Whether you’re a seasoned snowboarder or a bunny-slope warrior, the ski slopes have something to offer us all (even if it is only hot chocolate in the lodge cafeteria).  Surprisingly though, considering I kiss the snow every 5 feet, skiing isn’t always the most environmentally friendly activity. Between the lifts and the plows and the resort hot tubs running all night long, skiing can leave quite a mark on Mother Earth. But it doesn’t have to.

If you’ve got plans to hit the slopes this season, keep nature and a few of these things in mind:

Are the slopes graded or cleared?
This one’s tricky because it’s a little hard to tell whether you’re skiing on a graded or cleared slope.  A cleared slope is created by cutting down trees and shrubs to make a smooth downhill run.  A graded slope is like a cleared slope on steroids.  Bulldozers are brought in to scrape off the top layers of the soil to make the run unnaturally smooth and hence, boring.  This leaves that particular ecosystem in ruins, causing erosion and decreasing plant biodiversity.  Plus, it takes a lot more resources to maintain because the natural infrastructure isn’t in place to maintain itself.  When you have the choice, ski on a cleared slope to challenge yourself and save the environment.

Ski on real snow.
Early on in the season, many resorts bring in huge snow making machines that guzzle water and energy just to attract the early birds.  The best way to decrease this practice is to wait until it’s actually snowing to hit the slopes.  Moreover, many resorts use graded ski slopes just to open the runs a week early, so give ‘em a double whammy by waiting until it’s actually ski season to make your trek to the mountains.

Ski cross country or choose chair lifts wisely.
Cross country skiing is one of the most energy intensive exercises, burning up to 500 calories per hour depending on weight.  What’s more, that energy you burn translates into energy you save by not using a chair lift.  If you’re a pansy like me and can’t handle cross-country, don’t fret, just try to find lifts powered by renewable resources.  Aspen in Colorado, Crystal Mountain in Wisconsin, and Heavenly Ski Resort in California all have made efforts to find cleaner ways to power their ski lifts.

Rent your equipment.
This one’s pretty much a no-brainer.  Sharing equipment with other people means that you buy less and thus, fewer resources are needed to manufacture ski and snowboard gear.  If you have to buy your own skis or snowboard,  be sure that you sell it or give it away when you’re finished so somebody else can have some fun!

Check your resort before you go.
The Ski Area Citizens Coalition has an amazing website that gives every resort a grade based on its efforts to be environmentally friendly.  If you don’t have a regular ski spot, find your new favorite by checking out the Top Ten on the SACC homepage.  Otherwise, check your local resorts by selecting your state and ski area.

Happy skiing and snowboarding!

Here are some of the more harmful holiday practices and how we can tweak them to make them more eco-friendly without any less holiday cheeriness.

Gift Giving:
Every year we all spend our precious time and money picking out the perfect gifts for our loved ones.  Unfortunately, what may seem like the “perfect gift” to us may not be so appreciated by the recipient and end up as a throw-away by the time spring cleaning rolls around.  Avoid this potential waste while saving your own time and effort and give them something they will actually use.  Go for gift cards to their favorite stores so they can pick out something they’ll want.

Another idea is to stray away from buying “stuff” and give experiences to your loved ones instead.  A massage at the local spa for your mom, tickets to the big game for your dad, or a backstage pass (slash nosebleed section ticket) to the Jonas Brothers for your little sis should do the trick.  Plus, all of these gifts have the potential for you to include yourself in on the action (minus the J Bros, thanks).  Happy holidays to you!

And if none of those ideas strike your fancy, there are tons of eco-friendly gifts that will make everyone – including Mother Earth – happy.

Keep the travel to a minimum:
While it’s great to spend time with loved ones during the holiday season, it can become a little exhausting for the family and for the planet.  Spare your fam the holiday traffic, fights over the radio station, and tons of air pollution and keep it small.  Instead of driving from family member to family member, invite them all to one place for a holiday dinner or small party.  Not only will it reduce the stress of the holidays, it will also take a load off of the planet.  If you just have to go see Aunt Edna this year, consider renting a hybrid car (Zip Car, the greatest business ever, has plenty for rental, either for a few hours or an entire day!) for the journey to save on gas and increased mileage on the family minivan.

Get off your butts!:
For some reason, “family time” during the holidays now tends to include TV, going to movies, or playing Wii tennis (thanks, Walmart commercials).  My advice? GO OUTSIDE.  For those of you lucky enough to have snow during the holidays, go build a snowman or have a kids vs. parents snowball fight like old times.

If a food coma’s got you feelin’ a little sloth-y, go on a leisurely walk around the neighborhood to check out the over-the-top decorations or stay in and play Apples to Apples.  Not only will you save electricity and energy, but you’ll actually get to spend time with your fam that doesn’t involve your Mom’s awkward comments during Nights of Rodanthe about how Richard Gere is “such a hunk.”

Reuse your wrapping paper:
As much as I would like to think that I could convince you all to wrap your gifts in recycled newspaper, I know that’s just too tacky, even for us poor college students.  The next best thing?  Save wrapping paper, tissue paper, bows, and gift tags for next year.  This will cut down on holiday waste and save you a butt-load of money next year.  Another great tip that I picked up from my Mom is to re-use all those holiday cards as gift tags for the next year.  Just carefully cut around the writing to get some free, unique, and recycled gift tags for next year’s gifts.

What do you to green up your holiday?
Don’t be a Grinch – share your tips with the rest of us!

I have this theory that anything that’s good for the planet is good for your health as well.  You’ve heard it all before:  ditching the car, eating organic greens, and drinking tap water are all great ways to maintain your well-being.  But did you know that adding a little green to your workout routine can actually bump it its effectiveness and your subsequent sexiness?  Read on, my friend…

Treadmill vs. Trail: Treadmills use a lottt of energy – about 6 hours of lights on a Christmas tree-worth in only 30 minutes (obscure analogy, I know).  Running outside, however, requires no additional energy except for that needed to manufacture your workout clothes.  I don’t expect you to run outside just for the environment’s sake, but what if I told you that running outside can up your calorie burn and save your joints from strain and impact?  Not only are trails more likely to have inclines that torch calories like a wildfire, they also have a bumpier terrain which causes your muscles to make tiny corrective movements. All in all, this can increase your calorie burn by up to 10%!  Run on sand, and burn 1.6 times more calories!  Plus, dirt trails, wet and dry sand, and even asphalt (never run on the concrete sidewalk!) are softer than the surface of treadmills and will better protect your knees and ankles from impact and future joint pain.  Trust me, running in nature sure beats trotting alongside that 50 year old man sweating like a pig in his 1976 gym shorts.

StairMaster vs. Real Stairs: Like treadmills, StairMasters use a lot of energy to simulate the effect of…stairs.  I don’t know where you live, but where I’m from, stairs are not exactly a rare site.   Spare yourself the pricey gym membership and the unbecoming fluorescent lighting and hit your nearest sport stadium.  Depending on your weight, running stairs for 30 minutes can burn around 500 calories while 30 minutes of the StairMaster burns a measly 300 (hey, that’s an extra scoop of ice cream right there!).  You can also use the stairs as a forum for strength exercises, like this one from Women’s Health.  Plus, there’s always the added benefit of “accidentally” running the stairs at the exact same time as the football team…

Free Weights vs. Resistance Bands: Of course, both free weights and resistance bands take energy to manufacture and distribute.  However, think about the difference between buying an entire set of dumbbells and buying one or two resistance bands.  Not only is it better for the environment, but it is also a lot cheaper for us poor college students.  Unlike free weights, resistance bands challenge your muscles on both the flex and the release, increasing your muscle stability and strengthening tiny muscles that you didn’t even know existed.  You can use them in various exercises and you can control how hard the exercise is based on your form and the positioning of the band.

If you find that your band is too easy for you, just run on over to your local sporting goods store and buy one with higher resistance for about 15 bucks.  Plus, they’re super portable so that you can take them with you on that binge drink-a-thon spring break you have planned.  Don’t know how to get started?  Head to Fitness Magazine’s website and check out their plethora of resistance band workouts.

Of course there are so many other green exercises you can do!  Using your body as resistance instead of using weight machines, biking or walking to class instead of driving, and taking fitness classes instead of using the machines are all great examples.  Let me know what you do to keep the planet cool and your body hot!

Here are some of the most well-known college kid characteristics and how you can change them to better our earth:

We are constantly glued to our laptops. And no matter whether you’re Facebooking or researching the native crops of Haiti, you’re still using lots of energy.  Now I’m not stupid – I wouldn’t dare suggest that you cut down your Skype time just to save the Earth.  Really all you have to do is cut down your energy usage when you’re not actually on the computer (i.e. sleeping or boozing).  How do you do this?  Unplug your electronics!  Computers practically use as much energy when they’re in standby mode as they do when they’re actually in use.  So if you’re leaving the room for a good amount of time, turn off your computer and unplug all of the plugs in your outlet if possible.

We are messy and we have our clothes to prove it. I don’t know about you, but I can’t seem to eat or drink anything without staining whatever I’m wearing.  This is especially tragic when you happen to be wearing one of those “dry clean only” numbers, which of course, are always the cutest.  But don’t run off and spend last night’s tips on pricey dry cleaning before you try some other easier, cheaper, and more eco-friendly tactics.  Believe it or not, some “dry clean only” garments (such as silk and wool) can actually be hand washed with cold water.   Of course, give it a test run before you wash and potentially ruin your favorite silk dress.  If that doesn’t work, seek out “wet cleaning” or “green dry cleaning” locations by searching at GreenEarth Cleaning’s website.

We pull all nighters to finish those last minute term papers. But don’t make the environment suffer alongside you!  Use your paper wisely – double side it (you can change the feature on your printer) for drafts and even for your final paper.  Most professors don’t really care whether your paper is one or double sided.  You can save even more paper, ink, and moolah by simply reading over your paper carefully before you print it out.  I’m sorry, but printing out a paper 50 times just because you keep forgetting to use spell-check is just ridic.

We fund America’s red cup industry. I will bet that 9 out of every 10 parties you attend you can be found with a red cup in your hand.  However, using a different red cup with every drink can be pretty wasteful.  What’s more, you never really know where those cups have been before they reach your lips.  I don’t know about you, but I’m not really down to catch the Swine.  Solve all these problems before they start by bringing your own cup.  Think about it – you can decorate it your own way (helloooo, Pimp Cup!), you don’ t have to share it with any creepy randos, and you’ll look far less suspicious when your grandma decides to check out your drunken facebook pics.

After doing a little research, however, I discovered that being green does not mean being heinous.  In fact, it means quite the opposite.

Here are my favorite green tips that also make you hotter.  Read on, pretty lady…

Ditch the dryer: Using a hair dryer for only 5 minutes a day for an entire year uses enough energy to power a basic light bulb for 3,259 hours.  And guess what?  You don’t really need it!  Drying your hair frequently can crack the hair’s cuticle and withdraw moisture, leaving you with dry and brittle strands.  Naturally drying your hair even just a few days a week can save your strands and save the environment.  If you just can’t live without your daily drying, opt for an eco-friendly one.  The Go Green dryer is made from recycled materials, is printed with soy ink, and uses 26% less energy than a normal dryer.

Turn down the scalding shower: Not only do long, hot showers waste water, they are also a huge energy expense.  Cut down your shower time and the temperature, and you can save tons of money on your monthly bill.  Plus, cold water is good for your bod!   Hot water can have very drying properties, both to your skin and your hair.  Taking a colder shower leaves your hair silkier and your skin softer, all while increasing circulation and bumping up your immune system.  Now how’s that for a morning routine?

Drink tap water: If it’s really that gross, then invest in a Brita filter.  Water bottles cause tons of unnecessary waste every year, much of which ends up in landfills instead of in the recycling.  Plus, delivering water bottles across the world burns fossil fuels, contributing to global warming.  If that doesn’t convince you, consider the health effects.  Most bottled water does not cross state lines, making them exempt from the Food and Drug Administration’s standards for drinking water.  Tap water, on the other hand, is highly regulated and contains more of the teeth-strengthening mineral, floride, than bottled water.  Plus, simply filling up an aluminum water bottle instead of purchasing a bottle for $1 a pop, allows you to save money while drinking more water, so you can put that money to better use (i.e. on yourself!).  Everybody knows that water does a body good by making your skin clearer, aiding digestion, and hydrating the skin, so drink more of it… from the tap.

Steer away from chem lab cleansers: Look at the ingredients list of any common beauty product and you will see a plethora of science-babble words that not even Bill Nye could understand.  Most of those ingredients are synthetic, requiring energy and emitting toxic waste to produce.  And guess what?  What’s bad for the environment is also bad for your skin.  Harsh facial cleansers, such as toner, astringent, and acne washes can actually make acne even worse.  Drying out the oil on your face causes your skin to go into “panic mode” and produce even more oil than before, leaving you with more acne than you had when you started.  Instead, try to use products with natural ingredients.  A good rule of thumb that I like to use is to not put anything on your skin that you wouldn’t want to put in your body.

It seems pretty counter-intuitive to throw a party in honor of Earth Day (we’ve all seen college lawns the morning after a party), but what better way to bring people’s attention to this important day and issue than by throwing a soiree? You can teach people a few things while having a good time!

And you can do it the Green way!

Fact: Parties generate a lot of waste(d people).
Fact: You can throw a party without the waste. (Though the wasted people might still be there.)
Bonus: You can do it on an end-of-the-year student budget (a.k.a very little moolah).

So let’s celebrate and bring some much needed awareness to Earth Day this year! Here are some tips for throwing an eco-friendly Earth Day Party so you can have fun without hurting Mother Earth.

Invites:

Make it a Facebook event!  Not printing out paper fliers will save trees.   Bonus of having a Facebook event?  You can organize carpooling/transportation to your event to cut down on wasted gas.  If people are planning on driving, see if they can pick up other people along the way. Also, encourage your friends to walk, bike or take the bus if they’re not close by. Just be sure that all those earth-friendly carpoolers choose a DD or find an alternate way home.

Food & Beverages:

Don’t use disposable dishes.  Not only are they a waste of money, but they also generate a lot of waste.  If you are worried about having enough glasses, you can either ask people to bring one with them, or go pick some up from a thrift store.  If you’re in the market for some new dishes totally earth-friendly dishes (you tree hugger, you), invest in some Preserve dishes.

If you want to serve food, make it yourself.  Pre-packaged things usually have a lot of wasteful packaging.  And buy local. It’s cheap and good for the environment!  Check your area to see if there are any farmer markets nearby.  And if you have lots of leftover food (because people were focused more on the drinks) send it home with friends in reusable containers.

If it’s B.Y.O.B, encourage your friends to buy local or organic alcohol!  If you’re wine drinkers, wine produced near you won’t break the bank, and it’s more environmentally friendly! If that’s not an option, buy in bulk. No cans, no small bottles. Kegs produce very little waste (and lots of fun) and larger bottles of alcohol (like the trusty “handle”) will cut down on many wasteful empties.

Activities:

If it’s a low-key event, screen an eco-awareness film. An Inconvenient Truth, The 11th Hour (hello, Leo DiCaprio!) or Who Killed the Electric Car are all good options. Have a computer available so your friends can calculate their carbon footprint.

If this is more of a “college” party, send your friends on a Get-Trashed treasure hunt. Whoever brings back the most trash from the street in a certain amount of time gets a prize (shots?). Those who come back with nothing…well, they have to take more shots. You can clean up your town and have a grand ole’ time.

Or why not make it a swap party?  It’s near the end of the year and if you’re moving, chances are you’ve got junk to get rid of.  Ideas include clothing swaps, or beauty product swaps.  Or, if you have nothing to wear, having a quick pre-party swap.

Clean-Up:

When you’re cleaning up go green.  Use eco-friendly products (I LOVE METHOD!) or the cleaning tips you learned from Mom using products you probably have on hand.

And, as always, don’t forget to RECYCLE!

But the Katie Couric in me has decided to investigate just how legit this organic makeup is.

First off, let’s make this Organic 101 for a second and define what it means to be organic. Organic products are products that are produced without pesticides or other chemicals. They are also produced in a way that is environmentally friendly, as toxins are not released into the air. The USDA (United States Department of Agriculture) has now made standards that regulate which foods can be deemed organic. Although usually more expensive, organic foods can be better for you, so the same should be true for organic makeup right? Turns out, not so much.

I decided to check out my best friend, Sephora, to see just what organic products they offer. Sephora is stocked with three “organic” brands: Care by Stella McCartney, Juice Beauty and NVEY Eco. Each brand claims to be pure, luxurious, and certified organic. Looking through their products they look pretty great: Care is big on moisturizing skincare and NVEY has some really pretty eyeshadow kits.

Too bad that upon further research the term organic kinda seems like a hoax…

According to OrganicConsumers.org (yeah it’s a .org so I trust it) it turns out there are no standards for organic beauty products! The Organic Consumers Association is doing its best to alert buyers that “certified” labels are not actually set to a specific government standard unless they actually say “USDA Certified.” Unless these products are certified with that specific label, they often still contain the same chemicals as their non-Organic counterparts. Oftentimes the carcinogenic chemical 1,4-Dioxide is still put in makeup products falsely labeled as organic. These products claim to be certified but they are often certified by lax regulations.

Unfortunately, none of the makeup brands on Sephora are USDA certified and thus are not recommended by the Organic Consumer Association. (Shame on you Stella McCartney!)

Check out a list of more approved beauty products here. Some companies like Organic Essence have a 100% USDA organic line of beauty products (but it is mostly lotions and soaps).

I guess the bottom line is: if you’re gonna buy organic makeup be aware that many make false claims and are often equivalent to regular or natural makeup lines. Stay in the know and save your dough!

Saving money is good; it’s really good. In fact, if you help save the planet enough, you can destroy your body with all of the alcohol you’ll be able to suddenly afford.

• UTILIZE CAR POOLS. Why drive separately? Work out car pooling whenever you can. Gas is way too expensive these days not to.

• CLOTHING/HOME GOOD EXCHANGE PARTIES. Get your girls together and swap the clothes and other things you no longer use.

• DON’T BE AFRAID OF TAP WATER. Even though bottle water is sooo cool, your tap water might not be bad for you — contrary to popular beliefs. If you start drinking your tap water, you’ll save money and reduce your plastic waste.

• HANG DRY YOUR CLOTHING. Sure, it’s sort of a pain in the ass, but you can save all of those dryer quarters for something else. Like arcades. Which are awesome.

• REDUCE YOUR MEAT INTAKE. Cut down on your meat, lose some pounds, help your heart, save some money, better the environment. Sounds good to me.

• GROW A GARDEN. Why not? You save money and eat healthier.

• USE LOW ENERGY LIGHT BULBS. They use 80% less energy and they last for 15 times as long as regular light bulbs. Why not use them?

• TURN YOUR COMPUTERS OFF. I know, I know. You’ve gotta leave your AIM on when you go to work, but realllllly….? Do your buddies all need to really know where you are? How about turning off your computer when you’re not using it?

• USE RECHARGEABLE BATTERIES. Batteries are getting expensive these days! Just use the rechargeable ones, which are cheaper in the end and better for the planet.

• ALWAYS TURN THE LIGHTS OFF. Don’t use them when you don’t need them. It’s simple.

If you’re looking for ways to save money, just try being a little more eco friendly!

There are many among us that consider our cell phones a status symbol, a fashionable accessory that proves our technological prowess (and willingness to spend hundreds on a chunk of metal).

There are others who still use the free piece of sh*t we got when we activated our plans.

Well, it’s time to push your pretentiousness (or indifference) aside because theres a new phone out there that’s so small, so sleek, and so thin that even the newest iPhone prototypes can’t live up to it. Welcome the Post A Phone!

At 4 millimeters, can we all finally agree that its just about the smallest phone you can get? I really don’t think they can get much sleeker! At any rate, Post A Phone rules.

Here’s what it does:

When your usual cell phone craps out on you (or you drunkenly drop it in a toilet…it happens), you simply order (if you’re smart — pre-phone meltdown) Post A Phone and it comes to you through the regular mail. When you open the teeny-tiny box, you’ll find a fully functioning phone made entirely of recycled cardboard and/or plastic.

Sound flimsy to you? Get with it! Because this little baby is so lightweight and environmentally friendly (not to mention, cute!) that you really can’t go wrong. No word on pricing yet, but here’s hoping they’re affordable because I don’t know how many more blurry Friday nights my little cell can take.

With its simple interface, Post A Phone is a sort of throwback to one-on-one communication rather than the sometimes stifiling, all-inclusive quality of the internet. And did I mention, it’s good for the earth?

And that my friends, is the coolest part of all.

Even before the whole green movement, I discovered one of the easiest ways to help out the environment: reusable bags. The good news ladies, is that they are totally in right now! Not only can you help the earth while going on a beer run, you can be considered as chic and as green as they come.

Surely, even in the college towns, you didn’t miss Anya Hindmarch “Not a Plastic Bag” craze/controversy. Fashionistas were lining up for the $7 dollar version of the canvas tote, while they were being sold on EBay for upwards of $600 dollars. Now, international launches of the bags have been canceled in Southeast Asia because of their “concern for their customers safety.” Cuh-razy fashion folk, they’ll do anything to be in!

Despite the fact that Hindmarch’s website denies the accusations, a London paper reported that the bags were made in China using cheap labor laws and were neither fair-trade nor organic. Huh?

Personally, I like this one a lot better.

Even USA Today decided to take on the trend, with the help of Sally Singer, news director at Vogue. Now, any old tote will do. But why look smarmy when a fabulous new bag will do the trick? For my last minute grocery shopping trips, I stow a foldable bag in my purse. And for a bigger trip to the (liquor) store, I tote along one of these.

The best thing is, Singer says that the Citizens of Humanity bag has now become as popular as the jeans. I, for one, just took it from the freebie table at her little sister magazine to tote all the editor hand-me-downs that came with being a Christmas time intern.

These cotton string bags will always be some of my favorites as they evoke a very European feel. And these super cheap plaid totes, made popular when Marc Jacobs made them in Braided Leather for Louis Vuitton, are perfect for toting massive amounts of dirty clothes back home…or in my case dirty clothes and dirty dishes.

What can I say? I’m lazy AND totally eco chic.