Five Stunning Eco-Resorts Around The World
If you’re looking for a vacation but you want to be conscious of your environmental impact, why not look into a trip to a luxury eco-resort? These new age destinations combine all of the amenities of a traditional resort hotel with environmentally sound construction and operation practices. Here are five of the most amazing.
Jean-Michel Cousteau Fiji Islands Resort
Set in a former coconut plantation, this Fiji destination has 25 bungalows made from local materials. The crystal-clear water of the Pacific is the big draw here, and an on-site marine biologist can teach you all about the vulnerable local ecosystem.
EcoCamp, Patagonia
Nestled in the heart of the Torres del Paine National Park in Chile, this is the first fully sustainable resort south of the Amazon. Accommodations come courtesy of a number of high-tech geodesic domes, and the resort offers tons of unforgettable outdoor experiences.
Shergarh Tented Camp
Located at the edge of the amazing Kaha Tiger Reserve in India, this resort not only brings you close to some of the rarest wildlife in the world, but also lets you experience the local artisanship of the natives. Each guest is given a luxurious tent nestled in a dense wooden grove for privacy.
Urnatur, Sweden
If you’re really looking to explore the concept of sustainability, a stay at pioneering self-sufficiency resort Urnatur will open your eyes. This place is all about foraging and doing it yourself, from gathering herbs from the forest floor to make your tea to eating locally-procured lake catfish and making nesting boxes for owls.
Hotel Eco Paraiso
Just miles from the Celestun Inlet, breeding ground of the largest pink flamingo colony on Earth, this Mexican resort on the Yucatan Peninsula encourages guests to unplug from the modern world and enjoy the amenities of nature.
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Truth Is Stranger Than Fiction: Four Surprising Documentaries
Some of the greatest documentaries are about subjects that no one would have thought would make for a compelling story. These films take seemingly mundane subjects and craft them into compulsively watchable entertainment:
Helvetica
The story of the world’s most popular font (you’ll recognize it as soon as you see it) encompasses design history, philosophy, sociology, and the psychology of typeface selection.
Hands on a Hardbody
This 1997 film follows a common car dealership promotion that took place in Longview, Texas: contestants must place their gloved hands on a shiny new truck and the last one to remove them wins the truck. What follows is a grueling, suspenseful, and strangely inspiring ordeal.
The Parking Lot Movie
Learn why a parking lot in Charlottesville, Virginia can be a special place, a place of learning, growth, and a rite of passage for its employees. Funny, insightful, and sometimes sad, this film uses its banal backdrop to say important things about life and growing up.
Please Vote for Me
A class of 8 year olds vote for a class monitor in the first election of its kind in China. The larger issue of the democratization of China and the nature of democracy runs through the story, as children and adults become involved in the election in both positive and negative ways.
Tips For Conquering Insomnia
Having trouble falling asleep? Our stressful lives and constant screen-time can wreak havoc on our bodies' natural rhythms. Fortunately, there are simple ways to counteract these stresses in order to get a full night's sleep. Here are some tips:
Exercise
One of the most effective ways of combatting sleeplessness is to tire yourself out. Increasing the amount of exercise you get each day can work wonders in helping you feel sleepy when it's time for bed.
Turn Off the Screen
The light from screens like televisions, computers, iPads, and smartphones can disrupt our bodies' natural cycles. Turn these gadgets off a few hours before bed in order to give your body time to prepare for dreamland.
Reduce or Eliminate Caffeine
Regardless of when in the day you consume caffeine, it can have an effect on your ability to sleep at night. Try to drink more decaf coffee or switch to decaffeinated sodas. Herbal teas are a great substitute that won't have you tossing and turning in bed all night.
Take a Warm Bath
The soothing heat of a warm bath will relax and calm your whole body down. Sitting in a bath before bedtime will get you ready for the comfort of your bed and help lull you to sleep.
Be Consistent
Your body will have an easier time going to sleep if you make yourself go to bed at the same time every evening. This consistency will give your body a chance to develop a regular pattern. With wild fluctuations in when you go to bed, it doesn't have a chance of knowing when it should and shouldn't be tired.
Sign Up For Neighbor Lighting
Save $100 a year off your energy bill!
A FREE SERVICE from
Neighbor to Neighbor Energy Challenge
You’re already spending $200 to $300 a year in energy bills for lighting, and we want to help you reduce that cost, save energy and help your community.
Sign up now for Neighbor to Neighbor Lighting.
Here’s what we do:
• We’ll install regular and specialty CFLs
• We’ll do all the work
• You’ll start saving about $100 every year
www.CTEnergyChallenge.com/lighting
Who’s eligible for Neighbor to Neighbor Lighting?
You are eligible if you live in a Neighbor to Neighbor Energy Challenge town and have not already had a Home Energy Solutions assessment. Sign up to be part of the Challenge at www.CTEnergyChallenge.com or call 860-372-4406.
Who’s installing the CFLs?
Our Clean Energy Corps have all been trained and are certified in efficiency lighting. They will do the installation for you and will work with you to identify the lighting fixtures in your home that make sense to switch to CFLs. You just have to sit back and watch the savings come in.
For more information go to www.CTEnergyChallenge.com/lighting.
Yes, I want to receive Free installed CFLs and Start Saving!
Name: _____________________________________________________
Address: __________________________________________________
Zip: ________________________ Phone: ________________________
Email: _____________________________________________________
Cut & mail to: Neighbor to Neighbor Energy Challenge • 860B Silas Dean Hwy, Wethersfield, CT 06109 • (860) 372-4406 • www.CTEnergyChallenge.com
Margaritas Mexican Restaurant: Simple Tex-Mex Fun
Margaritas’ cheese-heavy Tex-Mex fare is hardly an authentic experience; it can often resemble American comfort food with a spicy twist. But trust us, we’re not complaining. Cheap and yummy good times await you here. The colorful dining area buzzes with lunch hour workers, and the large bar draws a diverse Happy Hour crowd from 4 – 6 p.m. “Quick” lunches like the delicately-fried beef chimichanga are priced around $8, and the fresh, heaping tacos are excellent. Best of all, though, are the tangy, strong, enormous margaritas. Sip slowly, because at Happy Hour they’re only four bucks! Margaritas is open daily at 11:30 a.m., with dining until 10 p.m. on weekdays, and 11 p.m. Fridays and Saturdays, but the bar is open late—until 1 a.m. on weekdays, and 2 a.m. on Fridays and Saturdays. Call ahead seating is available.
Margaritas Mexican Restaurant
350 Roberts Street
East Hartford, CT 06108
(860) 289-7212
www.margs.com
Firebox Restaurant: Fine and Fresh Contemporary American Cuisine
“Farm to table” cooking is one of the hottest buzzwords going right now in the culinary world. Basically, it means keeping your menu consistent with what’s seasonally available in the area where you live—no shipping in ingredients from all over the world to fill out your menu. This has some negative connotations as wintertime menus can be a little constrained, but it also produces dishes that are bursting with freshness and flavor. Hartford’s Firebox Restaurant is one of the newest entries on the scene, but it’s carrying out its mission admirably. Executive Chef Sean Farrel is a master of contemporary American cuisine, dishing up great steaks, fresh seafood, awesome sides, and more. The décor is rustic and charming, and the restaurant hosts regular musical performances and special events in the back room. Some complain that waits for a table can be long, but that’s just more reason to make a reservation.
Firebox Restaurant
539 Broad Street
Hartford, CT 06106
(860) 246-1222
www.fireboxrestaurant.com
Introduction to Fermentation
The ancient art of fermentation has served humankind with myriad uses from intoxication to preservation over the centuries. Now, with the nutritional benefits of probiotics prompting a flood of fermented products, it’s the perfect time to learn how to make your own fermented foods and drinks at home.
Learn from the master
Wild Fermentation by Sandor Katz is considered the bible of home fermentation. This tome covers the science behind fermentation and contains dozens of recipes for everything from beer to sauerkraut to cheese.
Start simple
Sauerkraut and kimchi are great first fermentation projects. Requiring few special ingredients or equipment, the process is as simple as salting your ingredients, squishing out the water that the salt pulls from them, and letting them sit at a cool temperature for a few days. The result is delicious and full of beneficial live bacteria.
Save money on kombucha
Devotees of this sweet-sour concoction tout its health benefits and a bottle from a health food store can run you several dollars. But all you need to make your own is tea, sugar, and a kombucha mother – this mass of yeast and bacteria starts the fermentation process. Kombucha mothers can be ordered online or you can seek out local fermenters who have a mother to spare.
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Equal Housing Opportunity