Online Journal

8 Easy Tips for Using Less Plastic

8 Easy Tips for Using Less Plastic. When asking how to help the environment, an excellent place to start is to use less plastic in the first place and then recycle it more efficiently. Simple swaps like these will help you use less plastic and create less plastic trash that will never decompose.

Artist Profile: Erick Wolfmeyer

Erick Wolfmeyer would be the first to tell you he can barely stitch a button on a shirt, but that hasn’t stopped him from making quilting into a fierce fine art. For the past twenty years, he has been creating abstract works of fabric art. His goal is simple—envisioning quilts to inspire and endure for generations. He hopes his work offers his audience a “big experience, to lead them to something deep within, to help connect or reconnect them to something greater than themselves.”

The two fundamentals to all of Erick’s quilts—a commitment to preserve the tradition of hand quilting and a passion for color composition. Erick loves color, playing around with it, bending and shaping its tones and values. Quilts are a canvas that, for him, offer infinite possibilities.

Thrifting: More than Just Saving Money

Shopping at a thrift store is about much more than just saving money. Granted, it’s a great way to cut costs when shopping, but it has many more benefits than just making your dollar stretch further. While it’s satisfying to know that you’ve made considerable savings on thrift store purchases, for many people the real gratification comes from knowing that they own an item that’s truly original. And however hard they look, your friends will never be able to find it anywhere in their local shopping mall!

5 Tips On Going Vegan

So you’re thinking of going vegan, or maybe you’re just curious. Perhaps you saw or heard something that intrigued you, inspired you, or made you think: If I was to...

Carbon Offset Can Mitigate Climate Change

Imagine a world where every individual, firm, company, corporate body, and governmental agency can reduce their carbon footprint no matter the business type! Carbon offsets usually directly support community-driven projects that protect and restore critical forests around the world. These forests, in turn, conserve biodiversity, sustain livelihoods for millions of people, help communities around the world build resilience to climate change, absorb carbon dioxide from the atmosphere, and help mitigate climate change globally.

Just invest more in carbon offset projects. They are practical and effective ways to address climate change and encourage the growth of renewable energy. By supporting carbon offset, you contribute to a more sustainable future by counterbalancing your personal carbon emissions, aka: "carbon footprint."

Product Review: Evolution Convertible Backpack and the Echelon Pouch

In this video review, Project Caritas reviews two products by Fierce Hazel, a brand that makes Sustainable, Durable and Highly Functional bags by using Fabric Remnants and Factory Deadstock — the Evolution Convertible Backpack and the Echelon All-Conditions Ride Pouch.

Project Caritas is a charity YouTube Channel that donates 100% of ad revenue to charity organizations, non-profits and people in need around the world. The content on their channel is focused on reviewing sustainable products that are good for us and good for the planet, as well as products and organizations that go above and beyond to tackle major social problems

Vegan Cyclist: What To Eat When Training

The best part about being a plant-based cyclist? Knowing that you’re treating mind, body, and planet well while remaining competitive. However, as a vegan athlete, you may not know exactly what to eat when training, or which foods offer incredible nutrition for long days out on the road.

The connection between performance and diet is, at this point, undisputed. Eating better aids muscle recovery, in turn getting you back on the road fitter, stronger, and feeling ready to spin the pedals again. So, it should come as no surprise that legions of cyclists are becoming vegan out of concern for bodily health, as plant-based diets are high in antioxidants and reduce inflammation. Food can be both a fuel source and medicine.

Eco-Friendly Diets For A Sustainable Planet

To achieve a healthy and eco-friendly diet, we should try and understand the complex environmental side effects of what we eat. While a plant-based diet is overall best for our health and the planet, moderate amounts of animal foods can still be a part of our diet, depending on how they are produced. Keep in mind that your carbon footprint is based on other variables besides your food consumption, such as how you heat your home, how much electricity and gasoline you use, how often you travel by air, and how you handle your garbage...

Travel Essay: Saranac Lake in the Adirondacks

Traveling to the Adirondacks is always a special treat. Any time of year, there is any number of adventures to be had. From fishing, boating (both paddling and motorboats), mountain biking, and hiking in the summer to seeing the fall colors and skiing or touring the woods in the wintertime, anyone can enjoy themselves in this part of the north country.

Cycling: Best Climbs in Spain

Spain is a country with a huge cycling tradition and enjoys a geography that is ideal for training. If pain is a requirement for a good climb, then we've found the top 5 suffer-climbs in Spain. Some well known but others never climbed in the Vuelta a España.

Top 5 Dog-Friendly National Parks

The 5 Best Dog-Friendly National Parks. From the coast of Maine, to the Blue Ridge Mountains, Ohio, Arkansas, and the coast of Texas, we've found some of the best. Traveling with a dog can be a rewarding yet challenging experience. If you’re planning a trip through a national park, you must consider the many rules and regulations regarding where your pet may and may not go. Finding a national park you can visit with your pooch can be quite tricky. That being said, there are a few national parks that are a bit more dog-friendly than the rest. Luckily for you, we’ve gathered them all here. Let the road-trip planning begin!

The Cyclist’s Guide to Sustainability

In and of itself, cycling is a sustainable practice. Your legs and lungs provide the ultimate renewable energy source, which serves to propel you across distances near and far. While in this pure sense cycling is eco-friendly, the various industries creating the kit on your back, food in your pocket, and bike beneath you are often not. While there’s no surprise there, a growing movement is beginning to support the idea that bicycles — the cleanest form of transportation on earth — should be part of a sustainable ecosystem.

Spring Fever? Bring The Outdoors In

How to Force Spring-Flowering Branches

On a sunny day, when the air temperature is above freezing, cut a few small branches from the tree(s) you have selected. Choose limbs that have an abundance of visible flower buds and cut them 1-3 feet long. Cut off with sharp pruning shears or a knife, so neither the tree nor the branches will be harmed, then cut a 1-inch slit into the bottom of the branch so it can easily absorb water and remove any smaller branches 6-inches from the bottom.