Sugar is as addictive as cocaine. Put that in your pipe and smoke it.

Saw this great video online, pretty good rapping too. Hope you enjoy it!

FOOD FIGHT - Earth Amplified feat. Stic.Man of Dead Prez

Remember: food is the fight 

& your plate is the battlefield!

XOXO,

MissEcoChic

Morals vs. Money: MAKEUP

[image via flikriver.com]

Part 2 of Morals vs. Money: 

Makeup Edition

I had a long conversation with my cousin V about socially conscious, eco-friendly, vegan, make-up. V and I both had horrible experiences when we were younger with trying our mom's makeup on and ending up with allergic reactions and hives. In my case, my hives were so bad and lasted MONTHS that I had to go to the dermatologist and get prescribed topical steroids. Not fun. In response to our traumatic experiences, along with our desire to be socially conscious consumers, we have done a bit of research on brands which fulfill our requirements. These are my findings:

• E.L.F. AKA EyesLipsFace
• One of my top cheap and vegan friendly makeup brands-and when I say cheap, I mean CHEAP as in $1-3 for most of their products like lip gloss, eyeshadow, eye liner etc. I have bought quite a few of their products and I must say that the only drawbacks are that the natural hair essentials cosmetic brushes aren't vegan and that their lip products contain parabens, which are vegan but as I discussed in my post on soap, have adverse effects. 
• Urban Decay
• UD is known for their high quality makeups and "unusual"/alternative coloration options (they could be found in stores like hot topic, black fly, you get the drift.) They even have a seperate page for all their vegan products. While their quality is good, and their products do not contain parabens, they are a bit on the pricey side with the infamous Naked Eyeshadow palette costing around $45. If you do the math however, buying a good quality makeup like this that will minimize the risk of breakouts/skin allergies and last for a while can actually be more economical. 
• WetNWild
• Decently priced and mostly vegan, WetNWild is a good choice. I love that their statement on animal testing is as follows: "As a Peta-certified, cruelty-free brand, we're proud to say we have never and will never test on animals. We also make it a point to work with cruelty-free, third-party vendors. wet n wild loves our furry, scaly, and feathery friends!"   A list of their vegan products can be found here. I personally have only used their nail polishes, but have had great results with those.
• Everyday Minerals
• A company based out of our very own Austin, Texas that is vegan, cruelty free and eco-conscious. Their products are pocketbook friendly and are likely to get along with most skin types-even the very sensitive ones.
• Hard Candy



[image via pinterest.com]

• Sold at Walmart, these products are supposedly vegan/cruelty free although I could not find any evidence on the website. I am currently waiting confirmation of this directly from the company.

Some other notable brands which are socially conscious/vegan but are a bit on the pricey end are:

• Obsessive Compulsive Cosmetics
• Too Faced
• Hour Glass Cosmetics
• Pai Skin Care-okay so this one is more for skin care... but Natalie Portman uses it!
• Tarte Cosmetics-I love that they are eco-conscious as well and have all recyclable containers

A full list of PETA approved companies which do not test on animals can be found here. Note that purely vegan companies are marked with an asterisk. 

Now that you have some great socially conscious and budget friendly options to choose from, here is some inspiration for some new makeup looks!

Happy Shopping!
XOXO,
MissEcoChic

Morals vs. Money: How to be a socially conscious consumer while still being budget savvy

There are many natural stores and specialty stores which cater to the yoga-doing, carbon-footprint-reducing, GMO-boycotting types of people which have a plethora of tempting options but which also cost a plethora of money. I have had a request for an entry on how to be a socially conscious consumer while still being budget savvy so here is my attempt at addressing this clash of morals vs. money.

Socially conscious consumerism may refer to animal rights, environmentalism, human rights or any other cause which drives a person to change their economic impact via product purchasing in order to beneficially impact their cause. Let's face it, not all of us socially conscious consumers are able to spend hundreds of dollars on groceries each week due to various reasons. Some may be in school and dealing with educational expenses, others may have low-income jobs or some (like me) may be right in between school and jobs and have barely any budget at all. Whatever the reason, budget friendly and socially conscious products should be an option for everyone.

Next post I will be discussing budget friendly and socially conscious makeup options.

Stay Tuned!
XOXO,
MissEcoChic

Vegetarian to Vegan: Day 2

Yesterday was the second day I was fully vegan, it was tough but rewarding. For brunch, I had a banana-peanut butter milkshake using Jif creamy peanut butter and H-E-B unsweetened vanilla almond milk. At 300 calories, this was a healthy but sort of heavy breakfast. Later on, I picked up some Bell Plantation PB2 which my friend Diya from In Her Stilettos  recommended to me. Instead of ~190 calories like most peanut butters for two tablespoons, PB2 has only 45 calories for two teaspoons! The peanut butter comes in a powder form which surprised me at first but ended up being more beneficial as I usually use it in milkshakes and smoothies and the powder is much easier to clean off my hand held mixer compared to traditional peanut butter. Also, I found out that although Jif is vegan according to its ingredients list, there has been some controversy as to the source of the diglycerides which could be from either from vegetable sources like soy bean and canola or could be animal derived from cows and hogs. Also apparently Proctor and Gamble is notorious for their animal cruelty through product testing... SO calorie, cruelty and content-wise PB2 was a much healthier choice.

[image via atasteofkoko.com]

For dinner, my dad and I went to The Steeping Room. I was impressed by not only their amount of vegan selection but the care with which the entire restaurant took with our order. When I asked for the meal to be made vegan, the waiter not only made recommendations and accommodated ingredients from another dish to be used in the dish I wanted, but he also specified on my order that it was vegan so the cooks in the back would use all separate dishes and utensils in its cooks so as to not have any cross contamination with animal sources! WOW! That is incredibly rare in a restaurant but I very much appreciate their commitment to their consumer's dietary choices. To start with I had a tomato basil bisque that was vegan but tasted deliciously creamy, followed by a Mediterranean appetizer plate of pita bread slices, hummus, Spanish olives and feta cheese blocks for my dad. The waiter made sure the cheese blocks were in their own compartment on the plate so I could still eat the rest of the vegan portions. For my entree, I had a spinach salad tossed in a balsamic vinaigrette with walnuts and a HUGE grilled vegetable and tofu sandwich on ciabatta bread. The tofu was marinated well and the grilled vegetables, although a bit too raw, were quite flavorful. The ciabatta bread was delicious but I think I need to start cutting down on my white bread intake at restaurants.

[image via coatesnet.com]

Later on I ended up at Chuy's Tex Mex Restaurant, another Austin original, with some old high school friends. While Chuy's has tasty vegan options for entrees, I was disappointed that they didn't have any vegan desserts. So for dessert, I had a glass of Dr. Pepper which ended up being perfect since I had been craving soda and as part of my weight loss regiment I only drink soda on weekends. With a few chips and salsa along with the Dr. Pepper, it was actually the perfect size late Friday night snack. 

[image via sodeliciousdairyfree.com] 

Being vegan is tough, but Whole Foods helped me out a lot. I bought some vegan mini chocolate chips for baking that are dairy free, nut free and soy free along with some So Delicious Dairy Free coconut milk amaretto chery ice cream. I also bought some pepperjack cheese made from rice which I have yet to try.

Hope your diets have improved as mine has!
XOXO,
MissEcoChic

From vegetarian to vegan: day 1

Okay so I have decided that I no longer want to consume eggs and dairy. It's horrifying, especially after watching Vegucated, to learn that male chicks who will not produce eggs are ground up alive and put into processed meat or left in plastic bags to suffocate to death as they are thrown away. Cows used for milk production are forced to produce much more milk than is natural and if they contract mastitis, a painful swelling of the udders which produces pus and possibly fatal, some cows are not even given antibiotics. Other cows and chickens are constantly fed antibiotics whether or not they are required (as I learned in my Bioenvironmental Science Special Topics: Antibiotics in the Environment class). This force feeding of copious amounts of antibiotics has been linked to teratogenic (birth defect causing) and carcinogenic (cancer causing) consequences for animals and humans alike.

[image via angry-vegan.blogspot.com]

So as an informed and educated consumer, I decided that unless I know exactly where my dairy and eggs are coming from, I am just no longer going to consume them. As in, I decided to become vegan. For many omnivores or vegans, this may not seem like such a big deal since I am already a strict vegetarian...but giving up eggs and dairy (which I love!) is very difficult. They are what enable me to survive as a vegetarian at most restaurants. That being said, I had already stopped eating eggs for about two weeks and last night (after eating two packets of cheese crackers) that I needed to be healthier about my eating decisions. This morning at the doctor's office, the tactless weighing scale told me I had gained 16 pounds within the last year. SIXTEEN POUNDS. Unacceptable. Especially unacceptable as I have been suffering from knee injuries and will be having to attend physical therapy to recover and extra weight on my knee is just exacerbating my condition. The need to become healthier and live up to my morals came to the great confluence of a vegan lifestyle.

Here is what I ate today:

• Breakfast: coffee made with almond milk and instant coffee powder and sugar in the raw & multi-grain bread with hummus; pretty healthy
• Lunch: guacamole/salsa with tortilla chips; not so healthy... but still vegan
• Dinner: spaghetti with a homemade portobello, onion, garlic, tomato sauce and spiced okra... pretty healthy but a bit carb-y
• Dessert: one big orange... I was desperately craving chocolate but all the chocolate in my house had milk in it, I need to remember to stop by at whole foods to buy some vegan chocolate and some coconut milk ice cream (yum!)

I think for my first day being vegan I did well and ate about 400 calories less than usual... and I feel full AND satiated! (Well mostly satiated minus the chocolate craving.) Once my body gets used to not eating so much sugar again I think everything will be a lot easier. 

If anyone has any tips on going vegan, please let me know!

XOXO,

MissEcoChic

Spreading Knowledge of Sustainable Water Purifiers in Third World Countries Affected by Natural Disasters

A glimpse into my background... a paper I wrote during my undergrad in Bioenvironmental Science...

Spreading Knowledge of Sustainable Water Purifiers in Third World Countries Affected by Natural Disasters

Water Invention by MissEcoChic

Many countries in South Asia were devastated when the Tsunamis hit the region and destroyed much infrastructure in addition to taking many lives. Those who survived the tsunamis were left with difficult prospects. Although there was water everywhere, very little of it was clean enough for human consumption. Due to this shortage of drinkable water, many people died not only due to injuries sustained from the natural disaster but due to dehydration and the onslaught of diseases which often occurred due to water related lack of sanitation.

In order to combat this problem, my cousin, along with a team of engineers from Intel Corporation spent a summer in India developing water purifiers to be placed in rural areas, such as villages, which had much difficulty in gaining clean water. These water purifiers were composed of locally found products in their design and utilized the sun’s various angles to build a solar powered boiling mechanism to purify rain or collected water. Implementing these in areas which often had no other access to pure water allowed many individuals the source of a vital human need.

While creating these sustainable water purifiers and implementing them in areas of need is a commendable effort, I believe that a policy change must take place in order to properly provide clean water. Alongside providing much needed aid in the form of supplies and purifiers, knowledge of how to create, build and repair this technology should be taught to the inhabitants of third world countries who often are unable to procure clean water. We learned in Professor DeWitt’s BESC 201 class: when education levels are increased in third world countries, the standard of living rises considerably. I propose that we implement this philosophy and provide the tools with which to construct the needed technology by sending people dedicated to teaching alongside tangible forms of aid such as food, water, blankets, etc. to the areas (and its people) which are most in need. In this case, it would be the people affected by natural disasters and who require sources of clean water.

Works Cited: http://www.who.int/water_sanitation_health/tsunami_qa/en/; [Name Retracted]; BESC 201