By Green Diva Meg

I finally live in a town that has a farmer's market - not that I lived so far from it before we moved a whole mile and a half to the new place, but there is something about being able to walk out the door with a couple of bags and walk down to the farmer's market on a Saturday morning that is particularly awesome. I have never lived within reasonable walking distance of one either.

Neither of the two farmer's that have stalls are certified organic, but they both claim to be using integrated pest control and are trying to minimize chemical fertilizers . . . not thrilled, but I want to do my part to help support them.

You can be sure I made it clear that sustainably, responsibly grown food is important to me and many local folks I know. It is the perennial debate: if you HAD to choose between local and organic, which is better for you AND the environment. ugh. I'm polling people again on the Green Divas Radio Show FB page PLEASE

By Sherry Brooks

neck-pain

It seems like most Americans suffer from neck pain. Many elderly adults turn their entire body, when attempting to turn their head because of a lifetime of accumulated stiffness and pain in the neck and shoulders.

When I was in China I visited a doctor of Chinese medicine with a small group of tourists. He could feel where their neck muscles were sore and where there was shoulder tension. The Chinese traditionally sleep on very hard beds with a flat pillow, if there is a pillow at all. They feel that it is better for the back to sleep on a hard bed, whereas Americans like a soft bed with high, fluffy pillows.

The Chinese doctor told us that it is our soft beds and high pillows that cause us to suffer so much neck pain in the West.

If you have neck pain and shoulder tension or simply wish to avoid developing it as you age, there are measures you can take that won't cost anything.

First, try to train yourself to sleep on your

By Green Diva Meg

We recently moved into a gorgeous 112-year-old house in the historic district of our town. We are renting long-term with an option to buy. We have an awesome landlord who has let us really make this our home and he's very easy to work with. He and his wife had contracted the local affiliate of a national pest control service. They have offered us the benefit for free, which is generous. However, I've owned several old houses and I've never used chemical pest control methods.

I'm not particularly good with insects, but I know they are a vital part of our eco-system. I have spent a lot of time and energy over the years working on making peace with the insect world and finding ways to co-exist. Don't get me wrong, I REALLY don't like ants in my kitchen, spiders in the bedroom or other various multi-legged critters terrorizing us inside the house. When I find a misguided critter in the house, I do my best NOT to freak out and put them back outside with a

By Aylin Erman

Aside from the one way we all know vodka can be put to good use, it's not a completely pointless liquid otherwise. In fact, the alcoholic beverage spreads itself quite thin on the usefulness scale. Vodka's anti-bacterial properties are what give it such potency in combatting a lot of common ailments and household issues - from earaches to carpet stains. Grab yourself a bottle, or two, and redefine what it means to booze.

Poison Ivy Reliever

Apply vodka to an area affected by poison ivy and it will dry up surrounding skin, getting rid of any oils that are causing the poison ivy to inflame and itch.

Laundry Freshener

Fill a small spray bottle with vodka and lightly spray clothes. The vodka smell goes away when the clothes dry completely. The vodka helps to remove any unwanted odors.

Flower Preserver

Plants produce the ripening gas ethylene, which promotes maturation. Vodka stunts ethylene production and allows for flowers to stay fresher, longer. Spray flower stems

I recently visited this gorgeous cutting garden in Germany and it got me thinking about all the pretty cutting gardens back at home! I thought it would be fun to make a list of some u-pick flower farms around the US. Most are open in the summer, some in the spring too. Bring some clippers, a bucket of water and a few friends for a fun flower cutting session! Flower farms are much more inexpensive than florists, so it's a cheap way to buy cut flowers for a party or wedding. It's also a great family activity for a Saturday! A good way to find out about cutting gardens is to go for a drive through the country or visit a farmer's market and ask the vendors if they allow guests to their farms. I've gathered a list of some great flower farms around the country that let you come and pick your own stems. - By Chelsea Fuss

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Eating more sustainably at home is good for our planet ... and your wallet. One of the easiest ways to make your plate more sustainable is to get into the habit of using up every last scrap of the fruits and vegetables you buy. Food waste makes up the second largest category of garbage that gets sent to landfills (second only to paper), where it generates methane, a greenhouse gas with more global warming potential than carbon dioxide.

Finding creative ways to use up the leaves, the stems, and the other parts of fruits and veggies that might otherwise get tossed also stretches your grocery dollars; when you can use the greens from your radishes as well as the radishes themselves, it's like getting two veggies for the price of one.

Here are 12 ways to use up all your vegetable scraps:

1. Put vegetable scraps in a zip-top freezer bag; when the bag is full, make vegetable stock.

2. Use Swiss chard stems in place of celery in recipes.

3. Speaking of celery, add

hair

By Mia Davis

A couple of years ago, EcoSalon's Beauty Editor Kathie Butler posted the (much-read, oft-shared) piece Best Organic, Natural and Eco-Friendly Shampoos for All Hair Types. Who doesn't want the scoop on better hair products? Well, we have an update for you, below. But first, a note on what has changed-and what hasn't-in the world of "natural" shampoos.

"Sustainable" cosmetics are the fastest growing segment of the industry. But many companies are using claims like "natural," "organic," and "sustainable" without walking the walk. This is called greenwashing. Look for meaningful certifications as one way to back up eco-friendly claims.

And keep in mind that natural doesn't necessarily equal safe. Personal care products are still the least regulated consumer products on the market. Many companies use harmful ingredients in shampoo and other products we use all the time. This is perfectly legal because of a seriously outdated cosmetics law (from 1938). Environmental health

Photo: Courtesy of Seventh GenerationBy Kate Rockwood

The back of a soap bottle may not seem like a fascinating read, but ignoring the label can be bad for you and the planet. I remember the first time I idly scanned the ingredient list on my dollar-store body wash. "What the heck is ethyl paraben?" I wondered. Squeaky clean and seated at a computer ten minutes later, I learned that parabens (a common synthetic preservative in soap, body wash, and shampoo) can be hormone disrupters, potentially affecting fertility. Yikes.

RELATED: Start the School Year in Good Health

So when Seventh Generation, masters of eco-friendly household cleaners, launched a new line of soaps, lotions, and body washes this summer, I was game to get my suds on. Like any packaging, you should skip the marketing hype on the front ("natural," "pure," and "healthy" aren't regulated claims) and flip to the backside. Here, the science is transparent and promising: No parabens, phthalates (hormone disrupters that have been linked to increased cancer