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My blog has now transitioned to Tumblr.

Click HERE to view www.MissEcoChic.tumblr.com

XOXO,
MissEcoChic

Hiatus

I will be on a short hiatus as I transfer my blog from blogspot to tumblr and redo the layout.

Sorry for the inconvenience.

XOXO,

MissEcoChic

Spring has sprung... seasonal allergies.

The weather has gone from the chilling cold to the humid heat, as Texas is oft known to do. Along with the anticipated arrival of blooming flowers, Easter bunnies and spring break, the season has brought something else: seasonal allergies. Those familiar with Austin, know that allergy victims suffer quite a bit here due to the beautiful abundance of greenery with its various types of pollens, weeds and grasses. If you're anything like me, you may feel that every last drop of water has been expelled from your body in the form of mucus, your contacts feel like they are burning with the nine circles of hell and your head will soon explode from the onslaught of sinus pressure. Quite gruesomely picturesque one could say.

Here are a few ways to find relief from allergies:

1. Inhalation: Boiling some water with a few drops of eucalyptus essential oil and lavender essential oil can help with decongest when inhaled under a blanket to trap the steam. If you're lucky enough to have access to a sauna, this is the same concept. 
2. Along the same lines, a steaming hot shower will also help decongest (and take care of asthma suffering). Using vick's vapor rub tablets in the shower help too. Tutorial on this coming up.
3. Tea in flavors such as peppermint offers comfort to scratchy throats. Be sure to buy decaffeinated tea.
4. Hot soup with lots of pepper helps soothe sore throats. My favorite flavor is tomato...I prefer homemade over brand names that don't strictly say vegan because "natural flavor" on an ingredients list is too ominous. (Think chicken/beef)

...and if all of those don't work, you could always go to the doctor and get a prescription of steroids and a z-pak which makes everything feel better over night!

XOXO,

MissEcoChic

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

Vegan migas with soyrizo

Ingredients:

-medium/hard tofu
-spinach
-bell pepper
-onion
-Serrano pepper
-vegan chorizo
-tortillas
-olive oil
-seasoning (can be taco seasoning or paprika or even just hot sauce)
                      

Directions:

1. empty the tofu of water, for "dry eggs" squeeze the tofu between two paper towels and plates and place heavy weight over the top. cut into pieces. these pieces do not have to be exact as the tofu will be eventually crumbled, the goal is to increase the surface area that is touching the skillet
2. chop or tear tortillas into smaller pieces
3. heat up a bit of olive oil and let tortillas cook until they become crispy
4. remove tortilla pieces from pan to add in later
5. place tofu pieces in skillet with olive oil. after a few minutes, crumble tofu into smaller pieces
6. chop onions, bell pepper, spinach and serranos. I like to mince my serranos but that is a personal preference, any sort of cutting will suffice. 
7. sauté some chopped onions and diced serranos in 1-2tsp of olive oil until onions become translucent. add in bell peppers and spinach. this can be done in a separate pan or if you don't want to wash an extra pan like me, just use a corner of the skillet with the tofu in it
8. once the tofu has become the consistency desired in eggs, mix everything together in the skillet (including tortilla pieces). I like very dry eggs so I waited until the tofu lost a lot of moisture. 
9. add in vegan chorizo and mix to distribute flavor. I used about 1/4 of the packet.
10. add seasoning to taste: salt, pepper, taco seasoning, paprika etc. I even threw in some tapatio sauce to give the migas a bit of kick. 
11. serve with warmed tortillas. 
12. serves 4-6 people

bon appétit,
MissEcoChic

Buddhist Temple Built from Beer Bottles?!

This is amazing! Read the full story here at TreeHugger.

Here are the beautiful images which just go to show that one man's trash can most definitely be another man's treasure.

[image via treehugger.com]

[image via treehugger.com

[image via treehugger.com]

Hope you enjoyed feasting your eyes.

XOXO,
MissEcoChic

Victoria's Dirty Little Secret Exposed, Pledges to Detox by 2020

Everyone secretly or sometimes not-so-secretly loves Victoria's Secret lingerie and clothing. We all know exactly when the semi-annual sale happens just so we can find that highly coveted piece that we've been yearning and can't afford during the regular season. 

[image via victoriassecret.com]

However, what we didn't know was that Victoria's Secret lingerie have very high level of phthalates.Phthalates are commonly used as plasticizers, meaning that they are added to plastics to increase flexibility, durability, transparency and longevity-all the qualities we appreciate in VS apparel. Phthalates, due to their lack of a covalent bond to plastics are easily leached from their source at a rate which if VS lingerie were held at the same standards as toys in the E.U., would be banned. According to the National Library of Medicine, phthalates are a toxic chemical due to their teratogenic nature, meaning they cause birth defects. They are also considered to be carcinogen (cancer-causing) and may lead to male reproductive system defects. 

 If we truly love our body as the ad above states, we should not expose our bodies to this toxic chemical. 

Since this discovery by Greenpeace last year, Greenpeace has started a Detox Campaign. So far the brands which have pledges to go toxic free are:

Nike

Adidas

Puma

H&M--you can see my post on H&M here

M&S

C&A

Li-Ning

Zara

Mango

Esprit

Levi's 

Uniqlo

Benneton

and of course, Victoria's Secret

[image via greenpeace.com

You can sign the Fashion Manifesto to urge other fashion retailers to phase out harmful toxics in their apparel just like these companies have. 

Congrats to Victoria's Secret which has pledged to go toxic-free by 2020! 

By then, I should have a decent enough salary that I might not even have to wait til the semi-annual sale to purchase VS clothing-oh and of course, support toxic-free and environmentally friendly clothing too.

Hope you will support these companies which have pledged to follow Greenpeace's Detox Campaign and sign the Fashion Manifesto  to urge other companies which have not yet responded.

XOXO,

MissEcoChic

Downton Abbey Inspired Vegan High Tea

If you don't already watch Downton Abbey, you should definitely start! Set in the Edwardian Era in Britain, the show follows the lives of an aristocratic family as well as their household servants. Think a more contemporary Jane Austen drama which deals with issues such as women's rights, social class and aristocracy. It's amazing.

To celebrate the premier of the third season (in the U.S.), my family and I made high tea. We're all vegetarian but to give this meal a little extra oomph, we made it vegan and healthy!

Vegan High Tea Menu:

dainty cucumber sandwiches

baked brussel sprouts

lentil soup

vegetable soup

jammy dodgers

and of course, tea!

Cucumber Sandwiches

Lightly toast cocktail bread slices if desired. Mix Ranch salad dressing with a container of Tofutti cream cheese. Slice tomatoes and cucumbers. Make dainty and delectable cucumber sandwiches by spreading cream cheese Ranch mix on a slice of bread and layer one slice of cucumber and one slice of tomato. These sandwiches have protein due to the tofutti, are low calorie AND use fresh produce. Props if you have organic tomatoes and cucumbers. 

Baked Brussel Sprouts
After cutting the brussel sprouts of the stem, make a crosswise slit into each. Toss the sprouts in a bit of olive oil, garlic powder, rosemary, thyme, basil, etc. whatever italian spices you like really. You could even sprinkle with a bit of nutritional yeast to get that parmesan taste. Or if you're making a vegetarian version, go ahead and sprinkle parmesan itself over the brussel sprouts. Bake for approximately 20 minutes in the oven set at 350.

Lentil Soup & Vegetable Soup

Funny story on this, we wanted to make a delicious carrot-ginger soup I had made for my family for Thanksgiving. Since my dad and sister had missed it, my mom and I thought this would be a perfect opportunity for them to enjoy this particular soup. We went to four different stores and couldn't find ANY ginger anywhere! So, in defeat, my mom bought a family size minestrone soup packet but for some reason forgot to read the ingredients. Turns out there were both chicken and beef in the soup. We decided to go with Amy's soup cans instead. One lentil soup can served my dad and myself and one vegetable soup can served my mom and my sister. Amy's brand is great because they offer many vegetarian and vegan options, although I find that I generally have to add a bit of salt and some spices to most of their frozen food-but then again, that's what you get with frozen food.

"Jammy Dodgers" AKA Thumbprint Cookies

If you're wondering what the heck a "jammy dodger" is, don't worry, I was too when my sister saw what I was baking and excited started shouting (in a very bad British accent) "I LOVE JAMMY DODGERS!!!!" Turns out, they are what we Americans call thumbprint cookies. These were my favorite part. But then again, baked desserts generally are to my liking. I followed this recipe but edited it a bit to fit my family's requests for a sweeter dessert. I increased the maple syrup to 3/4 cup instead of a 1/2 cup to sweeten it up a bit and consequently baked the cookies an additional five minutes. I used two different types of jam for the middles: strawberry and sour cherry. I love trying new flavors and I thoroughly enjoyed both. They were beyond delicious! AND since they were so healthy, my family had multiple helpings of the dessert-a very rare phenomenon.

Ambiance & Setting the Table
To set a proper mood, we put a log in the fireplace and I set the coffee tea table with a nice rose patterned tablecloth and a nice set of teacups and teapot.

Am I forgetting something? Oh, YES! The TEA!! Well, actually we didn't drink any tea because it was evening time (AKA best time for acid reflux) and we try our best not to drink more than one cup of caffeine a day. 

XOXO,

MissEcoChic

2013 Texas VegFest

In about 3 months is the annual Texas VegFest! I am very excited about this event as I haven't been able to make it in the past few years due to school. I'm so excited in fact that I will be volunteering for the event and you should too!

[image via www.TexasVegFest.com]

This is a wonderful opportunity to explore vegetarian and vegan diets and lifestyles, whether you're a seasoned veteran veg*n (like me) or a relative newcomer (like my boyfriend.) 

Oh and have I mentioned the best part? 

IT'S FREE!!! 

There's a suggested donation of $5 but that's really cheap so it's all good.

The following exciting things will be included:

• Live Music & Dynamic Speakers

• Cooking Demonstrations

• Kids’ Activities

• Good Food & Cold Beer!

• Free Samples & Prizes

• Local & National Vendors

Yes, that's right there WILL BE alcohol there so there's really no excuse for not going. They even let you take two sealed water bottles in, providing they are not glass. 

Last year's event included speakers such as Vegan Chef (my idol) Isa Chandra Moskowitz of Post Punk Kitchen and Robert Cheeke of Vegan Body Building! I can't wait to see who the speakers for this year will be!

The festival will be held in Austin, Texas- ranked #8 in North America for most vegetarian-friendly cities. Also, Austin is the absolute best city in Texas (and possibly the world) so if you haven't visited before, this is a wonderful opportunity!

I'll keep y'all updated on the festival so get excited for the 2013 Texas VegFest!

XOXO,

MissEcoChic

Stay Tuned

It has been a week since I posted. Sorry for the long delay, I have been sick. I have a bunch of eco chic crafts to post soon though!

Stay tuned!

Meanwhile, here is some food for thought:

[image via Sustainable Man]

XOXO,
MissEcoChic

Good Clean Soap!

I found some good clean LOCALLY MADE soap from Austin Natural Soap! They are completely vegan and blended with ingredients like olive oil, palm oil, coconut oil, soybean, sunflower, jojoba oil, essential oils, vitamin E and the most interesting: ground dried loofah. While I initially thought loofah meant one of those fluffy scrubbing things you find at Walmart. This loofah actually refers to dried and ground up insides of a gourd! (Think squash.) Cool!

These are the two soaps I bought. The Padre Island Breeze reminds me of ocean and rain scented candles-but entirely natural. The Del Castillo soap is my favorite. Its aroma is very similar to the soap bars I use when in India. By the way, scents are wonderful memory triggers and are sometimes used for patients who have suffered from memory loss.

I also LOVE that the sale of this soap donates 10% of its proceeds to a local Austin band.

How Austin-y to add that the soaps are blended with peace and love... I love this hippie city. 

As I discussed in my last post, I considered making my own soap but the lye portion and pre-saponification of NaOH portions were just too toxic to make soap at home. These soaps were a great option instead. I loved the store also, it was a tiny little store near SOCO and the soap was made right there: Austin Natural Soap.  

Hope you too can find some locally made natural soap!

XOXO,

MissEcoChic

Soap: Cleaning with Dirty Ingredients

During a phone call with the boyfriend, we were discussing liquid soap vs. bar soap because he had been intrigued by some soap on a rope he saw at Stag which had the most interesting scents which were oddly pleasing in the olfactory sense. I thought to myself, what if I made him some nice vegan soap on a rope? Perhaps with a handmade soap holder loofah made of upcycled hand cloths using this idea I found on pinterest? I decided to do a bit of research on soap making, mostly because I was wary of the lye handling. Lye is very toxic before saponification, which according to Wikipedia it "involves base (usually caustic soda NaOH) hydrolysis of triglycerides, which are esters of fatty acids, to form the sodium salt of a carboxylate."  This then makes sense that it is toxic because NaOH is a very strong base which is very corrosive and can burn badly as well as irritate the respiratory tract if inhaled. After a bit of research, it turns out I was worried about the wrong things.

[Image via http://www.veganbeautyreview.com]

I am disgusted by what can commonly be found in most soaps: Phthalates which cause birth defects, carcinogenic parabens which also cause early onset of puberty in girls due to its ability to mimic estrogen, Sodium laurel sulfate (SLS) which is a common irritant and is often contaminated with carcinogenic dioxin.... and the MOST upsetting: glycerin which is often made with animal fats like rendered beef fat.

OMG. How could I be unknowingly using these products for over 20 years? Being a broke college student often means shopping at Dollar Tree and using products with all sorts of sketchy ingredients. Now that I am no longer a college student, I refuse to subject myself and the environment to these unnecessary ingredients. PETA provides this great list to Cruelty Free Bar Soaps. Why bar soap instead of those lovely liquid gel soaps you ask? Liquid soaps are not as environmentally friendly because of the containers which they come in. Oftentimes after a liquid soap bottle runs out, it is (God forbid) thrown away or at least recycled because is cannot be refilled. While recycling is great for those items we just cannot do without, it is much better to reduce consumption altogether. [My intelligent boyfriend figured this one out all on his own!] The energy used to manufacture the plastic bottles and then the energy used to recycle the bottles are not worth it if it is possible to do without the bottle and save all that energy.

I came upon this great deal from Kiss My Face for 24oz of bar soap for $8! I am sorely tempted to buy it right away, but I think it would be better if I found a local place to buy some eco-friendly, vegan soap instead. But for now, it is sitting in my cart on kissmyface.com waiting for me in case I can't find a local soap I like.

Similarly, I will be on the hunt for better shampoo, conditioner and make up to buy as well as I heard a nasty rumor that most lipsticks have fish scales in them...yuck. I'm thinking Urban Decay?

More on this later... I'm going to go put all my unused soaps in a bag for Goodwill.

XOXO,
MissEcoChic

Beaded necklace DIY

Today I made a hand beaded necklace inspired by my trip to the Pueblo Reservation near Taos, New Mexico.

I used old cream cheese containers to hold the beads while I strung them onto the thread. A threaded needle helped make this MUCH easier.

The pictures explain it all. Enjoy.

XOXO,
MissEcoChic

Whip it up Wednesday: Duct Tape Purses!

Duct tape purses are the best. Seriously. They can be customized to have exactly the amount of pockets needed and the card slots can be made to be perfectly tight (so ID cards and credit cards aren't lost).

I made this one below for my 3-year-old niece's Christmas present and she absolutely ADORES it. I even put real money in the coin purse and she bought herself some stickers with it. The check out lady at the counter was beyond surprised to see the little girl pull out her own purse and her own money to pay. This would make a great gift for anyone-not just little girls.

Materials Needed:

• scissors (sharp scissors)
• duct tape (the funkier the design, the better!)
• paper (use scrap paper/recycle some paper)
• creativity

Cover a sheet of paper with duct tape. Fold into thirds and tape bottom two portions together to form a pocket. The third portion will form the flap. Fold until it looks pretty and tape. Done.

Add a bit of tape to make the flap stick if desired.
Also, if the tape keeps sticking to the scissors and makes them too stick to cut straight, take a bit of nailpolish remover or rubbing alcohol on a cotton and swipe the blades with them to get the goo off.

For more complicated purses, you can make extra pockets or made custom sized card holder pockets, like this one I made a few years ago: 

                                      

Happy Crafting!

XOXO,
MissEcoChic