Ecoholic Health Corner – Cold & Flu from adria vasil on Vimeo. Feeling crummy and trying to cure what ails you? Check out the latest Ecoholic TV for the scoop on why you should bypass Buckley’s and make a beeline for more sustainable  options. My old pal and naturopathic doctor Alex Triendl shares some her… ◂ReadPreviousNext Post▸

Some guys could probably survive on a bar of Irish Spring alone. In truth the average man uses six personal care products a day (think shampoo, conditioner, toothpaste, shaving cream, deodorant, aftershave), which ads up to a whopping 80 chems every morning. That number spikes for the growing posse of styly metrosexuals, Queer Eye for the… ◂ReadPreviousNext Post▸

Hand me a top hat and cane and I’ll sing about palm as a supercalafragalistic  plant-based petrochemical replacement. Gee willikers, you can add it to everything from lip balm to bathroom cleaner – amazing! But the song and dance come to a screeching halt when you start probing palm’s rainforest record. You know how headlines… ◂ReadPreviousNext Post▸

Don’t look now but we’re surrounded. Just peak around the room you’re sitting in right now and start counting the plastic stuff that’s infiltrated your life – your computer (casing/cables/mouse), the foam stuffed furniture under your hiney, your wallpaper/wall paint, telephone, pen, windows, synthetic carpet underfoot are all made of some form of petrol-based plastic… ◂ReadPreviousNext Post▸

I’m a little suspicious of my plates. The scrapes and scratches on these Kengington Market imports have me wondering whether they’re leaching something dodgy. And yet, I never bothered to buy a lead test until two readers contacted me recently wondering about their ceramics. Then I got to reading. Here’s what Health Canada has to… ◂ReadPreviousNext Post▸

You’re busy, I’m busy, we’re all busy. Which is why it’s kind of nice when a company saves us all a little time and donates to a charity in our names. You know, like a shampoo giving $1 to the breast cancer. What could be wrong with that? If you’ve seen the film Pink Ribbons,… ◂ReadPreviousNext Post▸

Ever been traumatized by a hair cut? Maybe a bowl cut left you in tears or you decided, two minutes too late that, no, a pixie cut doesn’t really suit your face. Salon trauma gets physical too, think burning scalp and a searing rash. (For your sake, don’t go googling medical pictures of chemical burns… ◂ReadPreviousNext Post▸

What’s with the “new normal”? No, I’m not talking about that new Modern Family-wannabe on NBC, I’m talkin’ 9 year olds with boobs and line-ups at fertility clinics. Yes, screwy fertility is the subject of the latest Ecoholic column (you can give it a read here). From menarche (your first period) to menopause to men’s,… ◂ReadPreviousNext Post▸

No doubt you’ve heard your parents stories about oils and sun tans: “Back in my day, Joanny, people would slather themselves in baby oil to brown up our body’s like  a Sunday roast.” Hey, I ain’t judgin.’ I remember buying a bottle of drugstore ‘coconut oil’ (SPF 4 it promised) to crisp up my 20-something… ◂ReadPreviousNext Post▸

I’ve got a bit of a kink. No, I’m not talking about the kind of local-lovin’ happening at the Lusty Locavore workshop at Come as You Are next week (I’ll be blogging about that later). I’m talkin’ about a kink I know a lot of you openly share with me: our heart-on for all thing’s local! I get… ◂ReadPreviousNext Post▸

I won’t lie to you. A lot of natural bug sprays don’t seem to do all that much. If they rely on citronella as their main active ingredient then you could be up Shit’s Creek (isn’t that a river in northern Ontario?) without a paddle. Studies show that citronella products have to be reapplied as… ◂ReadPreviousNext Post▸

I’ve never been a big sunscreen lover. Correction: I was a sunscreen preacher forcing it on friend and foe until I went backpacking in Brazil at 18 and started, in vein, trying to blend in with the Ipanemans. Of course, now that my face is starting to show the wear and tear that comes with… ◂ReadPreviousNext Post▸

Another day another sizzler. As we melt into little pools of sweat at our own feet, I can’t help but think of those old 80s ads, you know, with the frying pan and the egg and the “this is your brain on drugs” message. This, honey, is your planet on climate change. While farms go… ◂ReadPreviousNext Post▸

  Brand-makers are pretty clever. They’re catching on to the fact that when they say natural we want to know just how natural they are. Enter Neutrogena Naturals. This skincare line popping up on drugstore shelves actually has a guide on the back telling you where their, say, glycol distearate comes from. Well, sort of.… ◂ReadPreviousNext Post▸

  Put up your hand if you find shopping for genuinely safe, natural, eco-friendly products confusing. Okay, that’s about the majority of us. I won’t lie, it’s tough out there. Outing pseudo natural greenwashers is a big part of what I do in Ecoholic Body, on shows like CBC Marketplace and in this very blog (slamming deodorants like Degree… ◂ReadPreviousNext Post▸

I’ve always loved jogging outdoors. Okay yes, it’s harder on the knees and some days I really wish there were moving sidewalks out there pulling my feet forward just like a gym treadmill, alas, nature hasn’t offered that option up. Now that the birds are chirping and the breeze is beckoning, more and more of… ◂ReadPreviousNext Post▸

I’ve never liked cigarettes. Never could stand the smell. The on-call obstetrician that delivered me into the world even tried to walk into the delivery room with a smoke dangling from his lips  and my father promptly made him put the damn thing out. (Go dad! This was 1970s Quebec, after all.) Still, I don’t… ◂ReadPreviousNext Post▸

Have you seen this line of UK skincare (pretty new to Canada) that proudly advertises it’s free of artificial perfumes, dyes or “harsh irritants” – Simple?  Free of fake scents is always a good thing (synthetic perfumes always lead to a long list of toxic ingredients) but that claim about “purest possible” ingredients is awful vague.… ◂ReadPreviousNext Post▸

If the song “Dust in the Wind” has you cursing about pollen, join the club. A recent Gallop poll found that more Americans than ever reported allergy woes last month. We’re still waiting on the numbers out of Canada but after a weirdly warmer than average winter, allergies have been predicted to spike. Check out… ◂ReadPreviousNext Post▸

The world has plenty of bogeymen and things that go bump in the night. To protect ourselves from things unseen, some people pack guns, others, well, they pack hand sanitizer. But while basic alcohol-fueled hand sanitizer is fairly harmless, especially if you get the organic kind from the health store (unless you consider the dry skin… ◂ReadPreviousNext Post▸

I love bypassing the chemical middlemen of this world and making a bee-line to mother nature whenever possible. I already told you about one of my favourite kitchen cupboard beauty secrets — oil (and it’s dozen and one functions), but there’s another ingredient in your kitchen pantry that’s got amazing healing properties — honey! It’s been used… ◂ReadPreviousNext Post▸