Earth Day, Maxim Style

We’re a little late on the Earth Day Post, but we were definitely not amiss on the streets and schools of New York in celebrating our favorite holiday of the year.

Maxim was honored to be amongst several booths at several different schools in our hometown of New York, showcasing what students can do to lead greener lives. During the events, Maxim was able to demonstrate how our products are better for the Earth, and the body too!

At Hofstra University…

We took a spot at the quad in front of Hofstra University’s trendy Bits n’ Bytes Café where Earth Day was all abuzz, as The Center for Civic Engagement hosted an eco-friendly festival. Other booths included PETA, Progressive Students Union, Organic Foods, Anthropology club, Green Career opportunities and so much more!

At New York University…

We were set up under a tent outside on a cold spring NYC day on Washington Place, right smack in the middle of NYU’s most trendy metropolitan campus, where we got to meet some trendy NYUers who were blown away by what we had to say about what was lining their pantiliners. Other fun booths included Honest Tea, POM, Sustainable NYC, and Earth Celebrations.

At East Islip High School…

The gymnasium was converted in to an “earthasium.” Students were bussed in from the elementary and middle schools to take part in the districts dedication to keeping the youth informed about their responsibilities to the earth. You would think youngsters at this age would be shy or giggling about learning about tampons, but they were not only overly enthused, but quite serious about what Maxim had to say about the content of their tampons, pads and pantiliners.

Stay Warm with Heat Saving Tips for Your Earth & Pocket

The Holidays are over, but Winter is in full blast, which means so is your heat. The heat may be warming you up but it may also be contributing to global warming and other avoidable environmental wastes and effects. If you're like me and living in an old small apartment with building controlled thermostats that don't seem to be working and awful insulation then you'll definitely need to read on, along with all other heat blasting earth lovers. For someone who loves to stay warm but not at the cost of waste, here are some pointers for ya....

In addition to watching the great video above created by the Grist team here are some of my tips for staying warm while keeping your impact low:

1. Take a short hot shower right before hitting the sac. This will quickly raise your body temperature which will stay with you for the rest of the night under the protection of your covers. It's also relaxing!

2. Exercise! Even though it's tempting to stay cuddled, get out of bed and move your body. Movement gets the blood circulating in your body, creating a natural heat environment. It's also healthy!

3. Furnish your space. Carpets and heavy drapes will help keep things feeling warmer. Carpets will keep your feet off of cold tiles and drapes will block the cold air from coming through windows. I recommend keeping the drapes open on sunny days as there is nothing more naturally warming than the sun. But make sure to close the drapes at night and windy days.

4. Long Johns. Okay, they may make you look a few pounds heavier or not work well with your fashionable skinny jeans, but leave your fashion trends for the Summer when Long Johns aren't necessary to keep you warm.

5. Clean. Dust acts as an insulator but not the good kind because it builds up on heated surfaces like your furnace that is the source of heat. Make sure to keep your furnace dust free and serviced every year (your gas, oil or electric company can do this for you at a cost that will save you more in the long run).

6. Shut those vents you might have forgotten about. Vents can be found all over your home from the laundry room to the fireplace, acting as an easy avenue for heat to escape. Keep vents closed or the door to the laundry room closed to keep heat from escaping.

7. Electric blankets. Slip one in between your sheets and you'll be heavenly warmed and pleasantly spending less than what it would cost to heat your room.

8. "Think Warm, Be Warm." The power of thought costs nothing and can be stronger than anything else! I'm thinking countdown to Summer....162 days left!!! Woohoo!!!

Warm wishes!

Recession Green Gift Giving Solutions - "Do It Yourself!"

This post will wrap up the last few posts and bring our Recession series posts to an end on a high note with a good chuckle (I'm sure we can all use one)....So most of us are not shopping at Saks this year, even if everything is practically on sale and for free (relative to the Saks standard), but most of us are looking for green gift alternatives. There are enough blogs and articles out there about green gift-giving so I'm going to stay away from that, but just in case you're living under a rock here are a few:

Gaiam's "Green Gift Guide: 30 Ideas for the Style Maven, Gadget Guy, Yoga Lover & More"

Treehugger's "Holiday Gift Guide 2008: Give Green to Save Green"

The Environmental Defense Fund's "Green Gifts for the Holidays"

These articles will give you great product green gift giving solutions, but I have a more green and recession friendly option inspired by my friends over at www.diygiving.com - "do it yourself!"

Remember when you were in kindergarten, before you knew how to count your change and balance a budget? Remember the creative freedom you had in putting together hand made gifts? Most importantly remember the big smile you put on your loved ones' faces when you gave them your hand-crafted gift that got posted on the refrigerator instead of returned to the department store or re-gifted to an enemy?

Well nothing put a bigger smile on my face than the above photograph of a "diy," "Do It Yourself" gift option, posted by an anonymous contributor on the diyGiving website, which features creative, do-it-yourself, economical gifts ideas for the holidays and special occasions. Not only was I smiling but I was on the floor dying of laughter. What's more organic and priceless than a good laugh??

Just make sure you're being eco-friendly and using Maxim Sanitary Pads when putting together your holiday slippers!

Holiday cheers to the creators of diyGiving.com for coming up with such a unique concept in green (in more ways then one) gift giving. Visit the diyGiving website to submit your "diy" Gift Giving idea; Maxim promises to send free Maxim products to whoever can up with more creative "diy" feminine hygiene inspired ideas like the one above. Email us with your address when your idea has been posted and we'll send you some Maxim Organic and Natural Cotton Feminine Hygiene Products so you can come up with more creative "diy" gifts or maybe just use them yourself.

Have fun "doing it yourself!"

Another Sunset...

Check out this fire engine red sunset at the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series Pepsi 500 at Auto Club Speedway in Fontana, California. There must be a lot of pollution in the air from those race cars....


I grabbed this photo from MSN.com's "Week In Photos"...They post some great pics every Friday for viewers to vote on. Each photo comes with a small explanation about what is going on in the image. I find this to be a visually quick way to get my news and i like to see how my vote for favorite image compares to others'

The Colors of an End of the Summer Sunset

Aaaaah, what’s better than a Summer Sunset? Although Summer doesn’t officially end until the first day of Autumn, September 23, 2008, 12:55 am EST, in my mind it unofficially ends after Labor Day weekend.

I chose to end my Summer traveling (no better choice) to Israel. Israel is an interesting place to say the least. Putting politics and religion aside, you will find a country bound with geographical delights. For such a tiny country, stretching 263 miles from north to south, and its width ranges from 71 miles to, at its narrowest point 9 miles, there is such a wide variety of terrain to explore from the dry Negev dessert to the fertile Jezreal Valley to the hilly Galilee.

Out of all the beautiful earthly sights I experienced on my trip to Israel, the snapshot I took above of the sunset at one of Tel Aviv’s beaches is what stayed with me the longest. I spent my last day staring at the sunset with my many thoughts. The thought that I decided to explore and share with you is….What creates the exquisite colors that make up a sunset?

I’m going to go against every scientific explanation I read about to find my answer and break it down for you in the simplest terms….


Basically, sunlight is made up of a spectrum of colors, combined together they are perceived as white light or the neutral yellowish white color. The display of colors is affected by two main factors –
1. The density of the air the light has to travel through

2. Angles and distance traveled

The Earth’s atmosphere is made up of a variety of molecules that create obstacles for the sun’s incoming light wavelengths. The more molecules in the air the more obstacles the wavelengths of light have to travel through. Different wavelengths of light have different strengths in overcoming the obstacles; the longest light wavelengths – red and orange – are much stronger and have an easier time shining through the heavy molecules, while the shorter light wavelengths – blue and violet – get rebounded away as they journey towards the earth.

At midday, when the sun is most intense, all wavelengths of visible light reach the eye with nearly equal intensity, and the sun appears white. During sunset and sunrise, sunbeams travel through denser patches of air and longer distances due to the angle of the earth and sun, causing shorter blue and violet lights to deflect, while the longer orange and red wavelengths prevail.

Dust and pollution add to the density of molecules that light has to overcome so volcanic eruptions often lead to beautiful sunsets for months after they happen. Who ever thought pollution and natural disasters can create something so beautiful? Let’s not advertise that though.