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Tech-ing It Too Far

By Brianne Harrison

Don’t get me wrong—I like technology. I appreciate all the things techy gadgets allow us to do now, like help find a missing dog quickly—but there are limits to my tech love, and in some pet-related areas, I think I’m starting to reach it.

On the good side, there’s this story of a man who used an iPhone app to find his 8-year-old lab Maise, who had escaped from the owner’s yard and disappeared, managing to rip off her collar in the process. Her owner, William Coxe, started by putting up flyers, and then a friend told him about a website called FindToto.com, which helps recover lost pets. Coxe accessed the site using an iPhone app, which, for a fee, also contacted 2,500 of his neighbors and left them a message with the dog’s description and Coxe’s contact info. The call finally reached the person who had Maise, and she was back home in under 2 hours. Now, that’s the power of technology!

But of course, as with anything, it can be taken a little too far. By fall, we should see not one but two gadgets out on the market that allow your dog to send tweets on Twitter. Yes, that’s right, soon your dog can spend its day tweeting away about all the fascinating things it’s doing, like sleeping and scratching behind its ear.

The first product due to be released is an iPhone app called Bowlingual. The app, which has already been released in Japan, claims to translate your dog’s barks using a special algorithm, essentially allowing your dog to “speak”. That translation can then be posted to Twitter so everyone knows your dog really wants its dinner. NOW.

The second product, which will be released by Mattel in the fall, is a tweeting dog collar known as Puppy Tweet. Put the collar on your dog and every time he or she moves, barks, or growls, it sends out a pre-programmed tweet (example: I bark because I miss you—there, now hurry home), allowing you to obsessively follow your dog’s every move throughout the day. Oh, and just in case we weren’t sure yet that dogs have become the new babies, the collar is available in two colors only: pink and blue.

Now, I love my dogs, but I don’t really feel the need to know what they’re doing every moment of the day. I know what they’re doing—sleeping, snoring loudly, and occasionally getting up to get some water to drink. Although at one point, for our own amusement, my fiancé and I dreamed up a rich fantasy life for our dogs that had them building a biplane while we were out of the house, I’m fairly sure that their lives are much duller than that. But hey, maybe my feelings just mean I don’t love them quite enough.

What do you think?

Baby Green

By Jennifer Chaky

It seems the best green products are those that take a good, old-fashioned, pre-plastic, pre-industrial-era practice and make it fresh for the modern day. One shining example of this is Lifefactory Glass bottles for babies and adults. Lifefactory took good ol' glass bottles and covered them in colorful silicone netting to protect against breakage.

Glass bottles are naturally BPA, phthalate, PVC, and polycarbonate free and the silicone sleeve is free of plastics and 100% non-toxic. The adult bottles come in one size, 22 oz. and six different colors and the baby bottles come in two sizes, 4 oz. and 9 oz. and six colors.

So simple, yet so forward-thinking too. Gotta love it.

Great Legs!

By Gerard Bochese

When people think of training their legs in the gym they always look for the leg extension machine, the leg curl machine, and the leg press machine. The reason “in the gym” is such an appropriate line in the preceding sentence is because only on these machines in a gym would your lower body ever perform these types of movement patterns.

In real life your legs do not function as they do on these machines. These machines all isolate a body part and were designed with a body-building mentality. They are, therefore, only really good for building bigger muscles (hypertrophy) and can actually set us up for injury if they’re the only equipment we use to train the legs.

Having said that, it’s fine to mix in these machines with a lower body regimen that includes much more functional exercises such as squats, lunges, and step-ups. Remember, the nervous system stores movement patterns and therefore we do not want to store incorrect or non-functional movement patterns that will be useless to us in our everyday activities.

Let’s examine how the legs function in a real-life setting and compare it to the leg extension, leg curl, and leg press machines (we will call them the “gym 3”)

When we use our legs in real life (standing, climbing stairs, skiing, playing basketball, going for a run) our feet are in contact with the ground. On the gym 3 the feet are either dangling in space or on a platform above your head or directly in front of you. These exercises do not allow you to use ground reaction forces that you encounter everyday.

In real life we must deal with gravity at all times. This means that the direction of force and weight on your legs goes from your head down toward the ground. When you are carrying things (groceries, children, heavy lumber, backpacks, etc) the force is that much greater. On the gym 3 the weight is located at the bottom at your feet. Therefore, the normal forces of gravity and the body mechanics and postures needed for a downward force are not being taken into consideration.

When we use our legs in real life our hips and knees almost always flex and extend (bend) together. We don’t isolate bending only the knee or only the hips. Think of squatting down to pick something up, getting into a car, climbing stairs, walking, and running. On the leg extension and leg curl (not the leg press) we isolate the knee joint from the hip joint. Once again, we are not training proper movement patterns that we will need to call on in everyday activities. This could potentially set us up for injury because we train the muscle in a way that they will not be used and thus, even though the muscles look strong, they will be functionally weak.

One of the most important functions of our lower body is locomotion. When we walk, run, or go down stairs, we are forced to decelerate our body weight at some point then accelerate our body weight forward. Basically, the function of the lower body during locomotion is to stop the ankle, knee and hip from bending during foot contact so that we don’t fall to the ground. Once the foot is placed on the ground the next action of the lower body is to extend the ankle, knee, and hip to create forward movement. Machine training does not train this necessary stabilization and deceleration component, nor does it train the acceleration component in a functional way (ground contact) or with correct movement patterns.

It is, therefore, essential to train the lower body with functional movements such as squats and lunges. These exercises will not only create a more efficient and dynamically strong lower body but will certainly create the great looking muscles most people are going for.

Wine, Chocolate, and Fundraising

By Brianne Harrison

Delicious wines, hors d’oevres, music, and fundraising for foster kids—sound good? You’ll find it all at Hudson County CASA’s 4th Annual Wine Tasting Fundraiser this Friday. The Wine Library of Springfield will be on hand with a tasting of more than 80 different wines, and there’ll also be a silent auction and raffle, as well as food and music. Cap off the evening with a chocolate tasting—a delicious way to end the night!

The Wine Tasting Fundraiser will be held at the Atrium at Harborside Financial Center in Jersey City. Tickets are $65 in advance and all proceeds support CASA and its mission to advocate on behalf of Hudson County’s 700+ foster children. To learn more or purchase tickets, visit hudsoncountycasa.org.

Spring Soup

By Brianne Harrison

The 70 degree days were glorious and made it easy to forget that we’re just barely into spring, which means the occasional shower and cooler weather. For me, there’s nothing better on a chilly, wet day than a nice hot bowl of soup. The recipe below is my take on kale and white bean soup. I ran out of kale and substituted a zucchini I found in the fridge, and tossed in some sausage I had in the freezer. The results were warming and delicious:

Spring Sausage Soup
½ lb turkey or chicken sausage, casings removed
1 zucchini, diced
Clove of garlic, minced
1 can white (navy) beans, drained and rinsed
4 cups chicken stock
olive oil
salt and freshly ground black pepper

1. Put a medium sized soup pot over medium heat and add just enough olive oil to coat the bottom. When heated, crumble the sausage into the pot and cook, stirring, until the sausage is browned evenly. Remove sausage to a paper towel-lined plate to drain.

2. Pour off any excess grease from the sausage and replace the pot over the heat. Add the zucchini and garlic and sauté briefly, for about 2 minutes, just until the zucchini starts to brown slightly.

3. Return the sausage to the pot and add the chicken stock. Bring the soup to a boil. Add the beans, and cook for about three minutes. Season to taste. Spoon into bowls and serve with crusty whole-grain bread.

Cook’s note: This is a highly adaptable recipe. You can replace the zucchini with chopped spinach or kale (just omit the sautéing step if you use these greens), or make this vegetarian by removing the sausage, adding more beans, and replacing the chicken stock with vegetable. Let your imagination run wild!

Healthy Roundup:
Turkey or chicken sausage has far fewer calories and less fat than pork sausage, but the same amount of protein. It’s now available at most grocery stores.

Beans, as most of us know, are high in protein and cholesterol-lowering fiber and low in fat. The high fiber content helps keep your blood sugar stable after the meal, so you feel fuller longer. They’re also a good source of folate, manganese, vitamin B1, phosphorus, copper, magnesium, and iron.

Zucchini is noted as an excellent source of manganese and vitamin C, and a very good source of magnesium, vitamin A, fiber, potassium, folate, copper riboflavin, and phosphorus. Many of these nutrients have been shown to help prevent atherosclerosis and diabetic heart disease, and the magnesium can help reduce high blood pressure and the risk of heart attack and stroke.

Bliss-ful

By Brianne Harrison

The weather’s gotten warmer (at last!) but my skin hasn’t quite caught up yet. I’ve still got winter-dry hands and probably will at least until mid-April. Luckily, I’ve found a great remedy in Bliss’ Lemon + Sage Body Butter Lite. Unlike most of the moisturizers I’ve tried, this soaks into the skin quickly, without leaving me with greasy hands that can’t grip the knob on the bathroom door. It moisturizes beautifully, and has a nice clean, fresh scent rather than the cloying scents of so many other moisturizers on the market today. If you need some serious skin therapy, Bliss also has a Lemon + Sage Body Butter, apparently their best-selling body product for 10 years. Try it out, and you’ll see why!

We're Not Buying it!

By Jennifer Chaky

The Tap Water Movement is gaining steam as more and more people become aware of the nightmare of commercially-bottled water--where natural ecosystems are destroyed, one liter of water for every liter bottled is wasted, and millions of plastic bottles are put into the waste stream- 80% of which do not get recycled. And that doesn't even address the massive amounts of energy being consumed throughout this whole ordeal- from collection to transport. And don't get me started on the chemicals being leached from the plastic bottles into the water that we drink...ugh!

Beverage companies had us convinced for a while that we needed to depend on them to have healthy drinking water. But consider this: brands like Aquafina and Dasani are reprocessed tap water from sources like the Detroit River and other municipal water supplies. Yes, companies like Coca Cola and Nestle buy plain old tap water from municipalities for the same price that citizens pay, then they sell it back to those citizens at 500 times the cost. And this to me is the greatest injustice. Water is a right for every being on Earth, not a commodity to be bought and sold. It should not ever be controlled by corporations, but we dangerously give corporations this control when we pay them for our water.

By simply drinking filtered water from your tap you take back control while doing something great for your health and the health of the natural environment. Now, all filters are not created equal. Brands like Brita and Pur are two popular ones that remove chlorine and will make your water taste better, but if you want one that removes a wide range of contaminants you need a carbon filter system like Multi-Pure water filters that come in a variety of systems and price ranges to fit your needs and budget.

So hit that tap and know what a good thing you are doing!

Core Training

By Gerard Bochese

The big buzz in fitness is core training. The problem is, most people don’t know what the core truly is. Technically it is the pelvis, abdominal wall, spine, hip complex, and rib cage and all of the 29 muscles that attach to this complex. In other words, the core is your body minus your arms, legs and head – your trunk. The core’s purpose is to work as an integrated functional unit that accelerates, decelerates, and dynamically stabilizes the body during movement.

What is interesting about exercise is that all movement must pass through the core, so technically all exercises involve some kind of core involvement. This is why training the core correctly and knowing which muscles need to be trained as core muscles is so important.

From the above definition the core is much more than the “6 pack” and only doing crunches is a far cry from core training.

There are two systems to the core:
1) Stabilization system
2) Movement system

These two systems must work together. We must work from the inside (stabilization system) out (movement system) because the stabilization system, based on its location within the body, provides direct stabilization to our spine, pelvis, and hips and the movement system does not. Therefore, training the muscles of the movement system prior to the muscles of the stabilization system (which most people do by performing crunches, bicycles, etc.) does not make structural, biomechanical or logical sense. It’s like building a house—you must have a strong foundation (core) before you can put up the frame or the house will collapse.

The four (4) key core muscles in need of stability training are:
• Deep abdominals – transverse abdominus, internal obliques – these muscles act as an internal weight belt and connect the upper and lower body.
• Hip abductors and rotators – these muscles are the foundation for leg training
• Spine stabilizers – these muscles are directly opposite the deep abdominals and also connect the upper and lower body
• Scapula stabilizers – muscles between our shoulder blades that act as the foundation for arm training.

By training these muscles to be structurally strong and have a strong endurance capacity, one is creating a stable base or platform to perform everyday tasks as well as recreational and fitness activities. When we are pushing and pulling, carrying and lifting things in the gym or the real world with our arms and legs, we need our core to be the base of support that these extremities can work off of. If the core is weak there will be compensations, postural deviations and potential injury while performing these tasks.

Color for a Cause

By Brianne Harrison

Pancreatic cancer is a particularly dire form of the disease. Diagnosis often comes too late—in more than 80% of cases, the tumor has already spread and cannot be completely removed. A staggering 95% of those diagnosed die within five years. This is an area of medicine greatly in need of more research into treatments, but, like anything, research takes money. Quite a lot of it.

In an effort to raise those necessary funds, Entertain Me For a Cause is hosting their first annual Color for a Cause fundraising benefit on March 25 at The Manor in West Orange. The evening offers something for everyone: Swayde Boutique will host a fashion show, and there will be entertainment, dancing, raffles, a four-course gourmet dinner, and an open bar. There’ll be plenty of prizes, giveaways, and gift baskets, and all attendees will leave with a goodie bag.

Tickets are $100 per person and can be purchased by contacting Robyn at RobynMP@gmail.com. Twenty percent of the ticket sales will be donated to the Pancreatic Research Unit at Johns Hopkins Hospital in Baltimore, MD.

Come out and help those suffering this terrible disease. Remember that each patient is someone’s child, spouse, parent, or friend, and only by joining together to help can we make this cancer a thing of the past.

Black Garlic: The Ingredient that Wouldn’t Go Away

By Pat Tanner

I first encountered black garlic at last summer’s Fancy Food Show, where I refused to take even a nibble. (This from someone who once voluntarily ate toasted mealy worms.) My thinking went something like this: “Garlic that is turned jet black and described as sweet? No thank you!” But when restaurant chefs all over the country started singing its praises, I warily ordered some from earthy.com. (It is also available at Wegmans and some other upscale markets.)

Long story short: I am smitten.

Black garlic does taste sweet, but not sugary sweet. More like molasses sweet, although others have detected balsamic vinegar, chocolate, licorice, and fennel. It was developed in South Korea as a health product and is purported to contain twice as many antioxidants as regular garlic. The black, sticky cloves are made by taking regular, run-of-the-mill garlic, fermenting it for three weeks in an environment of controlled heat and humidity, and then ageing it for another week. In the process, the acrid bite normally associated with garlic is completely mellowed out.

New recipes using this black gold are popping up online every week. Among the first I tried was Scallops with Black Garlic at steamykitchen.com. Fabulous. I also made black garlic puree from a recipe by Jeremy Fox, who just left the highly regarded vegetarian restaurant Ubuntu in Napa, California. It’s as simple as pureeing cloves from two heads of black garlic in a blender or mini-food processor and adding as little water as needed to make the mixture pourable. Like the vinaigrette below, it is terrific drizzled over chunks of warm, cooked potatoes and hard cooked eggs.

For additional recipes - as well as the full story behind the development of this welcome new ingredient - visit blackgarlic.com.

BLACK GARLIC VINAIGRETTE
Adapted from Caron Golden, San Diego Network News

5 cloves black garlic
1 teaspoon Dijon mustard
Salt & pepper to taste
1/4 cup balsamic vinegar
3/4 cup extra virgin olive oil

Combine all ingredients except for the olive oil in a food processor or blender. Process until the black garlic is completely incorporated. With the motor running, slowly pour in the olive oil. (Good over greens as well as warm, cooked potatoes.)

Makes about 1 cup.

Helping Hounds

By Brianne Harrison

Greyhounds are amazing creatures—majestic, elegant, and from what I hear, incredible family pets. But the breed has a storied (and often tragic) history, with many of these dogs ending up on racetracks, where they’re frequently subjected to strenuous races and cruel treatment. Too often, their careers are short, and dogs are disposed of once they’re no longer bringing in money.

Thankfully, there are a number of rescues devoted to saving these dogs and finding them good homes. One, Greyhound Friends of New Jersey, Inc., is having a fundraiser March 27. The evening will feature prizes, a buffet dinner, cash bar, and a tricky tray, all for a $25 donation. Space is limited, so if you’re interested in spending a fun evening helping animals in need, e-mail flutz22331@aol.com.

In other news…
Nature’s Variety has issued a voluntary recall of its Chicken Formula Raw Frozen Diets for dogs and cats with an expiration date of 10/29/10 or 11/9/10 and Chicken Formula and Organic Chicken Formula Raw Frozen Diets with an expiration date on or before 2/5/11 due to possible salmonella contamination. If you’ve purchased any of these items, return them to your retailer for a full refund or replacement.

Books for a Better World

By Jennifer Chaky

I frequently have customers ask me what they can do with their used books. Here at the store, I started a book swap-shelf where locals can pop in and browse the books that have been left by others and drop off books that they are finished with. Books are just one of those things that should be passed on. It keeps books out of landfills/incinerators and spreads knowledge. What can be better than that?

Well, here is a website that took that idea to a world-wide level and is going beyond just sharing books: it is also supporting world literacy. At Better World Books individuals can actually sell their unwanted books using the buyback program. Simply type in the ISBN of each book you want to sell, and Better World Books will give you a price for each book and even pay for shipping to them (using carbon-offset shipping no less!). They then sell the books, with proceeds going to five major nonprofit literacy partners and over 80 literacy-based non-profits.

Jennifer Chaky is the owner of Go Lightly, Montclair New Jersey's green-living store. She lives in Montclair with her daughter and menagerie of rescued animals.

And if you are shopping for books, you can browse the huge selection that will either come from Better World Books new or used, or from an independent bookseller partnering with BWB. They even have a database of local libraries that offer "online sidewalk sales" of discarded library books.

So when you're doing your Spring cleaning, or next time you're in the market for books, check out Better World Books and be a part of making the world better!

It’s Cold (Season) Out There!

By Lauren Johnson

The weather's been warming up a bit lately, but it’s still cold season, which means thinking twice about touching doors and grocery carts with bare hands. And with the cold air sucking the moisture out of every crevice of your body, like me, you may find yourself in moisturizer overdrive. My biggest winter issue is dry lips, but with colds coming and going, I’m always wary about germs collecting on my chapstick.

Fortunately, I found a product that kills two birds with one stone. Honey House Propolis Salve (.85 oz.) shares a dual purpose in that is can be used as a skin salve as well as a lip balm. The bonus is that propolis (which bees make by combining the resins of poplar and conifer trees, beeswax, and pollen) has an acidic pH, which causes it to possess anti-microbial and anti-bacterial properties.

Not only does this product soothe the driest skin and lips, it has a delicious warm honey aroma that will make you want to put on the kettle for a cup of tea.

Honey House Propolis Salve
Ingredients: Olive oil, calendula*, plantain, comfrey root, raw honey, beeswax, propolis, and vitamin E *organic, honeygardens.com to order, or for store locations

Starting Point

By Gerard Bochese

With the myriad exercise equipment lined up in the gym and the plethora of exercises to choose from, where does one begin when designing an effective workout program?

Though designing an exercise program may seem complex and confusing, it can be broken down to fairly simple movement patterns. The human body has moved and performed the same way since its inception. The apparatus we use today may be very high tech but the movements are based on what we call Primal Movement Patterns:

1) We push
2) We pull
3) We level change
4) We flex and extend
5) We twist and rotate
6) We ambulate

If we include these movements in our exercise routine we will cover all aspects of our training and see positive results both aesthetically and functionally.

Each category holds a multitude of exercises and by simply choosing several from each category you can build a solid and complete routine that will both strengthen the individual muscle groups and, more importantly, balance the body so it will be equally strong in all movements and directions.

Balancing the body is extremely important in achieving optimal fitness and staying injury free. So often people only train the muscles they can see in the mirror or the muscles that are their favorite on the beach – chest, abs biceps. However, by overtraining certain muscle groups at the expense of other groups we create muscular imbalances in our bodies that will result in postural problems, chronic pain, and potential injury. Furthermore, if the body is not well balanced and certain muscles are noticeably weaker, this will affect your ability to strengthen and develop those muscles you really like – the body works as one unit and a weakness in one area will affect another area. Therefore, it becomes critical that you do an equal amount of exercises in each category (ex. If you do 5 push exercises you must do 5 pull exercises).

Here are some examples of exercises from each category:
1) Push – chest press, tricep extension
2) Pull – seated row, bicep curl
3) Level change – these make up our leg exercises – squats, lunges
4) Flex and extend – shortening and lengthening our core – crunches (shorten), hyperextensions (lengthen)
5) Twist and rotate – using cables, resistance bands or medicine balls we perform rotating motions through our core
6) Ambulate – jogging, sprinting, jumping forward

Learn to Live Holistically

By Brianne Harrison

You hear a lot about holistic health and alternative health practices these days, but as with anything that starts to get very popular, there’s a lot of information out there to sort through. How do you know which treatments are best for you and your family? How do you go about choosing the right practitioner? What can be treated, and how do they do it?

The annual Mindful Living Holistic Health and Wellness Fair, which will take place March 21, aims to answer many of these questions—and any others you may have—by giving attendees the chance to meet vendors who specialize in a wide array of complementary health and wellness disciplines. Now in its third year, the Holistic Health and Wellness Fair has highlighted yoga studios, fitness instructors, massage therapists, Reiki practitioners, green architects, chiropractors, acupuncturists, wellness centers, homeopaths and naturopaths, to name just a few. This year promises even more for both adults and children. Parents can chat with practitioners and sample a wide variety of products while the younger members of the crowd are treated to a musical performance by Sister Sing Sister String and demonstrations by Wholesome Kids Cook, Jen Slaw Juggler, and Step2gether.

The event is free and open to the public, so stop by, have your questions answered, and find new ways to live a healthier life.

The 3rd Annual Mindful Living Community Holistic Health and Wellness Fair will be held March 21 from 12 noon to 4 p.m. at the Maplewood Woman’s Club, 60 Woodland Rd., Maplewood. For more information, visit mindfullivingnj.com.

Mussel Power

By Brianne Harrison

When I need to do a quick, lean, satisfying meal at any time of the year, I find myself grabbing a bag of mussels. Mussels are rather brilliant creatures. They’re inexpensive, cook in minutes, and practically create their own sauce. They can be eaten on their own, in a white wine sauce, or with chopped tomatoes and herbs. Like chicken, the possibilities are nearly endless, but this is my favorite preparation:

Steamed Mussels
1 lb mussels, cleaned and debearded
½ yellow onion, sliced
2 cloves garlic, chopped
½ cup dry white wine
a few sprigs of thyme

Pick over the mussels and discard any that are open and don’t close when lightly tapped.

In a large pot with a lid, heat just enough olive oil to cover the bottom over medium heat. Add the garlic and onions and sauté for a minute, until the onion starts to take on a creamy color.

Add the mussels, white wine, and thyme. Cover the pot and let steam for about 5-7 minutes, shaking the pot occasionally. Check the mussels; if they’re open, they’re done.

I usually serve this over whole-wheat spaghetti, with some garlic bread to sop up the juices. If you want a slightly more robust sauce, remove the mussels from the pot after they’re done and whisk a knob of butter into the juices.

Healthy Roundup
Mussels are fairly low fat and are good sources of protein, vitamin C, Thiamin, riboflavin, folate, potassium, zinc, vitamin B12, iron, phosphorus, manganese, and selenium.

Garlic has been said to reduce cholesterol levels and lower blood pressure. It’s also an excellent source of vitamins B6 and c and a good source of selenium

2 Dogs, 2000 Miles, 1 Goal

By Brianne Harrison

Just about every animal lover has lost a pet at some point. Most of us grieve when this happens, and remember the good times as we begin to move on with our lives. But others, like Luke Robinson, decide to do more.

Robinson lost his beloved dog, Malcolm, to bone cancer in 2006. Malcolm’s death inspired Robinson to set out on an epic 2,000-mile journey on foot from Austin, TX to Boston, MA, accompanied by his two remaining dogs, Hudson and Murphy. Their goal is to raise awareness of cancer and the vital importance of further research into the disease. Researching canine cancer could help develop treatments for human cancers as well, since the malignant cells in both species are similar.

Robinson’s journey, which began in 2008, has made him a celebrity—he’s appeared on CBS, ABC, Fox, and the Today Show—and has brought plenty of attention to his cause. He’s talked to pet owners, scientists, and oncologists all over the country. He and his “boys” are now in New York, just 250 miles short of their goal, which they expect to reach in mid-June. You can follow their progress at 2dogs2000miles.org. There, you can also make donations, and those who have lost a pet to bone cancer can have their name added to the Memorial Shirt Robinson’s wearing on his walk. You can also nominate your pet for inclusion on the 2011 “Cancer Can’t Keep a Good Dog Down” calendar (submissions will be taken starting in mid-May.)

Now, as these things often do, this mammoth journey has inspired a new cause: 2 Million Dogs. The goal is to get 2 million dogs nationwide to walk 2 miles for cancer. Although the campaign is still in its infancy, anyone interested can visit 2milliondogs.org to learn more and submitting their dog(s) and themselves for the walk.

In the meantime, see what Luke’s up to, and maybe plan a trip to Boston in June—there’ll be plenty going on for animal lovers!

Homemade Beauty, Part I: Sugar, Sugar

By Brianne Harrison

Many of us are in full-on recessionista mode, trying to trim spending wherever we can. Since I, like so many others, spend quite a bit of money supporting the multi-billion dollar cosmetics industry, I started to think that that might be an area I could save a little by rolling up my sleeves and making my own. As it turns out, I was right: you can make a startling number of beauty products yourself; in many cases, using ingredients you already have in your home!

I started simple with a sugar scrub that turned out to be luscious and quite effective. You can easily adapt this recipe to suit your tastes—take out the cocoa for a straight-up sugar scrub, add some lemon or orange zest, or the essential oil of your choice—the possibilities are endless!

Chocolate Sugar Scrub
1 c natural sugar (you can substitute white or brown as well, particularly if you have some brown sugar that’s dried up and can’t really be used for baking anymore)
3 T unsweetened cocoa powder
A few drops of the essential oil of your choice (I recommend lavender, vanilla, orange, or peppermint)
Enough light olive oil or grapeseed oil to make a paste (about 4 T)

Combine all ingredients and mix thoroughly to combine. Store in a jar or Tupperware container (this doesn’t need to be refrigerated). Use liberally in the shower to slough off dead skin, especially on rough areas like elbows and knees.

Since this is made with all natural ingredients, you can also use it as a (delicious!) lip scrub.

Green Overload? Take it One Day at a Time.

By Jennifer Chaky

Green Green Green. That’s all you hear these days. From chemical companies touting “natural” cleaners to car companies saying their car is the greenest- you need a PhD in Greenology to sort through it all. I hear ya, it’s overwhelming.

As a green retailer, it is my job to decide what is truly good for the planet and what is “greenwashed” - and it does get confusing. But my reputation depends on making the right choice…and more importantly, so does the planet. The things we buy do have the greatest impact –good or bad- on our future. Every single time we buy something we are casting a vote for what kind of world we want. Do we want a healthy, fair, abundant world or a toxic, unjust, scarce world? It really is up to us. Every dollar we spend tells companies what we want. What we demand.

But where to start? It is hard to think of revamping all of your consumption and changing over all the products you use. So I recommend taking it one day at a time. Next time you are out of coffee, choose a fair trade brand. Out of toothpaste? Choose a truly natural brand made by a small organic company. Need a wedding gift? Choose a bowl made from recycled glass. Going to a baby shower? Start the newborn off right with a set of glass baby bottles. Do you need new boots? How about checking out a thrift store? Next time you buy beer or wine, ask your retailer for a local organic option. You get the idea.

Once you get going, before you know it you will have transformed your lifestyle- where the goods you buy truly back-up your principles. At first you may have to do some leg work to read labels and research the companies but after your initial efforts, you will become acquainted with some really great products and companies, and you will gain an intuition for what is greenwashed and what is truly green.

Here are some tips on what to look for when shopping:

• Keep it simple. Products with a simple list of ingredients tend to be better than those with long list of unearthly chemical names.

• Look for these Third Party Verification Seals: Energy Star; Certified Organic; Leaping Bunny; Fair Trade Certified; Green Seal; and Green E.

• Words like “natural,” “pure,” “nontoxic,” “cruelty-free,” and “biodegradable,” do not necessarily mean anything. There is no regulation regarding the use of these terms, so be wary.

• Truly green companies do not over-package their goods.

I also highly recommend reading Diane MacEachern’s book Big Green Purse to learn everything you need to know to become a lifelong lean, clean, and green consumer.

Jennifer Chaky is the owner of Go Lightly, Montclair New Jersey's green-living store. She lives in Montclair with her daughter and menagerie of rescued animals.