It’s almost Mother’s Day and, like the rest of the continent, you’re scrambling to figure out a way to let your mom know that she’s pretty awesome. Forget the same old, same old (sweatshop chocolate, toxically-scented creams and perfumes, pesticide-laced flowers that wilt within days). This week’s Ecoholic guide to Mother’s day gifts features nothing but gifts that give… ◂ReadPreviousNext Post▸

It’s the end of a long work day. Do you know where your brain is? By now, it’s likely scattered in a dozen pieces and places. A few bits stuck on that conversation you had with your boss/coworker/friend. Another bit returning texts. Another scanning Facebook or Twitter quickly to see if your status update got any likes.… ◂ReadPreviousNext Post▸

Biking home on my big blue cruiser yesterday, three words bubbled up to my lips from a primordial place deep within that hadn’t felt the warm sun in what felt like years: we survived winter! I almost belted it out at everyone I biked passed but decided smiling got the message across well enough. As the wind… ◂ReadPreviousNext Post▸

Nice shirt. How much did that cost you? Thanks to fast fashion chains like H&M, Old Navy, Forever 21 and Walmart, the average American can now afford to buy 64 items of clothing every single year (yes, I said per year). How the hell is that even possible? On HBO’s Last Week Tonight, comedian John Oliver dives into the issue… ◂ReadPreviousNext Post▸

Today is Fashion Revolution Day. It’s also the second anniversary of the fatal factory collapse that killed over 1100 garment workers in Bangladesh. Fashion Revolution Day commemorates the event by requesting we flip our clothes inside out and asking “who made my clothes?” Really, it’s a question we should ask every time we go shopping, but having… ◂ReadPreviousNext Post▸

Looking for a little post-Earth Day inspiration? One, if you’re in Toronto, line up to go see the documentary How to Change the World, on the early days of Greenpeace, led by the charismatic journalist-turned-activist, the late, great Bob Hunter. It blew me away so I did something I don’t normally do, I wrote a film review. The film… ◂ReadPreviousNext Post▸

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▸

What is it they say about hindsight? That it’s 20/20? The more distance I get on 2014, the more its green highs and lows come into focus. I wrote up my Top 10 Environmental Stories of 2014 in the last Ecoholic column, covering everything from the fall of butterflies and bees to the rise of climate marches and… ◂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▸

You know when you think something’s going to be quick and breezy and it ends up being a knee deep slog through muck and fog? Well, that’s sort of what happened with my bronzer column. I thought I’d toss together a light column on summer makeup, until I remembered that mineral powders are mired in… ◂ReadPreviousNext Post▸