Indeed.  His name was Frankie.  Frankie the fish.  It was his first fish, his first pet since he left home.  Here is the story:

Frankie was a fighter fish (aka: Beta fish) and he was so cool... you could go up to the bowl and do a little jig, and he would do a jig with you - bopping back and forth and kind of smiling I think.

I was taking care of him while the ex was away on business one winter.  And his apartment building was awful... it wouldn't let you regulate the heat, and it was always too hot so everyone kept the windows open.  Well, I had to go on my own business trip, and so gave Frankie an extra helping of fish food to hold him over for two days until the ex got back.

Just my luck:  the apartment building's heat broke during a record cold snap... and well, Frankie become a fish popsicle.

It scarred me; I don't do fish anymore (although they are good for calming the nerves, so I just have them on my screensaver).  But if I did I would definitely NOT get a clown fish as snorkeling and scuba diving are two of my favorite things in the world, and the places to do that are disappearing so fast.  So sad.  Almost as sad as me killing Frankie.

Off to visit Frankie the dancing fish's grave... kidding, we flushed him. - Jen

During the first month-long detox I ever did (I give up caffeine, chocolate, alcohol, red meat, wheat, dairy and shellfish… I don’t recommend anyone spend time with me while on detox.  I’m not a happy camper), I discovered that I LOVE exfoliating.

The detox plan I was following required that I “skin brush” with a hard sisal brush, morning and night.  And while it hurt at first, I quickly adjusted to it, and became addicted.  Post-detox, I still use that brush and do SOME form of exfoliation every day.

And why shouldn’t we?  We clean out our insides with water and good foods, and our cardio systems with exercise, and our minds with relaxation… the skin is the largest organ on the body, and we slather it with creams, but seldom focus on it as an instrument of health.

So come on – give the skin a good scratching, why don’t you?

-Heather... off to cry over the fact that I used up my Blooming Lotus scrub...

Cooking?  One of my strong suits.  Baking?  Even better.

Grilling?  Um, well... not so much.

For some reason, grilling seems a distinctly male endeavor to me, and because of this, I've never really bothered to master it. 

Thus, carcinogenically, (and given that I have 2 different kinds of grills), I have had many an overcharred grill experience over the years.  For best results, take it from me - it doesn't taste better if you scrape off the black flakes...

-Heather... off to plan for a 4th of July rooftop fireworks-watching BBQ...

Does anyone remember that popcorn that came in red, blue, yellow and green?  The seeds were dyed and then the popcorn popped up all colorful.  And what about Magic Sand?  That stuff was equally weird.  Where did these products go?  Probably the way of the dodo bird since they were probably horrible for you. I mean, the Chia Pet is still around... that is because the Chia is good stuff.

Anyway, color grown cotton isn't that weird. Just as a rose can grow in different colors, so can cotton. But it actually doesn't come in tons of colors, just variations of tan / moss green, which darkens with washing.

Off to look for more Chia varieties for my collection - I have the Chia donkey, turtle and tree.... Jen

OK, maybe you - like me - suffer occasionally from the summer doldrums (people think I'm nuts, but honestly, while spring and fall rock my world, summer can make me consider bridge jumps).

Fortunately, however, I have come up with a cure for what ails me.  This summer, every day, I am going to try to do one thing that makes me feel like I'm making a little change for myself and the world (sounds suspiciously like the mission of this company, doesn't it?)

Seriously, though - it's bizarre.  What shopping therapy does for some, "green therapy" does for me. I can't explain to you how great I feel when I fill up my SIGG bottle or put in a faucet filter instead of buying a bottle of water.  I love saying "Oh no, I don't need a bag" at the drugstore.  I get completely weird satisfaction from putting my used ink cartridges in the mail and sending them back to the manufacturers.   I feel all warm and fuzzy when I look around my bathroom and realize that - with a few exceptions - I have a nearly paraben-free beauty habit. 

But I gotta say - changing those CFL bulbs takes the cake.

Try it. CHANGE at least ONE of your lightbulbs to a CFL version.  (Then go to Environmental Defense and let them know you did it - they are keeping track). It's amazing how good it makes you feel.  You unscrew the one, screw in the CFL version, turn it on (waiting that caught-breath half-a-beat waiting time that it takes the CFL to light up), and... drum roll...

Viola!  Instant feel-good.

They might be more expensive than regular lightbulbs - but think of it this way: even putting aside the fact that they pay for themselves in energy savings:

They are a LOT cheaper than therapy.

-Heather... off to thin the blossoms off my heirloom tomatoes...

I'm writing this post from the back of a Jersey cab on my way home from the Newark Airport.  I'm never quite sure why it is that NJ cabs reek of gas and list to one side and have one window that won't roll up all the way, but it's a strange fact of life, and after traveling for the last 12 hours and standing in a queue for nearly 45 minutes, cursing under my breath, I'm just glad to be headed to Brooklyn.  Finally.

Not that the Garden State is without its charms.  I fell completely in love on the plane ride from Salt Lake to Newark.  Sigh.  The guy looked a little too much like my last major love-crush-who-broke-my-heart, but I figured that I could overlook that, given that he had PERFECT curls and was like 6'6" tall, no lie.  (As an aside, am now driving past a part of NJ that smells suspiciously like Dead Body.  Sopranos thoughts flit).

Anyway – back to being in love… I crushed on him at the airport before the flight.  He crushed on me.  Lots of staring and pretending to check voicemails.  Crushed on each other on the plane.  Many bathroom visits and leg stretches.  Crushed in baggage claim and stole glances in the taxi queue.  Sigh.  Of course neither one of us had the guts to suck up our pride and just go say "hi," instead opting for a completely worthless posturing to no end.  33 years old and still an idiot when it comes to 8th grade flirtation.  Oh well.

Meanwhile (and tying this all together) – shout goes out to Johanna who submitted today's tip… she lives in Jersey, and according to her, everyone in suburban Jersey is buying rain barrels and using the cache to water their lawns.

Happily, it appears the Garden State really is green.

(And here you thought I couldn't somehow bring my anonymous crush and dead body ramblings back to the tip…)

-Heather… off to wind my way through the Holland Tunnel…

Before I moved in town, I used to "commute" to Bozeman along the Madison River, and pass through one of Ted Turner's bison ranches. They looked so amazing up there on that hill... so big and powerful and really PART of this land and our history.

So if you think about evolution or intelligent design or whatever you want to call it when the earth and its creatures change and develop synergistically... bison were here first, cows were not.  Hence, our land is better suited to raise bison.  And as it turns out, it is not only better for the land, but better for you. 

Cricket goes bananas for her Pet Promise bison jerky treats... I even tried one. Shhh.
Off to run with the Crick and hum "where the deer and the antelope play...." - Jen

So I love to get gifts as much as the next person, but half of the fun (or more than that) is the whole ceremony of unwrapping them.  And that is just doubled when the wrapping has meaning or can be re-used.  When I "discovered" those wine covers I thought it was brilliant because they make it look so pretty and much better than handing over some anonymous wine bottle at a dinner party... then folks like Lucky Crow began making all sorts of bags with organic fabrics... score. Love it when a good idea comes to life.

I personally use bags from Lucky Crow or paper bags turned inside out as wrapping paper, with raffia (which Heather hates but she also is convinced that bra straps were made pretty to be shown).

Too bad you can't wrap a massage up in pretty packaging... that would be the IDEAL gift.

Off to see if I can find a bra with some pretty bra straps for a gift for Heather.. Jen

Another way to save on energy by utilizing stairs?   Walk/run ‘em instead of using the machines at the gym (check out our previous tip on Putting the "Out" Back in your Workout).

My personal favorite set of stairs to run?  The wooden ones in Santa Monica – I believe they are at the end of 4th Street.  Smells like jasmine and eucalyptus heaven over there, and trust me: if you can do them up and down 10 times, you are a better person than I am.

But I’ll be able to walk better than you tomorrow.

-Heather… off to do a job hunt for a tech guru for the Bite (Bozeman-based)…

I have this friend Meg, and everytime I saw her (about once every other month) she would say, "Jen, tend to your toes." 

Yes, I would just get cranking with my day-to-day life and forget to even so much as clip my toe nails! Now I keep a toe nail clipper, a tweazer, and dental floss, (thanks to Dr. Pete!) in about every room of my small house so I do these little maintenance things when I am on the phone.

And every blue, blue moon I set aside a lazy Sunday to spoil myself with olive oil in my hair, lemon rub for my feet, and lots of movies and chocalate.

Ay yes, sometimes it is good to stop and clean your toes.  What are your favorite at home spa treats?

Off to plan my next home spa Sunday... yum - Jen

Mostly, I think that faux versions never quite measure up.  Nothing beats real sugar, Tofurkey is not as good as the real thing, and don’t even get me started on butter substitutes.  (Clearly, I am not a vegan, people).

But I gotta say: sunless tanners have made me a believer in the power of the fake.

Give it a shot.  In spite of the strange way your skin smells for a day after using it, the new generation of all natural fake tans are indistinguishable from the real thing – sans burns, wrinkles and cancer scares…

-Heather… off to seek some sunshine here in rainy Bozeman…

I think that the shampoo companies are pulling a fast one by instructing us to “wash, rinse, and repeat.”  So one day being my slightly anarchist self, I decided to wash my hair even less.  That meant only every other day.  And then as time went on, I realized that it could be with every 3 days.  And that worked well for me as I always seem to be short on time and my hair is dry by nature, so not washing out the essential oils was helpful.

But then when living in Spain for a semester in undergrad I only had a bathtub (without a shower head) and so it took even more motivation to wash my hair.  I used to wear the “slicked back pony tail” look to style / hide my greasy locks.  The studying abroad students called it "the super healthy look" as we all didn't really like having to wash our hair in the sink or under the bathtub faucet, and many of us were left to that.  But overdid it... let's just say I made it to day 10 a few times.  And my head started to itch.  Gross.

One of my best friends (yes a TFA and BBF) always says, “a weakness is a strength taken to an extreme.” Think about it.  So true.

What that means is, don’t wash your hair everyday but do wash it when approaching that super “healthy” look. In other words, strengthen your environmental resolve and your hair condition by skipping a wash here and there, but don’t weaken your image by sporting the grease-ball look.

Since it is day 3 (or is it 4?), I’m off to wash my hair with my fave: Green Max Alchemy. - Jen

I just got back from dinner out with my friend, Aurore (who is not only the amazing artist who did our Ideal Bite drawings and logo, but is also the mother of my favorite little 4 year-old man, Milo).  Aurore and I like to do epic dinners over escarole salad and orrichette, talking about everything under the sun.

Aurore is my friend who believes I look my best when I have almost no makeup on.  Invariably, she will always remark that I look really great on those nights when I have come out of yoga, am running late, and barely have time to throw lipgloss on, let alone mascara (although as we all know, I DO love my makeup).

Generally, I tend to think that people fall into one camp or the other: you either love cosmetics, or you don't.

This might seem like a dumb question to throw to a group of light green readers, but what do you all think?  If you are a woman - do you think you look better with or without makeup?  If you are in love with a woman - do you think she looks her best made up or completely natural?

As for me - the jury's still out on that one, but Aurore is still trying her case, convincing me that less is more.

-Heather... off to chuckle over the fact that Milo kissed his first girl today...

Today's tip featured a partner in the sponsorship area, on the right - that adorable bunny.  It is from the group - Animal Protection Institute. 

You know, I am (almost) fine with testing possible cures for cancer and AIDS on chimpanzees, but testing cosmetics on bunnies?  Seems unnecessarily cruel. Sure maybe if we squeezed that whole can of mouse in our eyes we would suffer temporary blindness or if we guzzled the whole bottle of shampoo we would poop bubbles and have some other more serious health ramifications, but I say, "so be it if you are that dumb."

And as our most avid Biters know, I am a huge, HUGE animal person.. and the thought of these innocent creatures being tortured so that they can avoid lawsuits / issue their CYA disclaimers is BEYOND the realm of my comprehension. It reminds me that we have so far to go in our evolution. (Biters, if you can better explain the need for animal testing on cosmetics and the likes, do chime in!)

I have to a give a shout out to Hamadi (our stylist for the Vanity Fair shoot) who developed his own sumptuous eco lux beauty products (featured in upcoming tips this week, our Beauty Week).  On his label writes "Tested on Actresses, Not Animals."  Oh how I heart him and his lovely curly black ringlets.

Off to tell the Crick how lucky she is not to have mascara jammed in her eye for stupidity's sake. - Jen

As some of you know, although I live in MT, and prior to MT was in NY (where I met the lovely Mizz Stephenson), I am really a southern belle (ha) that hails from Atlanta.

When I lived there in my rockstar days after college, my BBF (Susan Storey, now Hildreth, thanks to me dating her husband's brother; yes I took one for the team) and I lived near midtown - where there happened to be a higher gay population.  Well one night this crazy MF went around setting all the cute pink houses on fire.. guess he wasn't comfy with his own sexuality and was acting out.  Just so happened that a friend of ours, David Drexler, lived in a pink house.  And it just so happened that his very annoying girlfriend from Boca Raton had just moved in. 

I will never forget David telling us the story... as he awoke to the panicked call of his friend telling him to get out quick, David grabbed his cat and a photo album and made for the dark hallway, only to trip and fall flat on his face.  He and annoying girlfriend made it outside after much confusion, and he asked what all that sh*t was in the hallway ....   HER GUCCI and PRADA bags!  All 10 of them, lined up ready to be freaking rescued. 

I am grateful of two things:  1) David's house wasn't blown up, and 2) He immediately broke up with her after that incident.

And me?  Well, I do get a touch of bag envy when I see someones bag matching their shoes and all that, but then I am like, "I would rather have a horse than a bag collection."

You?

Off to ride... literally - Jen

OK, before you start hollering that we shouldn’t be promoting cigarettes in a green-living email, I want to throw a little reminder out there:  We never said that we were going to be “eco-living tips for perfect people.”

No, neither Jen nor I smokes.  But we both do a lot of other things that might kill us or affect the people around us, and, well, that isn’t going to change completely anytime soon (well, ever, really).  And in the end, we both just hope that we can adopt more sustainable versions of our vices so that – inch by inch – we better ourselves and the world.

We call this incremental environmentalism… the way that a single small change leads to another one, and then another, until – en masse – we see this snowball effect to a more healthy lifestyle for us and the planet.

So to all the people I know and love who smoke – sure, I’d rather you quit.  But if you’re not quite there yet, I’d love it if you’d adopt some of the recommendations in today’s tip.

In the meantime, as promised, here are some additional great Cocktail Facts for today’s tip:

• Doctor who? A 1953 print ad for L&M Cigarettes claimed they were “just what the doctor ordered.”
• 130 million butts are tossed onto the highways of one state, Texas, every year.
• A UK study that ran from 1954-2001 provides evidence that smokers who quit before 30 can live almost as long a life as nonsmokers.
• Columbus named the Caribbean island of Tobago after the tobacco pipe.
• Greece lays claim to the world’s highest percentage of smokers—about 80% of Greek adults light up every day.
• The original actor who portrayed the “Marlboro Man,” Wayne McLaren, died from lung cancer in 1992.

-Heather… off to reminisce about my post-collegiate days of smoking clove cigarettes when drunk…

So sometimes Jen comes up with tip ideas that make me roll my eyes, assuming that there is just something I don’t “get” that other light greenies out there do (who’dda thunk “Pet Portraits” would be such a popular thing???). 

Sometimes we get submitatips that seem equally unlikely to make a great tip, but somehow go over amazingly well (I'll never forget the infamous “Shower Bucket” tip).

And every so often, I am on the other side of that equation – finding tip ideas that make other people roll their eyes (the “Get Gum with Less Packaging” tip is a prime example).

Today’s tip fits in that category – a tip I think RULES that makes the rest of the staff look at me with concerned gazes, wondering if I had a little too much wine the night before.

For me, though, today’s tip is one I love – one of those things you will never think about until you are standing in line to order that ice cream, and then you get a "double scoop" – a great ice cream treat and the feeling that you just made a choice that was better for the world (although not for your thighs).

The other great thing about cones?  If it’s good and hot outside (I recommend gelato in Florence, if you want to test this), and the ice cream starts dripping down your arm, it’s a fun parlor trick to see if you can lick your own elbow.

-Heather... off to dream of coconut gelato in a sugar cone...

We encounter a lot of great green products here at the Bite, so we generally try to leave our product-plugging for the Wanna Trys in the daily tips.  But lately, I’ve found some products I love so much I can’t help but shout about them (I’m sort of that way when I fall for someone, too – this could explain a LOT about my strange dating life). 

I digress… my favorite find of the summer, bar none?  My Toe Foo flip flops from Simple Shoes.  I love these things.  I wear them almost every day.  If you run into me in Brooklyn, I can almost guarantee you’ll see the light green, cozy-comfy, pieces of walking heaven on my feet.

Check ‘em out at http://www.simpleshoes.com/ProductDetails.aspx?productID=9129&model=Toe+Foo. 

They ain’t cheap, but they’ll last...

-Heather... off to contemplate the fact that my feet have gotten bigger due to age and yoga...

A few years back, I took a class on Feng Shui gardening.  Now, compared with some of my other landscaping classes (The Principles of Micro and Drip Irrigation, Drafting…), this class was a bit of a slow-lobbed softball.

But it WAS fascinating, nonetheless.  There were a lot of principles that SHOULD be incorporated in the garden and I probably should write about them, but since I even find it hard to figure out how to make sure I have a tiger crouching in the western part of my roof deck, let’s stick with the easy ones (and let’s face it – I can’t remember if he’s supposed to be East or West…)

There are 5 elements in Feng Shui – water, wood, fire, earth and metal.  Each of these elements should be equally represented in your garden.  Some ideas for how to do that?

• Water: Bird bath, fountain
• Wood: Arbor, bench, planting boxes
• Fire: Lights, grill
• Earth: Soil, clay pots, stones
• Metal: Arbor, seating, wind chimes

So, I don’t have a water feature (although bizarrely, I DO have an outdoor shower for some unknown and unused reason), but I got a grill, lights, stones and clay, wooden furniture and wind chimes, so I’m on the path to improving my “chi.”

Are you?

-Heather... off to call my landlord to FREAK about the cat-sized cockroach that camped in my bathroom last night...

Why is it so difficult to buy gifts for Dads?

I took a little informal survey amongst my friends, asking if it was easier to buy for Moms or Dads, and – no great surprise here - got the following replies:

“Dude.  Moms are just easier – mainly because you can just send flowers.”

“It’s harder to figure out what dads even LIKE for some reason.”

“Oh Sh-*!  It’s Father’s Day soon???!”

I’ve always been at a loss to know what to buy for my dad.  In part, I’m sure it’s because he’s relatively easily pleased.  He’d be as happy with a set of golf balls as he would with a trip to a beach or a homemade painting.  In a weird way – with everything as an option - gift-giving gets complicated. 

So – since my dad reads this blog (and clearly, I can’t tell you all what I am getting him) – why don’t you share your own great green gift ideas for father’s day?  (Or just give my dad a shout-out for being our #1 Biter Dad, since he works for us for free…)

-Heather... off to put my air conditioner in my bedroom window… ugh, summer has arrived…