, leave it on for five to ten minutes and then pull the gum out.

Leather conditioner

Just as it cleans and restores leather shoes, olive oil can be used to re-condition cracked, dry leather items like baseball gloves, car seats and saddles. It takes a bit longer to fully penetrate the leather than most conventional conditioners, but it works.

Psoriasis and diaper rash treatment

Olive oil soothes itchy, burning, irritated skin and may help rashes heal. Apply it to a baby’s diaper rash or directly to any eruptions on your own skin for quick relief. Consuming olive oil on a regular basis may also be helpful in the treatment of mild to moderate psoriasis.

Personal lubricant

Squeaky hinges aren’t the only parts that work better when lubricated. But just because you’re in the mood for some slippery fun doesn’t mean you should grab a tube of KY. There are lots of safe, natural alternatives to potentially toxic personal lubricants, but plain old olive oil will do the trick nicely – just avoid using it with latex condoms.

ALSO CHECK OUT:

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Photos: bgottsab, marc falardeau, liz grace, carrotmadman6

The post 20 Unusual Uses for Olive Oil appeared first on EcoSalon.

Pungent and powerful, garlic has dozens of health and household uses.

Chew up a raw clove of garlic and you might exhale noxious, eye-watering clouds of stink all day, but you’ll also repel mosquitoes (and vampires), increase your immunity, heal cold sores, expel parasites and maybe even get in the mood. Garlic is a broad-spectrum antibiotic, killing bacteria, fungus, viruses and mold, so it’s an important ally for natural health. Check out these 20 unusual and sometimes strange alternative uses for garlic.

Acne

Slice open a clove of raw, fresh garlic and apply it to breakouts as a home remedy for acne. Your skin won’t smell terribly good, but the antibacterial properties of garlic will help lessen the appearance of acne, even those deep acne cysts that can otherwise be difficult to treat.

Pesticide

Whiteflies, aphids, cabbage loopers and squash bugs. All of these creepy-crawlies and more can totally decimate the beautiful organic garden you’ve been tending all season. Ward them off with an all-natural garlic pesticide spray. Mince three garlic cloves and let them sit in two tablespoons of mineral oil for 24 hours. Then strain out the garlic and add the oil, along with a teaspoon of liquid dish soap, to a pint of water in a spray bottle. Spray on infested plants.

Cold sore treatment

These unsightly lesions always seem to pop up at the most inopportune times, like the morning before a big date. Raw garlic may work just as well as commercial medical treatments, though the acidity may cause discomfort at first. Cut a garlic clove in half and place it directly on the cold sore for 10 minutes, several times a day. Garlic supplements in capsule form may also speed up the healing process.

Mosquito repellent

If you don’t mind smelling like Italian dressing, garlic can work wonders in warding off pesky mosquitoes without the use of DEET and other potentially toxic chemicals. Try this oddball garlic mosquito spray: let a few minced cloves of garlic infuse an ounce of mineral oil for 24 hours, strain, and mix the garlic-scented oil with 2 cups of water and 1 teaspoon of freshly squeezed lemon juice. Strain again if necessary and pour into a spray bottle.

Glass repair

Did you know that garlic juice is a natural adhesive? While it’s not up to any major jobs, it can be used to fill in hairline cracks in glass and hold them together. Crush a clove of garlic and rub its sticky, viscous juice into the cracks and wipe away the excess.

Weight Loss Aid

Even though it’s potent flavor may make you want to eat a lot of it, garlic actually has weight loss properties, according to some research. Compounds found in garlic send your brain signals of satiety, which will actually help you to feel full faster. It also boosts metabolic function helping you to burn more calories as well.

Athlete’s foot

Garlic is a potent natural antifungal, making it ideal for treating fungal infections like irritating and itchy athlete’s foot. Add a few cloves of crushed garlic to warm water in a foot bath and soak the affected foot for 30 minutes.

Ear infections

A common folk remedy for centuries, garlic can indeed kill the bacteria that cause ear infections. Of course, this doesn’t mean you should shove a clove of garlic into your ear and hope for the best. Crush a clove of garlic with a press and place it in a teaspoon of hot olive oil for five minutes. Strain, allow to cool and drip a few drops at a time into your ear canal. You can also purchase garlic oil made for this purpose at natural health food stores.

Splinter removal

Splinters suck. They’re painful to remove, and sometimes they slice too far into the skin to pull out. Instead of waiting for it to come out on its own, try this odd trick: place a thin slice over the splinter and hold on with a bandage. The garlic should help the splinter work its way out of the skin within hours.

Skin cleanser

It’s not exactly common, but some women swear by using garlic as a facial cleanser to dry out acne and tighten and exfoliate the skin. It will definitely burn, so take care if you have any open wounds. Make a paste of finely mined garlic, olive oil, facial cleanser and sugar; massage into skin in circular motions, then rinse.

Gas prevention

High in sulfur, garlic can be the culprit for uncomfortable stomach-distending gas for some people, but for others, it can reportedly ease it. The trick may be consuming it on a regular basis in order to maintain intestinal health. Garlic kills harmful intestinal bacteria and promotes the growth of beneficial flora, making digestion much smoother.

Yeast infections

At the first sign of a yeast infection, many women around the world turn to a rather unusual natural remedy: raw, peeled garlic cloves (not cut), typically tied in a strip of cheesecloth and inserted with a tampon applicator. Garlic’s antifungal properties go to work on the yeast, supposedly keeping the infection at bay.

Fish bait

Garlic’s strong smell may repel insects, but it has the opposite effect on fish. Yep, that’s right, garlic cloves are recommended by some fisherman as an unusual bait that can attract catfish, carp, trout, bass and other species. Marshmallows or dough balls made from a mixture of crackers and cat food are coated with crushed or powdered garlic and placed on a hook to lure the fish with its scent.

Psoriasis relief

The persistent tightness and itching of psoriasis could be eased or even prevented by garlic’s anti-inflammatory properties. Active compounds in garlic interact with arachidonic acid, an omega fatty acid in the skin linked to psoriasis. Garlic oil may be rubbed directly on affected areas once or twice per day.

Cough syrup

Ease inflammation in the throat and clear up excess mucus by using garlic as cough syrup. Try steeping raw, minced garlic in hot water, straining it after five minutes and drinking the liquid as tea; you can add ginger and honey to make it more palatable.

Mole removal

This method is almost certainly not recommended by dermatologists, and mole removal is best left to medical professionals, especially since skin doctors can tell upon excision whether the mole shows signs of malignancy. However, many people choose to go it alone, and garlic oil – applied several times per day and covered with a bandage – is an oft-repeated DIY route.

Cold banisher

Can garlic cure and prevent colds naturally? It’s been in use for this purpose for centuries, and there’s a good reason for that. Researchers believe that allicin, the main biologically active component of garlic, could block enzymes that may impede bacterial and viral infections. Eat three to four cloves of garlic per day, preferably raw and crushed, adding them to soups, stews, pasta sauces and salad dressings.

Road de-icer

Garlic is among the oddball solutions that many towns across the nation have been dreaming up to de-ice roads in winter. Ankeny, Iowa smelled awfully savory in 2008 when winter transportation crews spread garlic salt on the streets in advance of snowstorms. The salt, apparently unfit for human consumption, was donated by a local spice producer.

Hair loss help

Whether you’ve over-dyed your hair to the point of constant shedding or you’re just going bald, garlic may be worth a shot before you resort to more drastic measures (or just buy a lot of hats.) Some people believe that massaging the scalp with garlic oil stimulates hair growth.

Parasite killer

Many alternative health practitioners advise using raw garlic to expel intestinal parasites. Recommended as part of a cleansing diet that also includes raw honey, lemon juice, pumpkin seeds, carrots and beets, garlic consumed in quantities of about three cloves per day may help clear nasty organisms out of the digestive tract.

Aphrodisiac

Does garlic turn you on? You may not like the smell of it on someone else’s breath, but it may incite lust once it makes its way into your stomach. Garlic has been used as an aphrodisiac since ancient times, and modern medical knowledge may have an explanation: it aids circulation, pumping blood to your extremities. This effect might even increase men’s endurance in the bedroom.

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Photos: CarbonNYC, grongar 1 + 2, SantaRosa

The post 20 Unusual Uses for Garlic appeared first on EcoSalon.

Because salt is for more than just high blood pressure.

Diamonds might be prettier and more durable, but there’s another translucent rock that’s even more valuable to us. We may not devote songs to salt or parade around with big hunks of it on our fingers, but we need it to survive, it makes food a hell of a lot tastier and it’s got hundreds – if not thousands – of practical uses. Here are 20 unusual and surprising household, beauty and health uses for salt, from cleaning the chimney to brightening your skin.

Drip-proof candles

Don’t you hate it when candles drip down as they burn, making a mess that’s practically impossible to clean? Prevent this from happening by soaking new candles in a strong salt solution for 2-3 hours.

Clean smelly food spills

A little cinnamon in a pinch of salt will make dripped-on messes in the oven easier to clean, and prevent them from stinking up the house. Just sprinkle the mixture onto the drip soon after it occurs, while the oven is still hot. Once it has cooled, brush away the salt and the mess will come with it.

Test egg freshness

Got a questionable egg? Add two teaspoons of salt to a cup of water, and drop in the egg. If it’s fresh, it will float; if it’s past its prime it will sink right to the bottom.

Sanitize sponges

Used sponges harbor a shudder-inducing variety of bacteria. To restore them and kill some of those germs, suds them up, rinse them thoroughly and then soak them in cold, heavily salted water for an hour or two.

Kill poison ivy

Nobody likes poison ivy, the irritating vine that has ruined many an otherwise pleasant outdoor experience. Three pounds of salt mixed with a gallon of soapy water, applied to the leaves and stems of poison ivy with a sprayer, will kill this tenacious pest of a plant.

Extend broom life

Natural fiber brooms can last a lot longer if you use this easy trick: soak them in hot, salty water before their first use.

Soothe a bee sting

Remove the stinger, wet the sting and immediately shake on a paste of salt and water. Let it dry, and it will reduce inflammation and relieve pain.

Remove soot from chimney

A handful of salt thrown onto the flames in your fireplace will not only produce pretty, vivid yellow flames, it will help loosen soot in the chimney, preventing chimney fires and improving air flow.

Relief for canker sores

A saltwater gargle will take the bite out of a toothache and ease the pain of canker sores and sore throats. Dissolve two teaspoons of salt in 1/4 cup of warm water and swish it around in your mouth for at least 20 seconds, gargling if you have a sore throat. It will likely burn at first, but it works.

Keep clothes from freezing on the line

Add a little salt to the rinse water when washing a load of laundry to keep the clothes from freezing stiff on the clothesline. Soaking the clothesline in salt water will also prevent clothes from sticking to it in cold weather.

Restore artificial flowers

Who has time to clean every individual petal of a bouquet of silk or nylon flowers? There’s an easier way. Just toss the flowers in a gallon-sized zip-lock bag along with about a cup of salt. Shake the bag well, and the salt will whisk away the dust and debris.

Keep milk fresh

Sour milk is the worst, especially if you don’t realize it’s gone bad until you’ve already poured it into your cake batter or coffee mug. Keep it fresh longer by adding a pinch of salt to the carton, pinching the spout closed and gently shaking to mix.

Make coffee less bitter

Over-brewed coffee that has taken on a bitter taste can be much improved with a tiny pinch of salt, which will also enhance the flavor.

Remove blood, wine and perspiration stains

Blot up spilled wine and then pour salt on top to absorb what’s left, pulling as much of it out of the fabric as possible. Blood-stained linens can be restored in cold saltwater followed by a wash in hot, soapy water. To remove perspiration stains from clothing, dissolve a teaspoon of salt in a cup of hot water and sponge it on.

Prevent sliced fruit from turning brown

Dip sliced apples, pears and other fruits susceptible to browning in lightly salted water to preserve their fresh look. If your apple slices have withered, salt water will also perk them up.

Keep windows frost-free

To keep frost from accumulating on the windows in your home and your vehicle, dip a sponge in salty water and run it over the inside and outside of the glass, then rub dry with a soft cloth.

Deodorize shoes

Suck the stink-worsening moisture out of canvas shoes by sprinkling a little salt inside them and then wiping it out. Don’t use this trick on leather or synthetic shoes, as it could dry them out too much and cause them to deteriorate.

Reduce eye puffiness

So you caught a late-night airing of The Notebook on cable and went through a box of tissues – nobody needs to know. Obliterate the evidence by mixing a pinch of salt in a little hot water and applying it to puffy, swollen areas around your eyes with a cotton pad. The salt will help draw out the moisture and tighten the skin.

Give your skin a glow

Massage a mixture of salt and olive oil into your skin in circular motions, leave it on for a few minutes and then wash it off. The massage increases circulation to your skin, the olive oil moisturizes and the salt buffs away dead skin cells.

Brighten yellowed linens

Dingy whites can be brought back to their crisp, white best without the use of bleach. Boil cotton or linen items in a big pot of water with a few tablespoons of salt plus a few tablespoons of baking soda.

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Photos: Rahim Packir Saibo, derekgavey, Pink Sherbet Photography, comedy_nose

The post 20 Unusual Uses for Salt appeared first on EcoSalon.

Wine is more than just a social platform.

You pop the cork on that 2004 Bordeaux that you’ve been saving for a special occasion, only to find that it’s gone so tart and vinegary, even the most ardent wino wouldn’t touch it. Don’t pour it out! You could use it to trap flies, dye fabric, clean the counter top and make your skin glow. Try these unusual uses for spoiled or leftover wine, and learn a few enticing reasons to knock back a glass of the good stuff at least once a day.

Fabric dye

If you’ve ever spilled red wine on fabric, you know how well the color holds on to just about any type of material. You can use virtually any type of red wine to dye fabric as long as you’re open to experimentation when it comes to the result, which could range from pale pink to deep mauve or even gray. Heat the wine to simmering in a big soup pot on the stove top, add your fabric, stir with a wooden spoon for 10 minutes and allow to cool. Rinse the fabric well.

Skin softener

All of those antioxidants that make red wine a healthy beverage may also provide benefits when applied directly to the skin. Some women recommend using red wine as a toner, which may help smooth and refine skin thanks to the acidity which is similar to that of vinegar. Actress Teri Hatcher reportedly pours a glass of red wine into her bath water, and in India, wine has many beauty uses, like softening and brightening the skin in spa facials.

Frozen cubes of flavor

Pour leftover wine into an ice tray so you always have easy-to-use, single servings of extra flavor on hand for soup, stew, sauces and other cooking uses.

Clean fruits and vegetables

Just like baking soda, wine can be used as a natural fruit and vegetable cleaner. The alcohol in the wine dissolves impurities on the surface, and according to a 2005 study by Mark Daeschel of Oregon State University, components in wine kill several types of foodborne pathogens like salmonella and E. coli.

Kitchen disinfectant

The same microbiologist who discovered wine’s fruit-cleaning abilities also determined that the alcohol in wine can efficiently remove countertop stains and disinfect kitchen surfaces. Daeschel, who is working on a white wine-based cleaner made from waste wine says, “It needs to be recycled, reused, or otherwise it just gets dumped into our waste drain.” If you want to try it at home, he recommends using dry white wines such as sauvignon blanc, because they won’t leave a stain or sticky residue. Warning – don’t try this tip on granite, as acids will eat away at the surface.

Glass cleaner

Spoiled white wine is on its way to being vinegar, so naturally it works like a charm on dirty glass. Add a few tablespoons to a spray bottle of water, apply to windows and mirrors and wipe with a newspaper.

Fruit fly trap

Few things are more tempting to pesky fruit flies than an aromatic glass of red wine. Use this attraction to your advantage and soon these unwanted guests will disappear from your kitchen. Just pour a half-inch of red wine into a glass and cover it tightly with plastic wrap. Then, poke a few small holes in the wrap, which will let the flies in, but won’t allow them to exit.

Remove grease stains

Pour leftover white wine onto grease and oil stains on garage floors and driveways, and the alcohol and acidity will help them dissipate.

Heal bruises

An old folk remedy recommends soaking a piece of bread in wine and then applying it to a bruise to help it heal faster. Does it really work? It’s hard to say, but there may be some science to support this theory. Wine is rich in flavonoids, which are antioxidants that have a number of beneficial effects on the body, including soothing inflamed tissue.

Use wine to clean wine

You’re at a dinner party, and an enthusiastic hand gesture knocks your glass of red wine over right onto the host’s new white carpet. What to do? Grab the nearest glass of white wine – not to help you forget your embarrassment, but to pour onto the red wine stain. Flood the stain and then blot it up immediately with a towel.

Help your heart

The antioxidants and reservatrol found in red wine make this alcoholic beverage healthy for your heart. Studies have shown that a moderate intake of red wine can increase levels of ‘good’ cholesterol, protecting against artery damage. If ever there was a better reason to make sure your wine doesn’t go sour in the first place, this is it.

Meat marinade

Not only does red wine make steak extra-flavorful, it may reduce cancer-causing compounds naturally found in meats. Frying and grilling meat at high temperatures turns sugars and amino acids of muscle tissue into carcinogenic compounds, but marinating steak in red wine for at least six hours before cooking can reduce two types of carcinogens by up to 90 percent. Use about a cup of red wine, a cup of olive oil and the seasonings of your choice like garlic, parsley and peppercorns.

Turn it into jelly

Your choice of wine, some sugar and a pouch of liquid pectin are all it takes to make a customized flavor of wine jelly. Who wouldn’t like a little homemade champagne jelly with strawberries on their morning toast? Instructables has the details, which simply requires a few pots and some canning jars.

Relieve dyspepsia

While wine itself can be the culprit of heartburn in some people, it can actually cure it in others. At least, that’s according to old European folk wisdom, which advocates drinking a glass of light white wine, which has low alcohol content. Some types of white wines contain added sodium bicarbonate – otherwise known as baking soda, a proven heartburn remedy – to temper acidity, so that might explain it.

Make red wine reduction

If you’re left with just a little bit of a wine you don’t particularly like, try turning it into an extra flavorful sauce that pairs beautifully with steak (and Portabello mushrooms, for vegetarians.) Red wine reduction sounds fancy, but it’s actually pretty easy. This recipe from Cooking Light uses broth, wine, shallots and tomato paste.

Boost brainpower

Two new studies have shown that polyphenols in wine (and chocolate!) increase blood flow and oxygen to the brain, boosting cognitive ability. The effect gets even more beneficial as you age, since there is a natural reduction in blood supply around the brain later in life. All the more reason to have a glass of ‘medicine’ and a little dessert every chance you get.

Improve health… in space

Okay, so maybe it’s not all that practical for most of us, but this is definitely an unusual use for wine. Studies at the University of Strasbourg in France found that reservatrol in red wine could help temper the adverse health effects of zero gravity. When they’re just floating around on lengthy missions, astronauts lose muscle and bone density, but reservatrol may inhibit these effects. And what’s cooler than sipping a glass of Chianti while gazing down at the Earth from a space ship?

Slow the aging process

Does reservatrol slow aging or not? There’s some debate as to just how much of a benefit we really get from drinking a glass of red wine every day, as recommended by many experts. “As an anti-aging device, it’s as good as it gets,” says Dr. Richard A. Baxter, stating that drinking red wine in moderation is the most important thing you can do to slow the aging process other than not smoking. “A glass a day and your skin will glow.”

Turn it into vinegar

If all else fails, you can always let nature take its course and turn that leftover wine into vinegar. Just leave an opened, 3/4 full bottle of wine out for a few weeks and it will transform on its own. You can also make vinegar from wine in larger quantities by pouring a quart of wine and a cup of vinegar into a sterilized wide-mouthed glass jug, capping it off but opening it for 30 minutes per day. It’s ready when the thick, jelly-like ‘mother’ sinks to the bottom. Just keep adding more wine as you use it.

Power Prince Charles’ Aston Martin

If you’re loaded like Prince Charles, you can use wine to power your ultra-pricey vintage Aston Martin. The British king-in-waiting converted his 38-year-old car to run on biofuel made from surplus wine as a way to reduce his carbon emissions. Of course, we plebes can apply this to our own lives (and less fancy cars) by purchasing pre-made wine bio-ethanol or even possibly making it ourselves.

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Photos: photoskate, roland.lakis, sling@flickr, sdbaywinefoodfest

The post 20 Unusual Uses for Wine appeared first on EcoSalon.

Clean energy, public transit and local food make these 10 big cities the greenest of them all.

Honking cars emit foul black clouds, skyscrapers blot out the sun, litter lines the gutters and healthy green space can be hard to come by. But in many of America’s biggest cities, these negative traits are being eclipsed by clean, efficient public transit, bike-friendly infrastructure, multiplying trees, reliance on renewable energy and a fierce pride in locally-produced products. Slashing greenhouse gas emissions and coming close to zero waste is no easy feat for a metropolis with a population of at least 250,000, but these 10 cities – from Boston to San Francisco – prove that sustainability is possible on the largest of scales, in good economic times and bad.

10. Boston, Massachusetts

Representing the entire East Coast in impressive renewable energy stats, Boston boosted its solar power with the Solar Boston program and counts wind among its top three sources of electricity, with a turbine on city hall and more slated for several public schools. Other big plans include turning fall leaves and other yard clippings into power and fertilizer with a new biogas facility, and using recycled trash to power homes. For those residents who don’t rely exclusively on the nation’s most utilized public transportation systems, taxis will soon be another green option as they’re all required to go hybrid by 2015. New bike lanes and 250 bike racks have increased Boston’s pedal power, and the city saves a whopping $400,000 a year thanks to LED traffic lights.

9. Denver, Colorado

The Mile-High City is an outdoor wonderland with 14,000 acres of parkland in the mountains, 200 parks within the city limits, 850 miles of dedicated bike trails and 29 recreation centers. Denver preserves and protects its active, natural heritage with conservation measures like a no-pesticide policy in its parks and the Mile-High Million program, which plans to plant one million trees in the metropolitan area by 2025. For a city in a semi-arid region, Denver is adept at managing its water consumption, offering residents incentives to keep their usage down. Any concrete going into new city projects must be green, and Denver has also made some significant renewable energy goals, hoping to run on 20 percent wind power by 2020.

8. San Jose, California

Maybe it’s not California’s best-known or most-beloved city, but San Jose deserves some serious accolades for its clean-tech goals and innovations. Angling for the title of clean tech capital of America, San Jose has already created over 25,000 jobs in green industries and actively works to lure green businesses to the city. In fact, after Tesla Motors relocated its headquarters there in 2009, San Jose began rapidly developing infrastructure for electric vehicles including plug-in charging stations. It’s home to many of the nation’s top solar manufacturers as well as the world’s largest testing facility for solar products.

In a bid to become a zero-waste city, San Jose has managed to divert 62 percent of its waste to recycling and plans to reuse 100 percent of its waste water for landscaping within the next 15 years. The city’s Green Vision plan also includes a goal to reduce per capita energy use by 50 percent and get 100 percent of its energy from renewable sources within the same time period.

7. Oakland, California

Hop on a zero-emissions bus for a tour of one of America’s model green cities, checking out dozens of urban farms, renewable energy projects and a wide variety of eco-friendly businesses. Oakland is working to rise above high levels of unemployment and poverty to position itself as a leader in sustainability, particularly in the areas of local food, green jobs and renewable energy. Taking cues from its bigger Bay Area sister San Francisco (and sometimes even eclipsing it), Oakland gets 17% of its energy from renewable sources like hydroelectric, biomass and wind, and in 2007, it won the City Solar Award from NorCal Solar for having more solar power wattage than any other big city in Northern California.

The city aims to lower its greenhouse gas emissions to 36 percent below 2005 levels by the year 2020, the most ambitious target in the nation. It’s also home to Van Jones’ Ella Baker Center, one of several local organizations that focuses on training low-income adults for jobs in green industries.

6. Austin, Texas

Austin may be best known for its vibrant music scene, but this city shines just as bright in the sustainability arena. Not only is Texas’ capital city bicycle and pedestrian friendly, with plenty of mass transit and even hybrid plug-in stations, but its building codes encourage green practices and home energy audits are mandatory when selling a house. Austin is also the largest local government to run on 100% renewable energy, and by 2020 the city aims to have 30% of its residential, commercial and industrial energy consumption shifted to clean sources.

Birthplace of Whole Foods, Austin is brimming with organic restaurants and natural food stores, including America’s first zero-waste, packaging-free grocery store, In.gredients. If you’ve never been there and imagine the entire state of Texas as a dusty wasteland full of tumbleweeds, banish that notion from your mind, at least as it pertains to Austin – this city is surprisingly lush, offering stunning outdoor settings for biking, kayaking, swimming or just relaxing.

5. New York, New York

The fact that the Big Apple can compete with much smaller cities like Austin and Oakland is reason enough to land it in the top five greenest cities. It’s undoubtedly no easy task to keep a teeming metropolis of over 8 million residents from turning into an environmental nightmare, and while New York City can’t boast quite the same statistics on clean air or water conservation, it excels in public transportation and does surprisingly well on greenhouse gases and public park space. It’s the city’s very density that makes it so efficient, with just 20 percent of the population driving their own vehicles on a regular basis. Tall, jam-packed skyscrapers are more energy efficient than single-family homes, and of course, they use up a lot less land. Mayor Michael Bloomberg is further kicking up the city’s eco credentials with tree-planting programs, hybrid taxis and a program that phases out heavy heating oils.

4. Chicago, Illinois

Boardwalks, parks, nature centers, organic restaurants, green hotels and lots of eco-friendly shops: Chicago definitely has a lot to boast about.  The United Nations chose it as one of just two U.S. cities for UN-Habitat’s 100 Cities Initiative for its work over the past two decades addressing climate change and healthier, greener living in general. Since 1989 the city has seen 500,000 trees planted, 10,000 bike racks installed, 114 miles of bike lanes established and 900 acres of abandoned, polluted land returned to productive use.

Chicago’s City Hall boasts a stunning rooftop garden, adding to more than 2.5 million square feet of green roofs within the city limits – more than all other U.S. cities combined. A downtown airport was demolished to make way for a 100-acre park, adding to the city’s reputation as a testing ground for reducing the urban heat island effect. The city is also making headway on a 2008 climate goal that aims to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 80 percent come 2050.

3. Seattle, Washington

All of those waterways surrounding Seattle don’t just give it its postcard-perfect beauty and contribute to its wet, mild climate – they also provide over 90 percent of the city’s power in the form of hydroelectricity, and more low-impact hydropower plants are planned to reduce impact on wildlife like salmon. The city’s two global warming initiatives, Seattle Climate Action Now and Seattle Climate Partnership, have distributed thousands of home energy efficiency kits to residents and urged over 100 local businesses to reduce their greenhouse gas emissions. And when something like blackberry brambles threaten to overtake Seattle City Light’s substations, the utility employs a chemical-free solution: goats.

2. Portland, Oregon

Seattle’s carbon-neutral electricity makes it the star of the Pacific Northwest when it comes to climate change, but Portland has it beat in all-around sustainability and green living. A quarter of Portland’s workforce commutes by bike, carpool or public transportation with about 9,000 city residents biking downtown every day. The first city to adopt a climate change action plan, Portland offers free plug-in parking spots for electric vehicles and has more LEED-certified residential towers than any other city in the U.S. Portland is beating back sprawl with zoning regulations that encourage dense urban growth while leaving farmland for agricultural use. And on top of all of this, Portland has rightfully earned a reputation as a laid-back, eco-friendly place to live thanks in part to a lively local food and beer scene.

1. San Francisco, California

While Portland and Seattle are snapping at its heels, San Francisco manages to hang on to its title as the greenest city in America for a number of reasons, not the least of which is that city residents seem to have concern for the environment encoded into their DNA. Voters routinely approve aggressive green programs like banning plastic grocery bags and financing renewable energy for public facilities. San Francisco diverts a jaw-dropping 70 percent of its waste thanks to mandatory recycling and composting, and urban farms produce 20 times more food than the city’s residents can consume in a year. Nearly half of all San Francisco residents bike, walk or take public transit every day. Despite being more populated, San Francisco has a lower annual output of greenhouse gases than its Pacific Northwest competition, and is on track to reach its goal of 20 percent below 1990 levels by 2012.

Images: Tony the Misfit, Manu_H, dherrera_96, Wikimedia Commons, Ella Baker Center, Andreanna Moya, njt4148, compujeramey, wordridden, periwinklekog, kevincole

The post Hard Economic Times Be Damned: 10 U.S. Cities Make Their Own Green appeared first on EcoSalon.

EcoSalon’s 30 favorite quotes about animals.

Whether you’re an aspiring crazy cat lady or partial to the clumsy wet-nosed affections of a dog, a conscious meat eater or a passionate animal-defending vegetarian, it’s hard not to be touched and inspired by animals and the unique connection that we have with them as humans. These 30 quotes from Ghandi, David Sedaris, Paul McCartney and many more illustrate some of the most poignant, uplifting and funny things people have to say about animals.

The animals of the world exist for their own reasons. They were not made for humans any more than black people were made for white, or women created for men. – Alice Walker

Life is as dear to a mute creature as it is to man. Just as one wants happiness and fears pain, just as one wants to live and not die, so do other creatures. – The Dalai Lama

Happiness is a warm puppy. – Charles M. Schulz

I wish outer space guys would conquer the Earth and make people their pets, because I’d like to have one of those little beds with my name on it. – Jack Handey

Heaven goes by favor. If it went by merit, you would stay out and your dog would go in. – Mark Twain

Animals never worry about Heaven or Hell. Neither do I. Maybe that’s why we get along. – Charles Bukowski, The Last Night of the Earth Poems

Dogs come when they’re called; cats take a message and get back to you later. – Mary Bly

The greatness of a nation and its moral progress can be judged by the way its animals are treated. – Mahatma Ghandi

I ask people why they have deer heads on their walls. They always say because it’s such a beautiful animal. There you go. I think my mother is attractive, but I have photographs of her. – Ellen DeGeneres

Animals are such agreeable friends – they ask no questions, they pass no criticisms. – George Eliot

You can judge a man’s true character by the way he treats his fellow animals. – Paul McCartney

If you pick up a starving dog and make him prosperous he will not bite you. This is the principal difference between dog and man. – Mark Twain

Were the walls of our meat industry to become transparent, literally or figuratively, we would not long continue to raise, kill and eat animals the way we do. – Michael Pollan, The Omnivore’s Dilemma: A Natural History of Our Meals

Animals are my friends – and I don’t eat my friends. – George Bernard Shaw

Look, PETA! If God hadn’t wanted us to eat animals, he wouldn’t have made them so darn tasty! – Stephen Colbert

Our task must be to free ourselves… by widening our circle of compassion to embrace all living creatures and the whole of nature and its beauty. – Albert Einstein

Blackbird singing in the dead of night, take these broken wings and learn to fly. All your life, you were only waiting for this moment to arise. – The Beatles

If language naturally evolves to serve the needs of tiny rodents with tiny rodent brains, then what’s unique about language isn’t the brilliant humans who invented it to communicate high-level abstract thoughts. What’s unique about language is that the creatures who develop it are highly vulnerable to being eaten. – Temple Grandin

The bee is more honored than other animals, not because she labors, but because she labors for others. – Saint John Chrysostom

When I was a kid, if a guy got killed in a western movie I always wondered who got his horse. – George Carlin

I am in favor of animal rights as well as human rights. That is the way of a whole human being. – Abraham Lincoln

Time spent with cats is never wasted. – Sigmund Freud

We should have each other to tea huh? We should have each other with cream, then curl up in the fire and sleep for a while – it’s the grooviest thing, it’s the perfect dream. – The Cure, ‘The Lovecats’

I love things made out of animals. It’s just so funny to think of someone saying, ‘I need a letter opener. I guess I’ll have to kill a deer.’ – David Sedaris

If a dog will not come to you after having looked you in the face, you should go home and examine your conscience. – Woodrow Wilson

Animals, whom we have made our slaves, we do not like to consider our equal. – Charles Darwin

Outside of a dog, a book is man’s best friend. Inside of a dog it’s too dark to read. – Groucho Marx, The Essential Groucho

Animals have these advantages over men: they have no theologians to instruct them, their funerals cost them nothing, and no one starts lawsuits over their wills. – Voltaire

True human goodness, in all its purity and freedom, can come to the fore only when its recipient has no power. Mankind’s true moral test, its fundamental test (which is deeply buried from view), consists of its attitude toward those who are at its mercy: animals. – Milan Kundera, The Unbearable Lightness of Being

Everyone’s pet is the most outstanding. This begets mutual blindness. – Jean Cocteau

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The post All Creatures Great and Small: 30 Best Quotes About Animals appeared first on EcoSalon.

These 10 people have unintentionally hilarious things to say about global warming.

We don’t need to save the planet, because Jesus already did it – or so says Michele Bachmann, current presidential candidate and one of America’s 10 most notorious global warming deniers. Sarah Palin calls the science behind anthropogenic climate change “snake oil,” and Texas Representative Joe Barton contends that carbon dioxide can’t ever be a bad thing, because it’s in Coca-Cola. These, ladies and gentleman, are the politicians, commentators, columnists and businesspeople who most ardently (and hilariously) shout from the mountaintops that global warming just isn’t happening. Their words speak for themselves.

Senator James Inhofe, Oklahoma

According to Republican Senator James Inhofe of Oklahoma, ranking member of the United States Senate Committee on Environment and Public Works, global warming is “the greatest hoax ever perpetrated on the American people.” That’s right, the man who leads a crucial government committee responsible for dealing with matters related to the environment is a staunch global warming denier. Inhofe, who bases many of his views on the writings of Jurassic Park novelist Michael Crichton (more on that later), is primarily responsible for a report claiming that “Over 400 prominent scientists from more than two dozen countries recently voiced significant objections to major aspects of the so-called ‘consensus’ on man-made global warming.” Too bad the majority of those ‘scientists’ turned out to be highly suspect, with many connected to fossil fuel industries and many more possessing no apparent expertise in climate science. That report, still used by climate skeptics to this day as supposed proof that there is no consensus among scientists on climate change, has been thoroughly debunked.

“Above all, the media must roll back this mantra that there is scientific ‘consensus of impending climatic doom as an excuse to ignore recent science,” Inhofe said in a 2006 press release. “After all, there was a so-called scientific ‘consensus’ that there were nine planets in our solar system until Pluto was recently demoted.”

Rep. Michele Bachmann, Minnesota

Current GOP presidential candidate Michele Bachmann, a U.S. Representative from Minnesota, believes that climate change can’t really be happening, because carbon dioxide is natural. Or something. As she remarked on the House floor on Earth Day 2009, “It occurs in Earth. It is a part of the regular life cycle of Earth. In fact, life on planet Earth can’t even exist without carbon dioxide. So necessary is it to human life, to animal life, to plant life, to the oceans, to the vegetation that’s on the Earth, to the, to the fowl that – that flies in the air, we need to have carbon dioxide as part of the fundamental life cycle of Earth.”

That’s not her only argument. Bachmann agrees with Inhofe in that global warming is one big trick orchestrated by greedy environmentalists and scientists who want more grant money. “The big thing we are working on now is the global warming hoax,” she told Minnesota Public Radio. “It’s all voodoo, nonsense, hokum, a hoax.”

Of course, this is the woman who once told Rep. Nancy Pelosi that she might as well give up the fight against climate change, because Jesus has this thing covered. “[Pelosi] is committed to her global warming fanaticism to the point where she has said she’s just trying to save the planet. We all know that someone did that over 2,000 years ago, they saved the planet – we didn’t need Nancy Pelosi to do that.”

Governor Rick Perry, Texas

“The idea that we would put America’s economy at jeopardy based on scientific theory that’s not settled yet to me is just nonsense,” said GOP presidential candidate and Texas governor Rick Perry at a presidential debate in September. “Just because you have a group of scientists who stood up and said here is the fact. Galileo got outvoted for a spell.” Perry is, of course, referring to the Italian Renaissance astronomer who was outcast as a heretic when he disagreed with the consensus that the sun revolves around Earth.

These quotes reaffirmed Perry’s earlier statements, when he told an audience of voters in New Hampshire that global warming is just too expensive to deal with. “I don’t think, from my perspective, that I want America to be engaged in spending that much money on what is still a scientific theory that hasn’t been proven, and from my perspective is more and more being put into question.”

Donald Trump, Businessman

There are few subjects upon which Donald Trump isn’t willing to yell his red-faced, weird-hair-ruffling opinion, whether we asked him or not. So naturally, the reality television star and repeatedly bankrupt businessman has a few things to say about global warming. You see, it’s been snowing in the winter. So, as the billionaire told an audience of 500 at a country club in February 2010, Al Gore – perpetual bullseye for climate change deniers – should be stripped of his Nobel Peace Prize.

“With the coldest winter ever recorded, with snow setting record levels up and down the coast, the Nobel committee should take the Nobel Prize back from Al Gore,” he said, adding “Gore wants us to clean up our factories… when China and other countries couldn’t care less… China, Japan and India are laughing at America’s stupidity.” Indeed, Donald, many people are laughing at America’s stupidity.

Sarah Palin, Former Governor of Alaska

On the rare occasion when the words that come out of former Alaska governor and vice presidential candidate Sarah Palin’s mouth form coherent sentences, they still don’t make much sense. Back in 2008, before she quit her job mid-term, the proud moose hunter led the state of Alaska in a lawsuit against the federal government, stating that the listing of polar bears as a threatened species would cripple oil and gas development.

Speaking about the federal government’s decision to a group of loggers in 2010, Palin said, “We knew the bottom line… was ultimately to shut down our development. And it didn’t make sense because it was based on these global warming studies that we’re now seeing (is) a bunch of snake oil science.” The one-time Fox News talking head did not specify the studies that led her to this conclusion, probably because very few credible ones exist.

Michael Crichton, Author

He has one of the most recognizable names in the history of American fiction, responsible for such mega-hits as the TV medical drama ER. But what you might not know about Michael Crichton is that he was an ardent denier of global warming, writing a seriously misleading techno-thriller called State of Fear that attacks climate science and even advising former President George W. Bush not to address global warming.

Though Crichton studied medicine as a student at Harvard, the author had no experience in climate science. This didn’t stop him from claiming that State of Fear was written “on a firm foundation of actual research challenging common assumptions about global warming.” The book argues that the environmental and scientific communities totally fabricated the threat, portraying all environmentalists in a consistently negative light and using the story to smear real-life scientist James Hansen. This work of fiction remains a major influence on the thinking of many prominent climate change skeptics.

Steve Milloy, Fox News Commentator

He’s a Fox News commentator, founder of a website called JunkScience.com and author of a book called Green Hell: How Environmentalists Plan to Control Your Life and What You Can Do to Stop Them. So you can probably already imagine the kinds of comments that Steve Milloy has to make about global warming. Milloy, a former lobbyist for fossil fuel and nuclear energy, pesticides and the National Mining Association, recently offered a $500,000 prize to anyone who can “prove, in a scientific manner, that humans are causing harmful global warming.” What’s the catch? “JunkScience.com, at its sole discretion, will determine the winner, if any.”

As reported by DeSmogBlog, Milloy proclaims himself to be a pioneer fighting against “faulty scientific data used to advance special, and often hidden, agendas.” Funny that Milloy doesn’t mention his own special interests and connections, including years of funding from major tobacco companies like Philip Morris. Milloy is also an adjunct analyst for the conservative thinktank CEI, Competitive Enterprise Intitute, a global warming disinformation machine that is partially funded by Exxon Mobil.

Rep. Joe Barton, Texas

Known as “Smokey Joe” for his opposition to the Clean Air Act and his efforts on behalf of polluters, Texas Representative Joe Barton famously argued against wind power because harnessing the wind would “slow the winds down,” effectively causing “the temperature to go up.” But that doesn’t mean he supports efforts to fight global warming, which he calls “a triumph over good sense and science.” Climate change is natural, he says, and in response, we should just “get shade.”

In fact, Barton argues, carbon dioxide is obviously harmless since it carbonates beverages. In opposition to the Waxman-Markey bill that aimed to cap CO2 emissions, Barton stated, “I’m creating it as I talk to you. It’s in your Coca-Cola, your Dr. Pepper and your Perrier water. It’s necessary for human life. It’s odorless, colorless, tasteless, doesn’t cause cancer, doesn’t cause asthma. There’s nobody that’s ever been admitted to a hospital because of CO2 poisoning.”

George Will, Columnist at the Washington Post

Among the most reliable sources of global warming disinformation is Washington Post columnist George Will, who regularly rails against “global warming alarmism” armed with misleading quotes selected from 1970’s newspaper articles about global cooling. Criticizing a 2010 error by the U.N. Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) on the retreat of Himalayan glaciers, Will himself offered a number of incorrect statements and misrepresented data as supposed proof that there is no scientific consensus on glacial retreat. Even after his distortions were revealed, Will continued to claim that he “accurately reported” the contents on an Arctic Climate Research Center document on declining sea ice, ignoring widespread calls for better fact-checking. These supposed facts are then repeated ad nauseam by climate change skeptics, entering the vast mythology of supposed scientific data supporting their views.

Glenn Beck, Radio Host

“Al Gore’s not going to be rounding up Jews and exterminating them. It is the same tactic, however. The goal is different. The goal is globalization… and you must silence all dissenting voices. That’s what Hitler did. That’s what Al Gore, the U.N., and everybody on the global warming bandwagon [are doing].”

Would you expect anything less from Glenn Beck, the chalk-wielding, sobbing former Fox television personality? The weird thing is, after years of making claims like these, repeating the popular refrain among his conservative buddies that global warming is “the biggest scam in history,” Beck went and gave an interview to USA Weekend in which he said “You’d be an idiot not to notice the temperature change,” admitting that there’s a legitimate case that global warming has been caused, at least in part, by mankind. Then again, Beck himself says “If you take what I say as gospel, you’re an idiot.”

Photos: dawn, wikimedia commons 1, 2, gage skidmore 1 2 3 4 5, lifeisaprayer, junkscience.com, scott ableman

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