Thursday, April 29, 2010

Green Giveaway Friday 4/30

Here are some featured Green Giveaways that I have found around the blogosphere. Please add both your green and non-green giveaways and contests into Mr. Linky below so we can do some blog hoppin!

You can also submit your green giveaways to me during the week for me to feature on Fridays. Be sure to include giveaway title, expiration date and link.

Just Another New Blog
EvoraKids 5/3
Body Butter and Lip Balm from Glengarry Gardens 5/6

Look What Mom Found...and Dad too
Seventh Generation Cleaning Kit 5/11

mkokopelli
I Can Save The Ocean Book 4/30
Wonder Pets Save the Tree! Book 5/1
This is Our World Book 5/1
Mama Miti Book 5/2
NaturOli Soap Nuts 5/10
Little Soles Shoes 5/11
Juice Beauty Green Apple Peel 5/12

The Mom Buzz 
National Geographic Little Kids 4/30
Almond Milk and Chico Bag 5/8
Earth Day Martha Stewart Give-away – $200 Value 5/14

Moms Wear Your Tees
$25 GC Shaklee Earth Day Event  Sprig Toys Earth Day Event 
Nubius Organics $20 GC 
ImagiPlay Puzzle 
Tropical Traditions 
Horizon 3 Winner 
Happy Baby Organic Prize Pack 
YoBaby and Eric Carle 

Mommy Is Green
Earth Mama Angel Baby $25 Gift Certificate 5/2




Seventh Generation Disinfecting Cleaner Review & Giveaway

When I started switching over to natural cleaning products more than two years ago, Seventh Generation was one of the first green companies I was introduced to. Over these years I have used their laundry detergent, dryer sheets, toilet cleaner, automatic dishwasher detergent and more. I have always been more than pleased with everything of theirs that I have tried.

Now in my day to day cleaning, there are only two things that skeeve me enough to disinfect: raw chicken and toilets. Normally after handling raw chicken, I'll use a white vinegar mixture to clean my counter, but my husband HATES the smell of it. Well Seventh Generation recently added a new line of botanical disinfecting cleaners which includes a multi-surface cleaning spray, bathroom cleaning spray and wipes. The active ingredient in these is Thymol which is a component of the herb Thyme. These cleaners may be used on hard surfaces such as counter tops and kill 99.99% of household germs, naturally.

Kills over 99.99% of household germs, specifically: Influenza A, H1N1, Staphylococcus aureus, Salmonella enterica, Pseudomonas aeruginosa and Escherichia coli on hard, nonporous surfaces.
Seventh Generation and My Blog Spark sent me a disinfecting kit which included this entire line to try out. As I mentioned earlier one of the things that truly grosses me out are toilets. Just thinking about the day when all four of my boys are teenagers makes me shudder. So the first thing I fell in love with are the Disinfecting Wipes. When I clean any other room in my house I like to use microfiber towels because I can throw them in the wash. But I just cannot bring myself to use them in the bathroom. Bleh. I much prefer wipes that I can toss right into the garbage. These wipes come in an easy to use tub and I like the feel of them. I have used others that were way too thin. So I am able to quickly grab one of these wipes and clean all around the toilets with them. For the rest of the bathroom, like the counter, I can use the Disinfecting Bathroom Cleaner with some of the Seventh generation paper towels.The combination of the two works well and I can leave knowing my bathroom is germ free.

The room I use the Disinfecting Multi-Surface Cleaner in the most is the kitchen. I am not one to go around disinfecting every single thing in my house - a few germs around is good to build up your immune system (or at least I think so). But as I mentioned, raw chicken skeeves me and is one of those things that I just do not take chances with. I am totally paranoid about salmonella poisoning. I make chicken at least once a week so it is great to now have a disinfecting cleaner I can use to quickly spray my counters with. Now for this product to kill the germs, you spray it on then let air dry. I also use it to clean the table after meals and since I really don't need it to disinfect there, I spray on and then wipe off with one of my microfiber towels.  A nice bonus for us is now there is no more vinegar smell in the kitchen, which makes my hubby happy. In fact, all of these cleaners have a mild, pleasant smell - kind of like herbs. And that makes me happy because I absolutely hate cleaners that have strong obnoxious scents.

Once again Seventh Generation has come out with a cleaner that is not only all natural but it gets the job done and done well. Add this to the long list of Seventh Generation products that I love.


Giveaway
One (1) winner will receive a Seventh Generation Disinfecting Cleaning Kit. The kit includes a disinfecting multi-surface cleaner, disinfecting bathroom cleaner, disinfecting wipes, a copy of The Conscious Kitchen, a cleaning caddy made from recycled plastic and two rolls of 100% recycled, unbleached paper towels.

Mandatory Entry
Tell me how you keep your family safe from chemicals or tell me what is the best thing you’ve done for the environment this year.

Extra Entries
- Follow me on Google Friend connect
- Subscribe to my RSS feed in a reader or subscribe via e-mail. Your email must validate or it will not count.
- Add my Green Mama's Pad button to your sidebar or add Green Mama's Pad to your blogroll. Leave your blog link.
- Add my Green Baby Shower Guide button to you blog. This is good for 2 entries so leave 2 comments. 
- Follow @GreenMamasPad and @SeventhGen on Twitter and and tweet this giveaway. You can tweet once daily. Leave link to tweet in comment. You must have at least 50 followers. You can use this:
Win a Seventh Generation Disinfecting Cleaning Kit from @greenmamaspad and @seventhgen! #giveaway http://bit.ly/aKZiX0
- Blog about this giveaway. Your post must include a link to this post plus a link to the sponsor. Please leave link.
- Stumble this post and comment with your ID.
- Stumble one of my non-giveaway posts and tell me which one.
- Become a fan of Green Mama's Pad on Facebook.
- Become a fan of Seventh Generation on Facebook.


This giveaway is open to US Residents 18+ only and will end on Thursday, May 13 at 11:59pm EST. One winner will be chosen at random using Random.org and will be posted on the Winner's Announcement Page. Winner has 48 hours to claim his/her prize otherwise a new winner will be picked. You must leave your e-mail address in all of your comment(s) so I can contact you. I will not share your e-mail address with anyone, it will strictly be used to notify you if you win. Good luck!

Please note that the opinions and views expressed here are my own and based on my personal experience with the products. You may encounter a different experience with this than I did. Seventh Generation and My Blog Spark sent me a Seventh Generation Disinfecting Kit to review and are also providing one for the giveaway. 

Some of the product links contained in this review use my Amazon affiliate account. Should you happen to purchase an item through one of these links, I may make a few cents.







Blog Search

Friday, April 23, 2010

Thursday, April 22, 2010

Thrifty Thursday - Earth Day Edition!

We all know that buying eco-friendly products can be expensive at times. So here are some discount codes for green products I have come across.  Celebrate Earth Day with some great savings! Happy shopping!




ReusableBags.com
Get the #1 reusable bag FREE (an $11 value!) Just add any color Eco-Circle Ultra-Compact Tote to your cart. No minimum purchase required! (limit one bag per order - cannot be combined with other coupons.)
coupon code: EDAYFREE
expires: 4.22.10 at midnight





Silikids Glass Bottles
50% off Siliskins Glass Bottles
coupon code: SILIBABY

Piggy Paint Natural Nail Polish
15% off entire order
coupon code: PLANET15L 
plus free shipping on orders $35+ (US only)






Keurig Organic K-Cups
$2.00 off select Organic K-Cups Packs.
expires 4.26.2010


Ecorations Fabric Gift Wraps & Bags
Earth Day Sale - select fabric gift wrap and bags on sale
ends 4.22.10


Bagensia Reusable Bags
select bags on sale, see sale image below




Wednesday, April 21, 2010

Stonyfield Farm Earth Day Giveaway

We are huge Stonyfield Farm fans in my house. Right now in our fridge you will find YoBaby 3-in-1 Meals, YoKids Yogurt and Super Smoothie drinkable yogurt. In fact, you can always find those 3 things in my fridge. My kids have not met a Stonyfield product that they didn't gobble up!Currently I am on a dairy free diet due to my nursing baby's milk protein intolerance. But if I wasn't dairy free I'd be eating their probiotic yogurt. I'd also love to try out their Oikos line of Greek yogurt. I have never tried Greek yogurt before but I heard its delicious plus is great to use in many recipes.

What is great about Stonyfield is not only do they make tasty organic products but they are truly a green company. They use clean renewable energy to help power their facility and they provide tremendous support for organic farms


We feel that healthy food can only come from a healthy planet – and through our organic ingredient purchases we have kept over 100,000 farm acres free of toxic, persistent pesticides and chemical fertilizers that can contaminate soil, rivers and drinking water.
For the past few months, Stonyfield has been following the daily life of organic farmer Guy Choiniere through his video diaries. Watching these is a great way to learn what happens on an organic farm. You can watch one videoe below and be sure to check out more on Stonyfield's FarmCam.







Giveaway!!
In celebration of Earth Day, Stonyfield Farm is giving one lucky reader a prize package that includes (1) reusable Stonyfield shopping bag, (1) Girls Gone Green book, (1) Terracycle seed starter kit, (1) Why Eat Organic DVD, (4) 5.3 oz Oikos coupons and (1) free 16 oz Oikos coupon.


Mandatory Entry
Watch the Down To Earth video posted above then comment on one thing you learned or one thing that inspired you from the video.

Extra Entries
- Follow me on Google Friend connect
- Subscribe to my RSS feed in a reader or subscribe via e-mail. Your email must validate or it will not count.
- Add my Green Mama's Pad button to your sidebar or add Green Mama's Pad to your blogroll. Leave your blog link.
- Add my Green Baby Shower Guide button to you blog. This is good for 2 entries so leave 2 comments. 
- Follow @GreenMamasPad and @Stonyfield on Twitter and and tweet this giveaway. You can tweet once daily. Leave link to tweet in comment. You must have at least 50 followers. You can copy and paste this:
Stonyfield Farm Earth Day Giveaway -win a prize package of fun Stonyfield goodies! @greenmamaspad @stonyfield #giveaway http://bit.ly/cBQTXZ
- Blog about this giveaway. Your post must include a link to this post plus a link to the sponsor. Please leave link.
- Stumble this post and comment with your ID.
- Stumble one of my non-giveaway posts and tell me which one.
- Become a fan of Green Mama's Pad on Facebook.
- Become a fan of Stonyfield Farm and YoBaby on Facebook.


This giveaway is open to US Residents 18+ only and will end on Wednesday, May 5 at 11:59pm EST. One winner will be chosen at random using Random.org and will be posted on the Winner's Announcement Page. Winner has 48 hours to claim his/her prize otherwise a new winner will be picked. You must leave your e-mail address in all of your comment(s) so I can contact you. I will not share your e-mail address with anyone, it will strictly be used to notify you if you win. Good luck!

Please note that the opinions and views expressed here are my own and based on my personal experience with the products. You may encounter a different experience with this than I did. Stonyfield Farm is providing the prize pack for this giveaway and will be sending me one as well.





Wordless Wednesday: Earth Day Every Day

Tomorrow is Earth Day so I just wanted to take a moment to say even doing the smallest thing can help make a difference. Let's all take small steps to help make Earth Day be every day.





Tuesday, April 20, 2010

Keurig Organic K-Cups Earth Day Sale!



Celebrate Earth Day with $2 off Organic K-Cup® Portion Packs. Certified organic coffees are chemical free for superior taste and health and use methods and materials that have a low impact on the environment. Offer is valid through April 26, 2010.







Friday, April 16, 2010

Green Giveaway Friday 4/16

Here are some featured Green Giveaways that I have found around the blogosphere. Please add both your green and non-green giveaways and contests into Mr. Linky below so we can do some blog hoppin!

You can also submit your green giveaways to me during the week for me to feature on Fridays.


Just Another New Blog
Kindred Scents Natural Soy Candle 4/16
Original Sprout Gift Basket $100+ Value 4/21
Item of Choice from Nature’s Baby 4/23
$15 GC to Piggy Paint 4/24
Seventh Generation Green Cleaning Pack 4/29

mkokopelli
Earthlust 20 Oz. Stainless Steel Bottle 4/22
KidsCraft Playhouses Cottage or Shuttle 4/22
I Can Save The Ocean Book 4/30
Wonder Pets Save the Tree! Book 5/1
This is Our World Book 5/1
Mama Miti Book 5/2

The Mom Buzz 
Disneynature’s OCEANS 4/27
National Geographic Little Kids 4/30
Almond Milk and Chico Bag 5/8




Thursday, April 15, 2010

Thrifty Thursday

We all know that buying eco-friendly products can be expensive at times. So here are some discount codes for green products I have come across. This may or may not be a weekly post, depending on if I find new ones or not. Happy shopping!


Piggy Paint Natural Nail Polish
15% off entire order
coupon code: PLANET15L 
plus free shipping on orders $35+ (US only)



Bagensia Reusable Bags
select bags on sale, see sale image below




Ecorations Fabric Gift Wraps & Bags
Earth Day Sale - select fabric gift wrap and bags on sale
ends 4.22.10




Wednesday, April 14, 2010

Wordless Wednesday: Spring Flowers

I am so glad that Spring and the warmer weather is here. It was a loooooong winter here in New England. These Hyacinth are my favorite flowers in our yard.







Friday, April 9, 2010

Green Giveaway Friday 4/9

Here are some featured Green Giveaways that I have found around the blogosphere. Please add both your green and non-green giveaways and contests into Mr. Linky below so we can do some blog hoppin!

You can also submit your green giveaways to me during the week for me to feature on Fridays.


Just Another New Blog
Envirosax - Designer Bag from the Graphic Series 4/10
Sprout Watches 4/10
The Cream Perfume Company - Lotion or Solid Perfume 4/15

Look What Mom Found... And Dad Too
Horizon Organic Chocolate Milk 4/13

mkokopelli
Elegant Roots $50 GC 4/12
My Baby's Green $40 GC 4/14

Mom Wear Your Tees
ReUsies Reusable Snack and Sandwich Bags 4/13

Pure Natural Diva
revitaPOP - The Vitamin B12 Lollipop 4/10




Wednesday, April 7, 2010

Wordless Wednesday: Cool Dude

Josh looking cool in Grandpa's hat. I love his smile.







Friday, April 2, 2010

Thursday, April 1, 2010

Horizon Organic Lowfat Chocolate Milk Giveaway

Getting kids to drink their milk can sometimes be difficult. William, 5, used to LOVE regular ole plain (organic) milk. I never ever added anything. When he was a toddler he would have drank it all day long if I let him. Then somewhere between the ages of 3 and 4 he changed his mind and decided that he did not like milk. At all. So I thought, what kid doesn't like chocolate milk, right? I bought some organic chocolate syrup and started mixing that in. (That famous brand name syrup you are thinking of is loaded with high fructose corn syrup). Much to my delight he really liked the chocolate milk and I was happy that he was getting in his daily cup of milk. Well as a mom of 4 boys, I think it is obvious that I am crazy busy. Sitting there stirring together chocolate milk with twin 2 year olds tugging on each of my legs is no way to start a morning. Thankfully there are companies like Horizon who have a solution for me.

New from Horizon is their Organic lowfat Chocolate Milk with DHA Omega-3. That's right, organic chocolate milk already mixed together for me. Yay! Wait, what the heck is DHA Omega-3 you ask?

  • DHA Omega-3 is an important nutrient that helps support heart, brain and eye health.
  • DHA provides a nutritional boost for children's growing minds and bodies.
  • DHA is a key structural component of the brain, yet many young children don't get their recommended daily amount of DHA as it is found in a limited number of food sources.
To learn more about DHA, visit http://www.horizonorganicdha.com/.

Horizon Organic Milk Plus DHA Omega-3 is fortified with a natural, 100% vegetarian and sustainable source of DHA - a safe, wholesome, delicious way to bring more of this important nutrient into your family's diet.

I love that there is this super convenient option from Horizon now. I know it can save me a lot of time and some aggravation as well. And since it is organic you can rest assured that there is no high fructose corn syrup or other "junk" in there. I have yet to find a non-organic chocolate milk (premade) or non-organic chocolate syrup that is free of HFCS.

Horizon sent me some coupons so I could pick up a free half gallon of their Organic lowfat Chocolate Milk with DHA Omega-3 at my local grocery store to try out. There are two supermarkets in my town, Stop & Shop and Big Y, and sadly neither of them carry any Horizon milk. Strangely, Stop & Shop has the cases of individual milk boxes (for lunch boxes) but they don't carry any half gallon sizes. I was very disappointed because I really wanted to test this out. I am not giving up yet and will continue to check other stores when possible.


Giveaway
Two (2) winners will each receive 4 coupons for Horizon Organic Lowfat Chocolate Milk with DHA Omega-3. (2 coupons are for a free half gallon and 2 coupons for $1 off a half gallon)

Mandatory Entry
Visit Horizon Dairy and then come back and tell me something you  learned about the company or another one of their products that you'd like to try.

Extra Entries
- Follow me on through Google Friend connect
- Subscribe to my RSS feed in a reader or subscribe via e-mail. Your email must validate or it will not count.
- Add my Green Mama's Pad button to your sidebar or add Green Mama's Pad to your blogroll. Leave your blog link.
- Add my Green Baby Shower Guide button to you blog. This is good for 2 entries so leave 2 comments. 
- Follow @GreenMamasPad and @HorizonDairy on Twitter and and tweet this giveaway. You can tweet once daily. Leave link to tweet in comment. You must have at least 50 followers. Horizon Organic Lowfat Chocolate Milk #giveaway @GreenMamasPad http://bit.ly/aY5wRr
- Blog about this giveaway. Your post must include a link to this post plus a link to the sponsor. Please leave link.
- Stumble this post and comment with your ID.
- Stumble one of my non-giveaway posts and tell me which one.
- Become a fan of Green Mama's Pad on Facebook.
- Become a fan of Horizon on Facebook.


This giveaway is open to US Residents 18+ only and will end on Thursday, April 8 at 11:59pm EST. Two winners will be chosen at random using Random.org and will be posted on the Winner's Announcement Page. Winner has 48 hours to claim his/her prize otherwise a new winner will be picked. You must leave your e-mail address in all of your comment(s) so I can contact you. I will not share your e-mail address with anyone, it will strictly be used to notify you if you win. Good luck!

Please note that the opinions and views expressed here are my own and based on my personal experience with the product. You may encounter a different experience with this than I did. Horizon provided me with a coupon to try the product for review and is providing coupons for the giveaway.


Natural Dyes for Easter Eggs

I went to my local Natural Food store yesterday in hopes that they had some natural egg dying kits or just natural food dyes in general. Unfortunately they did not. So this year we will be attempting to make some natural dyes for our eggs. It should be interesting to say the least. I think the kids will enjoy it plus it is a little Science project.

Here are some recipes for natural egg dyes from Mother Earth News. We will be trying this on Saturday.

RED
2 cups beets, grated
1 tbsp white vinegar
2 cups water
Substitute: strong Red Zinger tea, or chopped fresh or frozen cranberries

YELLOW TO GOLD
3 large handfuls of yellow/brown onionskins
1 tbsp white vinegar
3 cups water
Substitute: strong chamomile tea, or 2 to 3 tbsp ground turmeric
(note: I have been told that onion skins makes more of a brown than yellow)

BLUE
1 pound frozen blueberries, crushed
1 tbsp white vinegar
2 cups water
Substitute: red cabbage leaves, coarsely chopped, create lavender




INSTRUCTIONS & TIPS

  • Follow the recipes above to make the dyes, using individual stainless steel, glass or enamel saucepans for each color. Combine the ingredients and boil each color mixture separately for 15 minutes before dyeing eggs. The vinegar acts as a fixative so without it, the dyes won’t stick to the eggs.
  • For uniform color, strain each dye mixture through cheesecloth or a fine strainer.
  • For a mottled, tie-dyed or spotty effect, leave all the ingredients in the pans.
  • The longer the eggs remain in the dye, the deeper the color.
  • Mix combinations of the primary dyes (in separate cups) to make secondary colors.




Related Posts Plugin for WordPress, Blogger...