It is no longer very hard to find many forms of alternative medicine in the most progressive cities of America. There are some small towns where you will easily find a dozen acupuncturists within a few blocks of each other; spaced evenly between the massage therapists, yoga studios and a few apothecaries. One apothecary may have bulk herbs and the other may have a cozy atmosphere and gift items such as bath salts and home-made incense. In the beginning, this trend was rather charming and offered a lot of options for those of us who are seeking to heal our bodies and minds in alternative ways.

We were sick of the excessive pills and willy-nilly use of antibiotics, sick of the doctors who didn’t look us in the face. We wanted a kind woman with comfy clothes to feel our pulse and tell us what tea we should drink to help our headaches. We wanted the massage therapist to work some magic and cure our sciatica; we wanted the kind gentleman at the herbal shop to whip up a tincture that could get rid of that nasty poison ivy rash. But somewhere along the way, we realized that we could go to our local CVS and get St. John’s Wort supplements or beeswax lip balm. Finally, the main stream was beginning to get it, right?

On one hand, this shift is an amazing opportunity to experience many forms of alternative healing. It is fabulous to be able to choose between seven acupuncturists and exhilarating to have a different yoga class to attend every night of the week. It’s as easy to find a bottle of Goldenseal supplements as it is to find a bottle of aspirin. But where did these alternative medicines come from, and how do they work?

It is a question that is no longer asked by many people who use these supplements daily. They may not know what St. John’s Wort looks like, but they know it helps with seasonal depression and comes in easy-to-swallow pill form. They aren’t sure where to find Goldenseal, but they are pretty sure that they should take it with Echinacea as soon as they feel sick, or once they are already sick, and what’s the difference? The problem is that this mentality is turning herbalism and alternative medicine into the very thing we hated about Western medicine to begin with. (more…)

Guest post by Becca Ozard

There are many reasons to eat organic or locally grown crops; however some people don’t know about the many dangers of consuming non-organic crops.

Pesticides are one of the main dangers of non-organic crops. These harmful chemicals used to ward off bugs can have serious long-term effects on one’s health. Some issues can be as harmful as respiratory problems, some Cancers and in some cases can lead to bleeding gums.

Non-Organic crops are also lacking in vitamins and minerals. They have lower levels of a person’s daily dose of nutrients, such as Vitamins A, B, and C. Vitamin C has been shown to reduce gum inflammation, promote healing and reduce the effects of bleeding gums, and the development of Gum Disease.  Gum bleeding can lead to Scurvy, a severe deficiency in vitamin C. Untreated, this disease can lead to teeth losing and eventual falling out. This can all be avoided by eating natural organic crops, which are packed full of vitamin C. (more…)

Guest post by Taylor Dardan

The popularity in all things “green” has certainly risen throughout the past decade. With people often concentrating on making decisions that involve outdoor air quality, some of the best ways to have an impact is within the home. A larger undertaking than just switching out a few household products, switching to soy and other organic insulation is a great way to improve the sustainability of the home, cut down on utility costs, and cut down on indoor toxins.

The long-term utility costs and benefits are among the major reasons organic insulation is becoming so popular, aside from just the benefit of helping to save the environment. Soy insulation may be a little more expensive than common types of insulation but it will be well worth the minor upgrade in price. Even without the added additional benefits of organic insulation, soy insulation will gain back the costs spent through reduced utility costs. Spray soy foam insulation is often considered one of the most sustainable options in all insulation types. The spray foam is applied and will then spread to fill nearly all holes and cracks throughout the home. This will prevent air from getting out of the house, putting a major reduction on utility costs in the long run.

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Guest post by Gloria Vester
(resposted with permission from “Gloria’s Health Story” at organicandglutenfree.com)

“There are 70 pesticides that are listed as known or probable carcinogens, based on animal testing. Of those 70, 44 are in use today, and 23 are used on our food.”
— Gina Solomon, specialist in internal medicine [2001]

“Just as there may be a time lag between [pollution] emissions and exposure, there may also be a time lag between exposure and [human or ecological] damages.”
— US EPA, “Unfinished Business: A Comparative Assessment of Environmental Problems”

In my quest to rid my body of chemicals, and thereby illness, I am confounded to find that the majority of people I talk to have a very warped understanding of what organic really means. I am amazed that people think organic food is somehow vastly different in its content, that it is some fringe element with a mysterious and vaguely hippie connotation. The benefits of organic food are immense and the steps required to produce it and be certified organic are many. But it is still “real” food. I have had people look at me with fear in their eyes when I suggest consuming organic food. They are afraid it is not safe because it is not laden with chemicals or that organic dairy products are somehow raw, unpasteurized. To the contrary, organic food is much safer for humans, especially children whose nervous systems and brains are still developing and can be dramatically harmed by toxic chemicals in our food supply. It is also much safer for the planet which in turn makes our world a safer place to live.

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‘Tis the season to give and receive. It is a time to express our love and appreciation for family, friends, and colleagues. But many are also looking for gifts that give a little bit back to the Earth and express a concern for a lighter footprint. So without further ado, here is Hippie Magazine’s recommended resource for green, organic, and fair trade gift selections for everyone on your list:

It can be tough to find holiday gifts that the special “hippie” in your life will appreciate, or maybe the hippie inside you would like to find gifts for your friends and families which give back to the world. In either case, a new North American marketplace called Ethical Ocean has put together a great ethical holiday gift guide which will help Santa be a little greener this year.

Covering fair trade, eco-friendly, organic and animal-friendly gift ideas for everyone from the newest addition in your family to the love of your life, this guide clearly spells out what is ethical about each product and why they’ll love it. From eco-friendly boomerangs for the kid (or kid at heart) in your life, to an organic home spa kit that comes in a bamboo steamer, holiday shopping for hippies has never been so simple.

DeLoach Vineyards is cultivating an intimate relationship with the land. The small-lot winemaker maintains 17 acres of vineyards in the Russian River Valley and a 1-acre garden. And while both are certified organic, it is their biodynamic certification that makes them exceptional. Indeed, guided by a holistic approach based on biodynamic farming principles, DeLoach vintners make organic farming alone look like a half measure.

The farmers at DeLoach tend to their vineyards and garden as if they were a closed system. They seek at every turn to drastically limit if not altogether eliminate external inputs. Rather than a cycle of dependence based on the importation of chemical fertilizers and pesticides, through biodynamic farming practices they create a self-contained oasis of self-sustaining interconnected biodiversity, an eco-system where the land, plants and animals exist in harmony to create a thriving environment.

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EarthTalk® is a weekly environmental column made available to our readers from the editors of E/The Environmental Magazine

Dear EarthTalk: My husband and I want to start a garden this year. I really want to make compost from leftover food scraps and yard materials. He says it will attract unwanted animals, and refuses to agree to it. Is he right? If so, how do we deal with that issue in a green-friendly, non-lethal way? – Carmen Veurink, Grand Rapids, MI

It’s true that outdoor compost piles and bins can be a draw for wildlife—be it bears, rats, raccoons, skunks, opossums or some other creatures of the night—but there are ways to minimize the attraction. For one, make sure everyone in your household knows to keep meat, bones, fish, fat and dairy out of the compost. Not only will these items “overheat” the compost pile, they’ll also stink it up and attract animals.

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By Paula Mitchell Bentley

St. Patrick’s day is all about green. Green clothes, silly green hats, green clover and green beer. So, how can you make your green beer even greener??

Go organic! Organic beer uses no pesticides or fertilizers in it’s production. This means there are no pesticides or fertilizers in the beer that you’re about to drink — yummm, tasty chemical beer. Even better, it means that no pesticides and fertilizers were absorbed into the ground used to grow the hops. Chemicals absorbed into the dirt eventually leach down into water sources. Water is one of those natural resources that is totally disregarded until it’s no longer available.

How to make your organic beer green in an eco-conscious way? Check out Sante Essentials or Seelect’s lines of vegan friendly, gluten free, organic food colorings. For the more adventurous, try making your own food coloring! There are several recipes for this online including using blanched spinach or even red onion peels and lemon juice. Definitely not for the faint of heart!

There are also entire lines of organic nachos and salsas, organic pretzels, organic popcorn and organic chips that you can munch on while drinking your green beer. Or, even better, you could make an entire plate of green vegetables and green fruits to go along with the beer. How about celery, broccoli, kiwi, green apple, cucumber, pickle, asparagus, kale, honey dew melon and green peppers? They’d stick with the green theme and be packed with important vitamins and nutrients.

So go out there and get your green on in honor of St. Patrick’s Day and our planet!

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Paula Mitchell Bentley is the author of Through Green Colored Glasses, a blog focused on ways to help insure a healthy environment for her two children, and their children.