Hey gang! Hope you had an awesome Earth Day! I figured there is no better day/week/month to launch my newly revamped website. It merges ecoholic.ca, ecoholicnation.com and adriavasil.com all in one cozy little corner of the web. There’s tons of stuff crammed under one green roof. Under Columns, you can follow the weekly Ecoholic column that I’ve been writing for… ◂ReadPreviousNext Post▸

Journalists probably shouldn’t cry during interviews but I came very close to balling my eyes out when I was interviewing Inuit activist and Nobel Peace Prize nominee Sheila Watt-Cloutier. She was passing through Toronto to promote her new book, The Right to Be Cold, and I jumped at the opportunity to have a leisurely meal with her at… ◂ReadPreviousNext Post▸

Tossing and turning and in the market for a new mattress? I’ve gotten a lot of questions from readers lately inquiring about “least toxic” mattress options and most have them have been plain confused about what mattress is legitimately green. The world of green claims is always a bit of a wild west, but mattress companies… ◂ReadPreviousNext Post▸

I’ve often joked that I’m on the high carb, low protein diet. People tend to respond with confused looks, inquiring about the exact name of the diet I’ve adopted. Really, I just like bread and pasta and don’t eat meat. Though these days, I do try harder to sneak in more protein, and often supplement all my carb-loving with a… ◂ReadPreviousNext Post▸

You know that deep love of cooking that drives people onto shows like Master Chef or even just to their kitchen to make 3 hour long chilli? Yeah, I don’t have that. I’m a decent cook. I make a mean salad and can whip up healthy, homemade dinners in, oh, 20 minutes, but I’ve always left the heavy-lifting… ◂ReadPreviousNext Post▸

If you’re a super talented crafter then the holiday season is brimming with possibilities. But what about the rest of us? I’m about the furthest person from Martha Stewart on the face of the earth so when I craft, it’s got to be fast, easy, with minimal actual skill needed.  That means you don’t have to know how… ◂ReadPreviousNext Post▸

The first time I tried a natural mascara, I was just excited the concept even existed. Until the thing flaked all over my cheeks. I looked like I’d be cleaning chimneys. A decade later I’ve tried nearly every natural mascara brand in existence. Okay, well, maybe not all of them, but A LOT of them.  Here’s… ◂ReadPreviousNext Post▸

I hate it when healthy things turn out to be tainted with not so healthy things. Take arsenic in rice. We first heard about rice being contaminated with arsenic a few years ago, but there’s new data out this month and it ain’t exactly consoling. First, a UK investigative TV show teamed up with a university there… ◂ReadPreviousNext Post▸

I’ll admit I was pretty giddy about interviewing the godfather of Canadian environmentalism. I’d met David Suzuki briefly in passing once and the man officially endorsed my first book, Ecoholic, but we’d never sat down and just talked. When I finally got the chance to do so while he was in Toronto for his final cross-Canada… ◂ReadPreviousNext Post▸

The summer after 9th grade, my parents moved my little brother Mark and I from Montreal to suburban Mississauga, a gaping 35 kilometres from downtown Toronto. Back in Montreal, I was used to taking the city bus to school downtown and subwaying around to meet friends. In Mississauga, I quickly figured out you’d have to… ◂ReadPreviousNext Post▸

When I heard that no-holds barred lefty thinker Naomi Klein was putting out a book on climate change, I thought “damn right, sister.” Like I said in my book review in NOW Magazine, no matter what subject this woman tackles she has a way of skewering the shit out of whoever she finds screwing with… ◂ReadPreviousNext Post▸

Ever been curious about making your own makeup? Who says we have to get petrochemical-laced brands from the drugstore or overpriced beauty counters? Of course, you can skip that whole scene by wandering into your local health store and looking for natural cosmetics or you can check out some great green beauty stores online, but… ◂ReadPreviousNext Post▸

There are times in life when I say there’s absolutely nothing wrong with burying your head in the sand. Like mid way through August when everyone’s talking about the imminent arrival of fall and you’re all, ‘Hold up, people, I’m trying to enjoy every last minute of this blissful season!’ In honour of all those… ◂ReadPreviousNext Post▸

Hey gang, Did you catch my spot on CTV’s Canada AM this week talking about alternative ways to keep mosquitos at bay – what works, what doesn’t, what’s healthy, what isn’t? It was a lot to cram into four minutes with a sleepy brain! So I figured I’d clarify a few points here. For one, anything… ◂ReadPreviousNext Post▸

“You never do any columns for guys,” my editor grumbled a few weeks back. I gasped. “Are you saying the frying pan and cleaning cloth guides that we just published are a woman thing?” I prodded loudly, making sure our banter was audible to the whole news room. To be honest, in my house, my… ◂ReadPreviousNext Post▸

Do you mind if I sing a little Cher? “If I could turn back time…” (this is me belting it out) I’d, well, I’d wear more sunscreen on my face. I’m pretty sure milky pale Cher loves the stuff and she’s got better skin at 68 then I do at nearly 38. Okay, fine, she… ◂ReadPreviousNext Post▸

There’s something about growing up in Canada that makes us want to just open up the taps and let the water flow free like the wind. I distinctly remember being 11/12 years old and taking 45 MINUTE long showers without a second thought (I probably cycled through a whole small lake in that time!). Maybe… ◂ReadPreviousNext Post▸

Are chemicals in our environment connected to the rise in non-genetic causes of breast cancer? For lots of us following environmental toxin news, it seems like a no-brainer, but scientists are still trying to firm up the connections. A recent study by the Silent Spring Institute and Harvard School of Public Health published in the journal Environmental… ◂ReadPreviousNext Post▸

There’s something weirdly hopeful about a good face scrub. Like if you find the right one it might just erase all the mistakes you (and by you I mean I) made popping, picking, sunbathing and generally abusing the delicate skin on our faces. Alas, the miracle has yet to happen for me and after a… ◂ReadPreviousNext Post▸

Can you believe May is almost coming to an end? Rain/shine/gloriously torrential downpours/surprise scorchers (is it really 28 degrees in Toronto today?) – I’ve soaked every bloomin’ day of it in. That was NOT that case in April when I was drained of all life force knocked over sideways with a crazy multi-tentacled flu virus… ◂ReadPreviousNext Post▸

Back in the day (as in up until, oh, a year ago), Ecoholic used to be a straight up green advice column. Every week readers wrote in with questions and I’d answer them in Q&A format. We’ve changed things up since then (mixing in product guides, nature notes, greenwash of the week, green finds of… ◂ReadPreviousNext Post▸