How to Make Your Oktoberfest Uber-Green

Prost! For centuries, Oktoberfest has brought together youthful vigor with old-world tradition in a swirl of polka, clinking steins, and voices belting out songs from the hinterland. But do you know if the beer you're drinking and brats you're munching were made in an environmentally responsible way? Here are our recommendations for Oktoberfest fare that keep traditions up and emissions down.  

Wunderbar Beers Marzen — brewed in March and fermented in the summer — is the bier of choice for Oktoberfest, and many micro-breweries across the nation are not only catching on with traditional Bavarian lager recipes, but are also implementing innovative and sustainable methods to brewing their beer. Micro- yet big-name brewers that use clean energy to make seasonal beer include New Belgium Brewing Co., Alaskan Ale, Fish Brewing Co., Sierra Nevada, Bell's Beer and Balast Point.  For more of a demonstration on how earth-minded beer is made, check out the video below: 

5 Terrifying Food Additives

You probably remember the horror of pink slime, the ammonia-laced beef "filler" used in school lunches and Happy Meals until many food manufacturers retired the product after the loud and angry public outcry last year. But pink slime is creeping back into our burgers and tacos, joining a whole host of ingredients and additives you may not know you're eating. In the Halloween spirit, we've collected a few of the most frightening, guaranteed to give you a chill: 

1. Shellac, or "Confectioner's Glaze": Derived from the secretions of the Kerria lacca bug, shellac coats many of the hard candies we know and love, especially Halloween treats like candy corn. The resinous material makes sweets like jelly beans look bright and shiny. 

2. Castoreum: Next time you're having a hard day and are tempted to down a tub of vanilla ice cream, think about this; castoreum, a flavoring extracted from glands near a beaver's anus, may be the secret ingredient that gives your sweet treat its satisfying flavor. Castoreum has been used in foods and perfumes for years, in some cases listed simply and vaguely as a "natural ingredient." The good news: most industry experts agree that today worldwide castoreum consumption is very low due to the difficult process of milking a beaver's glands. Yum. 

The 5 Eco-Friendliest Mini-Mart Buys

With more than 50,000 locations around the globe, 7-Eleven is the world's biggest convenience retailer. (To put that into perspective, McDonald's has fewer than 35,000 stores.) Gas station shops have become nearly as ubiquitous. So what does an eco-conscious snacker pick when wandering these chains' fluorescent-lit aisles? We rummaged through all the packaging and processing to bring you five of the greenest convenience store buys. 

APPLES are one of the few items at your local mini-mart not wrapped in plastic. Plus, most stores sell U.S.-grown ones, many from Washington state. (Californians and Floridians might want to opt for local oranges.) You rarely see organic fruit, but corner stores cater to neighborhood needs, so even large chains show regional variation: If an item sells, they'll stock it. Talk to your nearest store's manager to request organic produce, then use your purchasing power for good. About $1 per fruit.

The high-energy CLIF BAR is available at most convenience stores. Power up with its organic ingredients while avoiding nutritional nasties like trans fats, hydrogenated oils, and high-fructose corn syrup. By 2015, Clif—which is already climate-neutral—plans to divert 90% of its waste from landfills and to source Rainforest Alliance-certified cocoa. Meantime, try the popular Chocolate Chip flavor. $1.39 per 2.4-ounce bar

6 Unique Sharing Services to Cut Your Consumption

Some life lessons learned in kindergarten stick: don't eat glue, don't run with scissors, friends don't hit one another. For some of us, the importance of sharing was a hard one to learn — what kid wants to give away half of their cookie? Fortunately, we've warmed up to sharing, and learned to harness the power of lending, borrowing, giving, and renting to care for the environment. We've collected some of the greenest of what the sharing economy has to offer — from rental chickens to leftover Chinese food, here's a small sampling of ways you can depend on the kindness of strangers to reduce your consumption and waste: 

1. To eat: Whether you have too much or too little, when it comes to sharing food, you have options. If you're not afraid to get your hands dirty, start or join a community garden. If you have lots of leftovers or made too much for dinner, services like Eat With Me and LeftoverSwap let you share your bounty with others, instead of tossing it in the trash. 

2. To farm: Interested in learning more about what urban homesteading has to offer your pantry? Give it a test run. A surprising number of groups and individuals throughout the nation rent out egg-laying chickens along with coops, bedding, and feed, at surprisingly affordable prices. Many of these groups hope to help decrease the number of abandoned chickens flooding animal shelters, which some attribute to the ever-increasing popularity of urban farming. If it doesn't work out, simply send the rented chickens back, guilt-free. Do a quick search for chicken rentals in your state, and get farming.

You'll Smell Better: 7 Unusual Reasons to Go Veg

By now, most of us are aware of the environmental, health-related, and ethical reasons to cut back on meat consumption. And what better time to evaluate your own meat-eating habits than October, which is Vegetarian Awareness Month? If you're looking for extra motivation to take the vegetarian plunge, we've compiled a list of unexpected reasons to put down that hot dog and pick up a carrot. 

1. You'll smell better. Is your B.O. holding you back with the ladies? Slowly step away from the hamburger. A 2006 study by Czech researchers found women judge the body odor of vegetarian men to be "significantly more attractive, more pleasant, and less intense," than that of their carnivorous friends. So, cut out the meat and go in for the cuddle: Your armpits smell "significantly less intense" than that dude's. 

2. Even Ronald McDonald is a vegetarian. The actor Geoffrey Giuliano, who famously portrayed the cartoon clown in the '80s in publicity appearances for the "Ronald McDonald Safety Show," has since publicly apologized for encouraging children to eat the fast food chain's offerings (and to believe that hamburgers grow in pleasant garden patches). A converted Hindu, Giuliano now encourages parents to raise their children on a meatless diet.  

3. You'll be better in bed. Well, probably. Primate research suggests soy and soy-based foods might influence hormone levels and increase sexual activity in humans, and veggie advocates have long held that cholesterol from meat and dairy products can clog arteries and inhibit blood flow to our (ahem) vital organs. At the very least, it's a safe bet that cutting back on meat might give you a little extra energy in the bedroom. 

Fall Delicacies for the Locavore

Fall is a season of harvest, but you don't have to be a farmer to reap the nation's most exotic and fresh foods and the bodily benefits they bring. Buying food from sustainable farms not only encourages fair competition between local producers, but also empowers small farming businesses, all the while promoting a little hometown pride. And though much of autumn's trademark foods grow in almost every corner of the country — garlic, blackberries, pumpkins, pomegranates, to name a few — each region boasts a tasty piece of the country. Covering the coasts, corners, plains, and deserts of the US, we've listed the in-season attractions, some of which are more unique than expected.

Southwest: Big Jim green peppers, also known as the Numex Big Jims, are big sellers in the Southwestern regions like New Mexico, Arizona, and Texas. Usually growing 10-12 inches, Big Jims are considerably mild (500-2,000 scoville units), and the pepper's volume makes it perfect for stuffing.

Southeast: Dragon fruit, also known as Pitaya, ripen right about now in Florida's fall months, growing from a vining cactus. With a thick, hot pink skin and flamboyant appearance, the dragon fruit surprisingly tastes more like a kiwi — mild and subtly sweet. 

Android Apps for Autumn

From chasing orange leaves to tasting golden brews, apps can inform your autumn adventures. And even if you're not headed to a maple forest or a beer festival, you can follow the fall remotely through the window of your phone with these cutting-edge applications for Android. (But don't forget to turn those screens off and get outside, too.)

Arboreal apps: Leaf chasers will love fall foliage apps like Peepr, which crowd sources leaf color reports. Because autumn leaves turn at slightly different times each year, foliage trackers can waste a lot of gas and time driving in search of the deciduous. On Peepr, users can file reports for the foliage in their area and view county-level data on a national map. The map shows what color the leaves are at that moment in a given location, allowing drivers to better plan their trips. North East Tree Identification helps outdoors enthusiasts identify trees year 'round, with a special focus on New England species. It walks you through visual taxonomy to help even the most amateur threehugger find precise species names in seconds. Knowing tree species and locations names will make you a more educated advocate for the environment and a more interesting hiking partner. 

Beginner’s Guide to Home Brewing: Hard Cider

It's apple harvest season, which is a perfect time for the fledgling brewer to try making hard cider. Home brewing offers the chance to make your own fresh organic drink that's preservative-free and low on sulfites (some sulfites will naturally occur during fermentation). Bonus: This tasty beverage is gluten-free.

First Timer's Hard Cider

yield: one gallon

Ingredients and Supplies:

1 clean glass gallon jug
1 gallon of organic, unpasteurized, preservative-free apple juice with no added sugar
2 cups of sugar 
2-3 cinnamon sticks
1 pinch whole cloves
1 balloon
1 rubber band
1 packet of bread yeast

How to Cook a Feast Without a Kitchen

New freshmen and recent grads are learning one of life's hard lessons right about now: a full kitchen is a privilege, not a right. Cooking green and eating well in an efficiency studio is a challenge, and dining hall food can be questionable at best. Fortunately, being without a stove isn't a culinary death sentence. Many who have gone without kitchen have found you can eat pretty well with simply a microwave, hot plate, toaster oven, or slow cooker. So fear not: frozen taquitos are not the only cuisine in your future. Brave pioneers of microwave cooking have discovered you can nuke artichokes and even polenta with surprisingly tasty results. They've also found it a greener way to cook, as microwaves use less energy than stove tops to heat small servings.

To guide you on your voyage to preparing your own healthy, green, and convenient food, we've rounded up a few authors who specialize in convenience cooking to share their favorite recipes that can be made without a stove.

4 Unique Picks for National Honey Month

For as long as we've been preparing food, humans have been using honey. It has become a dietary staple all over the world, eaten on its own for a quick energy boost, and used as an ingredient in everything from sweet teas to insect kabob marinades. But not all honey is created equal. If your go-to honey comes in a generic bear-shaped bottle, it's time to branch out and try one the 300 different varieties available in the U.S. From the dark and robust to the light and mild, we've rounded up four unique and eco-friendly brands to try this September to celebrate National Honey Month.

Rare Hawaiian Great White Honey isn't actually made from sharks, but it is probably the most badass thing you will ever put in your tea. Who doesn't want the opportunity to say they just added some shark honey to their sleepytime brew? Dr. Michael Domeier, Rare Hawaiian Honey Company owner and white shark researcher, is celebrating Hawaii's few great white sharks with a special release of the island's equally rare Kiawe honey. Added bonus: the company has pledged to donate 10% of the proceeds from the sale of their Great White Honey to shark research. If you aren't feeling brave enough to tackle the Great White, try one of their other unusual options, like the Organic Sunset Kiawe Honey, named for the unique color and citrus-y taste of the honey produced at the end of the Kiawe tree blooming season. $15 - $21, rarehawaiianhoney.com