This week’s link love features some style tips for wearing white to the gym, awesome news for cyclists in LA and just how many people are vaccinating their children.

What do you wear when working out? Get some tips on how to workout wearing whites. It’s totally possible. [via Well+GoodNYC]

These awesome crowdsourced maps make urban foraging safer and easier. [via Eat Drink Better]

Los Angeles now has a designated bike district. And it’s awesome. [via Treehugger]

This interactive map shows you just how many people aren’t vaccinating their children in your state. [via Mother Jones]

We’re not sure we understand. But we’re sure we love it. Fiona Apple to appear in a French TV show about superheroes. [via Pitchfork]

Related on EcoSalon

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Link Love: Winter Tea from Trees + Love Hacking + The Best Detox Books

Image via Pitchfork

The post Link Love: Urban Foraging Gets Easier + Work Out in White + Fiona Apple is Now a Superhero? appeared first on EcoSalon.

A round-up of what we’re reading right now. 

Premarital sex isn’t for the impure, it’s actually a choice of morality. [Via The Guardian]

Raw this, raw that; unpasteurized milk is popular, but is it really that good for you? [Via Mother Jones]

Think vegan restaurants are full of carrots and dreadlocks? Think again. In Los Angeles, the clientele is powerful and well-heeled.  [Via New York Times]

The GOP really does understand how women’s bodies work. [Via Feministing]

Take a deep breath and relax: six breathing exercises that will help you de-stress in 10 minutes or less. [Via Greatist]

The fashion question of the day: can you grow a leather jacket in a lab? [Via The Week]

A mobile espresso machine built on a bike? We’ll take a double shot. [Via Treehugger]

Is the internet really making us dumber? Maybe, maybe not. [Via Spiegel]

Vogue pledges not to use models under the age of 16, and then manages to break its own rule. [Via Refinery29]

You know the disappointment that comes from drinking a bad bottle of wine? Be glad you don’t live in the 16th century when wine bottles filled with witch urine was apparently a problem. [Via Mental Floss]

Image: LeonArts.at

The post Link Love: Premarital Sex is Moral, Growing a Leather Jacket in a Lab and Whether or Not the Internet is Making Us Dumber appeared first on EcoSalon.

A round-up of what we’re reading right now. 

An editor of a luxury magazines claims that the “only good cyclist is a dead one.” Madness ensues. [Via Bike Biz]

Want to be more productive in your job? Get out of the office and start working from home. [Via Wired]

Men vs. women: who is healthier? [Via Organic Authority]

Hear about the study finding “no significant health benefit” to organic food? Here is Michael Pollan’s response. [Via KQED]

Snail shell miniature gardens: yes you will want to make this. [Via Treehugger]

Planning a trip to Portland? Then you will need a guide to the 20 best coffeehouses and roasters. [Via Eater]

Trip planning for river lovers: the top 10 river towns in America. [Via Outside]

Help support art as activism, with a photo exhibit that captures the beauty of real life in Afghanistan. [Via Kickstarter]

If there are still Republicans people out there that are confused about how reproduction works, this video from the 1940s should explain it. [Via The Atlantic]

Co-ops aren’t just for hippies, they’re responsible business models. [Via GOOD]

What does our actual human footprint look like? A visualization of the density levels and population size of 129 metropolitan regions gives us an idea. [Via LSE Cities]

Image: Ian Sane

The post Link Love: The ‘Only Good Cyclist is a Dead One,’ Sex Education from the 1940s, and Why People That Work From Home Are More Productive appeared first on EcoSalon.

A round-up of what we’re reading right now. 

In the mood for better sex dreams? Change your sleeping position. [Via Women’s Health]

Want to impress at your next dinner party? Build your own picnic table to sit at.  [Via Curbly]

The Brooklyn food scene is hot, and what better way to explore it than with a full guide from an expert. [Via Big Girls Small Kitchen]

To say that the Dalai Lama is a wise man would be an understatement. But he also gets social media. 10 gems from his Twitter feed. [Via Ecorazzi]

Cut expenses and toxic chemicals by making your own detergent; it’s easier than you might think. [Via Organic Authority]

An invisible bike helmet? Yes, you read that correctly. [Via MNN]

Hey Todd Akin: a woman is more than twice as likely to get pregnant during a rape than during consensual sex. [Via Popular Science]

If you have a thing for living walls, you’ll love Reykjavik’s City Hall. [Via Treehugger]

Just what do you need to know about Paul Ryan? His take on tax cuts, reductions in social programs and much much more. [Via LearnVest]

Got your eye on late summer glamping? Here are some tips from a pro. [Via CasaSugar]

Image: Jenny Kristina Nilsson

The post Link Love: How to Have Better Sex Dreams, Build a Picnic Table and Be as Wise as the Dalai Lama appeared first on EcoSalon.

A round-up of what we’re reading right now.

Music and food: two of our absolutely favorite things. Here’s a list of 10 cities that are known for both. [Via Gourmet Live]

The sun’s out! You should probably be making an upcycled pallet planter about now. [Via Organic Authority]

If you’re in NYC, the Bicycle Film Festival starts today. [Via Bicycle Film Festival]

Doing good work from home means staying focused, and turning off email notifications happens to be one of them. [Via Unclutterer]

Your taste in music really does say something about you as a person. [How About We]

Getting trucks off the street, one pedal-assist cargo bike at a time. [Via Treehugger]

What would we do without the many benefits and versatility of coconut oil? [Via Stylelist]

Admit it, at one time, you wanted to look like Meg Ryan in Sleepless in Seattle, didn’t you? The best looks from Nora Ephron films. [Via Lucky Magazine]

Image: Bill Oriani

The post Link Love: 10 Cities Known for Music and Food and How to Stay Focused When Working at Home appeared first on EcoSalon.

A round-up of what we’re reading right now.

An economic burden on people and governments? Yes, we’re talking about same-sex marriage bans. [Via TakePart]

Can a fast food chain ever really adopt a Slow Food approach? We think not, McDonalds. [Via Grist]

In New Orleans, an old mayonnaise factory is turned into an arts incubator, complete with recycled tires for insulation.  [Via Curbed]

Art is a powerful force. Here’s another example in temporary street art that promotes peace. [Via Treehugger]

Is there a cleaner gender? That is debatable, but as it turns out, men’s offices have more bacteria. [Via National Geographic]

Image: TakePart

The post Link Love: The Economics of Same-Sex Marriage Bans and Fast Food Going Slow appeared first on EcoSalon.

A round-up of what we’re reading right now.

NASCAR and environmentalism? Stranger partnerships have happened… we think. [via Triple Pundit] 

Bill Clinton weighs less than he did in high school, and he has veganism to thank. [via Girlie Girl Army]

Looking to clear out your refrigerator? This vegetarian African peanut stew includes everything but the kitchen sink. [via Big Girls Small Kitchen]

Treehugger founder Graham Hill’s minimalist 420-square-foot studio incorporates every space-saving tip in the book. [via Curbed]

Before you dedicate your next vacation to playing with orphans or building a school, ask yourself if “voluntourism” is really the best way to make a difference. [via HuffPost Impact]

We always thought it was strange that Election Day falls on a Tuesday. Turns out, the answer is as dated as the horse and buggy. [via Take Part]

Image: The U.S. Army

The post Link Love: Vegan Diets and Voluntourism appeared first on EcoSalon.

#frenchiehumor
Why French Women Are Superior
from Paul Rudnick at the New Yorker

#dontusechickenbroth
How to Date a Vegetarian
from Lauren Passell at The Frisky

#getanotherlanguage
Being Bilingual Makes You Smarter
from Yudhijit Bhattacharjee at the New York Times

#becausebikelanesmakecommies
Tennessee Stops Agenda 21 and Sustainable Development
by Lloyd Alter at Treehugger

#avoidliketheplague
7 Foods You Should Never Eat
by Lacy Boggs Renner at Organic Authority

Want more? Catch all our recommended reads in the We Heart This section, updated daily. Want to tip your editors? Send links to tips@ecosalon.com

The post Superior Frenchness, Veggie Dating & Never-Edible Foods appeared first on EcoSalon.

ColumnFrito Lay may be a natural at greenwash, but they’re not green.

The other day, when a banner ad touting the greening of SunChips popped up on the granddaddy of green blogs, Treehugger, we were dismayed and confused.

It goes like this: Treehugger = the green original. Sunchips is a Frito Lay brand. Frito Lay is owned by Pepsico. What’s wrong with this match made in HTML? Frito Lay/Pepsico are masters at greenwashing. To see a green ad for one of their brands show up on a blog that is considered to be the moral authority of environmentalism is fairly demoralizing.

I don’t know what Treehugger’s ad policy is or if that ad is displaying as part of a package (our editor did some digging and it appears to be a Discovery network campaign; Discovery is Treehugger’s parent company). Sometimes, with ad networks, what ads pop up is at least temporarily beyond a publisher’s control. But giving space to a Pepsico brand lends an air of credibility that just smells bad. Here’s why.

1. Pepsico wants to keep America hooked on sugar and junk food.

Despite what the marketing arm says about wanting to help people eat better, PepsiCo spent $3.6 million in the first quarter of 2011 alone on lobbying to combat legislation to tax sugar-sweetened drinks.

2. Pepsico’s Refresh Project is just a line item in the company’s ad budget and a strategy to get its brand logos in front of a many children as possible.

In 2010, Pepsico decided to forgo spending millions to go up against rival Coke during the Super Bowl, in favor of a new $20 million social media-leveraged campaign that provides cash grants for community improvement projects, including many in public schools. Though the campaign has come under fire by good food advocates, notably Michele Simon, some socially conscious blogs, such as Tonic, have breathlessly praised the project. I find it depressing that public schools, parks, and programs are so thoroughly defunded that community groups must scramble for coins tossed by disreputable corporations to repair infrastructure that should be publicly funded.

3. Frito Lay is nothing more than a “corn launderer” with a big ad budget.

Snack food company Frito Lay practically exists to utilize the overproduction of corn that is the pillar of our farm subsidy system. They are masters at transforming corn kernels into any number of syrups, solids, powers, and masses and then reconstituting them into snack foods (see number 6 below) that generate huge marketing budgets for campaigns to convince consumers that the foods are healthy.

4. Frito Lay works humorously hard to convince consumers their products are healthy and “natural.”

Last week Frito Lay conducted a PR stunt in Times Square to prove to consumers that “fully half” of its products are “all natural” (see numbers 7 and 8 below).

5. Most Frito Lay products are anything but healthy, though they all benefit from the halo of health-driven advertising/PR efforts.

Company officials admit that they will not be making any changes to best-selling Doritos and Cheetos snacks. I live near a school and I see children walking to school eating these things for breakfast.

6. The incredible almost-onion Funyuns.

You might be forgiven for thinking that Flaming Hot Funyuns contain onions. A gander at the ingredient label shows lists 39 ingredients, of which at least seven are corn derivatives. The remaining ingredients include MSG, artificial colors Red 40 lake and Yellow 6 lake (I don’t know about you, but I don’t want to swim in those lakes), sugar, disodium phosphate, and sodium diasiphate. Toward the end of the ingredient list we see onion powder. The penultimate ingredient is “extractive of onion.”

7. “Natural” doesn’t mean anything.

The FDA has not defined the word “natural” for use on product labels, nor has it regulated front of package claims. This means any claim you see on the front of the package has been defined by the company making the claim. The FDA only regulates the “nutrition facts” on the back of the label. Many companies selling processed snack and junk foods rely on the “natural” label to bolster their appeal as a harmless thing to consume.

8. The vast majority of Frito Lay’s products are not natural, anyway.

Even under Frito Lay’s definition of natural, at present, only five product lines out of 33 are listed as “natural.” Nowhere near the touted half (see number 4 above). And Sunchips isn’t even one of them. Here’s a full list of Frito Lay brands. You’re free to look at all the ingredient labels.

9. Frito Lay’s compost smells bad.

In 2010, Frito Lay got a lot of positive PR for introducing a compostable bag – for one flavor in one product line out of 33 lines. Even then, all it took was a little whining by consumers for the company to abandon the trial temporarily. Then it was revealed that the newly re-engineered quieter compostable bag was hardly compostable at all. Why bother?

10. Frito Lay is accidentally green, not proactively green.

The New York Times reported in 2007 that Frito Lay’s efforts to save energy and water, though good for the planet, are more about saving money. Of course it’s smart to save money, but their marketing would have us believe that they’re doing it for philanthropic reasons.

Remember that corporations are in business to maximize their profits and everything they do is aimed at that goal. Though some corporations may do things that benefit some people some of the time, the ultimate goal is profits. Any advertising, anywhere, should be evaluated with a critical eye.

This is the latest installment in Vanessa Barrington’s weekly column, The Green Plate, on the environmental, social, and political issues related to what and how we eat.

Image: jronaldlee via Flickr

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