Eco- Friendly Home Allergy Remedies
When the weather heats up, it means that flora and fauna everywhere are going full-bloom. And, if you’re anything like me, that means allergies abound. When I have allergies and I’m all sniffly, I’m less likely to want to do anything, and it’s the best time of year to get out and enjoy! It’s very frustrating. If you don’t have a whole lot of money in your budget for allergy medicine, you can [...]
A Stroll Through My Neighborhood on Trash Day
I have a dog. He’s a great dog. Possibly the best dog ever (that’s not your dog). I actually insisted that he be the accompanying photo for this blog entry since he’s what inspired it. However, this isn’t a blog entry about my dog. It’s a blog entry about my walk through my neighborhood during trash day. How did my dog inspire this entry? Because let me assure you that nothing would cause [...]
Summer Poetry: Mary Oliver, “The Summer Day”
Take some time out to read some poetry this summer! It's one of my favorite things to do on those lazy hot days. One of my favorite poets is Mary Oliver (she wrote a book called The Poetry Handbook, which I highly recommend to people who want to learn to "read" poetry!), and "The Summer Day" is one of my favorite "prayers" to nature. Here's the poem (from the Library of [...]
Are the Summer Olympics Partly an Eco-Waste?
This summer, London will be hosting the 2012 Olympic games. This year, they are sure to be filled with moments of drama (or "The thrill of victory and the agony of defeat," as Jim McKay used to put it). While the world will be watching all of the human moments on TV or even going to the games themselves, what about the impact of all those people there? In the U.K., The Economist [...]
Satisfaction Tip: Build Your Family Tree
This past Christmas, my brother asked me for one simple gift: a subscription to Ancestry.com to help build our family tree. With both of our parents and one of our uncles on our Dad's side already gone, it was a way my brother felt like he could fill the blanks in between what our parents told us about our Mom and Dad's families. This summer you can start a cool project by yourself [...]
Tips For Saving Money This Summer With College-Bound Kids
The spring is the time of year when kids are thinking about the end of the school year, while parents are thinking about how to keep their kids busy – or even planning ahead for the future. The end of spring is the time for graduation, and many kids have been accepted to a college or two and are making some huge decisions that will affect the rest of their lives. Parents with [...]
Tips For Keeping Your Teen On A Summer Budget
With the summer coming up, there are going to be a lot of teenagers who will be looking forward to some time off from school, and – depending on their age – maybe are looking right now for a summer job like lifeguarding or even starting their first experience in retail or the service industry. Perhaps you have a child in their early teens who is too young for a job but has [...]
5 Eco Friendly Father’s Day Gift Ideas
When Father's Day comes around, are you always strapped for ideas? If you’re going to go the gift route, maybe you'd like to get something this year that's a little more environmentally friendly for dear old Dad. Of course, we've already told you about how to give alternatives to cards for birthdays or any holiday. There are plenty of ideas out there! Here are 5 thoughts for Father's Day gifts to get your [...]
How Much Should You Trust Consumer Information on the Web?
The Web has been a fantastic way to learn about anything you ever wanted to learn about, and the more people are connected, the more information is out there. Before the Internet, finding consumer information about products usually meant either going by what you'd heard about products or reading Consumer Reports to get an objective opinion on how good or safe products are. Nowadays we read consumer reviews and testimonials on the Web, [...]
Five Things to Ask Yourself Before You Knock the Cost of Food
These days, everybody is talking about the cost of food. As the discussion of America’s obesity problem ramps up, a big part of the “reason” why people are unhealthily overweight stems from the idea that less healthy food is cheaper and that food, overall, is expensive. Ask any person who’s responsible for feeding a family, and he or she will tell you that food, and in particular healthy food that’s so important, is [...]
