Adorable and practical.

Babies crawling around can use protection — leg and arm guards, if you will.  Meet BabyLegs.

Some, but not all styles, are made of organic cotton, (80% organic cotton, 12% nylon, 8% Spandex).  O Rose and O Tulips leg warmers (just above) are comprised of organic cotton, and on sale now, ($7/pair) @ babylegs.com.  Keeps babies warm and adds an extra layer of padding on those knees and elbows.

Transient Treasures created this unique wind chime from an upcycled, vintage silverplate butter dish and an assortment of old recycled, silverplated silverware.

Garnished with some vintage beads and a repurposed black metal chain — you’ve got a great accessory for you tearoom or coffee shop.

This might be a worthwhile DIY project for someone who is inspired to keep some other vintage stuff from making a trip to the landfill or cluttering up their attic.

I am now in the holiday recovery stage, that post holiday period when canines and humans sit back, or plop down and catch-up on lost sleep, whilst reflecting on the chaotic holiday season just past.

What better place for a fur ball such as myself to recline than on a comfy organic dog bed constructed inside and out with eco friendly materials.  Built like a couch with extra length for dogs who, like myself, like to stretch.  This nest bed is covered with organic cotton upholstery grade fabric and is machine washable and 100% recyclable.  The 4 sides contain removable pillow inserts for easy washing.  It also features a mat that can be pulled out and used as a crate pad, (I hate my crate).

The bed is filled with SustainaFill, an eco-friendly, allergy free, green fiber fill that is made from recycled materials in the USA.

comes in the 3 colors pictured above, and in several sizes – $119* from my friends @ olivegreendog.com

*Don’t forget code OliveAC at checkout, and receive 10% off.

It’s more than a little astonishing to witness the unmitigated glee and joy with which some global warming deniers have embraced the stealing (hacking) of some emails revealing that climate scientists may have fudged a decimal point or changed a phrase in a global warming study over the past twenty years.  Unfortunately, for us, the basic facts haven’t changed.

We’re still facing voracious oil companies; a finite amount of smog-producing fossil fuels and the accompanying acid rain and air pollution; gas and oil prices that are just itching to shoot up again; and fish containing enough mercury to classify them as a thermometer.  The folks at the big oil companies must be shaking their heads at their good fortune.  All those years and millions of dollars spent paying off their own scientists, meteorologists and Bush administration lackeys to fudge the numbers on their behalf, and this was all it took — a recession, a hacker and a couple of blowhards on Fox — to slow down Al Gore and his planet-hugging minions?

Don’t be fooled by the idiots posing as conservative representatives of the common man.  They are anything but.  The irony is that the current groundswell of populist feeling attacking the “progressive” movement — global warming and healthcare reform –  is really a misguided grasp for the good old days; you know, when government and big business worked seamlessly hand-in-hand to fleece the American public – it’s sort of like working class Russians longing for the iron-fisted certitude of Communism.

Change is hard, especially when there aren’t enough jobs to go around.  Time to grab a mitt and get in the game.

Whether traveling by air, or caring for your skin on the home front, here’s an all natural line of products to help keep your complexion and the planet balanced and glowing.

I recently discovered AustralianScent, and was surprised to learn that this company is New York City based.  Deemed food for the skin, these powerful goods are loaded with fatty acids, vitamins and protective antioxidants.

Here’s why we love them — they use:

• only essential oils and organic botanical extracts for scent and color
• cold press methods to retain active ingredients and nutritional properties of every ingredient
• chemical free, paraben free, synthetic free, cruelty free ingredients
• USDA and Ecocert certified ingredients
• full concentrations for maximum effectiveness — no water to dilute, or whipping to volumize



• biodegradable ingredients, so no toxins get washed into our water systems
• ecofriendly glass, paperboard and tin packaging; (post-consumer recycled glass and packaging)

In addition to full size items, check out the handy Travel or Trial Size Kit, (above), as well.

• Clean energy shouldn’t be a species expense…Solar Showdown in Calif. Tortoises’ Desert Home – yahoo! news
• I think a little exotic pet regulation is in order…Crews Contend With 19 Pythons in Utah Trailer Fire – myway
• Seems a wolf can’t catch a break anywhere…Sweden Culls its Resurgent Wolves – bbc
• I guess dimwitted Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal doesn’t remember Hurricane Katrina… Republican Protest Builds Against EPA Ruling – reuters
• Greedy cable companies just might shoot themselves in the foot…Time Warner Cable Shows Subscribers How to Cut Cord – cnet
• Pope Benedict: Think Globally, Act Locally, Urges Lifestyle Changes to Save the Planet - enn

A fresh dawn.  A new year.  A new decade.  A new moon.  Kiss 2009 goodbye, farewell.

I welcome this day and decade with open arms and a surprising thirst for firsts.

Having reflected on the past year and decade, and considered plans for the coming ones, I figured it’s time to focus on the present.  Just be.  Think, Act and Be in the present.

I was casually reading a local newspaper yesterday, and one word seemed to jump off the page:  Jazzercise.  A few words later, and I was pondering taking a Jazzercise class for free, at eleven on the morning of New Year’s Day.  The biggest challenge:  could I actually get my butt to a class on the morning after New Year’s eve?

So, guess what?  There I was, just a few hours ago, Jazzercising my way through Day One of TwentyTen, and it felt great.  Pretty funny.  Here’s to firsts.  Go get ‘em.

(jazzercise.com)

You buy organic food but you’re not sure what fair trade means.  Or maybe you’re a strict vegan who drives a hybrid.  You could be a religious recycler, or an energy curmudgeon, or just getting your feet wet into this “green” thing.  You have ideas about what’s right, and you have questions about what you can do better.

Join me as I take a trip along the sustainability spectrum, the matrix that connects us all here at the Alternative Consumer.  Meet people like you, and not like you.  Hear about their lives, what they buy, what they think about and how they live.  From housewives to college students, consumers to freegans, vegans to cattle farmers.  Then ask yourself, where do you fall on the Sustainability Spectrum?

Nicole Levine (pictured above) opens up the hatch of her BMW to grab a few reusable bags out of the back.  “I think about it all the time,” she says “every time I pick something up to buy it.”  Nicole works part time as a real estate appraiser in Santa Barbara.  She’s a mother of two and the wife of a lawyer.

She frequents small independent grocery stores like Gelstons and Lazy Acres.  Once a month she makes it down to the farmers market. Her cup holders are full of Coffee Bean cups that she brings back for refills.  “I’ve had this cup for a few weeks now, I just have them refill it” she says. (more…)