Eco-Friendly Sleep and Relaxation

October 18th, 2009 By: Brittany

Firefly Light Tray

It has the convenience of a nightlight, but requires a tiny fraction of the power. This neat bedside tray, called the Firefly, uses super-energy efficient “electroceramescent” technology, which combines a durable ceramic with phosphorescent particles to produce a soft blue glow. Even if left on 24/7, the particles will give off light for at least a decade (the company’s been running one for 12 years now). No more fumbling in the dark for your glasses.

Glo To Sleep Mask

Put on your Glo to Sleep, gently raise your eyes and hold your gaze on the soft glo, and breathe deeply. Repetitive and worrying thoughts will stop. Tension will leave your body. You will become very relaxed and quickly be asleep. You will sleep deeply and wake up refreshed and alert.

( I have heard mix reviews about the masks. However, they people that said it work were also people who have been on many sleeping pills for many years. The benefit to using the mask; no more pills).

Eco Massage Torch

This mini dynamo massager with LED light is a great eco product that is ideal for hiking, camping and other outdoor activities. This fantastic massage torch doesn’t require new bulbs or even batteries just wind up the crank attached on the back and it will provide you with light and even vibration to relax your tense muscles.

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Melamine In My Toddler’s Plastic

October 5th, 2009 By: Brittany

Children's Cereal Bowl Set - with Stainless Steel Interior

Children's Double Walled Yellow Tiger Mug with Stainless Steel

Stainless Steel Plate

As I was out shopping this weekend for some cool dishware for my son, I noticed that all the cute plastic bowls and dishes are made from melamine. I am sure they have been using this product for dishware for awhile, but I was completely unaware. For those of you who are like me and aren’t aware of what melamine is here is a brief back round.

Melamine is an organic base and a trimer of cyanamide, with a 1,3,5-triazine skeleton. Like cyanamide, it contains 66% nitrogen by mass and, if mixed with resins, has fire retardant properties due to its release of nitrogen gas when burned or charred, and has several other industrial uses. Melamine is also a metabolite of cyromazine, a pesticide. It is formed in the body of mammals who have ingested cyromazine.

Melamine is described as being “Harmful if swallowed, inhaled or absorbed through the skin. Chronic exposure may cause cancer or reproductive damage. Eye, skin and respiratory irritant.” (Wikipedia)

Melamine has been found is dog food, baby formula, and other foods on the grocery shelves. So, what can you do to avoid this in your dishware? I bought fiesta ware which is porcelain; melamine and lead free. For my son I searched to see what other options are for him. Since my son doesn’t understand that some things are breakable I had to find him something that was durable as well as appealing to him. So, this is was I bought, LifeWithOutPlastic.Com ( shown above). This company carries bowls, cups, and dishes from stainless steel. There are not coating or varnishes. What I like about this company is that they carry a variety of items in stainless steel. They also have dishes that my son enjoys.

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Eco Your Halloween The Friendly Way

September 20th, 2009 By: Brittany

The leaves are changing and though the temperature outside does not reflect it, fall is around the horizon. Fall happens to be one of my favorite times of the year. There are many reasons why; the one that tops the list is Halloween.

Halloween happens to my family’s favorite holiday. There is nothing that makes us adults feel more like kids then dressing up and eating candle. In my attempts to do some greening up around the house I thought Halloween good defiantly use some greening too.

So here is my list about adding green to the Halloween colors.

Costumes

You can avoid buying new costumes by checking the closet to see what you can whip up. I have giving the old costumes away over the years, but if you have kept any over the years this is always a great idea. I found that making a costume with my son is also a less expensive as well as family friendly way to do Halloween. When you make your own you can also avoid any material that has PVC that may be used in store bought. You can also make new costumes out of old sheets, recycled fabric or vintage clothing your old clothes. This site has some great costume ideas, here.

Picking the right pumpkin.

What is Halloween without the traditional pumpkin picking. This year we planted our own pumpkins. This is a very cost effective approach as well as organic way to go. After we carve the pumpkins we like to use the rest for pies and cooked seeds. If you can’t grow your own find your local pumpkin patch and pick one. This is usually less expensive and usually organic.

Green candy?

Yes. Even the Halloween candy can be eco-friendly. Organic chocolates, cereal bars, organic lollipops, and organic cookies are all available for Halloween. They are not only healthier than regular candy, but they are also environmentally friendlier. Find them at local organic groceries, or health food stores.

The packaging that many eco-friendly candies come in packaging that is minimal and recyclable. You can also handout things like pencils, crayons, mini coloring books and other items of this nature. Ideas like these might be good for those kids with allergies that may be in candy (peanuts, chocolate, etc).

Bring out the decorations.

Get creative use old decorations to save money. You can also make or own with items around the house. Make your own Halloween candle bowls by using old bowls around the house. Buy recycled paper and make personalized decorations.

If you must buy decorations buy decorations made of recycled material. You can also use also use some of the other holiday decorations for your Halloween ones such as lights.

Patio light.

To make sure that the kids know you are home for treats use a solar powered light to light up your porch. Or  change your porch light bulb to a CFL bulb.

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Clean Your Home’s Air With Plants

September 16th, 2009 By: Brittany

A simple, beautiful, and cost effective way to keep your house healthy and clean!

Research has shown that these 10 plants are the most effective all-around in counteracting off gassed chemicals and contributing to balanced internal humidity.

• Areca palm
• Reed palm
• Dwarf date palm
• Boston fern
• Janet Craig dracaena
• English ivy
• Australian sword fern
• Peace Lily
• Rubber plant
• Weeping fig

It is suggested that one plant should be placed approximately
10 square yards of floor space, assuming average ceiling heights
of 8 to 9 feet. This means that you need two or three plants to
contribute to good air quality in the average domestic living
room of about 20 to 25 square yards.

I found an interesting little tid bit on indoor plants that might benefit your workspace.
A study, published in the “Journal of Environmental Horticulture,” reports that productivity increased 12 percent when people performed tasks on a computer with plants, compared people who performed the same task in a room without plants. [ continue reading ]

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Are Organic Sheets Healthier Than Non?

September 10th, 2009 By: Brittany

I have been wondering recently if using Organic bedding would be better then using the generic 100% cotton. I have never had an aversion to using generic, but I realized that after my son was born he was starting to show signs of eczema. I knew that this was a fairly common skin condition with a host of possibilities that could cause it. So, like any moms I want to investigate what could be causing it.

My husband and I started with shampoo, soap, and laundry detergent. When those showed no sign for his improvement we moved to possible food allergies and sensitivities. Still there was no change after a month. A family member recommended I try organic cotton sheets. We had switched our whole house over to organic everything, but the bedding. I thought that it couldn’t hurt to try. To our surprise switching the sheets did work.

I had never paid attention to the sheets I bought my son before, but when we went looking for his new set we realized that many sheets had fire-retardant on them. These chemicals are well known to cause eye, throat, and skin irritation. When I went looking for some extra information this is what I found.

Most non-organic bedding is made of a 50/50 blend. The blend is typically 50 percent non-organic cotton and 50 percent polyester. Polyester is made from a petrochemical blend. And cotton sheets are made differently. In the production of non-organic cotton, farmers use large amounts of pesticides.

The production and buying of organic beddings is also much better for the environment than if you were to buy non-organic bedding. Spraying chemicals and pesticides is not only unhealthy for us but is also unhealthy for the environment: these sprays deteriorate and deplete the Earth’s ozone layer. The elimination of the use of these pesticides and chemicals will lead to a healthier environment for all.

If you are looking for retailers in the area check out Holy Lamb Organics, Target, and Natural Spaces.

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Financial Peace At An Unfinancial Time

September 1st, 2009 By: Brittany

This economy is tough. I think that everyone has been hit in some way. This kind of financial uncertainty makes daily life stressful- money and financial security play a very active role of life. When we feel threatened it becomes even more stressful.

I found some great sites that I feel everyone should be aware of. Most ideas that you are going to read or hear are not new ideas, but someones just hearing them again can help us making smarter and wiser decisions about money.

1. Extended Warranties
Generally, they’re not worth the money. (The only thing I now have a warranty on is my laptop computer, and that’s because I practically beat it to death.) If a new gadget or appliance is going to fail, research tells us it will do so during the manufacturer’s warranty period or long after the extended warranty has expired. That makes extended warranties, which can cost anywhere from $5 to hundreds of dollars, a big profit center for retailers and a pretty useless expense for consumers.

Get Smart: If you’re worried about a breakdown, take the money you’d spend on a warranty and stash it into a special savings account. If your item fails, you’ll have the money to repair it. If not (which is more likely), in three or five years when everything’s gone well, you’ll have stashed away a nice little nest egg.

2. Gym Fees
The sales pitch is compelling and the promise of better health is hard to deny. But getting roped into a legal obligation to pay a big monthly fee for the next two or three years—whether you use the gym or not—makes no sense.

[ continue reading ]

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Conquer Insects The Eco-Friendly Way

August 31st, 2009 By: Brittany

I have had my share with our insect problem inside our home this summer. I am sure that many of us have heard or have dealt personally with sugar ants, and other indoor insects. Often, you find to get rid of these unsanitary and pesky insects is using chemical products that only make the environment in your home worse.

EcoSense Brand Indoor Insect Killer

I have recently purchased a product called EcoSense Brand Indoor Insect Killer. This is a very safe product that gets the job done. According to the company the product has no harsh chemicals, non-staining, and kills bugs on contact. In my opinion the product served up to its word. My family is very sensitive to chemicals and when you have small children and animals around you don’t want them to get sick with anything that has bad chemicals in it. They also have insectidial soap and snail and slug sprays.

To learn more about this EcoSense go here.

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