Marie Oser is a best-selling author, columnist, and host/producer of VEG TV. A vegan lifestyle expert, and environmental advocate with a focus on nutrition and its role in disease prevention, Oser specializes in creating original gourmet recipes with a solid nutritional bottom line.
Many prominent medical and nutrition professionals endorse her work, including Dr. Colin Campbell, Professor Emeritus, Cornell University and principal researcher of the groundbreaking CHINA STUDY, and Neal Barnard, M.D. founder and president of Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine in Washington, DC.
Marie is president of VEGTV, Inc., a video production company producing content for TV and new media. VEGTV streams hundreds of lifestyle videos to more than 1,000 sites globally. In her role as Director of Product Development at Smart Planet Kitchen, she has created, Marie Oser’s Lean & Green, a new line of vegan and Fair Trade Certified products. Marie has appeared on CNN, ABC, National Public Radio, QVC, WUSA, WNBC, KCAL, KOVR, Home & Garden Television (HGTV), FINE LIVING, TECH TV, and Discovery Channel.
Vegetarian since 1971; vegan since 1990, Marie left a career in TV advertising to pursue her interest in food, health, and nutrition. Born and raised in Philadelphia, PA, she studied psychology at St. Joseph’s University. Marie is a gourmet cook and organic gardener living in California, writing her 5th book and hiking every day with Travis, her Yellow Lab companion.
Cherl Petso is the Associate Editor at Disaboom.com, an online magazine for people with disabilities. Her writing expertise includes articles about the environment and sustainable living, and vegan/vegetarian issues. A vegetarian for 16 years and a recent vegan, Cherl is passionate about animal rights and issues. She enjoys writing about simple ways to lessen the impact on the Earth.
Cherl recently moved to Denver, Colorado from Bellingham, Washington. She enjoys hiking and hanging out with her puppy.
Alexis Steinkamp grew up at Helderledge Farm, a perennial plant nursery in an apple orchard near Albany, New York. As a teenager, she hybridized daylilies, raised chickens, grew tomatoes, chopped wood, picked apples, baked pies and feared mosquitoes. She left the farm to attend Northwestern University and study art and design.
After graduating in 1991, she stayed in Chicago to work in theater, film and special event design. She didn’t make much money, but lived simply and saved for a rainy day or a place to live—whichever came first. As it turned out, the condo came first. Her friends were shocked that she, a starving artist, could afford a condo in the city. How did she do it? She should write a book about it! So, she did. She wrote a personal finance workbook to help young women budget, save and dream called Thrifty Girl KICKS YOUR FINANCIAL BUTT; Get a grip on your finances without dying of boredom. And, she developed a personal finance class that she teaches at Truman College in Chicago.
Today, Alexis still lives simply. She works part-time, writes and lives in a tiny condo with a beautiful view of the Chicago skyline. Visit her online at Thrifty Girl
Latham is the founder of a boutique holistic lifestyle practice called- Tender Shoots Wellness. Specializing in maternal and child wellness, Latham served as Program coordinator for the Healthy Moms-Healthy Babies project for the B-Healthy organization. She has been featured on Fox 5 news as an expert on organic foods and kid’s health. She is the co-founder of Panela Productions, a company that educates parents and children about food, through cooking classes, and events.
Latham teaches plant-based culinary classes at Whole Foods Market and Natural Kitchen Cooking School, where she is a part of the guest faculty, and for a host of private clients. She gives lectures on plant based nutrition at Laughing Lotus Yoga Center, North American Vegetarian Society's Summer Fest, and Excellence Charter School, to name a few.
She currently teaches prenatal yoga classes at Om Factory, Golden Bridge Yoga, and Yoga Sutra.
Latham contributes to Working Mother Magazine, Naturally Savvy, and Yoga Mom Magazine.
Andrea is founder and director of Moss Wellness, an integrative health enterprise devoted to inspiring men and women to discover holistic health and vibrant living.
Andrea is a certified holistic health and nutrition counselor who works with her clients to help them reach their ideal weight, reduce stress, and feel confident about what to eat. Andrea presents workshops on various health and wellness topics throughout New York state, counsels individual clients both in person and over the phone, and leads group weight loss programs.
Christie Nash is currently a Projects Coordinator at the Trent Centre for Community-Based Education whose mandate is to bring local organizations and academic resources together to create community- inspired research projects. She has recently completed her M.Ed in Education and Community Development and Comparative International Development Education at OISE/UT. Her professional experience has taken her around the world, including Thailand, India, Nunavut, and other parts of Canada.
She currently resides in Omemee, Ontario (where Neil Young spent his formative years!) in an 1861 log cabin with her boyfriend, Mark, and cat, Fergus.
Carl Boyd graduated from UIC’s Industrial Design program and has worked professionally in exhibit and product design. He interned at Prairie Fish, one of the nation’s first retail design firms committed to green design. As an initial member of the Foresight Design Initiative, he launched Chicago Green Drinks, organized Chicago’s first Eco-Transportation Show, and designed exhibits for the Chicago Department of Environment.
He’s served as a judge of green design for the 2008 International Housewares Show, and Chicago’s Greenworks Awards.
Carl Boyd co-pilots an ongoing project called Normal - started in 2003 - designing modern, practical products that are locally-made using sustainably-preferable materials and processes. Normal products are sold across North America, have been featured in Wallpaper, TIME, New City, Chicago Tribune, Time Out and in several TV spots. They have been selected for Museum exhibits nationwide and abroad.
Carl currently teaches product design, focusing on sustainability issues, at Columbia College, as well as at the Art Institute this coming Spring.
Loretta White is a writer, educator and scholar who gained huge diversity of experience within varied industries; energy, government, high tech and more. The last fifteen years she brokered deals with the top multinational companies globally, her Rainmaker skills are unsurpassed and she remains an authority on BD, BI, sustainability and the Global Marketplace.
Frugality was the voice of her elders who endured wars, rationing and Depression, raised to respect, love and to co-exist with nature through sustainability, self reliance, need and RRR practices. Loretta’s juxtaposition of ideas, deep love for the planet and her Yankee sensibilities are the foundation of a lifestyle that is in partnership with nature. Loretta indulges her passions for renewable energy, organics and being green on her 17.5 acre farm in central Massachusetts.
Recently Ms. White has lead an Assoc. of Caregivers providing support to those caring for parents, disabled, and others.
Loretta is invested in the community of our species and our planet and her diverse background in technology and green living gives her a unique perspective on how to live with nature and with our own gifts of technology.
Ms. White’s work has been published by Corporations, magazines, readers digest and many others.
Victoria Scanlan Stefanakos is a wife and mother, a homesteader, a writer. When she’s not gardening or cooking or picking up wooden toys, she writes stories for national magazines and Web sites about living simply, naturally and well. You can read several of late in Martha Stewart Living and Real Simple.
So Victoria and her family to live lightly and pitch in: growing, making, putting by, selling and sustaining themselves with whatever they can on seven rugged acres. You can follow her chronicle of their adventure at Project Homestead
Lauren Mangion is a writer, engaged citizen, and an eco-coach from Calgary, Canada. Lauren’s personal life and work are intimately intertwined, both being experiments in more sustainable, lower-footprint urban living.
Through Conscious Home, an eco-coaching service, Lauren educates and inspires her fellow Calgarians with tools and resources toward reducing the individual ecological footprint.
Boston born novelist, short-story writer and who has published thousands of technical papers now works in the horror-fiction world. Occasionally, his characters and stories transcend genres and travel from fantasy to realism.
White contributes to L. A, Weekly occasionally and other magazines and online forums, he also blogs regularly for several news and industry sites.
Current projects include; “Underwater City Salvage,” “Real Vampires”, “The Black Coach”, “The In-Between Time.” His novels are richly textured with excellent grasp on popular culture, and explores feelings of angst, deep-rooted in ancient themes.
A freelance writer specializing in environmental and health topics, Linda recently was part of a core team of writers who developed content for GreenYour, a website devoted to greener living.
She wrote an environmental column for five years for Good Housekeeping magazine called Green Watch. You can find her articles in Plenty Magazine’s online newsletter, Fit Pregnancy, Good Housekeeping, Arthritis Today, Profiles (Continental Airline’s in-flight magazine), and Microsoft’s Encarta.
She served on her town’s environmental commission for 15 years and remains an active volunteer. Her personal essay column for the local newspaper offers her take on the natural world and on environmental topics in her neck of the woods.
Michelle resides in New York, her work has appeared in Country Living, Real Simple, The Washington Post, People, Teen People, InStyle, and Time Out NY Kids. She is also the author of the Quiz Zone book series. Visit her online at www.michellehainer.com
Lynn Fantom’s commitment to eco-travel is in direct proportion to her passion for Acadia National Park in Maine, where she hikes, climbs, bikes, and kayaks with her daughter Luisa. Lynn is publisher of OUR ACADIA. a Web site devoted to exploring, eating, and relaxing on Mount Desert Island.
Lynn posts on www.mdislander.com range from where to find great lobster rolls to what to do with kids on rainy days.
When not in Maine, Lynn lives in New York City, where she is an executive in the media industry. In 2008 her company was named one of the Best Places to Work in New York City in Crain’s New York Business.
Pearl is an eighty year-old Canadian woman with 6 grown children, 18 grandchildren and 2 great-grandchildren.
Growing up during the Great Depression, she experienced the ultimate reasons for recycling, reusing, and repairing. She lived honoring the old slogans; ‘Waste not want not’, ‘A stitch in time saves nine’, ‘A penny saved is a penny earned’. In her lifetime, Pearl has witnessed our society go from frugal to frivolous. She can help.
Heather O'Neill is the founder of Eco to the People, a green living blog.
Before founding Eco to the People, Heather O’Neill wore so many hats in the field of journalism that even the Queen Mother would envy her collection. She has worked as the managing editor of a beauty trade magazine; as a copy editor for an online tech magazine; as the associate editor of a city magazine and as a newspaper reporter and columnist, and as the senior editor at the popular online newsletter ecofabulous.
Her work has appeared in many publications, including Parenting, Alternative Medicine, Natural Solutions, Marin Magazine, Greenwich Magazine and HOME.
Heather earned a Master of Fine Arts in creative writing from California College of the Arts. She lives and works in San Francisco.
In theory, winter is a great time to gain weight. It’s cold outside, which makes our cravings for warm, heavy foods that much stronger—and those frigid temperatures make it easier to rationalize lying bundled up on the couch watching TV instead of going to the gym. But it is possible to stay in shape over the winter, without increasing your carbon footprint. Here are a few tips:
1. Use your own body strength. Again, you don’t need a pricey gym membership to stay in shape. Tricep dips can be done on the back of your couch or chair. Throw down a yoga mat in your living room and practice your sun salutations or Pilates roll-downs. Use cans of soup or vegetables as free weights and commit to doing crunches and planks (supporting your own body weight dramatically increases your core muscles) on a daily basis. And no matter what kind of exercise you do, don’t forget …read more of Beat the Winter Bulge: 3 Tips to Help you Stay In Shape here
My fiancé is fascinated by infomercials. The Grill Daddy, Smart Lids, Green Bags. All of these miracle products never fail to amaze him (or me, if I’m being completely honest.) One of our favorites—The ShamWow—is not only enticing, but environmentally friendly too. So when I saw the ShamWow in a department store, I didn’t hesitate to buy it. These reusable cloths not only sop up serious amounts of liquid, but they can be thrown into the washing machine—not the trash can—after each use, saving me from my normal habit of using way too many (recycled) paper towels. This got me thinking about how buying reusable products is something that we all can easily do. It’s easier on our wallets too, since in the long run, we’ll be getting more for less.
Three quick ways YOU can make a difference:
1. Buy cleaning cloths and mop covers that are machine washable, use glass containers to store leftovers, and power your electronics with rechargeable batteries.
2. If you do buy disposable products (some things, like toilet paper, just shouldn’t be re-used) make sure they’re made from recycled materials. Seventh Generation makes a line of recycled bath tissue and paper towel and many chain stores, such as CVS, now offer their own versions of environmentally friendly paper products. I also just discovered Twist, a company that makes earth friendly sponges and cloths and uses 99.7% of its waste in creating new products.
3. Buy in bulk—you’ll throw less packaging away. Now if only there was an infomercial for that.
Halloween is just a few days away and you know what that means—little (and big) kids in costume will be knocking on your door in search of the sweet stuff. It’s easy enough to get: Walk into any market or drugstore in your neighborhood and you’ll find an entire aisle dedicated to bite-size Snickers, Milky Ways and Reese Peanut Butter Cups. And while you don’t want to be known as the house that hands out prunes on Halloween, you also don’t have to send the neighborhood into sugar shock. There are tons of places that sell organic and even vegan candy. NaturalCandyStore.com sells everything from sour gummy worms to jelly beans. And YummyEarth lollipops , which contain no artificial chemicals or flavors, can be found at Whole Foods, Toys’R’Us and other mainstream stores.
If you’re more of a chocolate lover, as am I, consider buying fair trade chocolate from Trader Joe’s or other natural food stores. Not only will it taste good, but you’ll be doing good too. That’s certainly worth the calories!
In recent months, I’ve become much more conscious of where my produce comes from. On my way to the grocery store, I’d often walk by the Green Market in New York City’s Union Square Park. There, local farmers had set up stands with fresh fruit and vegetables, artisanal cheeses, organic whole grain bread, and many other delicious home grown treats.
It made me think I should probably buy my vegetables from the people who were actually growing them, rather than a chain supermarket. Then I got an assignment from Country Living magazine to write about the importance of buying locally grown foods.
That really opened my eyes to the impact I was having by shopping at the Green Market. When I buy an apple or a head of lettuce from a farmer’s market, chances are that piece of produce was picked within 24 hours. Produce shipped from other states or countries can spend as many as seven to 14 days in transit before they’re in your supermarket. Who wants to eat a piece of fruit that’s been in a truck for two weeks??
Through my research I also learned how important it is to eat seasonally. While those grapes may look great on the shelves, think about how many miles they traveled to get to your supermarket. For a list of seasonal foods in your area go to ecomii tips.
Not only will buying an orange grown in your area taste better, but you’ll be helping support a local farmer. Did you know that there are nearly five million fewer farms in the U.S. today than there were in the 1930s? Our local farmers depend on us to keep them in business—and prevent them from having to sell their land to real estate developers who want to build luxury homes. And these days, it’s also getting much easier to find locally grown foods.
If you live near a farmer’s market, start shopping there—and don’t be afraid to chat up area growers on whether their goods are organic. Also, many supermarkets like Whole Foods, Wegmans and Stop & Shop are stocking produce grown by area farmers. These are usually identifiable with signs that say “Locally grown.”
If your grocer doesn’t stock seasonal, local foods, talk to them about doing so. If they know there is a demand, the supply will come.
Have you ever gotten a little lightheaded while scrubbing your bathroom clean? There’s a good reason for that: most common household cleansers contain toxic chemicals that can wreak havoc on your health and the environment. Read more about cleaning your home without toxic chemicals on ecomii.
So it’s no wonder that more and more companies are getting into the green game. Seventh Generation, Method, Mrs. Meyers—even bleach behemoth Clorox introduced a line of environmentally friendly cleaning products called Green Works. But do these “green” products clean as well as their conventional counterparts?
Oh yes they do. And you can take my word for it, since I’m a self-described clean freak. I’m constantly disinfecting, de-germing, or wiping down my apartment. But after reading about the toxins in many products—the extent of which we don’t even fully comprehend, since manufacturers aren’t required to list their ingredients—I started to worry that my obsession with banishing dirt might be doing me more harm than good. You can read more about choosing safe cleaners on ecomii.
So I slowly began replacing my regular disinfectants with green cleaners. Out went the Ajax in favor of Bon Ami, an “earth friendly” cleanser ; Palmolive was replaced with Method dish soap; and I disposed of Clorox Clean-Up and now scrub my tub with the company’s Green Works line of natural bathroom cleaners. Someday, I may even try my hand at making my own non-toxic cleaning solutions with gentle ingredients such as baking soda and white vinegar. But for now, I’m committed to supporting the companies who are already doing this—and my house is still as sanitized as ever.
Go green with new ideas to simplify your life, ecomii inside stories on ways to live healthier, shop smarter, reduce spending, live toxic-free and use less with more.
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My fiancé is fascinated by infomercials. The Grill Daddy, Smart Lids, Green Bags. All of these miracle products never fail to amaze him (or me, if I’m being completely honest.) One of our favorites—The ShamWow—is not only enticing, but environmentally friendly too. So when I saw the ShamWow in a department store, I didn’t hesitate to buy it. These reusable cloths not only sop up serious amounts of liquid, but they can be thrown into the washing machine—not the trash can—after each use, saving me from my normal habit of using way too many (recycled) paper towels. This got me thinking about how buying reusable products is something that we all can easily do. It’s easier on our wallets too, since in the long run, we’ll be getting more for less.
Halloween is just a few days away and you know what that means—little (and big) kids in costume will be knocking on your door in search of the sweet stuff. It’s easy enough to get: Walk into any market or drugstore in your neighborhood and you’ll find an entire aisle dedicated to bite-size Snickers, Milky Ways and Reese Peanut Butter Cups. And while you don’t want to be known as the house that hands out prunes on Halloween, you also don’t have to send the neighborhood into sugar shock. There are tons of places that sell organic and even vegan candy. NaturalCandyStore.com sells everything from sour gummy worms to jelly beans. And YummyEarth lollipops , which contain no artificial chemicals or flavors, can be found at Whole Foods, Toys’R’Us and other mainstream stores.
