Giving Tuesday Holiday Gift Guide
For years, I’ve published holiday gift guides and, separately, information on nonprofits that I love and trust in anticipation of Giving Tuesday. This year, I’m combining the two, featuring actual physical gifts as well as great organizations where you can make a gift in someone’s name. Happy holidays!
My Covid Strategy
Wah wah. After feeling a slight sore throat and stuffy nose and testing negative for three days, on the fourth I got the dreaded covid double line. The good news (besides the fact that “The Crown” just dropped four new episodes) is that I’m vaccinated and my symptoms are mild. According to the World Health Organization, cases of the illness are down globally, but in California, where I live, there’s been a slight uptick in the number of people testing positive over the last few weeks. Time to break out the masks!
Mommy Greenest Loves: Brixy Shampoo Bar (& Conditioner)
Have you tried shampoo bars? I’m loving this one from Brixy!
Bluedot: Sustainable Sunday Brunch By Bike
When friends recently suggested we meet for Sunday brunch, I turned it into a challenge. How could we have the most fun with the smallest carbon footprint? The weather was beautiful that weekend, so I knew the plan had to involve the beach. I live only a few miles away, but the more sustainable choice was to not take my car: According to the EPA, if I drive just ten miles less each week, in a year I’ll save 500 pounds of CO2 — about as much as four trees sequester over ten years. If that doesn’t sound like a lot, consider this: If all Americans drove just ten miles less…
What Can You Recycle?
To my beloved children, Despite the fact that you have lived in my house for most/all of your lives, during which time I have consistently demonstrated effective recycling behavior, there seems to be some residual confusion about what you can can and cannot recycle. It’s complicated, I get it. From the time you were small, the a profusion of different materials has exploded exponentially and therefore you were required to continuously improve on your knowledge. This is a problem for all of us — that’s why we have that giant plastic trash slick in the middle of the ocean and microplastics in our fish. And it’s why so many people…
Bluedot: LA’s Westside Thrift Store Hotspots
I first started thrifting in high school because it was the most affordable way to shop on a minimum-wage budget. My favorite store was Aardvark in Venice, where the racks were full of vintage items — floral dresses from the fifties and cashmere crewnecks with just the tiniest moth holes that could be fixed with a needle and thread. We weren’t thinking about it then, but thrifting is seriously sustainable.
Trader Joe’s Sustainable Skincare Anti-Aging Night Hydration Routine
Oh, aging. I’m 52 and, for a while there, it was like my skin was perpetually in Palm Springs — dry and desiccated no matter what I put on it. But I recently developed a quick-and-easy, Trader Joe’s sustainable skincare, anti-aging night hydration routine that really does work wonders — and together, these three products cost less than $25!
Abortion Decision: Will Morning-After Pills Be Banned Next?
New research published in JAMA shows a massive increase in demand for abortion pills after the Dobbs decision — will the morning-after pill be banned next? I tracked some of this in a new essay for Northwest Review. Super proud to be included in one of the oldest and most prestigious literary journals in the country – they ran Ken Kesey’s first story in 1957!
