Being green fundamentally means understanding that the connection between personal health and environmental health is tied together inextricably. An Eco-Chick is a person who works, in whatever ways are in their power, to reduce their impact, keep informed, and stand up for human, animal and planetary health.

Read more of the Q&A on the Sara Jane Mercer site.

Andrew Revkin is one of the reasons I started writing about the environment in the first place, and he is one of the few reporters who was covering environmental issues before they became commonplace (environmental reporting only became widely-covered topic within the last decade, thanks in part to early bloggers’ tenacity and dedication to the issues, and journalists like Revkin.) We were also neighbors back in my hometown of Garrison, New York, for a time.

So I was so honored to be a guest speaker in Revkin’s “Blogging a Better Planet” class at Pace University (well, virtually) last night. Here’s what I had to say in response to his questions about how I got my start with Eco-Chick, whether I consider myself a journalist, and why I think I’m well-suited to the blogging medium.

According to Revkin’s Wikipedia bio: A reporter for the New York Times from 1995-2009, Revkin currently writes the Dot Earth environmental blog for The Times’ Opinion Pages. He is also Senior Fellow for Environmental Understanding at the Pace Academy for Applied Environmental Studies at Pace University, as well as a songwriter and musician.

This was such a fun video and article to be a part of! Thanks to Jill and the Inhabitat team for featuring me and my home – and helping people learn how to winterize their homes to save money (and carbon emissions!).

I am honored to be featured in Chile’s oldest continuously published newspaper, El Mercurio (it’s also the oldest Spanish-language paper in the world!).

I first wrote about Raleigh Denim on Eco Chick way back in 2009, and since then, the brand has grown in more ways than just business-wise (though they are going gangbusters in that department as well).

They’ve recently opened an NYC storefront and have expanded their jeans-only line to include all sorts of lovely pieces to go-with denim, like sweet polka-dot shirts and edgy-cool vests.

This made-in-USA (mostly North Carolina, where the designer couple lives) denim company has a great story, which I got to write about in Whole Living magazine’s October issue. I’ve screen-shotted the iPad version here (the mag looks GREAT in it’s new app!) and the third shot below is from the iPad-only video of Raleigh Denim creators, Sarah and Victor, talking about how they make their classic-cool jeans.

Cute screenshot below from the iPad-only Whole Living magazine app – that’s Sarah and Victor!

I’m excited to announce that I won 2nd Place in the annual American Literary Review’s writing contest for my creative Nonfiction work entitled “Icewalkers,” which is about growing up a tomgirl of sorts in the hamlet of Garrison.

This is what the contest’s judge, Alice Dark, had to say about the piece (which you can read here):

A young girl literally walks on thin ice to prove herself to the local ice skater boys. The premise is a familiar rite of passage for young girls, but this author focuses on descriptions of ice, cold, and winter in a way that gives them symbolic weight and resonance. I liked how this author was able to make complex her 11-year-old self, her decisions both considered and impulsive. The ice is the center here, though; it changes color, moans, tinkles, cracks; it is alive.

I’m very pleased and honored!

I am SO excited to share with you the piece I wrote for September’s Whole Living – all about one of my favorite topics, Slow Fashion. I interviewed the creators behind the slow fashion label Adie + George (natural dyes expert Sasha Duerr and ecofashion designer Casey Larkin of Mr. Larkin), and reported on how they make their local botanically dyed masterpieces. It’s not only a great read (if I do say so!), but the photographer and designers over at the magazine made it all look so spectacular and really captured the heart of the story visually.

Pick up the September issue to check this story out – as well as some seriously tasty tofu recipes (preceding my story – love that one of my top 10 foods is covered here!), a really interesting analysis of the gluten-intolerance epidemic, and oodles of other healthy living info and loveliness. (And if you are a subscriber to the mag, the new iPad edition is free….and includes additional content!)

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I’m excited to report that July’s Goodebox (which we first wrote about in March), has products from companies chosen by yours truly.

Check it out! I’ve chosen products from some of my very favorite green beauty companies, including scent from A Perfume Organic, mascara from Benecos, a caffeine eye cream from 100% Pure, bronzer from Revolution Organics, hair shine from Emtage, and a lovely body scrub from Miessence.

Here’s what I chose for this month’s Goodebox!

What IS Goodebox? Simply, it’s a monthly green beauty subscription service that allows you to try a bunch of curated products in sample sizes, so you can find stuff you absolutely love. If you are trying to switch to healthier, non-toxic makeup and personal care products, Goodebox allows you to try a variety of products so you can find what’s right for you, without spending a ton buy full size versions of everything (and then having to wastefully trash what you don’t end up liking).

Interested? You can sign up for your monthly box of fun here.

I loved putting together this piece on natural hot springs throughout the United States for Whole Living Magazine‘s April issue. I have a fantasy to one day pen a coffee-table book with gorgeous photography from hot springs around the world – if anyone knows a photographer who is similarly interested, please have them contact me!