We beat ourselves up all the time. “Oh, I forgot to bring my bag to the store today. I’m an idiot!” or “If I had managed my time better, I wouldn’t have had to take a cab/my car to this place; I could’ve walked or ridden my bike and now I’m killing the planet. Waaaah!”

It takes time for new habits to form, so be patient. In time, these things will become second nature. If you’ve read about Rory Freedman and Emily Deschanel’s Dream Earth Day, and GirlieGirl Army’s list of Greenest Living Tips; you are half way there!

Did you know that you help the environment today by incorporating more vegan habits into your life? Simply by chowing down on a Peanut Butter and Jelly Sandwich for lunch today you can greatly reduce your footprint on Mammazon Earth! According to the PB&J Campaign, a PB&J will keep global warming at bay! Here’s some info to show you just how much green cred you’ll earn this year by reducing or eliminating consumption of animal products.

Every time you made a vegan choice, even if it wasn’t the most convenient thing or what you really wanted at that particular moment, you helped the planet in these ways:

• You’re saving mad amounts of land. According to a United Nations Food & Agriculture Organization report, almost a third of the land on earth is used for grazing and animal feed. By taking out the middle man (farm animals), you preserve natural habitat.
• You’re saving the rainforest. 80% of deforested areas of Brazil are now used for cattle ranching.
• You’re saving more plants by eating more plants. Farm animals eat tons more plants than you do. You have to give a steer 8 kg of grain for him to gain 1 kg of flesh. By taking out the middle man and eating your own plants, you save more plants.
• You’re saving tons of water. All that thirsty feedgrain is depleting our freshwater resources, and even organic dairy cows drink 25-50 gallons a day, according to the Horizon Organic website.
• You’re keeping water clean and safe to drink. Hogs in North Carolina produce more fecal waste than people do in North Carolina each day. The poo gets sprayed onto fields and runs off into rivers and streams, killing fish and contaminating groundwater.
• You’re preserving the biodiversity of the ocean. A third of the ocean’s species are in collapse. Projections indicate that by 2048, all species will be in collapse. Ocean fish are fed to farmed fish. By withdrawing support of the fishing industry, you are saving the ocean.
• You’re cooling the planet. Farm animals contribute more to climate change worldwide than the entire transportation sector. Switching to a vegan diet for a year saves more greenhouse gas emissions than switching from a normal car to a hybrid.

The Earth ADORES a PB&J!

Nosh on a delicious falafel/ burrito/ pasta for your dinner tonight, and know you are saving the planet from gloom and doom one tasty bite at a time!

Marisa Miller Wolfson is the Outreach Director for Kind Green Planet, a nonprofit dedicated to teaching people about healthy, humane, eco-friendly living. She’s currently in post-production for her documentary about veganism and is co-drafting a city council resolution to lower NYC’s global warming “foodprint.” She also loves coaching people on plant-based living through Vegan at Heart, a free email mentoring program for treehuggers, animal lovers, and health nuts who consider themselves vegans at heart but not necessarily in practice.

Join the GirlieGirl Army Crew By Dressing like a Sinner or a Saint to Benefit Dogs in Need this Friday Night in NYC!

The GirlieGirl Army will be out in full force this Friday Night for a Benefit in honor of Earth Angels Canine Rescue and it’s founder, Emelinda Narvarez at WHITE RABBIT in NYC Friday, April 24, 2009 from 7:00pm - 10:00pm. Please join us for a fun cocktail evening to benefit those without a voice.

Vicars and Tarts parties started in the UK as a costume party where women dressed as Priests (Vicars) and men dressed as Whores (Tarts). The line has since blurred and you are free to dress as a Priest/Nun/Whore, or a delicious mixture of the three! And luckily, “costumes are encouraged but not necessary to join in” so those who think dressing up is for dorks, can still ‘gine out with our crew in their civillian gear. There will also be (vegan)food, giveaways, drinks specials, and plenty of cuties to gawk at. The $40 door charge goes directly to aiding Emelinda and her group in helping homeless NYC animals.  Really, there are worse ways to spend your Friday night than getting your flirt on at a fun bar on the Lower East Side to benefit the pups…  wouldn’t you say?

White Rabbit: 145 East Houston Street - betw Forsyth and Eldridge New York, NY. Tel # 212-369-1352. Media/ Questions? Email Susan Cava: Susan@nylovesdogs.com for more info.                                          Earth Angels Canine Rescue Website: www.earthangelsnyc.org

Emily Deschanel (Bones) and Rory Freedman (Skinny Bitch) are BFF’s, and one of their common bonds is their love of animals and the earth (and of course GirlieGirl Army).  We asked them what their perfect friend date would be in celebration of Earth Day, and this is what they told us;

Rory Freedman

Rory Freedman: B-b-b-b-b-b-b-bones! Boner, you’d drive, since you have a Prius. Bring those 80’s CD’s I gave you so we could sing our little vegan hearts out. First stop: trapeze school on the Santa Monica pier! It’s one version of man-made fun that doesn’t leave any carbon footprint. You swing around in the air confronting your fear of heights and bodily harm. It’s an amazing workout where you get to be outside, enjoy the fresh air, see the ocean, feel young, and get manhandled by hot guys. When we’re done playing Circus of the Stars, we can go stuff our faces at Golden Mean Cafe, the new vegan spot in Santa Monica that’s all the buzz. The food is ridiculously good, there’s an upstairs mediation/reading room, the space is really Zen (the walls are infused with crushed quartz crystal, selenite, mica, gold, and incense), and the owner and head chef couldn’t be sweeter.

Emily Deschanel

Emily Deschanel: Ooh I can’t wait! I’ve been dying to do trapeze school, and I haven’t been to that restaurant yet!! You know we both love vegan food!!! I wonder what the crystals in the walls will do for us.. We’ll probably feel all centered and new-age-y. We can then take a stroll to work off our huge meal with a little retail therapy stop at Hidden Treasures Vintage clothing store in Topanga canyon. It’s located in what looks like a pirate’s house. When I was in high school, my friend Echo found a dress there and the tag said “free.” How many stores do you know that give away clothes?? Buying vintage will take less of an environmental toll. After that, we can drive down to the beach, slap on some Jurlique sun block, put on our sun hats, maybe put up a  huge umbrella(don’t want wrinkles or skin cancer) throw down our Nandina pool lounge towels made from bamboo and organic cotton (they dry quicker than regular towels, and are made of a renewable resources) and hang out reading magazines (of course we will donate them to a women’s shelter when we are done). Maybe participate in a beach clean up with Heal The Bay.

The BFF's co-present at a Farm Sanctuary Gala in 2008

Rory: Oh, soooo fun! Although I’m not gonna lie: I’m gonna want to get a little sun. But just a little. As far as the magazines go, VegNews is a must. And of course wondering if we’ll have a copy of Health Magazine with that GORG cover you just did!!! I was at a nail salon in NYC when I first saw it and was so excited! Beautiful pics and great interview! Was so proud of my girl! Now, this is probably too ambitious but, if we have any energy left after trapeze, the feeding frenzy, shopping, and beaching, we can try surfing lessons from the sweet dames at Surf Like a Girl. We’ll play it by ear. We will, however, be planning in advance for our hydration needs. Obvs, we’ll be drinking the good stuff AND revering Mother Earth by drinking water from our resuable stainless steel water bottles. Enough is enough with plastic water bottle bullshit, already. Getting a resuable bottle is s uch a simple, easy, cheap way that everyone can make a big diff. BTW: While at the beach, we’ll have to call our other soul sister, Chloé, and continue to beg her to move to LA to be with us. Three Libras togeths…could you die?!

Emily: Thanks, Ror! I always love reading your column in VegNews. Best mag ever!! Always wanted to learn to surf. Let’s do it!! Of course we’ll have energy! When Chloé agrees to move over to the Left coast, we can pack up our matching Matt & Nat bags (I am not kidding, we have matching bags! A very generous gift from the bitch herself) and head back to my place for a vegan potluck with our fabulous friends . Some wine and Dr. Cow cheese. We can even dine in candlelight to save energy (very romantic). We love A Scent of Scandale. candles, Roll in the Hay scent!

Rory: Um, hullo?! Don’t forget…it’s a vegan potluck AND game night with our magical friends! Our friends just better hope we’re not on the same team…the Bitch and the Boner…unstoppable!

Emily: So true. So true.

What’s your dream Earth Day?  Lettuce know in comments below:

Since my High School production of “The Wizard of Oz” (naturally, I was Dorothy), I’m not necessarily the first in line for the hot musical du jour, especially when they usually consist of trilling operatic ballads that make you consider slitting your wrists during intermission, but the premise for “Next to Normal” sounded right up my cynical alley. Mom = Bipolar, bonkers, and bored in her marriage. Dad = emotionally shut off and a work-a-holic.  Daughter = overachieving wunderkind dating cute stoner.  Sound like your very own family?  Well, it’s a Broadway show that includes some of the best rock music and surprise twists and turns since Courtney Love pre- collagen induced trout pout.  Even the cynical haters at The New York Times are  kvelling over this production.  It’s simply brilliant, with more layers than Jen Aniston’s 90’s hair.  In one particularly hilarious moment, Diana (mentally unbound Mom played by the mind bogglingly gifted Alice Ripley) sings to her Psychopharmacologist cataloging the side effects of her drugs - nausea, drowsiness, sexual dysfunction, headaches, seizures - she finally says, “I don’t feel anything.” The doctor pronounces, “Patient stable.”   Fans of “Rent” and “Hedwig” should rejoice, for another snarky and smart as hell modern musical has made it’s way to the big time.   You may never look at your morning dose of Effexor (fill-in-the-antidepressant blank) the same way again. “NEXT TO NORMAL” is now open at the Booth Theatre in NYC. Get tickets for your next hot date stat.

Alice Ripley in "Next to Normal"

We search the world for the best of the best so you don’t have to.   You have more important things to do, like tweeze your stray hairs and color code your books.  Enjoy our editors picks for ‘Most Wanted of the Week!’

Next time your catchin’ a nip, why not toss in some wit. This set of glasses from the BUST Boobtique are imprinted with this ditty from Dorthy Parker: “I like to have a martini, Two at the very most, Three I’m under the table, Four I’m under my host!” Sounds familiar to the horny lightweights in our midst!  Mix up a batch of filthy martini’s, and invite us over for a rousing game of spin the kombucha bottle!

Dorothy Parker Martini Glass Set, $23 @ bustboobtique.com

And really, whoever says you can’t be a green queen and still buy jewelry must be huffing the paint cans! Simon Cardwell′s creations are all made in the USA, and produced from 100% recycled materials.   His latest collections features hand-carved creatures, all named for animals on the 2006 IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. This Andean mountain cat rocks Fair-Trade rubies, sapphires, or recycled diamonds, and is offered in 10K recycled gold.   It’s the perfect mixture of Grannie chic and classic elegance.

Cheeky Monkey Gold Mountain Cat Necklace by Simon Cardwell, $325.

We admit, it’s been hard to get rid of our bright mac eyeshadow pallets (full o’ chemicals), but we are finally ready after getting our grubby, make-up loving mitts on the mineral, totally natural, vegan, and vibrant shades from Beauty from the Earth.  These colors are gorgeous, and stayed on throughout a sweaty night of guzzling and swaying… so there.   Take a chance; buy a bunch of bright shades and experiment.  The more you put on, the more dramatic these brights are, but put on only a bit and you get a tiny hint of glam.   We recently rocked a bright yellow shadow, rimmed our inner lids black, and got compliments galore.  It pays to take a chance!

Multipurpose Minerals from Beautyfromtheearth.com, $5-6.50 each.

When you buy a bottle of Les Compagnons wine, you aren’t just tossing back any old Cabernet Sauvignon.  You are saving lives! When a duo of successful wine importers from France and California picked up (and subsequently fell in love with) an injured Chihuahua on the streets of Brooklyn,  it only seemed to emphasize all the other dogs they couldn’t save-numbers that seemed too overwhelming to comprehend. In New York City alone, Animal Care and Control estimates that approximately one thousand dogs are regularly sent to their shelter alone every month….and anywhere from 35% to nearly half of all these dogs were put to sleep in the last year. After getting a taste of the unconditional love from their rescued pet, they decided to take action, hence the birth of this wonderful company where a percentage of every bottle purchased goes directly to one of four nonprofits dedicated to improving the lives of animals and pet-lovers in need!  Oh, and the wine is vegan, organic, and absolutely delicious!

Les Compagnons Wine, see site to buy online or at your local wine shop.

Try and love or hate any of the above?  Lettuce know!