2009 Monolith Dates Announced – Tell Your Friends! (Photo: The Kills)

We’re excited to announce that the 2009 MONOLITH FESTIVAL Presented by ESURANCE will be September 12th and 13th, 2009! Once again, the festival will be rocking the unrivaled RED ROCKS AMPHITHEATRE —Mark the date and tell your friends! In the meantime, we’re working hard around the clock to create an amazing 2009 festival, stay tuned…

Join our new Official Facebook Page right now to get the latest info…
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The MONOLITH Festival is coming back and it’s gonna be even bigger and better for 2009. Check back often and tell your friends!

FOR 3 DAYS ONLY, GET YOUR MONOLITH GEAR FOR 50% OFF!
Hoodies for ! T-Shirts for .50! and more?! We have just added a new stock of 2008 and 2007 merhandise and you have this one-time opportunity to snag cool OFFICIAL MONOLITH Festival gear including T-shirts, Posters and these must-have Monolith Hoodies, all for 50% off!

Buy before this Friday to get all your Official 2007 and 2008 Monolith Merch for 50% off!

ORDER NOW: First 50 Orders will receive a special edition Monolith Poster by Canadian artist Steven St-Pierre!
MONOLITH Festival Holiday Sale >>

We’ve just added tons of exciting new pictures from the 2008 Monolith Festival (maybe you’ll see yourself)!

Check out 2008 MONOLITH Pictures Now >>

Click above to view pics from the 2008 Monolith Festival, crowd shots and the kick-off party!

Did you get your picture taken? At the 2008 MONOLITH Festival, Esurance partnered with Polite In Public to offer free photos to the festival attendees at the Esurance Eco Rockstars booth. Follow this link to download and save your photos.

Browse and save your photos now >>

Thanks for making the 2008 Monolith Festival a huge success! Stay tuned as we will be posting tons of great pictures over the next few days. In the meantime, here’s some teasers (photos by John Moore) ...

More pictures coming soon.

UPDATE: SUNDAY, SEPTEMBER 14TH FESTIVAL TICKETS ARE STILL AVAILABLE DAY OF SHOW!

Monolith Festival has just released a large block of single day Sunday tickets. That’s right, Just show up today to Red Rocks and Get Your Monolith Festival tickets TODAY WITHOUT PAYING TICKETMASTER SERVICE CHARGES.

It’s the easiest way to experience the greatest event in Red Rocks history. Come rock today with JUSTICE, TV ON THE RADIO, BAND OF HORSES, CSS, THE AVETT BROTHERS, TOKYO POLICE CLUB, THE KILLS, SHARON JONES AND THE DAP KINGS AND MORE!

NOTE: The box office opens each day at 10am, But, we will be releasing tickets all day long until late into the night. Just use entrance #2 into Red Rocks park. See You there!

And, for a list of items permitted into Red Rocks, FAQs, etc:
VIEW RED ROCKS FAQs NOW >>

Cloud Cult

Tonight is the Monolith VIP Kick-Off Party (Friday, Sept 12) at the Bluebird Theater in Denver featuring environmentally friendly and #1 CMJ artist Cloud Cult, with The Dutchess and the Duke, Young Coyotes, with DJ sets by Figo and Tyler "Danger" Jacobson. Doors open at 8pm. The schedule for all the MonolithVIP Parties is online now.

Don’t have your VIP passes yet? No problem, you can still Buy VIP Passes online now until 5pm. If you miss the deadline you can still buy your VIP Badges tomorrow at the Red Rocks Box Office.

Buy MONOLITH VIP BADGES Now >>

by Heather Browne, I am Fuel, You Are Friends

Hailing from Minneapolis, Atmosphere is an indie hip-hop collective defined by rapper Sean Daley (aka Slug) and DJ/producer Anthony Davis (Ant). Slug’s rhymes tend towards the bleakly honest confessional with an enunciated style of lyric reminiscent of Hieroglyphics’ A-Plus or the West Coast’s famous Freestyle Fellowship. The 2008 record When Life Gives You Lemons, You Paint That Sh*t Gold (Rhymesayers) pushes boundaries of genre, with guest vocals from Tom Waits and TV On The Radio’s Tunde Adebimpe. On tunes like “Sunshine,” Slug emotes that every woman looks better in a sundress. Remember that advice, ladies.

Atmosphere is performing on on Saturday, Sept 13th

Buy MONOLITH Tickets Now >>

When it comes to hitting the books, college students prefer to keep hitting the books—this, according to a new study on replacing traditional textbooks with e-readers. Students using Amazon Kindle DX e-readers at several major universities missed the ease of use in flipping through and taking notes in traditional textbooks.

Students' main concern was not being able to open more than one text at a time. According to a report at USA Today, "Students whose curriculum requires them to organize information culled from many different sources are particularly concerned with being able to navigate multiple documents at once, said Michael Koenig, director of operations at Virginia's Darden School of Business, which also ran a Kindle DX pilot program last fall. 'At the point where you need to highlight and notate in a fairly high-paced classroom—to be able to move back and forth between business cases, class readings, your own notations, your own highlights, your own analysis—it's just not as flexible or nimble as having your paper notes or your laptop right there,' he said, adding that the Kindle was 'not quite ready for prime time."

Old-fashioned note-taking techniques also proved hard to duplicate. With backpacks traditionally bristling with neon-colored highlighters for color-coding different types of information in different texts, students were unhappy with the difficulty of highlighting text. They also disliked the clunkiness of typing notes on the Kindle's keypad. "Many users thought that the addition of a touch screen and stylus would make for a much better device," wrote Princeton researchers.

Far from being a disappointment, the research results appear to confirm that Amazon has hit its mark with the Kindle. The e-reader was designed specifically for recreational use rather than hardworking study or professional applications. While 75% of the Darden students said they wouldn't recommend the Kindle for other students, about 90% gave it a thumbs up for casual reading. Whether or not it's a greener choice—now that's a topic for another day!

(Photo credit:Plutor, flickr)

It's almost the weekend! Set the mood with these eco-savvy and ethically aware artists. Check out our list of 15 green musicians for your playlist, or try our sampling of songs—from classic Joni Mitchell, to thought-provoking Cloud Cult, to the feel-good warmth of Bob Marley—below.

(Photo credit:uyo14, SXC)

What's the point of going to see a blockbuster movie like Avatar in 3-D if you end up despoiling the entire environmental message by tossing your fancy plastic 3-D glasses into the trash can when the movie's over? Not to worry. USA Today checked up on the mountain of glasses (42.1 million pairs of glasses worn for 3-D Avatar, some 935,834 a day) and found that all four of the companies that manufacture them have recycling programs in place.

According to the publication's research, most companies solve the trash issue by washing and reusing plastic 3-D glasses. IMAX uses a special machine to clean theirs. Other companies provide theater owners with instructions on how to clean the glasses after use. The easiest and most common method seems to be a quick cycle in a commercial dishwasher. Another company simply sells the glasses, in hopes that movie-goers will keep them and re-use them for future movies. We're dubious that most glasses won't end up trashed or lost in the bowels of a dusty junk drawer ... But we can appreciate the intent.

The least eco-friendly option appears to be that of Real-D, which provides collection containers so that theaters can ship used glasses back to an LA-area facility for cleaning and re-shipping. Adding a bigger carbon footprint doesn't sound like the best solution to the recycling/waste problem. And then there's the problem of theaters that still use old-fashioned cardboard 3-D glasses for some movies—an apparently unwashable, un-recyclable option.

(Photo credit:JuliaArts, flickr)

Director James Cameron's four-year labor of love, the 3-D sci-fi action-adventure Avatar, not only appears to be an entertaining story but an important statement on the sustainability. The film premiered last night in London, and Cameron's comments about his creation display an informed concern about current environmental issues. "The point is that we are devastating habitat and biodiversity at a terrible rate," he told The Sun. "We are causing a global climate change that's going to be absolutely devastating to the coral reefs. Science is unable to keep up with our industrial society. We are destroying species faster than we can classify them. We are destroying the food chain faster than we can understand it. The politicians are over in Copenhagen talking about climate change now—but there are other issues, as well."

Avatar is Cameron's first narrative film since the Oscar-winning Titanic in 1997. As it turns out, those years were spent working under the sea. Cameron, who has collaborated with NASA on several space projects, spent years after the Titanic in deep-sea diving, creating his own robotics and vehicles.

Avatar's cast includes Sam Worthington, Sigourney Weaver, Zoe Saldana and Michelle Rodriguez. The movie premieres worldwide on Dec. 18.

(Photo credit:Avatarmovie.com)

I don't get this season's top toy, the Zhu Zhu Hamster. Why not just buy your kid a real hamster? Oh, right. Real fur balls "poop, stink and die," so says--go figure--the makers of the fake hamsters. True, but real hamsters don't emit potentially hazardous levels of antimony, like Zhu Zhu Hamsters allegedly do.

The toy testers at GoodGuide, a particularly green product safety testing group, claim one of the Zhu Zhu Pet Hamsters, the adorably named Mr. Squiggles-Light Brown, is unsafe for children due to "higher than recommended levels of antimony." Prolonged exposure to antimony, a textile fire retardant, can cause lung and heart complications, diarrhea and stomach ulcers.

What does the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission make of Mr. Squiggles? As reported by Reuters today, the CPSC said it "is looking into the Zhu Zhu pet toy and will complete its review swiftly." Still, Mr. Squiggles hasn't been recalled and continues flying off shelves at Target, Wal-Mart and Toys "R" Us.

Some say GoodGuide is slinging mud for publicity. Doubtful. Their toy safety ratings aren't fluff. They're based on reports from HealthyToys.org; the City of San Francisco; the Center for Health, Environment & Justice; and Healthy Child Healthy World. And all of these entities base their safety ratings either on existing U.S. or E.U. toy safety standards. Not the National Enquirer.

Cepia LLC, Zhu Zhu Pets' parent company, is crying foul. In a press release refuting GoodGuide's claim, executives assured, "Mr. Squiggles is absolutely safe and has passed the most rigorous testing in the toy industry for consumer health and safety." Where's the proof? In an official EN71 testing report, which Cepia posted on its web site for public review.

Mr. Squiggles, the only Zhu Zhu pet to come under fire so far, isn't the only reportedly toxic toy you should nix from the shopping list this holiday. Take it from GoodGuide. They've got the goods on "the health, environmental and social impacts" of thousands of toy makers worldwide. Plus, their web site is anything but a clunky government mess, like the CPSC's.

This safe and sustainable toy list should get you started, or you could do the earth one better and buy nothing. WWJB (What Would Jesus Buy), I wonder? Probably not Mr. Squiggles, even if his name is so darn cute.

(Photo credit:MommyNiri.com)

Oscar the Grouch is plenty green and scary. I remember. Trash cans still creep me out. I'm more of a recycling container girl these days. So why are other angry, dark green things that spring from waste--like, say, greenhouse gas-hastened global warming--“too scary” for Sesame Street?

The PBS institution (it's more than just a show) recently celebrated its 40^th anniversary by turning over a new green leaf--very, very gently, so as not to frighten the children.

The official greening of your preschooler's favorite street, an eco-education curriculum titled “My World Is Green and Growing,” will sprout like a weed over the next two years. Kids can expect warm, fuzzy environmental concepts about, well, warm and fuzzy (and wild!) animals, also where they eat, sleep and, er, other things.Think happy habitat restoration.

Helicopter parents, feel free to heave a sigh of content-screening relief. The greener Sesame Street just says no to environmental doom-and-gloom. The show's producers apparently think this is the stuff of nightmares. I'm afraid they're right. Just ask my 8-year-old son. He was privy to An Inconvenient Truth way too young. My bad. Hey, kiddos, have you heard the one about 2012?

So, there will be no dark clouds of deforestation and no big, mean global warming, both of which threaten the survival of Kermit the Frog and more than a few of his mutating croaking cousins.

"The place we're coming from is, 'Let's love and care for the Earth, because it's so beautiful,” a Sesame Street developer said. “We appreciate its awe and wonder, and we're going to respect it." I can get behind that. If only my kids weren't too big to dig Big Bird.

(Photo credit:Flickr, Matt From London)

It's hard to think of playing video games as a green, sustainable hobby. All those cords, batteries, electronic consoles, big screens, remote controls ... Consider, though, that gaming equipment and games are typically one-time purchases. You have the option to rent, borrow or download many of the games. And certainly there are plenty of advantages (look, Ma, no drive time!) to having a hobby that doesn't require leaving the house.

Green your game with these sustainable steps.

1. Standby power savings is not really such a deal. Turn off your console when you're not playing.
2. Actually, while you're thinking about it—just unplug it when you're done.
3. Use rechargeable batteries.
4. Try before you buy—borrow from a friend or rent.
5. Like it? Don't buy. Rent, check out from the library or borrow from a friend instead.
6. If you simply must own a copy, download instead of buying to save on packaging, manufacturing and shipping costs.
7. You may think you're saving resources by not buying a Blu-ray DVD player for movies, but your PlayStation uses 3-5 times more power to play a movie than a Blu-ray player does.
8. Use the Power Save setting on your PlayStation or Xbox.
9. When in doubt, go for the Wii version. The Wii uses only 16 watts of energy in active mode (versus 119 for PlayStation and 150 for Xbox).
10. Resell, trade or donate your old video games.
11. Connect to an Energy Star-compliant TV.
12. Recycle your waste, from cardboard boxes (we know, they're pretty—but you won't miss 'em, honest) and plastic jewel cases.
13. Dispose of broken systems responsibly. Most gaming consoles are full of toxic chemicals such as beryllium, bromine and phthalates. Try taking it to a video game store to use as a trade-in. Get rid of irreparable consoles via your local hazardous waste recycling system.

Preschoolers could care less about how safe and sustainable a toy is. All that matters to them is that a plaything sustains their gnat-sized attention span for more than a nanosecond.

Why should they care? It's not their job to know that their favorite, lead poison-painted Bedtime Dora was recalled (along with 21 million other toxic Mattel and Fisher-Price toys made last year in China). It's mom's job, and let's not forget daddy, too.

Eco Child's Play and The Goddard School just made our endless helicopter/safety-inspector parenting a little easier with this, their preschooler-tested Top 10 Greenest Toys 2009. Yay! Just in time for holiday shopping, if any of us can afford it. Wait! We can, well, sort of, because every toy that made the cut costs bucks or less!

Mama like, but will my kids? Are these budget-lean, green machines (and soft, hug-able Earth balls and pretend veggie cleavers) "tight" enough to engage my picky kids?

Let's take a closer look at this year's hottest green playthings:

1. Aromatic Play Clay by Mama K (approx. retail -)

Smush and sniff this: 100 percent "natural," gluten-free biodegradable clay that "combines aromatherapy with activity." Sweet slogan, Mama K: "Soothing the creative beast in every household." Are little noses sophisticated enough to identify soothing aromas like bergamot, geranium, lavender, lemongrass and sweet orange? Forget the kids' Wish List! I'm putting a relaxing "5 Scent Tube" at the top of mine.

2. Count Octopus by ImagiPlay, .99

Yes, it's made of sustainable, plantation-grown rubberwood and hardwood. Yes, it's painted with nontoxic paints. And, yes, it teaches kids their 1-2-3s. But just looking at this complicated tentacled vulgaris gives me a headache. Quick! Roll me a clump of that de-stressing aromatherapy clay! Also, .99 is pretty steep for a puzzle, of any kind.

3.Desert Hothouse by DuneCraft, .99

The only thing missing from this dusty, windowsill-sized real-life desert is a miniature tumbleweed. Too bad it's encased in petroleum-based plastic. Why not corn? DuneCraft's bonsai-like terrariums also come with heavy Curious George, Spongebob Squarepants and Backyardigans branding, if you're into that kind of young-consumer-in-training marketing. I wonder what shade of "green" DuneCraft's just-add-water Super Snow is? Or their Astounding Polymer Properties Observation Kit? I'll stick with the au naturale Owl Pellet Dissection Kit, thanks.

4.Green Toys Recycling Truck by Green Toys Inc., .95

Hey, it beats a trash truck, and it's easy on the eyes, for a recycling rig. Is it even easier on the environment? Yes, mostly. All Green Toys, including the truck, are packed in recycled corrugated boxes free of plastics, cellophane or twist-ties. How about no packaging? Still, this recycled plastic milk jug-made machine drives home the three Rs without the eco lecture by showing, not telling kids how to reduce, reuse and recycle. Fun!

5. Green Toys Tea Set by Green Toys Inc., .95

An unbreakable green update to the traditional porcelain tea set. Like Green Toys' Recycling Truck, this 17-piece set is made from curbside-collected milk jugs, is BPA-free and meets stringent FDA rules for safe food contact. Just be sure to stick to water and juice. Decaf tea isn't all it's cracked up to be, especially not for children. 'Been there, benzene that.

6.Hugg-A-Planet by Hugg-A-Planet, .95

"A real globe but soft" and hug-able, of course. Kids can wrap their loving arms around the cruel, cruel world while brushing up on their geography, one brightly labeled mountain range at a time. But is this mini Eath as chemically-twisted as the real one? Nope. Its fabric is made from 100 percent organic, pesticide-free fibers and stuffed with 100 percent unbleached recycled cotton fibers. Have one customized with your own address to help your kids learn it. ... And I think to myself, what a wonderful world. If only it hugged back.

7. Joobles Collection by Fair Indigo,

Organic fair trade fuzzy animal creatures that make adorable attachment objects for touchy babies. I like the (unofficial) Lakers gold and purple Organic Buzzy the Bug, but would I pay for one? Yes, only because a portion of their sales benefits the Peruvian women and children who hand-knitted and colored them with Okeo-tex certified nontoxic dyes.

8. Ring-a-Thing by HABA, (Yes, less than is nice indeed, especially when we're talking typically-expensive organic, ethically manufactured toys, but why do most of the items on this list lean towards the steep end, between to ? How about a toy?)

A toddler's first game of "rules" that helps them grasp colors, shapes and spacial concepts in a clean, minimalist, German design way. The idea: Toss (throw or chuck?) an over-sized (no choking!) die and play ring-toss with water-based, nontoxic lacquered beach wood rings. Good luck getting a toddler to take turns and gracefully accept when they don't "win". Pairs well with calming aromatherapy clay?

9. Veggie Cutting Set by ImagiPLAY, .99

A sturdy pretend crudités cutting set for your budding gourmand. All the slice-and-dice, without the boo-boos. This adorable, trendy wooden set playfully develops kids' gross motor skills while brainwashing them to eat their vegetables encouraging them to dine healthfully. Bon appetit.

10. Tree Branch Blocks by Natural Pod, .00

"Rustic tree branch blocks" that "bring the outdoors in." These scream John Denver Rocky Mountain High, and, unfortunately, TIMBERRRR! Thankfully the edges are sanded sliver-free and nontoxic hand-waxed to protect exploring little paws that will stack them, roll them and build homey log cabins for their LEGO guys with them. (Hmm. Natural Pod's wooden teether (.95) looks like a brass knuckles set for scrappy babies.)

What about a toy that's FREE and found everywhere? The big one that didn't make the list: The Great Outdoors. Remember that place? Call it what you will, a Green Hour, mama's Cure for Nature Deficit Disorder or Kill the Wii, Pronto! My three-child brood and I simply call it Outside Time, and the only props it requires are good weather, curiosity and imagination.

Now, go! Leave your fancy "green" toys inside and get out there and see what develops.

Want an even greener Christmas (or Kwanzaa or Hanukkah)? Check out Madeline Holler's Babble.com all things green for the holidays.

(Photo credit:Green Toys Inc.)

Not every Hollywood film set is as egregiously wasteful as you've heard. In fact, I was at a Target commercial shoot at my friend's house this morning that was (mostly) the opposite. It wasn't trashy at all, thanks to the good greenies of EcoSet, like Kris Barberg, who patiently decoded the on-set compost container do's and don'ts for me.

While I noshed on a gourmet water chestnut and slivered almond chicken salad pita-wich and gawked at bored-between-takes child actors, I wondered how many watts the dishwasher-sized vampire set lights would suck up by day's end. But I was too wrapped up in the nearby sustainable sushi platter to pester the set electrician. Or to guesstimate the carbon footprint of the half-dozen or so non-biodiesel, non-hybrid equipment trucks and air-conditioned talent trailers that hauled tons of you-name-it all the way down the 405 Freeway. Or to calculate the water waste flushed away by the Port-o-Potties. (Hmm. Were they composting Port-o-Potties, like these? Probably not. I wasn't about to go in one to find out.)

No one likes a Port-o-Potty ... or a wet blanket. So, I flicked my now scraped-clean biodegradable paper plate and potato and corn starch dispoz-o fork into an EcoSet's compost bin and decided to stop negatively focusing on the on-set items and actions that obviously weren't the deepest shade of green (unless we're talking money). Instead, I chose to see the recycled glass half-green, or half-full. To see Target's soft-edged eco efforts for what they are--progress. Progress that I can see, touch and feel (and eat off of).

So Target's not 100 percent, to-the-last-drop environmentally-responsible. Neither am I. Who is? We are all Green Works-in-progress, including retailers big and small, and the people who work for and buy from them.

Target's responsible choice to bring EcoSet on board for every single one of its 2009 commercial shoots is a huge, lighter environmental footprint in the right direction. And because of that choice, an impressive 90 percent of the waste created inside and outside of my friend's house today will be composted, reused or recycled. Not bad.

By the way, a 60-second jaunt through the halls of Google University revealed that Target's exponentially-sprouting green leaves grow beyond the company's commitment to greening its TV commercial sets. It's not exactly solar flower store power, but did you know that fashion designer Anna Sui turns the store's old Times Square billboards into reusable shopping totes? Hey, we've got to start somewhere. Also, the Bullseye's sustainability shop fills those designer Envirosax with all kinds of renewably-sourced bamboo baubles and bits, recycled material-made home accents (problem: this stuff is still stuff), and mod compost contraptions that are pretty enough not to hide under the kitchen sink.

Buy one (ahem, for only 9.99!) and run your home like a Target commercial--lean and green. Well, mostly.

(Photo credit:Kim Lachance Shandrow)

I couldn’t be bothered with nail polish remover as a tween in the 80s. Instead, I'd lazily nibble off my fluorescent glow-in-the-dark nail polish, then chase the flecks with a warm can of Jolt. Back then nobody seemed to care what we put into (or onto) our bodies. Mountain Dew and evergreen Manic Panic were just about the only “green living” I did.

It wasn’t until I checked in at Recess for Your Hands and Feet on swanky Beverly Boulevard in Los Angeles--the country’s first (yes, first!) non-toxic, 100 percent eco-built nail salon--that I started to wonder if my kids’ jitterbug heartbeats and rippled toenails had anything to do with me swallowing a decade’s worth of Chernobyl chip cocktails filled with toluene, formaldehyde and dibutyl phthalate (DBP), the carcinogenic, birth defect wreaking triple-threat that still lurks in the majority of nail polishes today. 'Could’ve been the paraben … or was it the Jolt?

Nidhi Lal might blame the peel-and-eat polish. The jet-maned real estate broker from Orange County opened Recess nearly two years ago. She was obsessed, as she puts it, with barring anything toxic from the upscale, 2,000-square-foot spa. As a result, you could practically eat every inch and live to tell: from the rustic post-and-beam ceiling to the slick no-VOC emitting resin floor, to every last vegan paint drop that touches clients’ nails, right down to the oxygen they breathe. Yes, the air, which always reeks of acetone and acrylic at traditional (and highly toxic) nail salons, smells vanilla sweet and coconutty here, like warm macaroons. No surgical mask required.

How did Nidhi make the switch from selling homes to greening nails? Blame Al Gore. Nidhi credits an emotional screening of An Inconvenient Truth for inspiring her go green.

“It’s so cliché, but that movie changed everything," Nidhi tells SuperEco. "It moved me.”

She was determined to build Recess in painstaking accordance with the stringent Leaders in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) certification guidelines. And she did. ‘Girl went off: Every plank of white oak, including the timber used in the comfy custom-upholstered ottoman-chairs, is Forest Stewardship Council certified; the ginger antimicrobial hand towels are a smooth recycled cotton-bamboo blend; the sparkling overhead wallpaper accents are made from crushed reclaimed glass beads; skylights, elegant amber recycled glass chandeliers and nine-watt modern LED wands combine to give off a mellow glow; and unbleached recycled cotton drapes stylishly divide all 12 nail stations for privacy.

“It would be easier to talk about what isn’t green [here],” Nidhi jokes, “but then you wouldn’t have much to write.” No kidding. She left no stone un-greened, except for the almighty Autoclave. The sterilization machine doesn't come Energy Star equipped – yet.

Nidhi pours me a recycled glass tumbler of refreshing chilled cucumber-lemon water and asks me to choose a nail color. Recess offers two long-lasting eco-friendly nail lacquers, vegan SpaRitual and all-natural Zoya. Both are enriched with natural minerals and plant extracts and are free of synthetic dyes and, of course, the aforementioned Toxic Triple Threat.

I pick an earthy fall shade, SpaRitual’s new “Muse,” a metallic bronze made from recycled glass and wild-crafted organic essences. Manicurists Yayo and Alli make quiet, delicate work of prepping my hands and feet for a 50-minute, green-guilt free deluxe mani-pedi. They treat me to a vigorous exfoliating massage using a coarse but fast dissolving “sugar cookie” scented mix of sea salt and raw sugar from Recess’s signature skincare collection (.95 for an 8 oz. drum); moisturize my hands and feet with organic, fair-trade olive oil and lotion (.50 for 8 fl. oz. of the lotion); gently trim, file and buff my scraggly, neglected nails; nudge back my cuticles with orangewood sticks; hot paraffin dip my hands and feet (in individual clear baggies, not in the typical goopy, germ-incubating wax cesspool littered with stray hairs); and, finally, slick my nails with several brilliant, spotless coats. (I’m not positive I got the order right. I was too busy melting into my chair.)

Remember the sanitizing Autoclave? It’s killer on fungus, infections, viruses and Hepatitis C, all afflictions that commonly plague the industry. Nidhi enforces a strict no re-use policy for all porous, non-metal utensils. But what about the Tree Hugger Code of Honor: Reduce, Reuse, Recycle? 'Last time I checked, there was only one r in biohazard, and it often doubles as reuse and recycle – as in stuff with other people’s dead skin still on it -- at quite a few of L.A.'s infamous “cash only” nail chop shops.

Positively not at Recess, so cut Nidhi some slack. Files, buffers and cuticle sticks from your service are cleaned and wrapped up neat and tidy for take-home. Safety tip: chuck them after a week or you’ll risk Athlete’s foot or some other, more dangerous shame spiral.

Recess is hardly pricier than your average (toxic!) nail salon (nail treatments range from to , depending on their length), but their uncommonly soft touch, certified green credibility, and the ability to actually breathe during –and long after-- your treatment, are well worth the extra Alexander Hamilton.

Hmm… I wonder if vegan recycled glass has an aftertaste.

(Photo credit:flickr, GreenLAGirl)