Ecostore USA Giveaway!

WINNER: SCOTTISH TWINS!!!

Well, I figured I'd come back to the blogging world with a bang! :) How about a giveaway??

Ecostore USA would like to give one of my readers a $25 gift certificate to their online store! How great is that?! They offer body, hair, household, and pet products that "are not only good for the user, but good for the planet". Here's a brief description from their website:

Our eco friendly, plant-based household cleaning products are as effective as the leading supermarket brands, and our body and baby care ranges are gentle on your skin and are simply beautiful to use.

All of our products are made from plant- and mineral-based ingredients, free of toxic chemicals that bring people closer to nature with non-toxic, environmentally safe solutions that also help to reduce our carbon footprint.

I have had the pleasure of sampling a couple of their products. I chose the coconut soap and the laundry powder. I was excited to try the coconut soap on my youngest boys as I have heard that coconut soap can be extremely beneficial to dry skin and possibly eczema. However, once I received the soap, I saw that cow's milk was an ingredient. Although the website says the amount of cow's milk is a very small amount, I just wasn't willing to risk it with Witt's life threatening allergy to milk. For those of you with milk allergies in the family... I just wanted to make an extra effort to point out the ingredients. (Another side note for allergy folks: Goat's milk is an ingredient in the Baby Soap.)

So... Jeff and I tested the coconut soap. Neither of us have very sensitive skin, so I don't have anything extraordinary to report. It was soap, it smelled like coconut, and it cleaned our skin with No Nasty Chemicals (TM). Good stuff. :)

I've also been using the laundry powder for about three weeks now. Works great! No irritation on any of the boys and as I type this I'm thinking that Nathan and Witt might actually have had less skin irritation since I've been using it. Nice!

So, now I know you want to try some of this stuff for yourself, right?! Here are the rules to the giveaway:

1) I'm not really sure if they want to mail outside of the US at the moment, so to be on the safe side, I'm going to say that you must have a US mailing address.

2) Possible 4 entries per person. Make individual comments for each entry.

• 1 entry for visiting their website and leaving me a comment regarding an item(s) you would like to try
• 1 entry if you Tweet about this giveaway (leave the link in the comment)
• 1 entry if you tell your friends on Facebook about the giveaway ( on you honor)
• 1 entry if you blog about this giveaway (leave the link in the comment)
  

3) You do not have to be a blogger to win, but you must have a valid email address as the gift certificate will be sent to your email.

5) Once the winner is announced and I will email you. You will have two business days to claim your gift certificate before I choose another winner. I will not hunt you down... sorry.

6) You have until NOON CST, Monday, August 17, 2009 to enter.

I also must tell you that Ecostore USA is running a fabulous BOGO sale for the month of August. You must purchase $50 worth of products to get the free items, but S&H will be free and you'll get two of everything! So even if you don't win this gift certificate, there is still a great sale going on!

Good luck!

One Man's Junk...

Well, in this case more than one man's junk is my treasure! For whatever reason, my neighbors have been getting rid of some great stuff!

When someone doesn't want something anymore and just wants to get rid of it, our city allows us to just put it at the end of the driveway for someone else to pick up. Kind of like a freecycle thing. Well, let me tell you, I am doing my share of recycling some free stuff! :)

Check out what I've picked up in the last week:

1. A box of cans for one of Will's school fundraising drives.



2. A sturdy chair for my MIL's lake house. If she doesn't want it, I'll put it in the yard sale I'm planning for November and make a buck. :)





3. A Little Tykes play set. I just need to attach the slide, but obviously there's fun to be had without it!



4. A plastic drawer system for all our arts & crafts supplies! I was going to buy one in about a month when the Monthly RoundUp is the craft room, but I'll take it now for free (even with one drawer missing). Free is free and it'll work!

5. See that white thing to the back right of my drawers, it's a toddler bed. Exactly like this one. Nothing wrong with it. We don't need it right this minute, and if we decide we don't want to store it, I'll put it in the before mentioned yard sale and make another buck. :)

6. Score! How cute is this? A Little Tykes basketball goal with net! All it needs is a ball and some bleach... of which I have both. :)


So, how about you? Do you pick up junk on the side of the road?

Saving Money with Frozen Buns

Just an update and yet another plug for Crunchy Chicken... We used half as much electricity as compared to last year at this time! Half, people... HALF!! WoW! And there were two more days in this cycle than last year's. Amazing how lowering the thermostat just a little can save some major money! Good thing because I spent too much on what was supposed to be a small Christmas. Shh... don't tell! :)

It's Cold Today

Well, it's almost been one full month of Crunchy Chicken's Freeze Yer Buns challenge and I must say that today... I am. It is 38 degrees outside and our thermostat is set at 68, but it sure does feel colder than that! In fact, I think it is... and I have proof~

We have a wireless thermo sensor that we were given as a wedding gift (interesting gift, I know... but it has come in handy). I have it in the hallway next to the built in thermostat and it reads the house temperature to be 66 degrees. So then I wonder, hmmm... which one is right? I need a third independent reading! I get the bright idea to use the kids' temporal thermometer (a baby gift) to scan the air. It reads 64 to 65. (I take several scans to get an decent average being the nerd that I am.) With all measurements complete, I think we're chillin' somewhere around 65, which makes me feel better because 68 makes me sound like such a wimp - especially to my northern readers, I'm sure (Hi, Auntie Mary!).

We have been using the energy saving light bulbs for some time, but this past month we have also incorporated some of Sense to Save's energy reducing tips, put a lock on the refrigerator door to keep the boys from playing in there, have made a better effort at turning out lights, and of course we have used the central heating unit less. I was so happy to see our utility bill had dropped this past month as compared to last year! We saved 460 KWH compared to last November! We also reduced our water by 13 CGAL without even trying! Who knew?!

So, even though our pockets are lined with a little more money, my buns are freezing. Could be because I'm out here in the unheated portion of the house on the computer, ya think? :)

Freeze Yer Buns

Ready for the Winter Temps? Me too!! I love the Fall and Winter: Coffee and hot chocolate, sweaters and long sleeve shirts, warm comfy pajamas, blankets, and a toasty fire. Oh, I love cold weather!

Now I'm really going to have to bust out the cold weather clothes because I have accepted the Freeze Yer Buns Challange! With two babies in the house we can't go too low, but we can reduce at least a little. We're going to leave the thermostat at 68. I know that's not really cold for you northern folks, but it just doesn't get EXTREMELY cold here. I have no idea what we normally keep it on during this time of year as this is only our second winter here. I do know that the babies' rooms are 5 - 8 degrees colder than the rest of the house though, so I'm going to be running space heaters in their rooms. (I wish our room was the coldest in the house; alas, it is not.)

When I think of cold weather, I have fond memories of our first house when we were newlyweds. We lived in a house that was built in 1940-ish and it had hardwood floors throughout. The windows were single pane and we didn't have a central heating unit - only the single gas fireplace in the living room. We slept under a huge white down comforter. It was so nice and snuggly... until... you got out of bed! Jeff would set his alarm for around 5am, jump out of bed, go light the fire, then run and jump back into bed until it was time for us to get up for work. At least the big chill was knocked off by then. Such great memories (although I'm happy to have central now!) LOL!

Back to freezing my buns... if we can go lower than 68, we will. So far it hasn't even gotten close to that. We've got the doors and windows open - it's beautiful here. So, Day 1 of the challenge... not a problem! :)

Head on over to Crunchy Chicken and make your pledge to Freeze Yer Buns, too! I dare ya! :)

Blog Action Day

So, today's BLOG ACTION DAY: the day bloggers all write about the environment.

I wanted to do something "profound"; something more than my previous post about going "green". (Although there are lots of great links there for you to check out!) However, with this weekend's events and a funeral Monday, I really haven't had time to put any good thinking time towards it. So, I'm just going to give you what I had as far as "notes to self".

GREEN CLEANING

I have really been wanting to find "green" ways of cleaning. I found a great article about how to clean your house without hurting the planet. These are some of the ideas they have listed on there that I found to be easy ways to change my cleaning habits (and cheap, too!). (I wanted to have tried these out before today arrived, but other things became more important. So, as I try them, I'll let you know...)

• Fabric can be softened by adding one-quarter cup of baking soda to the wash cycle; this recently worked on several pairs of catalog-bought cargo pants made of a cardboard-stiff cotton that literally scraped a teenager's skin.
  
• A quarter cup of white vinegar will also soften fabric, as well as eliminate cling.
• For cleaning windows, fill your own spray bottle with water and either one-quarter cup white vinegar or one tablespoon lemon juice to cut grease.

LESS JUNK MAIL

I was directed to www.andamom.com by a new blogger friend, Mom Unplugged, and found where I can get rid of the catalog junk mail. For instance, I'm receiving catalogs for the dolls. I have boys that play with trucks and trains. I have no need for that and I don't know why I'm receiving it. I won't anymore! Yipee! Less to just throw out/recycle. (Luckily I have magazine recycling in my area.)

(My previous post on going green gives the link for getting rid of credit card pre-approvals that come in the mail.)

FUN STUFF

Now for the fun stuff... the stuff you don't usually hear about...

I came across a blog written by "Crunchy Chicken". I have really found a disturbing interest in her blog. I say disturbing only because some of the challenges she poses to her readers are, well, "a little out there". Here are two examples:

• We've all heard of cloth diapers and hand made flannel wipes, right? Well, she takes it a step further and suggests no toilet paper in her Cloth Wipe Challenge! I really had never thought about that. Not ready to try it, yet. I'll wait to see how that challenge ends first. Yes, I'm a wimp. However, I believe the challenge is still underway and you can participate if you like! :::taunting voice::: She's giving prizes! =)
  
• Now, let me say this upfront: Men, stop reading here. We're now talking about our "monthly intruder". Crunchy Chicken gave a Diva Cup Challenge. The Diva Cup is a product that eliminates the need for tampons and pads, thus reducing waste in the landfills. (I'm not going into details here, you can read about it on her blog.) Now, for WHATEVER REASON (I don't know) I found this very interesting! It appears to be cleaner and less of a hassle than the standard method of dealing. And then I saw in the Diva Cup Poll that out of 154 participants, 65% of them loved it and will never go back to tampons/pads. That's pretty great odds I must say. So yes, I ordered it. I know, who would have thought?! Anyway, I'll let you know how that goes too. (Yes, I'll post a warning for men, first!)

Those are my thoughts. Nothing profound and only a couple things out of the ordinary . I hope I've given you something to think about anyway (and maybe a few chuckles).

One thing I've learned, though, is that we're all different. What one person can give up another person can't live without (ie I'm not giving up disposable diapers). It's a personal choice about where and how we help the environment. The point is that you need to help. (See my poll to the right for how my readers are already helping.)

One person can make a difference, but guess what, you are not the only person. There are lots of people like you and me making just small changes in our lives for the environment and the future. Our children and grandchildren will thank us for what we do today. Make a change somewhere in your life and let me know what it is. I'd love to hear about it! =)

Blog Action Day

You may (or may not) have noticed the new "Blog Action Day" banner on the Right Hand Side of my blog. On October 15th, bloggers around the web will unite to put a single important issue on everyone’s mind - the environment.

I haven't decided specifically what I want to write about yet, so I thought I would get input from YOU. Take a sec to answer my poll about what you do to help the environment. You can choose more than one item. If you select "Something Else" please let me know what that something else is (Comment, email, call me, whatever). All votes are confidential; I don't even know who votes what through the polls.

Please leave me some feedback about what you might like to read about regarding the environment, too. Thanks!

Living Green"er"

Upon moving to our new town, I've gotten more active in recycling. The city offers pickup for certain items that can be recycled and I jump on the bandwagon as they say. Wow - who knew that we could fill that recycle bucket full each week?! Then again, we go through at least 3 gallons of milk during the week, and I do cook a lot with canned items. I get so many magazines and catalogs in the mail (many of which I just toss immediately). We also make a trip about every other month to recycle the cardboard that comes our way. (I love ordering online and through catalogs; getting things in the mail is something I find fun. Plus with the Southern Living at HOME boxes that come our way, we usually have a lot of cardboard.) So anyway... we do the recycling bit and enjoy it. Find recycling information for your area.

Hubby came home one day with a bunch of the Energy Smart light bulbs. They use less wattage but give off the same amount of light. Are they more expensive? Oh, yes. Do I love them? Yes! I could tell a difference in how hot the room felt the first day. Will's room doesn't get a lot of circulation and was always really warm when the lights were on - it's much more comfortable in there now. I can't say that we've seen a significant improvement in our electric bill, but there has been some. We will continue to use these bulbs and the nice thing is they are now coming in a more "attractive" style than just the curly bulb. Go grab a few bulbs for yourself and see if you can tell a difference - let me know.

Paper napkins. Ugh! Go through a fast food line and they either don't give you enough or they give you way toooooo many. When it's the way tooooo many option, I've started saving them and putting them with my regular "pretty" paper napkins and using them. I used to just toss them in the trash. I've also stopped using paper towels to dry my hands at home. I've purchased a beautiful hand towel holder and use a washable towel instead. If we could all just stop using/wasting one paper napkin each day... I don't know the stats. I'm not that far in to going green. Babysteps for me right now.

Now, for the latest improvement, I never thought I'd do it. Don't know why, maybe from feeling funny about walking into a grocery store with bags or having to tote my bags while I shop. I know, I know, those are both silly reasons. However, one day when checking out at our local Publix, they were selling these Green Bags for about $2 each. I remember watching Oprah one day (which I rarely do) and she was offering some for $10 each; so for $2 I bought two. The clerk packed my groceries in them and out I went feeling "green" and good. I had just saved the landfill from two plastic bags! When I got home I realized that I had saved it from more than just 2 bags - those Green Bags hold a ton of stuff! I felt even better.

The real test for me was now to remember to take them to the store with me, walk in with them, and ask the clerk to use them. I've done this twice now at Wal*Mart. Both times the greeter at the door stopped me to ask if I had returns and I had to explain the bags. Both times the clerk looked at me strangely, but complied. Both times I was amazed at how much stuff fits in those bags and how sturdy they are. I want more bags!! So, I go back to Publix which is of course sold out and doesn't know when they'll get more. I found the Green Bags on the internet for a bit more money , but purchased them anyway because I do love these bags. (Choose The Green Bag under the Product heading.) They've also got some produce bags that I ordered and thought I'd try.

Just yesterday I submitted my and my hubby's info to stop receiving the pre-approved credit card offers in the mail. Again, just stuff I throw out without even looking at it. You can do that, too, at the centralized service for opting out. You can choose to opt-out for 5 years or forever. Do it! Save some trees!

I must say, I am enjoying the "greener" life. I'm not the No Impact Man, but it does makes me feel like I am making a difference. (I got many of these links from No Impact Man which I heard about from a good friend's blog... shout out to Laurel!)

These are just some simple things we've changed in our lives. Got any other simple suggestions? I want to be greenerer. LOL!