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How can I have a healthier home? Less toxic products and less plastic waste!

If you are looking ways to buy smart so you can help fight climate change, consider purchasing fewer household cleaning products. Despite the constant commercial messaging from behemoth consumer product companies hawking the new-and-improved, extra-added cleaning power of their latest offerings, you don’t need that much cleaning power—or a different specialized product for every task. By cleaning with simple ingredients that you already have in your pantry such as vinegar, baking soda, and even fresh lemons, you’ll be creating a healthier home environment, reducing your environmental impact, and saving a bundle of money—all at the same time.
Toxic chemicals

Summer has finally arrived, which means that the weather is finally allowing us to throw our much beloved backyard patio parties. Planning a get-together with friends and family involves preparing supplies, food, beverages, games and sometimes even decorations (if we are getting really fancy). Although it is tempting to take a more convenient route and head to a nearby dollar store to get paper plates and plastic cutlery, or going to a fast food restaurant for a quick and ready meal, those are not the most green options. Below are five easy steps to incorporate into planning your summer backyard bash that will help to make your gatherings a bit more eco-friendly.
1) BYO dishes, utensils, cups

The current global efforts to fight climate change seem very limited, non-sufficient and inefficient. This situation can easily be related to two basic realities assumed by the international climate regime:

Reducing carbon emissions can be carried out on all levels. This could range from governments implementing new legislature attempting to curb emissions, state agencies adopting new programs and localities implementing energy efficient regulations on future projects. But have you considered the individual level plays just as an important role in the fight verse climate change? Have you thought about changing your diet to help reduce carbon emissions significantly? Not only will it reduce carbon emissions but also it will lead you toward a healthier lifestyle if you decide to replace meat with fruits and vegetables.

Did you ever consider creating a one-of-a-kind Mother's Day card with your own hands? For many years Shoppers and Hallmark were places I went to for greeting cards. I enjoyed browsing their well-lined stacks and picked the cards that matched up to how I imagined expressions should go. But no matter how close the design was to my expectation, it's never exactly the same; I always felt something was missing.
For those I care about, I hope to send them cards that fully represent me, a unique and different me, but every manufactured card has thousands duplicates out there. So I started to add a customized touch on bought cards, a sticker, smiley face, a painted flower, or a poem. And then one day I decided to make my own cards!

What is it with those eggs during Easter season? Why do we celebrate springtime with eggs, why do we color and decorate them? And what do rabbits have to do with it?
Well, as the title of this article already states it, eggs and rabbits are symbols of fertility and rebirth which corresponds to the season of spring time, where, after a long winter, everything comes alive and starts to grow again. According to the world mythology, the Germanic fertility goddess Eostra, might be the namegiver for this time of the year and she was said to have owned an egg-laying rabbit (I know, pretty weird. Try not to think too much about it... It only gives you headaches.) (The Oxford Companion to World Mythology, 2005).

The concept of ‘tiny living’ has recently grown into somewhat of a social movement all over North America. While the average size of the Canadian home is 1948 square feet, tiny homes range between 100 to 400 square feet. The fundamental idea behind this movement is sixfold – it encompasses tiny houses, environmental consciousness, self-sufficiency, lifestyle simplification, financial power and best of all, adventure. Ultimately, those who choose this lifestyle choose to make a very worthy trade between the comforts, privacy and prestige of a large home in return for a meaningful independence.

Living a healthier and more eco-friendly lifestyle is something that many strive or wish for, but do not know where exactly to begin. The resources available can be slightly overwhelming, health food stores can be intimidating, and with many living a fast-paced, work heavy lifestyle, it can be difficult to find time to fully commit. However, with the recent increase in desire to live a greener lifestyle, the accessibility of resources has grown as well.

As you probably know, the greenhouse effect is, first of all, a natural phenomenon from the sun energy which passes through the atmosphere. Approximately one third of this incoming radiation is reflected directly back to space by the earth's atmosphere and surface, 20 % is absorbed by the atmosphere (meaning gases like water vapor, carbon dioxid, methane and ozone) and the rest is absorbed by the earth's oceans and land (including plants), where it is converted into heat, warming the surface of the earth and the air above it.

On any given day around the planet we produce and dispose of countless tons of plastic or Styrofoam containers and products that are environmentally destructive and non-biodegradable, meaning that they will not readily break down in nature even over long time scales. Relatively little of this waste is recycled and is also known to contain carcinogens such as styrene in addition to being derived from petroleum, a nonrenewable resource. Adding to the problem, extremely powerful greenhouse gases known as HFCs (hydrofluorocarbons) are released during the production of Styrofoam.