So I have a huge favor to ask of everyone! The server where my button was previously located had issues so now the location of it has changed. If you have grabbed my button in the past, it is probably no longer displaying on your site. So I would be so grateful if you could update it with the new HTML that is posted over in the sidebar. And if you don't already have my button...well, why not??? Seriously, get it! :)
Since we are talking about waste-free lunches this week, I thought it would also be a good time to take a look at reusable water bottles. We all spend way too much money for bottled water when we can get water at home for free and with no waste! EarthLust recently sent me one of their 20 oz stainless steel bottles to test. What you will first notice about their bottles is that they come in so many cool designs. You don't have to settle for just a plain stainless finish anymore, unless you want to of course. I picked the Poppy design (pictured far left) because I liked the blues and greens. But there are lots of other great ones. I also like the Butterfly design.
One of my Green Goals for 2009 was to pack waste free lunches for my son. I actually had not realized what a lousy job I was doing of this until I took this photo of his lunchbox for my Fabkins review a few months back. Here I thought I was doing great with the napkin, spoon and reusable sandwich container. But as you can see I also have single-serve yogurt, apple sauce, cheese and juice in there. That's a whole lot of waste going on, especially since our preschool does not recycle (don't get me going...).
I finished up the few I had left and then when the grocery store was having a sale on organic applesauce in big jars, I stocked up. Buying a large jar is cheaper then buying single-serve normally, so on sale its even better. I fill a Take & Toss snack cup with applesauce, snap the lid on and voila! No ideally it would be better to get away from plastic and use stainless steel storage, but baby steps. Over time I would definitely like to do that, I'm just not there yet.
I may have mentioned in the past that I have quite a sweet tooth. I love candy! However it is very difficult to find candies that are not made with high fructose corn syrup and lots of artificial ingredients. While our grocery store has a decent natural/organic foods section, there really isn't any candy in it. So I was very excited when Surf Sweets sent me their candy to try out!
of Sour Patch Kids at my desk at work and would munch on them throughout the day. For whatever reason, they helped with my nausea. So now I really wish I hadn't eaten all of my sour worms so quickly because maybe they would help with the morning sickness I am currently suffering from.
I really think it is great when companies take the initiative to make things out recycled materials. Especially when they are using it to make eco-friendly toys!"Green Toys Inc. makes an awesome line of classic children’s toys constructed from recycled plastic and other environmentally friendly materials. This helps reduce fossil fuel use and reduce greenhouse gas emissions, improving the overall health and happiness of the planet."
This kit comes with everything you need to plant your seeds: 3 pots, tray, shovel, soil and organic seeds. The seeds are Basil, Sunflower and Zinia and they give you more than enough in the packets. The soild come sin dehyrdated "bricks" that you simply add water to and then atch them exand. We planted our seeds on April 17 and today, 6 days later, we alrady have some sprouts poking through the soil.
In the last few years there has been a lot of talk about the dangers of chemicals found in plastic baby bottles and sippy cups. The most talked about is Bisphenol-A (BPA) but there are others to avoid as well like DEHA and Phthalates. BPA is a synthetic estrogen used to harden polycarbonate plastics. Some of the risks associated with BPA include prostate and breast cancer, testicular abnormalities in boys and puberty in girls younger than eight years old. DEHA is linked to negative effects on the liver, kidney, spleen, bone formation and weight. Phthalates have been linked to liver cancer and kidney damage in some animals. They also damage rodent reproductive systems and there is concern that they do the same to human infant boys.
So how did it test out? I decided to let Josh try this cup. No particular reason, just a random choice. But I knew I had to choose just one because attempting to let them both try it would lead to fighting over who it belongs to. The first thing I noticed about this cup is the weight. I have another stainless steel sippy cup that I think is really heavy. The Safe Sippy feels so much lighter than that and yet it holds about 2 more ounces. It also seemed like the liquid flowed much easier through the spout. When they use other cups it sounds like they have to suck really hard to get the drink out. That was definitely not the case here.
It seems to me that the trend with natural cosmetics is that most can be pretty expensive. its discouraging to me because the average person like me can't afford super expensive makeup and it deters people from making the switch. the about a year ago I discovered Honeybee Gardens. They have natural cosmetics, hair care, body care and lip care and all at reasonable prices. I love this statement from them:"At Honeybee Gardens, we believe natural, healthy body care and cosmetics should be affordable. We're not rich and we want good products. Solution: make them ourselves and share the love with the world!"I've built up a decent amount of their makeup during that time. I started off with their water-based nail polish. Their is a good selection of colors, I have a few, and they wear well. I do recommend you get their nail polish remover to go with it as regular remover doesn't work very well. In addition to the nail polish, I also have a JobaColors Eyeliner and a PowderColors Mineral Color that I use for eyeshadow. I am more than happy with all of them. For comparison sakes, I just went to CVS.com to see what the prices of some mineral eye shadows are and the ones they carry range from $6.99 to $9.99. And those aren't even natural. The Honeybee Gardens mineral color is only $4.99.
Honeybee Gardens was nice enough to send me JobaColors Lip Liners to try out. I have't worn lipliner in a very long time so I was happy to get some to use. I thought it was funny that the two colors they sent me matched the typicl lipstick colors that I wear: brownish-berryish colors. The Lip Liner went on very smoothly and looked great. It also lasted a pretty long time. Unfortunately, I didn't have a natural lipstick to try with it so I used my regular ones. But now that I have this lip liner, I was inspired to order some Lipstick from Honeybee Gardens which should be arriving any day now. So excited!
I was thrilled when Kate from The Shopping Mama asked me to write a guest article about "green" shopping for kids. I love finding cool green stuff, especially for my little guys, so I was happy to share that with her. So hop on over to The Shopping Mama to check it out and be sure to leave a comment!!
Earth's Sweet Pleasures endeavors to make the highest quality organic gourmet fudge in the world while supporting sustainability of the planet and it's inhabitants. Our fudge is made the old-fashioned way, using an original family recipe that is 25% less sweet than conventional fudge, enhancing the intense flavor of the award winning rich, dark chocolate. Every ingredient in our fudge is all natural certified organic and the delicious dark chocolate is grown by fair trade farmers in Central and South America. By purchasing our fudge you help sustain the rainforest where cacao trees are grown in the shade of the canopy. A portion of our proceeds go to environmental and humanitarian organizations that promote economic fairness for cacao farmers and their families.At Earth's Sweet Pleasures you will find Rich Rainforest Dark Fudge, both plain and with walnuts. The fudge with walnuts is their bestseller. All of their fudge is made with organic, fair trade chocolate. They were kind enough to send me a
sample of the Rich Rainforest Dark Fudge with Walnuts to taste. I actually received it just the other day and let me tell you, it took a great amount of willpower to not eat the entire piece all at once because it is so delicious. Very rich and creamy and literally melts in your mouth. Not only does it taste great, but its comforting to know that there are no artificial yucky ingredients. The ingredient list on my sample fudge bar reads as follows:Ingredients (All Organic): Evaporated Cane Juice, Fair-Trade Chocloate - 65% Bittersweet, Marshmallow Creme, Walnuts, contains Dairy (Half & Half), Natural Oil Blend, Vanilla Extract, Love & Gratitude.Of course the best ingredients are the love and gratitude. There are no substitutes for that!
Products bearing the Forest Stewardship Council (FSC) logo, which guarantees that the wood from a certified well-managed forest, are available across the world from a variety of mills, manufacturers, and distributors.
Since I have a Lunapads giveaway going on, I thought now would be a good time to elaborate more on reusable feminine products. That's right boys, another post about periods. Now is your chance to quickly click on a different post of mine before we get into it.
All 3 of my boys suffer from dry skin and eczema, especially Luke. His eczema is quite bad and my pediatrician said what he has is hereditary and there actually isn't anything I can use to cure it. So it is important for me to use washes and lotions that are easy on the chemicals and therefor easy their skin. So I was really excited when I found Ecostore USA and their natural baby care products."Our mission is to focus on individual health issues. Our ingredients are the principle factor in helping Ecostore achieve this goal. By eliminating hazardous toxins that are the basis of so many conventional cleaning products we not only help you but keep our planet in the best shape possible. Doing Good by Nature means taking the wonderful gifts that nature offers and developing plant based products that are safe, authentic and really work."I was so thankful to receive some samples of Ecostore's baby products. I received the body wash, shampoo and lotion and immediately started using them on the boys. The first thing I noticed was the scent - I love it! That's saying a lot
for me because I am sensitive to scents. So many can trigger headaches for me. But the Ecostore baby care line has a nice, clean, fresh scent. When the boys are out of the bath I love cuddling up with them and smelling their hair. I've also noticed improvement in Josh's skin. He definitely had the most mild eczema of the three. He would occasionally get really rough patches around his elbows. However in the several weeks I've been using these, that has happened much less. I also want to mention that a little goes a long way with the shampoo and body wash. It lathers really nicely with only a small amount; I'd say I use about dime sized portion. Just be careful when pouring because it can come out fast!
Do you ever wonder what happens to all those plastic bottles that you recycle? What are they being recycled into? GreenSmart is one company that is taking those recycled bottles and turning them into cool bags! The process of turning a used water bottle into a bag is quite interesting and you can read all about it here. (This might be used for an extra entry!)
Soak or rinse Lunapads in cold water prior to putting them in the washing machine with your regular detergent. Some women add a cleaning agent (such as tea tree oil, Dr. Bronner's soap, Oxo Bright, or just their regular laundry soap, to name a few) in the soaking process, but this is optional. You can wash them in warm water with your towels and sheets if you don't want to run a separate load – they may also be washed by hand and air-dried. They will shrink somewhat if you put them in the dryer, as they are made from cotton, but it makes them nice and soft!This is actually almost exactly is how I wash my Lunapads and other cloth pads. In between washes, I will soak them in a container of water with some Oxi-Clean. Just be sure to change the water at least once a day. Otherwise bacteria can grow and it will get smelly. When I have enough laundry built up, I wash them with our towels in warm water. You can throw them in the dryer, but I prefer to line dry them.
Since we are talking about cloth diapering this week, I thought it would be appropriate to let you all know about some cloth diaper giveaways! Erin at The Mom Buzz has not one, but TWO cloth diaper giveaways going on right now!
That's less than a week away - next Wednesday! Are you doing anything special to celebrate Earth Day? Any local town events or maybe just planting something in your own yard? I have absolutely no idea what we are doing but I want to do something. There is a zoo not too far from here that is having a "Party for the Planet" this weekend, so maybe we can head over to that.
