Ten Things You Should Never Buy Again

Thanks to The Hip and Zen Pen for the Ten Things You Should Never Buy Again

1. Styrofoam cups
2. Paper towels
3. Bleached coffee filters
4. Overpackaged foods and other products
5. Teak and mahogany
6. Chemical pesticides and herbicides
7. Conventional household cleaners
8. Higher octane gas than you need
9. Toys made with PVC plastic
10. Plastic forks and spoons

Technorati Tags: eco-friendly, shopping, consumption

Ideal Bite

I've just added a widget for the "Daily Bite" to the sidebar and I highly suggest checking them out regularly or signing up for the daily bite in your inbox. These guys do lots of research for the tip of the day. If they suggest something to buy they always give you multiple options. Great source.

Ideal Bite: a sassier side of green

Mold sucks!

I have problems with mold in the shower. I try and try with natural cleaners but to no avail.

Hopefully these National Geographic suggestions will help: Fight Mold Without Chlorine

Helping Myself to Help Others

I read a lot of Buddhist philiosophy and as I see it, the prime directive is that by living better you will affect change all around you. I struggle with this, one because it's hard but also because sometimes it doesn't seem to be enough. I just finished the essays in Someday We'll All Be Free by Kevin Powell. He lays out, in a very personal way, that things are fucked up. The realities he presents are a downer and they make my attempts to become a better person, to spread the light by being the light, trite, selfish, and even silly. As I have digested this I have to say, where else to you start? If you can't commit to change of and for your self then how the hell are you gonna help change anything else.

One of my favorite blogs has a list of 29 Happiness Hacks to Feel Better Now:

• Hack One: Goals
• Hack Two: Chores
• Hack Three: Laugh
• Hack Four: Aid
• Hack Five: Socialize
• Hack Six: Inspiration
• Hack Seven: Exercise
• Hack Eight: Posture
• Hack Nine: Music
• Hack Ten: Nature
• Hack Eleven: Hug

I encourage you to go to Scott's blog and read through the other 18 hacks and well as all of the other incredible info. And recognize that when you engage yourself and encourage yourself to make your world better you will in essence be working to making the world of everyone around you better and at that point you are socially conscious.

Technorati Tags: socially conscious, self-impovment, buddhism, kevin powell