Margaret Hyde

The most memorable Father's Day gifts are the ones made by kids with their own little hands for their dad. Every dad has enough ties and mugs, but you can never have enough keepsakes made with love. I always struggle with what to help my kids make for their dad,...

Spring is here, and once again so is my desire to clean out all of the clutter and junk that has accumulated throughout the year. Instead of starting with my closets and the miles of old mail and magazines, I thought it would be truly refreshing to try to cleanse...

Nothing excites me more during the holidays than finding the perfect gift for a friend or family member and wrapping it up so that the package looks thoughtful and inviting; however, nothing makes me feel more guilty than all the wasted paper, tissue and ribbons that I have to throw...

Since last Thanksgiving I have been challenging myself to try to be aware of and express the gratitude that I feel in my life on a daily basis. I have done it in mostly little ways like always ending my emails with "Grateful." This really annoys many of my friends...

The first homework of every school year is mom homework. My son brings home a note from his teacher with a list of questions for me to answer. It invariably reads something like "Please help us get to know your son or daughter by answering the following questions":

• Describe your...

Having a new baby with precious soft new skin prompted me to start investigating sunscreen safety. What makes a sunscreen or sunblock safe and effective? If you are warned not to use sunscreen on children under six months old, what is in it that is harmful?

What is...

What is "green travel" really?
Travel is inherently not green. "Green travel" is truly an oxymoron. One round trip plane flight from Los Angeles to San Francisco for one person emits 10,064 lbs. of carbon into the atmosphere. To put that number into perspective it is ¼ the...

I must confess that I love all the apps on my iPhone and the ease with which I can check my email or do web searches. I recently created the Mo's Nose App for the iPhone which is a "yelp for pet owners." It also includes a bonus game, thereby...

We have all been mesmerized by the spill-cam. We watch impotently as more and more oil pollutes and contaminates the Gulf of Mexico. No one seems to know how to fix this man-made environmental disaster.

But, there is an epic man-made environmental tragedy that we, as individuals, can do...

Do you know what you're drinking when you get a drink of water from your tap at home? Or from your little sink water filter? Or do you just drink bottled water?

I wasn't sure that I really wanted to know what was in my water, but I had...

An electric purple bunch of grapes with goggle eyes and a silly grin stuck on the top of my homework was the greatest thing in the whole world, because when I scratched it smelled like a super-sugary version of grape. I can almost smell those scratch-n-sniff stickers from third grade....

A few years ago, I decided to make a change in my life -- I took specific note of my personal and professional choices and how they would affect those around me. Sustainability became a very important priority for me; a lifestyle choice. I thought about my personal and professional...