Green Toys review and Giveaway

February 24, 2010 By Anne

the winner is ann
On my quest for eco-friendly products I found Green Toys!

All of their toys are made here in the in the USA. The toys contain no traceable amounts of Phthaalates or BPA. They are design with no external coatings, eliminating the fear of lead paint. A few years ago and again just recently I went through all of my son’s toys and threw out a bunch of toy cars in fear of lead paint. It’s nice to know my kids can really play with a toy and it won’t harm them.

Green Toys uses recycled milk containers as the main ingredient in making their toy. That is so cool.

Yes, the exact plastic milk jugs that you and your family drink from every day. When you finish your milk and toss the container in the recycling bin, these milk containers are collected at your curb by a local recycling company, who then sorts them from all the other types of plastic. Next, the milk containers are reprocessed into super clean fresh plastic. For you plastic geeks, the plastic material we use is called high-density polyethylene (or HDPE). This material is considered one of the safest, cleanest plastics around.

Green Toys environmental mission even extends to their packaging. They have minimal packaging with none of those annoying plastic ties and the boxes that the toys come in is recycled paper. Then when the toy is opened, the box can be recycled again. So, not only are they earth-friendly and ready for your recycling bin, they are really easy to open for those little fingers just itching to get at the toys!!

I received the Chef Set pictured above for Savannah. This goes great with the kitchen she got for Christmas. The quality is awesome. No flimsy toys here.

Green Toys has kindly offered one Mommy Has to Work reader a Chef Set of their own. To enter visit Greentoys,com and tell me what else you like.

1 extra entry – Follow this blog
1 extra entry – Email a friend about this giveaway and CC mommyhastowork@aol.com (leave a comment telling me you did so)
1 extra entry – Follow me on www.twitter.com/mommyhastoworkand/or
become a friend/fan on Facebook
1 extra entry– Follow me through Networked Blogs.Contest ends March 15th at 9:00pm EST. Winner will chosen by Random.org and will have 48 hours to respond. US shipping only.I was not paid to do this review, however I did receive a free product

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!

ReUsies Review and Giveaway

February 22, 2010 By Anne

the winner is amanda
Are you still using plastic baggies? We are too, but not as many! We’ve greatly reduced our usage of plastic baggies in the past year. I’ve been reusing the ones I do use. I use small plastic containers for lunches and I’ve been using reusable bags.

Reusies are one brand of the reusable baggies I have been using. I love using them. They work just as good as plastic baggies and you just throw the in the wash to clean them.
Reusies was started by Seattle moms with a passion to do right by their children and reduce the footprint they will leave behind.

Reusies are 100% cotton, lined with water-resistant 100% nylon (BPA, Lead and Phthalate free). They come with Velcro® closures that are kid-friendly and ensure that the food won’t fall out.

Did you know…

Plastic bags make up over 10% of debris found on US Coastlines.
Each plastic bag takes over 1,000 years to break down.Wow that’s alot.
Plastic bags do not biodegrade, they photodegrade whereby over time they breakdown into smaller, more toxic petropolymers.Less than 1% of plastic bags are recycled.
It costs more to recycle a plastic bag than to produce a new one.
A typical school/work lunch contains 3-4 plastic sandwich bags each day amounting to upwards of 1,000 each year for one person. These bags will all be around long after we are gone!

Would you like a set of ReUsies to try for yourself? Visit Reusies.com and tell me which design you like.

Additional entries are as follows:
2 extra entries – Subscribe to my newsletter. (leave 2 comments)( you will need to activate your subscription in order for entry to be valid)
2 extra entries – Blog about this giveaway on your blog or website, or tweet about it. Please leave a link to post.( leave 2 comments)
2 extra enties – Follow my new blog – Mommy’s Reviews and More
1 extra entry – Follow this blog
1 extra entry – Email a friend about this giveaway and CC mommyhastowork@aol.com (leave a comment telling me you did so)
1 extra entry – Follow me on www.twitter.com/mommyhastoworkand/or
become a friend/fan on Facebook
1 extra entry– Follow me through Networked Blogs.

Contest ends March 15th at 9:00pm EST. Winner will chosen by Random.org and will have 48 hours to respond. US shipping only.I was not paid to do this review, however I did receive a free product

Anne

Ecojet Review and Giveaway

February 21, 2010 By Anne

the winner is tylerpants

Eco friendly paper products, again? Sorry, as I’ve said before, I love paper. I always keep a little notebook to write things down in my bag. Something funny my kids say, or my grocery list. At Christmas time, I set aside several pages to keep track of what I need to buy and of what I’ve already bought. When I don’t have my little notebook, I feel lost.
I go through 2-3 a year, and how better to use recycled notebooks!

I found a company called Ecojot that makes recycled notebooks and journals and more.

Ecojot started in 2007, by Mark Gavin. He saw a green trend happening in the marketplace. He and his sister Carolyn developed a range of stationery that was fresh, new and green. All of the inks and glues used are vegetable based, therefore bio-degradable. No new trees are used to make the paper and the paper is acid free and processed chlorine free. All of the protective packaging is corn-based.

Ecojot is not simply a brand where production is sourced to a sweatshop offshore. We have taken an already existing industry and made it better. We make products that people feel good about buying. Knowing where they come from and how they are made. Good choices are better choices.

Right now Ecojot is holding a “Buy One, Give One” campaign. For every
jumbo journal, journal or sketchbook that is purchased, Ecojot will donate a notebook to kids who can not afford school supplies.

You can purchase Ecojot products at JournalsandBooks.com. you can win one.

Ecojot has also offered one Mommy Has to Work reader their own notebook.

Bonus entries are follow Ecojot on Twitter, Facebook or follow their blog or all three! Just leave a separate comment for each.

2 extra entries – Follow my new blog – Mommy’s Reviews and More
1 extra entry – Follow this blog
1 extra entry – Email a friend about this giveaway and CC mommyhastowork@aol.com (leave a comment telling me you did so)
1 extra entry – Follow me on www.twitter.com/mommyhastoworkand/or
become a friend/fan on Facebook
1 extra entry– Follow me through Networked Blogs.

Contest ends March 15th at 9:00pm EST. Winner will chosen by Random.org and will have 48 hours to respond. US shipping only.I was not paid to do this review, however I did receive a free product

Anne

Real Green Goods Valentine Giveaway

January 18, 2010 By Anne

Real Green Goods is an earth-friendly store offering the highest standards in eco-friendly products with the lowest impact to the earth and its inhabitants. Their Fair Trade and U.S. made goods are a reflection of their commitment to social responsibility. The clothing is made from certified organic cotton and wool, as well as hemp, bamboo, and cruelty-free silk. They are reducing their carbon footprint for a more sustainable world by making products made from recycled and reusable glass, metal, wood, and a variety of energy-saving device.

The owner, Debbie, grew up in New Hampshire and was always enjoying the outdoors.
While looking for some recycling containers on the internet, she started coming across environmentally-friendly stores. The more Debbie looked, the more she became aware of a large “green” industry that had yet to become mainstream in her neck of the woods. It seemed that the home goods industry had some growth potential and the message needed to get out.
From Debbie:
And so, Real Green Goods was born. I want to offer the opportunity for people to have green product choices that are better for the the earth and its inhabitants. Everything that is produced has an impact on the environment and I believe that by becoming better educated consumers, a new appreciation of the link between products and their impact will result. I am convinced that changes in the product choices we make will have a positive impact on the environment. I have put together a wide variety of earth-friendly products that fill your basic needs, a green department store.

These earrings are made from buttons from sweaters found at antique stores and thrift shops. They even have pencils made from recycled old blue jeans or recycled old money.

I was given a very cute little book telling me how elephant pooh is made into paper. It’s called “ellie pooh”. It sounds kinda weird, but the paper is so pretty! (and no is does not smell) My son was unsure about it. I also received a beautiful ellie pin for Savannah. She’ll need to wait a bit though, it looks fragile.

Honestly there are sooo many things to choose from when you go their site, recycled blue jean pencils, books, cds,jewelry.

Real Geen Goods have kindly offered one Mommy Has to Work reader an Ellie Pooh heart shaped box filled with paper. It’s pink for Valentine’s Day! Doesn’t the paper look pretty!

To enter visit realgreengoods.com and tell me something else you would like.

Extra entries – sign up for their newsletter.

Additional entries are as follows:
2. Follow this blog.
3. Subscribe to my newsletter. ( you will need to activate your subscription in order for entry to be valid)
4. Grab my button and place on your blog.
5. Post this giveaway on your blog or website, or tweet about it. Please leave a link to post.
6. Email a friend about this giveaway and CC mommyhastowork@aol.com (leave a comment telling me you did so)
7. Follow me on www.twitter.com/mommyhastoworkand/or
become a friend on Facebook
8. Follow me through Networked Blogs.

Contest ends Febuary 2nd at 9:00pm EST. Winner will chosen by Random.org and will have 48 hours to respond. US only. I was not paid to do this review, however I did receive the above mentioned products.

Anne

What to Do With Fireplace Ash??

January 12, 2010 By Anne

What to do with fireplace ash?

So, we’ve been building many a fire lately with the cold weather. While my husband was cleaning out the ashes, I wondered if there was an eco-friendly way to dispose of the ashes. So I googled it. I found many different sites and lots of information.

Ash can be used as a fertilizer in your garden or around bushes.
It can be used to ward off slugs and snails. (This is what we’ll do around the pool area.)
You can mix into your compost.
You can make a paste with it to shine your silver.
You can make soap out of it.
Use it as traction, on slippery walkways in the winter. (Of course, we don’t need to worry about that!)
Apparently you can actually buy real wood ash on Amazon. (I did not look it up, though.)

I’m always looking into ways we can recycle our trash and waste before I add it to our landfills. It only takes a moment to look it up. I found these great tips on Thriftyfun.com, but you might want to double check before adding to your garden, several people had a different response.

What did you do with your ash?