The Friday Five, Vol. 22

A weekly roundup of EcoSalon’s top stories.

Anything But Shorts, Please is a fun look at a summer trend we simply cannot embrace unless hiking, biking or post surf: shorts. Instead, we give you a nice round-up of some great skirts that will love you for who you are and add a little more style when cruising about town.

EcoSalon Editor-in-Chief Sara Ost writes that DailyWorth is a “fuss-free, no-nonsense, wouldn’t-even-think-about-patronizing financial tips, guides and advice for women. From growing your savings, making your money work for you (instead of the credit card company), and ensuring you negotiate a pay raise on par with the guys, DailyWorth takes women and money seriously. Because we’ve come a long way, baby, and so have our bank accounts.” Don’t you owe it to yourself to know more about what your money can do? Read the article here to find out more.

Fast furniture retailers show no sign of slowing down, but the essence of slow furniture is something we can settle into. In Slow, Meet Furniture. Furniture, Meet Your Maker, Shelter Editor K. Emily Bond writes: “Like the slow food movement, the slow furniture movement is sweeping cities from Los Angeles to Toronto and is a reaction against mass-produced, cataloged, assemble-it-yourself, “disposable” furniture. Slower also denotes organic, as in the fabrication process is completed with human hands using sustainable materials. Slow food advocates seek a connection to the origin of each meal; slow furniture makers identify with their raw materials.”

You might have seen the headline, All We Are Saying Is Give Peas A Chance, and thought columnist Susan Goldberg was really into The Beatles – but no, she’s really into not tricking kids into eating veggies. Goldberg writes: “Besides the inherent ethical issues of deceiving one’s offspring, the problem with tricking children into eating vegetables is that they will grow up completely unaware that they have ever eaten or enjoyed a vegetable. If you steam, strain and puree spinach only to hide it in brownies, your kid will have no idea that he likes spinach – he will only know that he likes brownies. With childhood obesity at epidemic levels, do we really want to push more desserts on impressionable young people?”

In this week’s Sex By Numbers: Taking You For Granted, writer Abigail Wick encourages us to stop wasting time being so self-conscious and instead, live life to the fullest. She writes: “It’s this disproportionate focus on perceived lack that has really started to rub me the wrong way. Rather than celebrating their abundant gifts, there is a systematic zeroing-in on self-doubt. It frustrates me to see lovely, lovable female friends mired in such petty preoccupations. ‘Wake up!’ I want to scream. ‘Stop taking it for granted, stop thinking about yourself so much, stop this self-indulgence. Don’t wake up 30 years hence and rue the potential and pleasure you frittered away in a misery of your own making.’”


 

Amy DuFault

Amy DuFault is a conscious lifestyle writer, consultant and fashion instigator. She resides in Cape Cod, Massachusetts.