Whoever designed this game has no understanding of real green building in any meaningful sense. Instead of providing any insight or education about green building, the game reduces design of a green house to nothing more than a couple of mouse clicks. “Choose the climate construction materials and energy sources and see how green you can be.” The oversimplification this presents is a huge disservice to visitors to the site who play the game.

To start, there are six climate regions to choose from, and then you can choose one of six types of construction materials (though it’s interesting to learn that in addition to wood and brick, ‘apartment’ is also a construction material - who knew?) This allows a matrix of 36 combinations, to which you can add options from the two remaining categories. (See how easy architecture is? You only have to deal with four things!)

Energy and Efficiency Options are the last variables. Unlike your first choices, you can pick more than one item in each of these categories. Then you can click on ‘Check Efficiency’ and see what your home’s efficiency rating is (higher is supposedly better).

I found it mind boggling that, if you don’t like your efficiency score in this game, you can just choose another climate. Evidently (in this game’s rules, at least), the best solution for getting efficient homes is for everyone to move to warm, temperate climates. And while there is a national demographic trend in that direction, that does not make it a reasonable or sustainable option. Certainly a house in Louisiana is going to need less energy for heating than does one in Wisconsin. But the over-emphasis on choosing a moderate climate as a solution, rather than finding the best solution for each region, makes the game rather pointless.

Even more egregious is the fact that adding more and more stuff (which increases cost) is a positive strategy in the game. This is where I have my most serious reservations about “Design Your Dream Home”. The message seems to be a consumerist fantasy where you just buy more stuff and your efficiency improves. Tacking on a third or fourth energy system increases your efficiency score in the game. That’s not how it works in the real world, and it promotes a wrong-headed, “buy our way out of our problems” mentality that completely misses the point in green building.

I am also appalled that the game represents solar power being more efficient than geothermal (and they really mean ground-source heat pumps), but geothermal is represented as being three times as expensive. The scale of various elements is also way out of line (choosing recycling costs $1000 of your $100,000 budget, as does choosing energy efficient lighting).

Sure, I realize it’s only a game. But by presenting itself as it does, with informational and educational content, they certainly ought to get a few more things right. Good online games that inform as you play them do exist; see the
Climate Challenge Game for a good example of this. Personally, I would like to see some more discussion in the game about how the choices work together or not, to make it more meaningful and informative. I’d also like to re-balance the game to bring some options more into line with reality. After all, with the instructions to “Mix and match components and build the most efficient home possible” the answer ought to be something better than: “move to San Diego.” Locally appropriate should mean something.

Link (if you want see it yourself): Design Your Dream Home

or, instead, read about Green Homes for Regular People

But then it has been around with us since just before Earth Day 1990. A lot of water have since passed under the bridge. Save the forests; there is a website and a rave blog too: 50 Simple Things.

Eco-friendly shopping, for instance, may be fashionable, but critics have argued it won’t reduce global warming. What has been the role of the Green Movement in ecological modernization?

Since the early 1980s, green as a political ideology championing ecological and environmental goals, has given the face of the Green movement a newer look, but not without the usual controversies: global warming, biofuels, or “agro-fuels” in more fluent eco-speak, solar-powered future, etc.

After a lull of nearly 18 years, issues and terms such as Green Building, Green Economics, Fair Trade, Green Marketplace, Genetically Engineered or Organic have subtly found their way in this new edition list too. You can even join an eco-consumers association as one thing to save the earth; in fact you are implored to do so. Membership in the Organic Consumers Association will help mobilize one million consumers to end Monsanto’s global corporate terrorism. Monsanto’s Global Corporate Terrorism? How many of Washington’s white collar bureaucrats have their fingers deep in the cookie jar?

At #24, Green Building is not doing badly at all, or the Devil and the Deep Blue Sea at #40. But how about Green Collar Jobs at #50?

Will you vote for green? Sharing a collective term with the Green Party or Greenpeace can be as good as nothing. How come political green groups have failed to win significant levels of the vote in democratic societies despite a rapid growth of public support, and membership of environmental organizations running into many millions worldwide? The headline: Dubya Goes 100% Green will make me laugh, haha.

If you are not driving an electric car, you are probably not green enough. By the way, how far green can it go? Should we all have an environmentally-friendly funeral when the time comes? Toast to the Death of Green, to Save the Earth!

Further reading:
Joel Makower’s Blog

Photo Credit:
WoodleyWonderWorks via Flickr

A man walks completely naked into the wilderness to survive for two months without any food, human contact, tools or ready made shelter. Sounds like the latest episode of Survivorman? Well, almost. While Survivorman’s Les Stroud is performing quite impressive feats, and is “One man – alone in the wilderness… no food, no shelter, no fresh water, no tools… no camera crew” He is in some ways merely writing another page in the book that Joseph Knowles, the infamous “Nature Man” of Maine, started writing back in 1913. Upon emerging from his ordeal after two months, Knowles became a sensation and triumphantly toured the nation, lecturing about and demonstrating his woodsman survival skills.

In Naked in the Woods, environmental author and journalist Jim Motavalli not only portrays faithfully the life and times of Knowles, and the enthusiasm and controversy around his wilderness exploits, but also opens a window to the era. The author travels with Knowles from the forests of Maine to the Oregon coasts, the newsrooms of Boston to an artists’ driftwood cottage in the Pacific Northwest. Motavalli contextualizes the events in the relationship of humans and nature, Knowles’ life, and the media’s exploitation of popular trends, then and now.

Knowles was quite a character, that’s for sure. Born in 1869, he grew up in Wilton in rural Maine, and by the time he walked naked into the forest in front of the clicks of the newspaper cameras, he had already manged to travel the seas with the navy, learn woodcraft with Native Americans, and establish himself as an artist living in a studio in Boston. Like Les Stroud, Knowles did not need a camera crew with him, but sent dispatches and drawings to the media written with his cookfire charcoal on birch bark. But did he really spend all this time in the wilderness? Or did he retire to a luxurious cabin for two months, courtesy of a newspaper looking to boost its circulation? The book investigates these claims in detail.

Motavalli also explores the reasons for Knowles’ story becoming such a media sensation at the time. Why then? He concludes that the main reason was the American anxiety over losing its frontier at the turn of the century, and transitioning from a rural to an urban society. Nature was slipping away from day-to-day life of the average American in a matter of a generation or two. Knowles the “Nature Man” was there to show the American public that the wilderness and the frontier were still there to face and conquer.

This is not only a strict academic study, and Motavalli does not present us with a dense cultural theory. He does, however, flesh out existing cultural history theories about frontier, nature, wilderness and American culture, by using this particular instance to show us how it all played out.

There’s no doubt “Nature Man” loved the forests and the beaches where he lived, but would he be called an environmentalist today? Probably not. When he went into the woods, he wanted to demonstrate that modern man could best nature, hardly part and parcel of today’s green ethos with its more harmonious undertones. But I am sure that he would have a thing or two to say about the bona fides of today’s armchair environmentalists with their cozy REI gear and Coleman gas stoves, and can inspire some of us to follow his lead and go naked into the woods one day. Well, if he really did it, that is.

Title: Naked in the Woods – Joseph Knowles and the Legacy of Frontier Fakery

Link: http://www.perseusbooksgroup.com/dacapo/book_detail.jsp?isbn=0786720085

Author: Jim Motavalli

Publisher: Da Capo

Publication Date: January 28, 2008

Pages: 352

See also:

sustainablog: Eco-Libris: Monday Green Book Series — The Enemy of Nature

sustainablog: The Good Book of Green Living: “The Self-Sufficientish Bible”

sustainablog: Environmental Defense Fund: Global Warming’s Silver Lining

Following on our look at some of the Beyond Organic Skincare products is the Hydrating Body Oil. Part of their Sensual Massage Gift Pack which costs £29.92, it can also be bought separately for £14.50.

Once again I roped in Claire (who looked at the Firming Eye Cream) and asked her about this 60ml bottle of body oil which contains a host of ‘good for you’ ingredients such as horse chestnut, fennel, cornflower, green tea, sea buckthorn and macadamia nut.

Do you use a different product normally?

My skin tends to get neglected during winter because it’s always covered in layers of clothing. During the summer I usually use a self-tanning moisturizer. But during winter my legs become very dry and itchy.

How does this compare to that one or nothing at all?

Big improvement to nothing at all. After applying the oil, my skin stayed hydrated for a couple of days, they soaked up the oil and felt nice and smooth and looked really good. No flakiness, no itching.

It claims to ‘deeply nourish and tone the skin, leaving it with a lovely silky feel. Great for bare arms and legs, giving skin a warm glow’ - any good?

Yep, my legs looked and felt soft and hydrated. Once it was rubbed in my skin felt firm and and did have a nice glow to it.

It says it’s not slippery and easy to rub in - was it?

Rubbed in as easily as any moisturizer. It is quite runny though: slips between you fingers and drips on the floor when your trying to get it out of the bottle and onto your arms or legs. I was able to put my clothes on straight after applying it.

What was the smell like?

When I first opened the bottle I didn’t really like the smell: I found it very overpowering. But I found when I rubbed it into my skin, it was still quite strong but it became quite pleasant and relaxing.

It contains… “Horse Chestnut helps to increase circulation. Fennel is said to be good for cellulite. Cornflower is very emollient and nourishing. Green tea is detoxifying. The synergy of these herbs and flowers make this an excellent toning and firming body oil. The Macadamia nut oil base is high in Oleic fatty acid which has an affinity with the skin.” Did it do any of that sort of thing?

No. Didn’t really notice any of those amazing effects. I never really look for those kinds of things in an oil or moisturiser, because none of them actually work. I just want my skin to be hydrated and look healthy and have a glow, and it did that.

It says you can put a teaspoon in your bath - did you give that a go?

No. I don’t have a bath.

How would it be to use as a massage oil?

It has a similar feel to massage oil, gives the skin the same sort of ‘oiled up’ feeling (can’t believe I just said that), but also absorbs into the skin easily. And the smell is quite relaxing.

Beyond Organic Hydrating Body Oil is available to buy here.

See Also:

Your Skin Needs to Lighten Up!

Victoria Beckham Loves Superstar Skincare from Futurenatural!

Following that, Sundance will air its original documentary Garbage Warrior. I got a chance to screen this film a few weeks ago as part of a package I received from Earth Circle Cinema, and it’s well worth staying up past your bed time (if that’s an issue). Garbage Warrior tells the story of architect and Earthship creator Michael Reynolds, and his thirty-five+ year quest to create self-sufficient, sustainable buildings made from natural materials and society’s “waste”: “tires, beer cans, glass, and plastic bottles.”

Filmmaker Oliver Hodge frames Reynold’s story as a true “David and Goliath” epic: after years of developing an Earthship community outside of Taos, NM, the architect and the community he’s created come up against “the Man,” in the form of building and planning regulations well out of step with Reynold’s vision of low-impact housing. Garbage Warrior shows the prices Reynolds paid in challenging the system (particularly the loss of his architecture licenses and certifications for most of the 90s), and the battle he takes on with the state legislature to change laws that ultimately dampen creativity, and discourage building professionals from experimenting with more sustainable forms of construction. Does he win? Well, you’ll have to watch to find out…

Perhaps the most moving element of the film, though, involves Reynolds and team going to the Andaman Islands after the 2005 tsunami. While politicians dither in Santa Fe, the Earthship team provides housing for victims of the disaster. Hodge, and Reynolds, play up on the irony: politicians the world’s most developed nation just can’t wrap their head around what Reynolds is doing (or choose not to), while tsunami victims in the developing world are not only grateful for his work, but immediately understand its relevance to their living situations.

This doesn’t mean, though, that Reynolds promotes a step backwards in living spaces for the developed world; rather, as the film shows consistently, his Earthships are not only built for sustainable use of resources, but also for comfort. Hodge’s frequent shots of the buildings demonstrate that they’re also aesthetically pleasing… a “win-win-win” for a “modern” society.

I’ll put some links up to Reynold’s concepts in the discussion forums for… well, discussion. Garbage Warrior is a really well-made film… but, given the compelling nature of its subject, I’m guessing Hodge and team found that the story told itself.

Let us know what you think about the first offerings of ’08’s The Green… I know I’ll be watching.

Many thanks to Special Ops Media for the images.

UPDATE: Rather than creating a forum on Reynolds, I’ve done one on The Green itself… but always interested in discussing Reynolds and his work.

Here-here to that, sister! Though it is tough to get away from cleaning the bathroom and doing laundry, most “modern” inventions and products end up making our lives more cluttered and complicated instead of relieving us of senseless stress. Keeping things simple (or at least progressing them towards that end of the spectrum) is the overall theme of Body+Soul Magazine’s April 2008 issue - right in time for Earth Day, of course.

Learning how to kick back and take things in stride is the theme of this issue’s Reader to Reader column (page 20) . In celebration of the premiere of Sundance Channel The Green’s second season on April 1st, Body+Soul is giving away a luxury goody bag (worth over $2,500!) to one lucky reader. All you have to do is reply to this month’s Share Your Wisdom - “When’s the last time you did something out of character, unplanned, or spontaneous? What effect did it have, and what surprise you about the act - or results?” Selected responses will be printed in the August 2008 issue. Visit the Body+Soul website to enter and for more details.

One of my own favorite stress busters is to bake (and eat) cupcakes. Not the healthiest habit for my body, I’m sure, but it is fun! The Naturally Sweet article (page 58) gives details on tasty alternative to traditional sugar. When it comes to desserts, nothing is perfectly healthy. This piece tells both the pros and cons of alternative sweeteners, including agave nectar, stevia, maple syrup and more. It is highly likely that I will never have truly stable blood sugar since cinnamon crumble muffins and chocolate brownies will forever call my name. Even despite this, I’m open to experimenting with other natural sweeteners … how about you?

Sweet treats are also a first choice for many who are going through painful break-ups - the topic of Susan Piver’s Love Lessons: Heartbreak article (page 90). Susan shares a wonderful, though difficult, past experience that reveals a healthy mental process that benefits all areas of life. “100 percent of my emotional pain was attributed to my own thoughts. There is a good Buddhist teaching that illustrates this principle: When your throw a stick for a dog, he runs after it. But throw a stick for a lion, and he turns around to see who threw it. Now when a strong emotion comes up, I try to act like a lion; instead of assuming the feeling is worth chasing, I look to its source.” Taking the time to truly stop and think, instead of getting overwhelmed with whatever our minds churn out, would make anyone’s day flow smoother.

Other swank highlights from the April issue: What’s on Your Life List? (page 124); Eco Chic on the Cheap: 25 Ways to Go Green for $25 or Less (page 98); Food for Thought (page 142) - I reviewed author Christie Matheson’s latest book, Green Chic: Saving the Earth in Style, recently as well; 10 Best Stress Busters (page 116); Beauty Basics: Label Lowdown (page 48)

Zimmerman’s protagonist, investment banker David Rose, isn’t particularly unique: like a number of John Grisham main characters, he’s successful, but unfulfilled. He’s looking for meaning in work driven almost solely by profit margins. Ironically, it’s the head of the firm for which David works that provides him an opportunity to find such meaning: billionaire Isidore Steinmartz sends the junior associate to Southern California to assess a project underway by Cal Tech professor and Nobel prize-winner Charles MacMillan. The project is titled PANDA, an acronym for Project for Accelerated Neural Development in Anthropoids. In short, MacMillan is studying how to increase the brain’s development during gestation, and produce super-intelligent children. Steinmartz, a member of an elite secret society charged with watching for, and heading off, the extinction of the human race, believes a generation of such beings will be needed to tackle the massive ecological challenges facing the planet and humanity.

Yep, it already sounds a little creepy, and Zimmerman acknowledges as much at several points in the book when characters note that such experimentation could be incredibly dangerous if it fell into the wrong hands. While that threat exists throughout the novel (the Catholic Church, of course, proves one of the technology’s most persistent and ruthless enemies), Zimmerman inoculates his main character from harm by relying on a concept as old as storytelling itself: fate. Throughout the novel, the characters discover ancient prophecies leading to the conclusion that David and his newfound love interest Emily Chang (a scientist on the PANDA project) will play leading roles in ushering the new generation of kids that will save us from ourselves.

Sound familiar? It should: The Ovum Factor could be described as The Da Vinci Code meets The Celestine Prophecy. New Age spirituality abounds throughout the book, and many readers will likely recognize that Zimmerman’s generation of geniuses bears a striking resemblance to “indigo children.” If these children aren’t born, humanity is doomed.

I’ve got no problem with such concepts; I even find them fascinating. In Zimmerman’s hands, though, they ultimately point to hopelessness without spiritual intervention (the exact kind of criticisms some readers had about Chad’s post on Easter and environment). You don’t have to be a regular sustainablog reader to know that I’d take issue with such an approach; rather, I find it just as dangerous as arguments claiming that earth-saving technology is just around the corner, and we should just wait for it.

I did enjoy the popular fiction aspects of The Ovum Factor — I love a good thriller! I noticed occasional flaws in the narrative — an unexplainable perspective shift here and there, for instance — but ultimately enjoyed Zimmerman’s ability to tell his story. He does a very nice job of weaving multiple narrative threads together into a single work. And, for some, The Ovum Factor will do what McKibben claims a work of art on environmental challenges should do: “Art, like religion, is one of the ways we digest what is happening to us, make the sense out of it that proceeds to action.” Ultimately, though, the action required of this novel’s characters is to accept their roles in a larger metaphysical drama… and I’m not sure that’s the mindset we need when facing challenges like climate change.

I’m very interested to hear your own responses to this book: please respond here in the comments, or join the discussion I’ve started in the Green Options Media forums.

Editor’s note: The phrase “greener transportation options” conjures up images of hybrid cars, bicycles, and buses. This week, Adam at Life Goggles takes a look at at yet another option: the Magic Wheel. This post was originally published on Friday, March 21, 2008.

If you ever look what category posts on Life Goggles are put in, you may notice this one says Product Reviews, but also Transport. That’s in the loosest sense of the word as I haven’t been able to go anywhere on this yet.

But I’m jumping ahead. The Magic Wheel, as you can see from the videos and pictures, is a cross between a unicycle, skateboard and scooter. Sort of. It’s a wheel with steps either side (and a shopping trolley/cart wheel on the back) that you have one foot on while you push off with the other like a skateboard until you reach sufficient speed to put both feet either side and glide to your destination. Well glide for a bit until you need to start pushing again.

First of all - it’s trickier than it looks in the promotions video - check out my video for my (embarrassingly, not first) attempts at mastering the Magic Wheel. I know April 1st is coming, so I might as well look at fool. To be fair, I’m not very good at skateboarding, etc., which I think would have helped, but it’s a bit tricky and young, cool kids are probably better at it than me. The package comes with some vague safety instructions and a dvd with some dubious English subtitles. But between them they tell you enough about the product to be able to give it a go.

Adam’s attempt at Magic Wheeling

You stick the knee pads on yourself at the right height which makes it a bit more comfortable and easier to control, and away you go. Sort of. I didn’t go very far to be honest but again, I think you could if you persevered. Despite the backdrop of London’s Tower Bridge, after an hour I’d had enough and went for a drink.

How you’re meant to do it

One thing you will notice is how everyone looks at you when you’re on it, or even carrying it. I haven’t seen another one in London and they’re pretty cool looking, if slightly impractical. That’s my main problem with it, not that I can’t get the hang of it. What is it actually for. It’s less portable than a skateboard and it advises you not to go downhill or do tricks on it. It’s less stable than a bike or even a scooter and I’m left wondering why it doesn’t have a thicker tyre/tire on it to help make it more stable. Probably because it means your legs will be a lot wider and you’ll end up walking like John Wayne. Also if you’re short it might be a bit dodgy going on this. On a couple of occasions I came close to injuring myself between the legs and I’m 5′ 10″.

The Magic Wheel is a fun thing for a while, but at $199 or £120 your investment might be better placed elsewhere.

I know a lot of readers have been wondering what toothbrush I use…ahem. Well it’s a rechargeable one. I like it as I don’t have to buy a new toothbrush each time when the head wears out, but it does use electricity sometimes. I never really spend much time thinking about the “eco-ness” of my toothbrush, but every little thing helps. Now, the Source toothbrush from Radius may have become my new favorite, but why?

Let’s start from the beginning. I was actually sent two toothbrushes by Radius — the Original and the Source — so let’s take a look at them both.

Radius Original

Part of the Permanent Collection of the National Design Museum, Smithsonian Institution, this toothbrush comes in right or left hand editions and different colors. I got a clear one (on the right of the picture). The head is huge, it’s nice to grip, nice and chunky. Er, cleans teeth.

Packaging: Made from SmartCycle plastic from 50% recycled soda bottles.
Handle: Made from natural bio-plastic derived from sustainable yield forests.
Durability: Lasts up to 3 times longer than a normal toothbrush, probably due to the 6,500 bristles.

Radius Source

This was my favorite. It features a replaceable head that can also be reversed for right or left handers — no need to buy a different toothbrush. In fact, two could share the one handle if you’re into that sort of thing. It’s nice and light, the bristles are possibly the softest I’ve ever used (that still work), and the head is large but does fit into corners pretty well.

Packaging: Again made from SmartCycle plastic from 50% recycled soda bottles.
Handle: Made from 100% renewable plant source (wood fiber), molded into shape.
Durability: Comes with a replacement head, and therefore allows you to replace just the part that wears out saving 80% of material of a new toothbrush. The replacement head is also about 1/5 the weight of a standard brush.

It was also nice to see their catalog was printed on 100% post-consumer recycled paper with vegetable inks. I appreciate little touches like that (for more environmental info, visit their Environmental Evaluation page).

For only around $7 for the Source, and $8 for the Original, next time you need to change your toothbrush and want to be an official eco-tooth-cleaner, it may be worth looking at Radius.

With the first tome based around the element of earth, the second tome is all about water (as the title suggests). Miho’s scientist parents were lost at sea and she now has to move to Japan to live with her uncle. Though she speaks no Japanese and has never met her uncle, she has no other choice but to move in with her only living relative.

While visiting the beach house of her grandparents (who have already passed on), Miho meets the already infamous otter, Gaia. Miho is quickly swept up in the excitement of being able to talk to all the creatures of the sea and makes friends with a large group of dolphins. Of course, her adult uncle thinks she is nuts and simply can’t follow orders when he tells her to be home at a certain time and she continues to come home dripping wet.

Will Miho and her uncle ever connect? Have you ever traveled across the world in the mouth of a whale? What happens when poachers try to capture some of her dolphin friends? I could answer all of those questions for you, but it would take all the fun out of reading the book yourself.

As in the first book, a collection of fun puzzles and intelligent discussion questions follows the story. Welles was also keen enough to add a small Japanese dictionary into the book for the few conversations that occur in the foreign language. Though I neglected to mention them in my last review, the cover and inside art for both books are breathtaking - they really make the story come alive.

Book three, Gaia Girls - Air Apparent, is set to be released later this year. Stay tuned to Eco Child’s Play for updates and reviews of the entire Gaia Girls series!

What would you do if you could hear the Earth asking for help? In the Gaia Girls book series, that is what happens to four girls, each from a different region of the world. They are approached by Gaia, the living organism of the Earth. Each is endowed with powers over one of the four elements: earth, air, fire, and water. They must learn to use their powers to help Gaia survive the effects of modern humanity.

The first book centers around a girl named Elizabeth Angier and one very eventful summer at her family farm in New York state. She and the family’s undeniably lovable dog Maizey take on a big business factory farming operation that is trying to buy up all the farms in her town. On top of that, her best friend is moving not only out of town but out of state to Florida. Just as her troubles start to reach their boiling point, Elizabeth is greeted by an eager otter named Gaia who will change her world forever.

Enter the Earth is a quick and enjoyable read that I would recommend to everyone from age 9 to 90. The book has already won two national awards and a new dedicated reader - me (and hopefully you very soon). While the topic of factory farming might seem a bit heavy for young kids to delve into, it is presented in an intelligent and logical way that will appeal to the eager sense of learning that our little ones are blessed with.

At the end of the story, a collection of word finds and illustration puzzles are included, along with discussion questions for you and your kids to ponder together. Poised to be the eco-Harry Potter or a New Age Babysitters’ Club, the Gaia Girls series is off to a very noteworthy start.

You might be thinking, "is the October issue so bad that she can't even bring herself to write about it?" Not at all! As usual Body+Soul came out with another great issue that I could put down; in fact, I finished it in two days.

Take charge of your life! In our latest issue, learn the essential strategies you need to break free from stress, curb your food cravings, and take control of your heart health. Find out the secrets to natural beauty, tips to greener living, and our picks for fall beauty. Plus, we've done the research, now see the results: Body+Soul's "best of yoga."

It is highly ironic that I was having such a hard time writing about a publication whose feature store is about how to "Stop Stressing [and] Start Living!" After reading this piece by senior editor Terri Trespicio (the magazine would truly not be the same without her), it became quite noticeable just how many times in the day I start to stress and/or worry about silly things that didn't deserve my mind's time. I'm sure having clinical anxiety doesn't help, but that doesn't mean I need to be fretting about things that a) I can barely, if at all, control or b) don't have any impact on my personal happiness or the joy of those around me.

I once again present the JetPack Rating System™, my weekly effort to help humanity cope with its collective disappointment over the broken promise of personal jetpacks, the Sean Connery-era James Bond standard of cool.

To recap, the JetPack Rating System™ is used to not only begin the healing process, but also for rating automobiles and buildings by a duel criteria:

1. How environmentally-friendly are they?
2. What would James Bond think of them?

Today, we JetPack™ the Volkswagen Chameleon.

California Healthy

The book is broken into sections by county, and each includes restaurant listings, wineries, walks and local festivals. By far the best part of this guide are the walks, taking you to beautiful and scenic places, and listing dog parks for healthy fun with Rover. The local events section, although not complete, lists seasonal festivals throughout the region and is a useful tool and one of the book's strengths.

The restaurant listings are on the other hand are weak at best. Granted, some of my favorite joints are listed, but the descriptions are limited, leaving the reader with little idea of why they should go. Most disappointing is that the list is nowhere near comprehensive. There are thousands of restaurants in SoCal, and the organic and local food movement is thriving, yet California Healthy names only of a handful of the good places out there, and gives the reader no sense of what they have in store.

Her statement details the establishment of the Martha Stewart Center for Living at Mount Sinai Medical Center in New York, in honor of her mother. "Set to open in October the state-of-the-art facility will enable [Mount Sinai's doctors] to continue to learn new ways for all of us to live healthier, more productive lives and will teach patients, caregivers, and physicians how best to manage the aging process."

After a lengthy paragraph about how each of her publications is contributing to this healthy living commitment through its editorial content, she closes with a very intriguing, yet general, paragraph about her eco-intentions.

It is impossible to celebrate the value of healthy living without considering the health of the environment in which we live. We believe that all companies can be more mindful of our environmental impact. With that in mind, we are exploring ways of making greener practices part of our business plan, including the creative content we generate, the products we offer, and the materials we use to keep our offices clean. You'll hear more from us on that in coming issues.

What does the September issue have to offer readers? Here's what Body+Soul's website has to say:

Get healthy now! Our newest issue gives you 138 ways to look and feel your best. Learn the key to lasting weight loss, make delicious recipes featuring the ultimate power food, and discover natural anti-aging secrets. Plus, our complete guide to supplements for a healthier heart, brain, bones, and mood and a no-fail walking guide.

The introductory "Whole Living" section of the magazine is filled to the brim with useful tidbits, taste tests, product recommendations, and the latest health research. An interview with "traveling chef" Jim Denevan is on page 27, detailing his spectacular efforts on strengthening people's appreciation for where our food comes from. Eco-entrepreneur Nau is featured on page 30; a personal favorite of mine, it's great to see the brand getting such wide-spread attention.

After owning two very different yoga mats myself, I was eager to try what NF had to offer. The first mat I owned was made from natural rubber as well, but the traction on it was terrible: in less than 10 minutes, I was slipping and sliding all over! My second acquisition was also made of natural rubber, but was much better at helping me stay stable in my poses. The downside? It was quite heavy to tote around. When presented with the chance to test out the Natural Fitness Professional Yoga Mat, I accepted with excitement.