Blog

Learn why the unique way in which bees make honey gives it special healing and preserving qualities.

Just days ago, President Obama unveiled the American Jobs Act. Here at Insteading, we’ve got a much cheaper plan: skip the big chain grocery store and shop at a farmers’ market instead.

While keeping your backyard free from pests might make your lawn appear more healthy, it can cause the body to become very sick. So what’s the alternative?

See how easy it is to transform used or broken chairs into unique pieces of furniture.

Recycling waste paper is good, but reusing it can be fun and adds a little time onto the life-cycle of the paper. Here are some of our favorite ways to upcycle junk mail!

Insteading’s Michele Decouteau shares lessons her family learned from riding out Hurricane Irene on their New England homestead.

National Geographic shared a shocking infographic highlighting the loss of biodiversity in our food supply. Check it.

If you wash your car at home once a month, it can use up to 6,000 gallons of water a year. Here are 4 ways to keep your ride clean without the waste.

Exploring is fun, but it’s better when you do it with people that know a place intimately and can share their personal knowledge of what makes it awesome.

Although Americans have access to some of the cleanest, most prolific water supplies, we waste more than anyone in the world. Let’s change that today!

RelayRides only launches in regions that are home to an adequate number of members, ensuring that the service is viable and that owners successfully connect with borrowers. The new investments will cover RelayRides’ expansion throughout San Francisco and Boston proper.

An artist from Vancouver challenged herself to just such a task, and discovered that sustainable clothing about more than just what you wear.

Summer is winding down, but that doesn’t mean you have to say goodbye to all the deliciousness of organic, locally grown food. Here are four options that make it easy to continue growing food inside the comfort of your own home.

Although recycling is the most popular of the three R’s, reduce is definitely the most important and reuse is the most overlooked. Here are some surprising ways you can transform a simple egg carton.

Commerical car sharing services, like Zipcar or Phillycarshare, are perfect solutions for those living in urban areas, but what about those of us living in the suburbs or even rural areas?

Love wine but hate the environmental impact associated with the heavy glass bottle? Here are some eco-friendly alternatives!

Here are three ways that you can use that unwanted clothing to save money, meet a need, or make a difference in your community!

If you don’t have your own yard space, but still want to grow your own food, yard-sharing is the solution offered by the collaborative consumption movement.

Janelle Orsi shares four ways people are taking sharing to new levels, ranging from relatively simple applications of sharing to community-wide sharing initiatives — and beyond.

A Michigan woman has been fined and threatened with jail time for planting a vegetable garden in her yard. This post includes ways you can support her cause.

Why urban density creates the perfect environment for collaborative consumption, and 4 reasons why that’s where you want to be.

An open-source project brings high-speed internet and an amazing sense of community and self-sufficiency to a village in Afghanistan. But the implications of uninhibited access could rock the developed world as well.

A thriving compost pile can provide plenty of nutrient rich soil for a healthy garden and you can compost anywhere. Building a beautiful compost pile is as much art as science. Rich compost can help any garden, even a container garden, thrive and produce and abundance of healthy food. Compost can provide all the nutrients and […]

Rain barrels are a great way to deal with drought, but can also be a solution for a garden without traditional access.

A babysitting co-op can help to ease the financial burdens of a babysitter by allowing parents to barter for services they need.

Water rationing is common in the more arid regions of the United States during summer months, which can make it difficult to maintain a healthy garden and lawn. Recycle water safely with these practical tips.

Donating is great, but making money is better! These tips will help you attract customers, get rid of excess stuff, and best of all, make some extra money.

These eco-friendly redecorating tip for your living room will save you money and help the environment all at the same time. EPA reported in 2009 that 9.9 million tons of furniture were thrown in the landfills compared to only 2.2 million tons in 1960, that is an increase of 450%! If you compared the increase […]

Sprouted seeds contain vitamins and calories while bringing a garden to any space. You don’t need special tools or seeds to have a sprout garden either.

How can a community deal with food deserts, or urban areas without ready access to a variety of healthy, fresh foods?

While not for the faint of heart, a small PYO operation can be a good source of income and potential customers for any farm.

Geocaching is a growing outdoor hobby where the coordinates of certain locations or hidden “treasure” caches are made available. To find treasure, seekers are armed with handheld GPS devices, a pen and trinkets.

Bartering can be a great way to get something you need and build up a community at the same time. For bartering to be successful, keep these simple guidelines in mind.

A truly green home should use materials that are benign, from the factory to the 30th year of habitation. Impossible you say? Planetary ONE begs to differ.

Google and the Pacific Institute are teaming up to create a smartphone application that would allow users to share locations of public water fountains in an effort to combat bottled water consumption.

A collection of online resources that will help you tap into the experience of the global coworking movement, and build a vibrant space in your community.

In the past, farming and gardening was a community-wide effort, so why not now?

Rain gardens attract birds and butterflies (and bees), while protecting local streams and ponds.  These gardens are planted with flowers, shrubs and grasses that are easy to maintain and thrive without fertilizers and pesticides. Where to place a rain garden, how to select plants and how to keep the garden flourishing as a beautiful accent for your home […]

Collaborative consumption is disrupting outdated modes of business and reinventing not just what we consume but how we consume. If you’re ready to explore these sharing alternatives, here are five easy ways to get your feet wet.

Things are happening in the corporate world. Things that scare people with titles like CEO and Human Resource Manager. Things that lead analysts and experts to say that the way people work is changing.

About five years ago commercial beekeepers across the US began reporting bee losses in record numbers – about 30% each year. This level of loss is unsustainable and many beekeepers are going out of business. Aside from the economic issues, the record number of bees dying should be alarming everyone who eats. About one in […]

The Freecycle movement, started in Tucson, has spread world-wide keeping thousands of items out of landfills and trash piles. Freecycle has taken the phrase, “One man’s trash is another man’s treasure” to heart by providing a forum for people with everything including the kitchen sink that they don’t need any more to find people who […]