Zem Joaquin

For the last few years I have been designing showhouses that help contextualize what it means to truly live an "ecofabulous" life -- one without sacrifice of aesthetics or ethics. Though 18,000 designophiles walk through Dwell on Design, I wanted...

September is National Yoga Month, and as the month comes to a close it seems high time to offer a guide of ecofabulous' favorite companies and products. While yoga can be incredibly good for you, many of the products that support your poses are anything but healthy. Shouldn't...

This year's Clinton Global Initiative Annual Meeting (CGI) has been all about commitments that will make a positive difference around the world. Yesterday, during the Market-Based Solutions for Protecting the Environment session at CGI, the Cradle to Cradle Products Innovation Institute (formerly the

Most of us understand the correlation between oil and cars - transportation accounts for 40 percent of our petroleum consumption. What many of us are not as conscious of is the amount of oil-based products we use every day. Nearly 10 percent of U.S. petroleum is used to make plastic...

I'm completely fascinated by a recent phenomenon that I have not only observed, I have become an unwitting participant as well. It seems that chickens are the new dog. There are a variety of breeds - some beautiful, some homely, but whichever someone has, they are apt to be fiercely...

Albeit a bit late in the season, rain has finally wet the pavement in California. No crazy storms, just refreshing, replenishing rainwater to make our reservoirs a little less barren. All this good news makes me want to do a little jig à la Gene Kelly. But the PVC-laden umbrellas,...

Some say love is blind, but unfortunately that rings true in more ways than one. Valentine's Day, national Hallmark holiday or not, is supposed to be a day of love, sharing time with the one you care about (or dropping a secret admirer note for the one you're pining over)....

After all the wrapping paper has been recycled, what was inside the packaging should continue to bring joy. However, toy recalls on the morning after leach some of the fun out of playing Santa. Choking hazards and protruding pieces in many playthings have long been deemed unsafe, but 2008's toxicity-related...

Last week I packed my husband and our two kids into a rented 4-wheel drive and took the pilgrimage to Lake Tahoe, a popular ski resort 200 miles north of San Francisco. As we ascended the mountain, my daughter noticed that the rain was replaced with white specks. Her innocent...

Last week, I was at my daughter's friend's fabulous Asian-themed birthday party. Since the father is an event planner, it was no surprise to me that no detail was missed, including bowls filled with the popular White Rabbit rice candies, imported from China. Shocked, I grabbed the bowls and asked...

The holidays are such a wonderful time to connect with family and friends. We gather around fires sipping cocoa, swapping stories and opening presents. People you may not have heard from in months or years send you photo cards of their maturing children. You may even receive a gift basket...

I'm not one to trash talk, but our current state of affairs has backed me into a dirty corner. In 1960, the average American produced 2.7 pounds of waste per day. According to the EPA that number had increased to 4.5 pounds by 2003 (I'd assume that number hasn't gone...

Last week I accompanied my children to a theatrical performance at their school. It was undeniably cute and funnier than the average elementary presentation, but the surprising thing was the subject matter. The engaging production dealt with global warming, but made the topic charmingly relevant to children. Later that day...

Last year Steve Jobs, the CEO of Apple Corporations, promised a greener more sustainable Apple. This year that pledge is becoming a reality. The hotly anticipated iPhone3G, which offers mobile zealots twice the speed at half the price, is slated to hit the consumer market on July 11th (and sell...

A recent article in Forecast Earth had us rethinking the way we celebrate our country's independence. Aptly enough, most of the brilliant explosions of color that will light up American skies tonight are fueled by compressed gunpowder, filling the air with "heavy metals, carbon monoxide and sulfur oxides," writes...

Many of us are taking steps to conserve water and energy in our homes and offices, because after all, commercial and residential buildings account for 40% of U.S. energy usage and droughts are increasing. But we never really know just how effective our efforts are. It's like being on a...

I'm in Cape Cod where my husband grew up eating lobster rolls and languisa. We've come for the obligatory surreal high school reunion. His idyllic school sits on protected marsh land and has an entire building devoted to marine biology, but there is no recycling and little awareness about the...

In the US, our dogs produce enough waste to fill an 800-foot-tall football field every year - not the most glamorous image. And scooping all that poop into petroleum-based plastic bags not only leaches toxic chemicals as the whole package slowly breaks down (for thousands of years) in a landfill,...

Seriously, if this bag existed back when I was having kids, I might have had a third - that's how spacious and organized it is (mmm, sounds like I would keep this bonus round baby in the bag...probably better that I stopped at 2). The Wee Generation Eco Diaper...

Last week my husband, who was raised on the hearty East Coast, went vegan! Now Oprah goes vegan: coincidence?

Well Pierre Omidyar, founder of eBay www.ebay.com also did it, and so have lots of other smart Americans, so maybe there is more to it... and they aren't running...