I started juicing about a month ago with mostly organic fruit. I guess you can call it “organic juicing” if there is such a thing. I wanted to give my health a little more attention than what I have been giving it for the past year or so. So now I’m exploring the health benefits of juicing. I think I’m getting the benefits already.

Juicing health benefits: antioxidants
Check this out, I went to my dentist this past week for a cleaning. My dentist is now giving antioxidant scans. He’s an innovative guy. Here’s how it works. You put your palm up a little machine that measures the skin carotenoid levels in your body. It comes back with reading of 1 – 50,000 plus.

I scored an ‘A’ (52,000), only the second ‘A’ they have ever had in the office. I didn’t ask how many people they scanned, I figured I’d quite while I was ahead. The point is, I scored really high! I’m attributing it to the juicing.

What am I juicing you ask?
I’m juicing everything. Well, not quite everything, but pretty close to it and I’m going to expand and explore more juicing combinations as well. Below is list of juices I have been working with. Keep in mind that each juice starts with the good old vegetable or fruit. There are no cans in my organic juicing recipes.

• Apple juice
• Pineapple juice
• Orange juice
• Ginger juice
• Garlic juice
• Pear juice
• Bok choy juice
• Cucumber juice
• Salad green juice (they really aren’t all that juicy, but I had try it.)
• Kiwi juice

I’ve also started combining blending and juicing. Things I’ve blended:

• Bananas, sometimes frozen
• Frozen blueberries
• Frozen strawberries
• Frozen raspberries
• Bees pollen
• Flax seed

I think that’s all. To be clear, the above are not the ingredients in ALL my juicing recipes and some combinations are much better than others. I’m merely stating the juicing ingredients for now. I have been tweeting about some of the better juicing recipes on my personal account if your are interested.

Below are a few of them in case you don’t feel like clicking through or if you don’t like Twitter. I understand your feelings on both the former and the latter.

• Juice this: 3 kiwi, 1 big cucumber and half a pineapple. Add cantaloupe if you like melon, not too much, just enough for a hint of flavor.
• Juice this: a bag of small carrots (you heard right) 2 granny smith apples, a chunk of ginger and squeeze half a lemon. Slammin’.
• Juice this: 2 oranges, 2 mangoes, 1 cucumber, 2 granny smith apples. If you are adventurous juice a clove of garlic and a chuck of ginger.

I’m going to go juice now. I’m not sure what, but if it comes out good, it will be on Twitter. And maybe here too.

If you are looking to buy a juicer, take a look at the 2 juicers below.

Looks like a pretty good juicer
Samson Single Gear Juicer – GB-9001

The envy of all juicers:
Samson Twin KPE-1304 GreenPower 1304-Fruit Vegetable Wheatgrass Juicer

I have to admit, I’m a lot of things green and organic but one place I fall on my face is at the grocery store – At the checkout with the cashier asking, “Paper or plastic?”

I cringe on the inside, knowing I know better, knowing there is no good answer other than “neither, I brought my own thanks.” But I forgot. Again I forgot to bring my canvas bags. I drive home feeling guilty with my paper or plastic bags of groceries. What a waste.

We all need a kick in the pants sometimes. I got mine in an email the other day from Stephen Troy who is making a movie about plastic bags and why they are bad, bad ideas. He’s a blurb from his site:

It is short, ridiculous, hilarious, and it will be beautiful. It is environmentally conscious, having a subtle but unmistakable green message about the importance of recycling. After viewing this film, no one in the audience will be able to simply look the other way when they see plastic bags littering our streets.

So what does this have to do with you dear reader? We, first off, bring your own bags to the grocery store so Stephen can find another environmental cause. I never met Stephen, but I think he would agree that is a good first step. Second, give our film maker a hand in the form of a small (or as big as you want) donation. It costs to make a movie, even a “short, ridiculous, hilarious” movie like the one Stephen is making.

Find out more about Paper or Plastic: Recycle or Die (the movie). You can also donate to the cause.

If you are reading this you heard something about a surfer and a whale in California. Please keep in mind that Jodie Nelson didn’t do this for no reason. She did this to raise awareness and to prevent cancer.

More about the professional California surfer and the 30 foot minke whale that escorted her.

Imagine if everyone who read her story just gave a dollar. Support her cause with a few bucks.

A quick blurb from the story

What Nelson could not have known was that a 30-foot minke whale would swim alongside her 14-foot board and accompany the surfer as she stood and paddled for two of those nine hours, thus joining the cause.

You should read more about the surfer and the whale. It’s pretty frickin’ awesome.

We’ve been trying to find the little bits (and the bigger bits) of green living that ecotourists and vacationers want to experience.

So, how about a nice eco vacation in Oregon. The fresh air, the wildlife, the geothermal energy? That’s right, the sidewalks in Klamath Falls Oregon never have snow on them, ever. After a brutal winter on the east coast not shoveling a sidewalk sounds like paradise.

Geothermal energy accounts for 0.5 percent of the United State’s energy production. It’s got a low carbon foot print, but could have a nasty side effect if it is implemented in the wrong area. Namely earthquakes. But please don’t take our word for it. We are fans of green living and eco travel and vacations. We are not scientists. So, do your own research and ask your own questions.

For more about green living and Oregon eco vacations visit Yahoo!

Stop Ear Candles from getting banned, sign this petition.

Right now you are thinking 1 of 2 things

1. I love ear candles. How dare the FDA!
2. I have no what idea ear candle are and I don’t care. I’m not signing.

You should care. You should sign. Why? Because it starts with one harmless product like ear candles being banned then another, then another and then it’s the product you like and use everyday. YOUR harmless product that you love so much that is the target. So do yourself a favor, sign the petition.

Still don’t care? Read this to see how your tax dollars are spent by the FDA
Why sign if you don’t ear candle? Of all the things in the world to go after, the FDA has targeted ear candles. Go figure. Have you read the side effects of the last prescription your doctor wrote for you? The side effects are enough to opt for the ailment.

Do you know what the side effect of ear candles are? From my experience nothing. From reading online, I have heard that people have had wax drip in their ear. Yep, that can happen when you mix wax, fire and your ear. But consider this, car accidents kill quite a few people every year, but there is no movement to stop driving is there? That was not rhetorical. Please answer the question.

It gets worse … or does it?
The most devastating case I have heard regarding ear candles is the case of a woman who was ear candling alone who (this is why reading instructions is important) burned her house down and died in the fire. Now, I feel sorry for the woman, but ear candles had nothing do with this. That’s like blaming a cell phone for people who have hit a pole and died because they were texting.

What do ear candles do?
So, why should we care about ear candles?? What do they do? Well, I’m not a doctor, but I have used ear candles before. I can tell you 2 things for sure. They make me feel very relaxed. And 2, they don’t suck anything out of my ear. Don’t believe me? Try putting the end of the vacuum up to your ear and see how that feels. Now, with the ear that isn’t ruptured, administer an ear candle with the help of a friend. Notice a difference? Careless people, please disregard the vacuum suggestion, but feel free to look up the definitions of satire and sarcasm.

So really, what do ear candles do
Like I said, I’m not a doctor, but ear candles do help me relax and that state of relaxation could be just enough to help the body relieve itself from the daily stress we call life. Have you ever heard of meditation? Wouldn’t it be a hoot if the FDA banned mediation? That was rhetorical.

For the skeptics out there
Let’s say ear candles do absolutely nothing. Let’s all agree to that for the next paragraph, OK? Great! If ear candles do nothing, then there is nothing to ban because the FDA wouldn’t create a big stink about nothing would they? Or would they? Or is it a nice way to spend your tax dollar and keep them from fixing drugs that have 101 side effects that are worse than the ailment?

If you got all the way down here, you might as well sign the petition.

In case you didn’t see this on Yahoo! – A list of the 10 coolest hot springs.

I’m adding this to my eco vacation wish list.

Snorkeling Hanauma Bay if by far one of the most memorable things you can do on a Hawaii vacation.

Hanauma Bay Nature Preserve is a half-mile beach bay located on Oahu in Hawaii. It is frequently held as one of the most beautiful beaches in the world for good reason. Oahu is not the Big Island as many people I’ve talked to think. Oahu is home to Honolulu and Waikiki. The Big Island is the Island of Hawaii. Another amazing island, but that’s not what this post is about

Back to Hanauma Bay. If you are interested in adding a litte ecotourism to your Hawaii Vacation give Hanauma Bay a shot. The bay is like one big natural aquarium. It has 3 levels of reefs. The inside reef is the safest place to be as the reef protects you from the open ocean. If you feeling adventurous (I wasn’t), you can find the “key hole” and make your way to the 2nd and 3rd reefs. A word to the wise, talk to the lifeguards before being so adventurous even on calm days.

Before getting to the bay itself, you will watch an educational video about reef conservation. It goes into why standing on the reef (any reef) is a bad thing (it kills the reef). This was my experience when I was there. The reef has had hard times. This educational effort has been made to keep the reef healthy. From what I can tell and what I’ve hear, it’s working out just fine.

Hanauma Bay is a popular spot and might be crowed. Get there early and if you want to have more privacy, walk to the far corner of the bay. That should give you some insulation from the crowds. However, much of the snorkeling happens in the middle and the left hand side of the bay.

What you might see snorkeling Hanauma Bay on your Hawaiian vacation
Turtles, or Honu as they are referred to in Hawaii, and moray eels are some of the more interesting characters you might see. There are also a variety of fish at every turn.

What to bring on to Hanauama Bay / Hawaii vacation
Snorkel gear if you have it. If not, you can rent when you get there. Towels. Chemical free sun block (so you don’t damage the reef). Food and water. A sense of curiosity and respect for the ocean.

If you are considering a Hawaii vacation with a side of ecotourism consider Hawaii’s island of Oahu for your Hawaii vacation. There’s more than just downtown Waikiki (though admittedly I love downtown Waikiki).

Hawaiian mythology and Hanauma Bay
According to Hawaiian mythology, the Hawaiian demi-god Maui created the bay. My Hawaiian mythology is a little weak, but if this is your type of thing, pick up a book on the island. Hawaiian mythology is fun to read up on.

More about Hanauma Bay
http://www.honolulu.gov/parks/facility/hanaumabay/
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hanauma_Bay
http://www.friendsofhanaumabay.org/

Bring your Aloha spirit. Mahalo (thank you) for reading this post.

In the spirit of creating a conversation, we’d like to hear about your favorite ecotourism travel destinations.

We’d like to hear about ecotourism vacations you have already take and those that are on your list to take. We’d also like to know what aspects of ecotourism vacations appeal most to you. It is about the destination itself, the activities, bringing the kids on your ecotourism vacation or other.

Do you have a list of your favorite top 10 ecotourism vacation destinations? We’d like to know.

If you have feedback, please submit a comment located in the top right of this post. We’d love to hear what you have to say about this topic.

Keep the Rehoboth Beach ocean clean and farmers farming in Delaware.

Please act on this if you live in Delaware (DE), Maryland (MD), District of Columbia (DC), Virginia (VA), New Jersey (NJ) and Pennsylvania (PA).

Start cleaning the ocean up here: http://action.surfrider.org/p/dia/action/public/?action_KEY=511.