Going green — Page 14

Metamorphic Toys – Holiday Gift Guide

December 7, 2012 By Anne

I love highlighting green products. This time of year, why not green toys? Metamorphic Toys has some really cool toys, perfect for active, imaginative children.

You know how kids love to play in the boxes that toys come in instead of the toys? Well, mine loved to play in boxes. What a great green toy!

Well Metamorphic Toys want kids to play the eco-friendly way too! They have earned numerous awards from experts for innovation, quality, educational value, creativity and environmental responsibility.

We received one of Metamorphic Toys, The Maillbox & Eco-Art U-Stick’ems Kit. What a great project! It’s an art project and toy all in one!

It was easy to put together for me. SavThe Stickers are not really stickers. They look like them, but require glue to adhere to the box. This way stickers are not wasted. The stickers are also all black and white. So this requires the children to color them.

Here is the finished product…..

Okay, so my daughter lacks a great artistic ability. But she had fun and it can be an on going project….

But she does have fun putting “mail” in her mailbox!!

This is a made in the USA product and all materials are made from recycled materials and are recyclable and biodegradable.

Metamorphic Toys are available for purchase on Amazon.com

Check Metamorhpic Toys out on Facebook and Twitter too!

We received the above product for review. Opinion are my own.

Anne

I'm a mother of 2 who likes to get involved in too much! Besides writing here I started a non-profit, I'm on the PTO board, very active in my community and volunteer in the school. I enjoy music, reading, cooking, traveling and spending time with my family. We just adopted our 3rd cat and love them all!

Rubbermaid LunchBlox

August 27, 2012 By Anne

School has started!! Yeah!!

Except now I get to pack lunch for two kiddos instead of one! That’s okay, Rubbermaid has come out with some cool lunch containers – the Rubbermaid LunchBlox.

I got to try out the LunchBlox Sandwich Kit, which contains four square containers in different sizes and a Blue Ice to get everything cool. These are all BPA-free and microwave, dishwasher, and freezer safe. The kits includes: 2 snack containers, 1 Side Container, 1 Sandwich Container and 1 Medium Blue Ice. These generally sell for around $12.99 and they are sold just about everywhere. I even saw a larger pack available at BJ’s.

So today I tried out the LunchBlox. Everything fit except for the cookies. My cookies were pretty big and Savannah suggested I break the cookie into pieces to make it fit. So that’s what we did. She asked for mini corn dogs, so those are in the sandwich container. Some watermelon and fishes filled the other two containers. My only problem was these did not fit into the lunch box we picked out. So we will be buying a cloth lunch carrier that will fit everything.

Rubbermaid has other sizes available as well, so if the Lunch Kit is not for you, check out all the other ones. I would like to get the LunchBlox Salad Kit.

You can even buy a LunchBlox Lunch Bag that will fit everything and even has a place to put a water bottle. This is what I need for my daughter!! If only they pink or purple.

Check out Rubbermaid on Facebook and Twitter for more ideas!

I received the LunchBlox Sandwich Kit to review. All opinions are my own.

Anne

Restore That Old Patio Furniture!

August 20, 2012 By Anne

We have a small patio that I’m thinking about enclosing. Having it screened in will keep out most of the bugs and mosquitoes. I think my two cats would also enjoy going out side for a bit. I’m looking to sell our table and chairs in lew of a love seat, chair and coffee table. We really don’t use the table and I would love to sit out on the patio and read my book of the week.

But what do you do if you have an old patio set that you still want to use, but it needs some love?

Don’t fill the landfills with it, restore it!

I found this company online that restores ca patio furniture, called Patio Guys. When you refinish your furniture, you are saving anywhere from 30% -70% of replacement cost. Plus, Patio Guys offers a 5 year warranty on all residential service.

Patio Guys has kept 3,000,000 pounds of patio furniture from land fills. They use environmentally friendly “powder coat paint”. Which is what manufacturers use and they recycle materials whenever practical.

About a year ago I redid some pillows for our old patio. The pillows were still good, I just wanted a fresh look.

Please don’t trash your old stuff, give it new life!!

This post brought to you by Patio Guys. Opinions are my own.

Anne

Green Carpet Cleaning

July 20, 2012 By Anne

Going green used to be tough. Trying to find green cleaners and materials was not as easy as it is today. You can find green cleaners at any local grocery store, Target or Walmart. Most of the cleaning products we use are eco-friendly.

But what about carpet cleaning? I can just imagine the chemicals used in carpet cleaning! I found a company that offers green carpet cleaning by cleaning your carpet using natural and organic products. The company, Green Choice has been in the industry for over 20 years. They believe that a safe green cleaning is no longer a premium service, but a right that all of their customers deserve to enjoy.

Some products that are found in everyday carpet cleaners:

Sodium Laurel Sulfate (SLS): A skin and eye irritant.
Sodium Laureth Sulfate (SLES): Created as a non-irritating replacement to SLS, SLES was quickly classified as a carcinogen by the EPA. In fact, according to the EPA, SLES causes an increased incidence of cancer in controlled animal studies.
Perfluorooctanesulfonic Acid (PFOS): a toxic ingredient commonly found in carpet cleaning products such as Scotchgard. PFOS was outlawed by the EPA in May 2000, but was replaced by Perfluorobutanesulfonic Acid (PFBS), a precursor to PFOS that is still commonly found in cleaning products to this day

Having young kids at home and two cats I do not want these kind of chemicals in my home. That is if I can help it. Now I know I can!

After checking out the Green Choice website, my only complaint is that there are not enough locations. The nearest one to me is 6 hours away. Hopefully more locations will pop up!

This post brought to you by Green Choice.

Anne

Solar Panel Myths

July 8, 2012 By Anne

Have you thought about getting solar panels? We have. I would love to get solar panels, but the cost is just not in our budget. I was doing some research on solar and came across this website that have some great information. Plus they have a lease option. So maybe solar panels are not out of our league.

Here are some solar myths. I hope this helps you decide if solar is right for your family.

Myth – Solar technology is improving quickly, so it’s better to wait

Fact – Though there have been small improvements in solar panel efficiency, solar panels actually have changed surprisingly little in the last several decades. Compared with the technologies in your cell phone or laptop, solar technologies are relatively stable.

Myth – Solar power is only for the wealthy.

Fact – Solar power is one of the best home improvement investments you can make– it’s a way to save money (and even make money). You’ll slash your electricity bill, and you can use rebates, tax credits, and financing to make the cost of installation completely within your means. An average solar power system returns 2-4 times its cost in saved electricity bills, and it will pay itself back between 2-15 years, depending on your local situation.

Myth – Solar power is only for the “tree-huggers”.

Fact – Solar panel customers are savvy consumers who not only protect themselves from out of control electricity costs, they also help protect our environment – and our children’s futures – from the perils of dirty utility power and global warming. If that’s what it means to be a “tree-hugger,” we’re all for it.

Myth – Solar panels will increase my property taxes.

Fact – In California, solar installations are actually exempt from property tax. Because of that, installing solar panels will increase the resale value of your house without increasing your property tax at all.

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So how do solar panels work? Solar panels on your roof catch the sunlight and convert it to DC power. Then an inverter transforms the DC power into AC electricity which runs your household appliances. You have a meter that tells you how much or how little electricity you are using. When you see the meter running in reverse, it is telling you that your panels are sending power back into the grids.

I’ve read there are several programs and some require no down payment and it can increase your homes value. I’m going to investigate further and check this out next year!

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Do you have solar panels? Have you thought about getting them?

This post brought to you by Next Generation.