Dance class. Gym class. Soccer practice. Swim meet. Music lessons. Play dates. How many activities is your child involved in on a weekly basis? When you remember your growing-up days, do you think blissfully of the unstructured summer days of freedom or the regular round of weekly activities?

Activities aren't bad for kids by any means. But, with so many options, it's tough to say no and leave some unfettered, unstructured, free time for our children so they can learn how to be active and creative without instruction from a teacher, coach or parent. Try rethinking the activities your child is involved in and encouraging some active, free play time instead.

In the future, according to the 1973 Charlton Heston sci-fi film, Soylent Green, we'll all be eating recycled people. Although that's an unlikely scenario (in most parts of the world, anyway), our capability of farming animals for food as we do currently en masse is not suited to sustain the anticipated population explosion. Nor has factory farming ever really been an ecologically responsible method for producing food. And while the vegan diet may in fact be a natural choice for many, there already are—and will soon be a whole lot more people regularly eating insects.

All right, let's be honest, food is pretty gross before Alice Waters or Mario Batali zhuzhes it up. We eat bugs in our lettuce all the time. There's dirt and grime on most of our fruits and veggies, and unless you've been living in a cave somewhere, you know by now that conventional factory-farmed animal flesh and dairy products are dizzz-gusting! But did you know there are hosts of other innocuously named ingredients that are pretty darn nasty?

This is a guest post by handmade expert, Brittni Mehlhoff.

Re-using discarded materials is an easy way to give back to the environment. But sometimes it can be difficult to come up with ways to re-use old products. So, here are five do-it-yourself ways to reuse a wooden pallet for practical storage and furniture for your home.

Nothing is better than a cold beer at the end of a long day. But have you ever thought of soaking in it? Some Europeans already are.

Sure, we probably have other things we could be doing than Tweeting, but still, who doesn't love to Twitter? If you're following us @organicauthorit there already, you see all of our daily articles posted and some other fun stuff we've shared. But are you following these other 12 "Organic Authorities?" We hope so!

Finding vegan whipped cream is a total drag. You’ve got to either bust out a million ingredients to try and make it yourself, or you’ve got that funky over-processed “fake” product from the health food store. But here’s some rocking news for vegans needing a little quality whipping cream in their lives: You can make a totally dairy-free version with just two ingredients. And it’s one of the tastiest you’ll ever encounter. Here’s all you need to make vegan whipped cream that'll have even a dairy-aholic swooning.

Valentine's Day came and went, and cozying up with your boo by the Christmas fire is a long-faded memory. Still, you really don't need a reason for making whoopee. Calling in sick and staying home in bed with your sweetie may in fact keep you from getting sick, and there's a whole bunch more reasons to do it too.

Psychedelic experience inducing plants have been ingested by humans since the dawn of man—and some experts suggest our exposure to them is directly responsible for our cognitive development that make us so different from the rest of life on earth.  Cultures have and continue to embrace the remarkable healing benefits and deeply personal awakenings offered through psychedelic journey medicines such as ayahuasca, ibogaine and psilocybin mushrooms. And research has made some startling discoveries recently in using the modern street drug, MDMA (methylenedioxymethamphetamine), commonly known as Ecstasy, in effectively treating Posttraumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD).

COFFEE-MATE was introduced in 1961 as the first “non-dairy creamer” on the market, and today it remains the most popular such product in the world. Manufactured by Nestlé out of Glendale, California, COFFEE-MATE comes in over 25 flavors including gingerbread, Parisian almond crème and peppermint mocha.

But what the hell IS COFFEE-MATE? Mostly, it’s sugar and partially hydrogenated vegetable oil (which contains trans fats). So why does the label say, “trans fat free?”

Eczema - besides being incredibly uncomfortable - is even more unsightly. You know it when you see it; itching rashes, which can be red, scaly, dry or leathery, or even skin blisters with oozing and crusting - yes, we went there. Eczema is a serious and quite common skin disorder, with 15 million Americans suffering from atopic dermatitis (AD), the most common type of eczema. And what's worse; conventional methods of dealing with it can cause more harm than good, suppressing the skin's natural reactions without getting anywhere near the root of the problem. 

Which came first; the vegetarian or the genius? We are all smart enough to know that it’s better for the planet to go all veg head, but did you know that some of the world’s greatest geniuses were herbivores? Yep, even before it was cool to not eat “anything with a face,” these pioneers of smart were burning the midnight oil with snacks of fruits and veggies. Can’t you just image Einstein proving the theory of relativity while chomping on some carrots?

There's Chocolate and then there's Jacques Torres. The chocolate maker and former pastry chef of Le Cirque has just announced the launch of, yes, an iPhone app, aptly named MrChocolate. No, it's not edible (yet), but it will help you make chocolates just like the Master himself.

The Organic Pet Boutique was founded by pet owners who, after hearing the slew of alerts and recalls from pet food companies, became concerned about the chemicals their dogs were ingesting. They were eating organic, so why couldn’t their two Shih Tzu rescues Caesar and Milo do the same? When they didn’t find a website or store specializing in organic products for dogs, they decided to start their own! Most recently, they launched their own line of organic dog treats and toys.

My dogs want to eat everything that isn’t nailed down, as well as some things that are. This tendency can be frustrating; why do they always go after my shoes and not my husband’s? It can also be amusing, like the time my mother thought the toy she bought them would last more than a day. They seemed to take that as a direct challenge. But ultimately, your dog’s chewing tendencies can be dangerous. Every time he puts something in his mouth he’s exposed to chemicals, many of which may be toxic.

Though used interchangeably, herbs and spices are two very different things—and they should be used in different ways in the kitchen. Do you know the difference? Buff up on your foodie know-how so you can better utilize that parsley and sage you’ve been growing on your apartment windowsill all season.