Archive for November, 2009

How to Fight Chapped Lips: Natural Remedies to Stop the Burning and Pain

Chapped lips happen for many reasons including extreme exposure to the wind, sun and cold air, breathing with the mouth open, constant licking of lips, physical dehydration and contact with allergens in cosmetics like lipstick.  The symptoms can affect quality of life especially where eating food is concerned as chapped lips are often very sensitive to the touch.  Fortunately, there are many natural remedies to relieve the symptoms of chapped lips.  Of course, once you relieve the symptoms, you would have won the battle against the pain and the burning associated with very dry lips. Your lips are chapped because they are dry.  As such, it is imperative to keep them as hydrated as much as possible with the following methods: - Use cool saltwater compresses daily, preferably before you hit the sack, for about a week.  Just mix one teaspoon of rock salt to a pint of water, soak a washcloth in it and lay over your lips for about 15 minutes.  You should then lock in the moisture by applying a natural lip balm or petroleum jelly. - Apply either a vegetable oil like tea tree oil or the juice of an aloe vera on your lips.  Remember to dilute the ...

Eco Hotels, Volvo, and Dog Days

Although humanity deserves a pat on the back for improvements in eco-friendliness over the last decade, you will have to acknowledge that said improvements are still insufficient for us to honestly say to our children that we proudly give them their greatest inheritance on Earth - that is, the Earth itself. Fortunately, we have good news that brighten up our day and make us believe once again that there is still hope for humanity and for the Earth.  The good news comes from eco-friendly hotels, a top car manufacturer's efforts to go green, and environment-friendly pet care options. Starwood Hotels For businessmen and frequent travelers, the search for eco-friendly hotels can be a frustrating one especially when one considers the general wastage of resources from the toilet paper to the electricity that happens inside hotels and motels.  Fortunately, the popular Starwood hotel chain, which is composed of the Sheraton, W Hotels and St. Regis brands, has advocated eco-chic. Supposedly, eco-chic pertains to the blending of Starwood's signature style and comfort with adherence to rigorous eco-friendly measures as recommended by the United States Green Building Council.  It has the council's Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design certification to show for it. Among the eco-friendly features of ...

Eco-Friendly Holiday Greetings

The holidays will be here before you know it, and you definitely want to celebrate the season in an eco-friendly manner.  The season is a time to give and each year there are many cards and gifts that are given to celebrate this wonderful time.  You don't want to be excessive during the season and end up damaging the environment.  The good news is that there are some great practices you can use this holiday season for eco-friendly holiday greetings and gift giving. Use Wrappers that are Recycled If you are sending out Christmas packages or just giving gifts to those in your home, use wrappers that are recycled.  Instead of purchasing brand new wrapping paper, use some things you have around your home.  Consider using some of those old newspapers you have around or use wrapping paper from the last holiday season if you have it saved up.  This way you don't go out and purchase new paper.  You'll be recycling while giving your gifts and it saves money too! Recycled Cards or Going with Electronic Greetings Hundreds of thousands of cards are sent out during the holiday season each year.  That's a whole lot of paper being wasted.  After all, many of ...

Eco-Friendly Food & Gift - Holiday Ideas

Giving out corporate gifts during the holiday season can be a challenge to the people responsible for thinking up of new ways to present said gifts.  After all, strict specifications must be satisfied in terms of tasteful presentation fitting corporate image, easy delivery to recipients, reasonable prices fitting into the available budget, appropriateness for all recipients, and most importantly, eco-friendliness! Yes, indeed, it is a tall order.  Or is it?  Actually, you can tap into many eco-friendly foods gift ideas that will satisfy all the above mentioned criteria. Start with the Wrapper As cliché as it sounds, gift presentation is as important as the gift itself.  Thus, you will find gift-givers wrapping their gifts in elaborate ribbons and attractive paper hoping that it will make for a pretty sight, build up the suspense of opening it, and make the gift inside seem more valuable than it really is.  However, all these ribbons and paper can pile up on the trash can and on the landfills.  Fortunately, you have an option in eco-friendly reusable wooden boxes from manufacturers like Maple Ridge farms.  These boxes are made of basswood, which is grown in sustainable tree forests in the United States, thus, making for eco-friendly ...

Simple Steps to Start a Life of Green Living

Our carbon footprints today will affect the lives of future generations.  As such, it is important to cut back on our carbon footprint in whatever ways possible.  You can adopt simple steps to start a life of green living with littler effort than you may think. Energy Consumption When and where possible, make use of solar energy to power your homes, be it in heating up your water to lighting your path.  The solar water heater and solar lights are the best examples of such a good use of the sun's power.  You can purchase these appliances in many stores nowadays, with the assurance of easy installation. Check Lowe's or Home Depot to get started. You should also shift to eco-friendly and economical LED or fluorescent lights. Together with solar power, you ought to enjoy lower electricity bills, too. And do turn off the lights when nobody is in the room, this will save you money and help you go green at the same time! Furthermore, you can lessen energy consumption in the kitchen, laundry area and bathrooms by adopting the following measures: - Use tap water when operating the dishwasher and only do so at full loads - Wash clothes with tap water instead of ...