Before settling into our new digs, it was important to my psyche and soul to perform a smudging ceremony.

Sage Spirit’s White Sage was the instrument of choice.  I did a clean sweep of the apartment in five stages.  If you try it — don’t get carried away, your exuberance may set off the smoke alarm.

A delicious combo of herbs: sage, cedar sweetgrass, lavender and copal all wrapped in cotton string — the smudge wand is considered a sacred herb and used for centuries by Native Americans in the smudging ceremony for cleansing and sending out prayers.

After the purifying ritual, intended to eliminate any possible negative energy that may be swirling around the space, and welcome fresh positive vibes – my mind and my space seemed different – lighter, brighter.  I felt more aware, things seemed clearer — I was reminded of the desert, Santa Fe, a special place filled with wonderful energy and blessings.

find @ internatural.com.

• That’s about a quarter’s worth of profits for the oil giant…BP Oil Spill Response Costs Hit $6.1 Billion – yahoo! news
• 4 times the size of Manhattan…Giant Ice Island Breaks Off From Greenland – aol news
• Problem (pictured above).  Invasive Lionfish Captured in Virgin Islands National Park – livescience
• Solution. ‘Delicious’ Invader: More Fishing, Higher Consumption Might Help Reverse Lionfish Invasion – sciencedaily
• Hmmm…Washington Vows no Slack-Off in Gulf Oil Cleanup – reuters
• Not your usual ‘cat burglar’…Brazen Black Bear Breaks into Montana Homes – myway
• Must be the coffee…Honeybees ‘Cleverer in the Morning’ – bbc
• 5 Things That are Being Automated That Probably Shouldn’t Be – cracked.com

Some people have split personalities – you don’t know if you’ll be dealing with Mr. Nice or Mr Monster – this t-shirt is for those with a different problem – they’re all monster!

$38 – in organic cotton from Species by the Thousands

This week’s focus is on eco undies — those little ditties that can really make our day.  Am I right?  After a good night’s sleep and refreshing shower, what’s better than slipping into soft and comfy under garments? (okay, aside from slipping back under the covers…)  Ranging from hemp, soy, bamboo, organic cotton and recycled pine tree chips, nothing beats eco fashioned fine underoos for sustainable comfort.

(above L to R) Green Cheeks features a sweet array of eco chic options, many of which are now on sale. Sweet Skins’ low-rise, full bottom bikini; a hemp & organic cotton blend, made with low impact dyes; ($12/each) in mauve, natural or black. From NYC-based Ekovaruhuset, frilly organic cotton panties.

(above) Happiness Hipster comes in your choice of reclaimed and organic cotton jersey knits & elastic trim; cotton lining, $20 @ undertheroot.

(above) Cute soyshorts (soy meets boyshorts); set of 3 @ $19 from uranusApparel.com

(above) Luxuriously soft and fabricated from recycled pine tree chips, these undies are completely biodegradable.  When you toss them, they’ll naturally decompose rather than last forever in a landfill.  from across the pond, find @ 9=g.8.

And for a bit of accessorizing, choose your favorite color – Nixie Garden Guardhers; made to order, ($55) – find @ etsy.com/shop/undertheroot.

Here’s to a swell weekend – relax and have fun.

Electric cars have yet to officially land, and someone’s already pulled a Steve Jobs and rethought the charging station.  Plugless Power stations like the one above, developed by Evatran, could be the hippest way for EV owners to fuel up–wirelessly.  That’s right, no hands needed here.

In technical terms, it’s a proximity charging station that works through magnetic induction, allowing you to pull into your garage, throw the keys on the counter, and be done with it.  (Don’t worry about remembering to plug-in the car so you can get to work in the morning; this mod fueling station makes life easy on tomorrow’s EV driver.)

With looks this good, you just know there’s gotta be a downside.  As it turns out, the wireless station is about 10 percent less efficient that your run-of-the-mill plug-equipped chargers.  The efficiency loss doesn’t equate to longer charging times, Evatran’s site is quick to point out, and to do so, it draws a bit more power from electric outlets.

With plans to begin production in early 2011, Plugless Power could be in a town near you this time next year.  But, if you live near Wytheville, Virginia, you can scope out the set up at a handful of field test locations like Smokey’s Bar-B-Que.  Testers, who are equipped with EVs, are blogging here about their experiences (good and bad), like Mary Jane’s recent Wheego stall at a traffic light.

Anyone in the market for healthy, non-toxic bathroom – especially shower – accessories, is going to love this.

Gaiam’s TGIF (Thank GAIAM It’s Friday) offer goes like this:  Buy their exclusive RainShower Filter (which eliminates nasty contaminants for clean hair and skin) today only and receive a Cork Bath Mat (anti-bacterial) & Eco Shower Curtain Liner (no off-gassing), FREE.  Savings value:  $34.  find the Eco Bath Kit @ gaiam.com

• When gas prices at the pump inevitably rise – how quickly will we forget this mess? U.S. Optimistic End in Sight in Drive to Permanently Seal Oil Well - cnn
• Sweet justice! Judge Orders Protections Reinstated for Gray Wolf – msnbc
• Despite what Fox News may blather, global climate change is still a growing problem.  Global Tropical Forests Threatened by 2100 – sciencedaily
• They make them resistant to herbicides, so they can’t be killed…bad news for native plants…Genetically Modified Plants ‘Established in the Wild’ – bbc
• Some of our best bug killers are quickly going extinct…Fast Spreading Fungus Threatening Useful Bats - myway
• He puts down the mike and picks up his nail gun…Vanilla Ice Goes From Rapper to DIY Star – ecorazzi

Though the 2011 Ford Explorer is still a big ol’ SUV it will soon hit the highway as yet another example of Ford Motor company’s commitment to sustainability in both its business practices, and products.

A few of the greener features of the The 2011 Explorer:

• 40 percent soy polyurethane foam will be used in its seat cushions and seatbacks. Bio-based foam has helped Ford reduce its annual petroleum oil usage by more than 10,500 barrels.
• Aerodynamic improvements in the Explorer’s side-view mirrors, front air dam and the rear lift-gate spoiler help increase fuel efficiency by 4 percent.
• Explorer’s extensive use of lightweight high-strength steel adds durability while reducing weight and improving fuel economy by about 1 percent. The aluminum hood and one-piece composite front bolster save 35 pounds alone.
• The vehicle features 25 percent recycled fiber in its seat upholstery, bolster and carpeting, resulting in an estimated 20 percent reduction in energy consumption, 17 percent waste elimination and 14 percent reduction in CO2 emissions
• Explorer uses recycled steel left over from F-150 production in its noise-dampening fender baffles, which helps minimize waste and reduces Ford’s use of virgin steel by 119 tons over one year of production (approximately 150,000 vehicles).
• The available direct-injection turbo-charged 2.0-liter four-cylinder EcoBoost engine delivers more than 30 percent better fuel economy without sacrificing capability and performance — (early estimates are 18 city and 26mpg highway).

Jessica Howell, our intrepid Green Globetrotter, returns from the field (figuratively and literally) – where she visited Weleda’s 135 acres of biodynamic gardens in Germany – and files her third post, in an exclusive series about her quick trip abroad.

Equipped with warm towels, cotton cleansing pads and Weleda’s Almond Facial Oil, we got to work wiping away the makeup, sweat and oil deposited on our faces after a morning of harvesting gardens.

In a sunlit, white-walled conference room at the company’s Germany offices, we gently scrubbed our skin clean, patted on the contents of oil capsules and worked our fingers in massaging circles from neck to temple before finishing with a light layer of moisturizer. The process, which took no shorter than half an hour, lasted approximately 29 minutes longer than my own daily facial care regimen, which consists of a dollop each of face scrub and body lotion.

Turns out, I could use a tip or two in the skin care department. Most of my life, I’ve opted for the grainiest face scrubs I could find, thinking that by sloughing my skin I was keeping it smooth. Funny thing, explained Lilith Schwertle, esthetician with Weleda, even though bead-laden scrubs may make our cheeks glow momentarily, they can do major damage in the long run by continuously stripping away the top layer of our skin.

Instead, this European brand chooses to use facial cleansing lotions—liquids that look and feel a bit like cream, enriched with oils that provide antioxidants and essential fatty acids to maintain skin’s natural elasticity. I’ve been using the Wild Rose facial cleanser, toner and moisture cream for the past couple weeks and can vouch that my skin is softer… even in the dog days of summer, when most of my weekends are spent under the sun.

Packaged in pretty glass bottles and colorful tubes, Weleda’s lineup mixes the simple stuff of nature with the smarts of a global, pharmaceutically-based company. What I love most about the products, however, I didn’t have to travel to Germany to find… it’s the farmers’ market fresh scent that seeps out every time I twist off the cap of my Skin Food. It smells like all things good, and as low as scent ranks in the grand scheme of things, it makes me smile. And at 6:45 a.m., that’s a pretty inspiring feat.

[Find coupons for some of the line’s newer skin products at www.usa.weleda.com.]

The Series: Weleda: the Company (7.23.10)
Weleda:  a Visit to the Gardens (7.28.10)