Top 3 Green Living Tips

November 17, 2009 By Anne

We’re all trying to live green, but it’s not always easy. If you go over here to LighterSaferGreener.com, you can share your tips and enter the contest to win Airwear eyewear for your entire family.

I would like to share some of the ways my family is going green.

– We reuse or recycle just about everything we can. Our local recycling plant is now recycling tin cans and cereal boxes.
– We no longer buy plastic water bottles and we encourage friends and families to make the switch, we even offer them their own reusable water bottle
– I started a recycling program at my work and bring home all the paper and plastics and recycle it.

Oh, there’s so many ways to get started to go green and recycle. Other little things we do.
– reuse bread bags and newspaper bags to place dirty diapers.
– use the comics as wrapping paper. I love using the comics. Great for Father’s Day too.
– reuse school papers to print coupons on
– started a compost. Composting is always a work in progress.

These are just a few ideas.

What cool things do you and your family do?

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!

LuluGreen – Cloth Napkins Review and Giveaway

November 13, 2009 By Anne

Want a great place to buy all your holiday gifts in one shop? Do you want to buy “green’ gifts this year? Lulu Green is the place.

Lulu Green is an earth and people friendly department store. We offer everything from coffee to candy to toothpaste. So what’s the difference between us and all those big name stores where you usually shop? We offer cleaner, greener, healthier and more socially responsible alternatives to every day products. Want to clean your home without using harsh chemicals? We’ve got natural, non-toxic cleaners. Need a new chew toy for Spike? Try one you can recycle. Out of deodorant? We’ve got that, too.

I found so many things at Lulu Green that I want to buy this year for my friends and family. I’m very determined to shop green this year!

One thing that’s been bugging me lately is paper napkins. I don’t like buying them and we just throw them away after one wipe. Such waste!

Well, Lulu Green send me a set of six cloth napkins to review. We got the Beach Bound set, perfect for boys or girls. We love them! ( well my husband is a little slow to get on the cloth napkin bandwagon, but he’s coming along) I don’t know if this sounds bad, but I don’t wash them after each meal, unless of course we have spaghetti or they really need it. I mean if we wipe once or twice and it’s not really dirty, is it bad to use again? (I hope not)

The Fabkins Beach Bound pack will bring summer alive at any time of year. Each one of the five napkins has a unique design: beach ball, surfboards, woody car, palm tree, and sun. These super soft napkins are an excellent alternative to paper napkins in lunchboxes and on the dinner table because they are completely reusable!

They are made of soft 100% cotton and are completely machine washable
Lulu Green has kindly offered one Mommy Has to Work reader a set of cloth napkins as well!

To enter visit Lula Green and tell me what else you like.

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. You can tweet once a day, just leave a comment for each one.
6. Email a friend about this giveaway and CC mommyhastowork@aol.com
7. Follow me on www.twitter.com/mommyhastoworkand/or
become a fan on Facebook
8. Follow me through Networked Blogs.

Contest ends November 23rd at 9:00pm EST. Winner will chosen by Random.org and will have 48 hours to respond. I was not paid to do this review, however I did receive a set of cloth napkins to review.

Anne

GlasssDharma – Glass Straw Review and Giveaway

November 12, 2009 By Anne

All this talk about going green and doing your part, did you ever think about all those plastic straws we use everyday? We buy those bendable straws for the kids, however we do reuse them as much as possible. But think about the fast food restaurants alone!! They must go through alot!

How can we still use straws, but do it green? Glass straws! There’s a great company called GlassDharma. The original glass straw.

A little bit about the creator:

Hello, my name is David Leonhardt.

I’ve been a lampworker (glassblower) for over 10 years. My wife, Gail & I recently moved from the Sacramento, CA area, to our dream of living on the Mendocino Coast.

I started doing some work for a local glass shop in town and noticed that the owner had glass drinking straws for sale. I had never heard of these before and I am always intrigued by something made out of glass that I hadn’t thought of. I was struck by the unique elegance in such a simple item.

I immediately recognized that here was a partial solution to our “plastics problem”. Now, granted, there are a lot more plastics in our world than just drinking straws, but bear with me a minute and let me put things in perspective … As of March 2008, McDonald’s serves an average of 52 million meals PER DAY! (Per their website) How many of those served do you think were given a plastic straw? I hope it is becoming obvious just how big of a problem these pesky little plastic straws can be. Remember, this is just from McDonalds!! Get the picture??

So …

I created the GlassDharma line of glass drinking straws and this website to contribute one solution to the misuse of plastics in our society.

Everyone that has seen these straws are filled with delight. Not just because they promote health and are environmentally friendly, but that they do these things with elegance and style.

So how can using these help you and the environment?

* Glass straws don’t leach toxins into your food as you drink.
* Each time you use your glass straw equals one less plastic straw ending up in your landfill.
* One glass straw replaces thousands of plastic straws. (How many times will you use a straw the rest of your life?)

They also have a lifetime guarantee against breakage.

GlassDharma sent me a bendy straw and a beaded straw to review. I have not let the kids try it. The straws are very thick and look like it would take a lot to break them, but we have tile floors and I’m afraid my kids will break them. So only I have tried them out. I love them!! I use them all the time ( well whenever I would normally use one) I just rinse mine, but there are brushes you can get to clean them with.

The straws come in different sizes and the beaded straws come in different colors.

GlassDharma has offered one Mommy Has to Work reader a $25.00 gift certificate to their shop.

To enter visit GlassDharma and tell me what you will choose if you win.

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. You can tweet once a day, just leave a comment for each one.
6. Email a friend about this giveaway and CC mommyhastowork@aol.com
7. Follow me on www.twitter.com/mommyhastoworkand/or
become a fan on Facebook
8. Follow me through Networked Blogs.

Contest ends November 23rd at 9:00pm EST. Winner will chosen by Random.org and will have 48 hours to respond. I was not paid to do this review, however I did receive a set of glass straws to review.

Anne

Greenraising Review and Giveaway

November 11, 2009 By Anne

In my quest for green and eco- friendly products, I came across Greenraising. Greenraising has a little bit of everything from jewelery, school supplies, wrapping paper and so much more.

Greenraising is earth friendly fundraising.

At Greenraising, we believe that people want to make good choices for our planet’s health. We strive to make it easy for them to do so, by providing products that help them consume less, preserve natural resources, and help others.
We believe that it is easier, and more effective, to help many people make small changes than to convince a few to completely change their way of life

I was able to review their “greenest” water bottle and a roll of recycled wrapping paper. Oh how I love the recycled wrapping paper. It’s nice and thick.

Our “greenest” bottle, in all senses of the word. This one just feels like spring, with those lovely new leaves overlapping and covering the entire surface of the bottle. It reminds us of lying on the grass, looking up into the leaves of an old, old tree. Made exclusively for Greenraising, these bottles are ONLY available here. Note: These bottles are made in China by a leading U.S. green company, which regularly tests for safety and has independently verified factory labor conditions

Bubbly – 100% recycled gift wrap

Underwater bubbles? Champagne bubbles? Blowing bubbles? You decide…

Wrap your gifts in a paper that makes the recipient feel good because of the hip design AND the paper itself! This paper is designed and printed in the USA on 100% post consumer recycled paper with soy based inks. The paper is Processed Chlorine Free and manufactured with Green-e certified wind power. It’s thick, smooth, and beautiful – who says being “green” is boring?

Greenraising has offered one Mommy Has to Work reader one of their “greenest” Water bottles and a roll of Bubbly Recycled Wrapping Paper.

To enter, visit Greenraising and tell me about it.

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. You can tweet once a day, just leave a comment for each one.
6. Email a friend about this giveaway and CC mommyhastowork@aol.com
7. Follow me on www.twitter.com/mommyhastoworkand/or
become a friend on Facebook
8. Follow me through Networked Blogs.

Contest ends November 23rd at 9:00pm EST. Winner will chosen by Random.org and will have 48 hours to respond. I was not paid to do this review, however I did receive a free water bottle and wrapping paper.

Anne

EcoUsable Stainless Steele Water Bottles – Review and Giveaway

November 6, 2009 By Anne

I mentioned before that we gave up plastic water bottles ( see, Going Green) and I’m so glad we did. We’ve acquired several more reusable bottles along the way and we each have our likes and dislikes. It’s very rare to see one of us with a plastic water bottle. If I happen to have one in my hands, my husband threatens to take a picture of me and post it. (I’m not sure he knows how, so I’m safe)

We’ve gotten my step-son, Adam, to make the switch.( see post) We’re still working on my mom, she’s cut back on her plastics and we’ve gotten many friends and co-workers to make the switch as well.

I’ve come across a great company, EcoUsable, that has some wonderful stainless steel water bottles that are just perfect! They have different sizes ranging from 10 oz to 33 oz. Each bottle comes with a carabineer to clip to your bag, except for the Ech2o line. That line comes with a filter! I’ve never heard of that before. I think that’s so cool, a personal filter for your water bottle. They also carry cool accessories, such as sport caps and water wrapz( to wrap around cold bottles). Oh, and let me tell, they are so pretty! I know, it’s just a water bottle, right? If given a choice, I’d rather have a pretty one, over a plain one.

EcuUsable wants to know:

HOW SAFE IS YOUR BOTTLE?

One of the reasons so many hundreds of retailers now carry our EcoUsable bottles is the quality and design of the bottles. We’ve created a half turn loop top to the bottle which not only makes it very simple for the consumer to gain access to their water but, it prevents having any grooves (or divots) within the mouth of the bottles so it is an extremely easy and safe bottle to use. Some additional reasons are:

1) EcoUsable bottles are made from an 18/8 (or 304 food grade) stainless steel so they are non-leaching, BPA free and environmentally safe!

2) EcoUsable non-filtered bottles are offered in three (3) different sizes (10oz, 16oz & 33oz) which come in a wide variety of over 60 different colors and designs.

3) EcoUsable bottles all come with a slip proof mat at the bottom of the bottle and a convenient carabineer clip to attach to buckles, backpacks, purses, etc…

4) EcoUsable bottles are designed to fit in most car cup holders, bicycle holders and gym equipment bottle holders.

FILTERED WATER BOTTLES

The ECH2O filtered water bottle is the world’s only stainless steel bottle which includes its own portable filtration system that provides high quality great-tasting filtered water on the go…

* Great for Daily Tap Water Use!
* 304 Food grade stainless steel bottle
* Removes harmful contaminants as you drink through the flip top straw
* Filter tested by independent state and EPA approved laboratories to EPA/ANSI protocols and NSF Standards 42 & 53
* BPA-free, Non-leaching and Eco-friendly
* Filters up to 100 gallons of water (Approx 6 months of use w/ and average yearly savings of $1,600 (based upon $1 plastic water bottles)
* Filter made in the U.S.A.

EcoUsable’s motto: Save Our Planet One Bottle at a Time

(Savannah is never without her bottle)

EcoUsable is offering a discount to Mommy Has to Work readers of 15% off your entire order, use code(ECO15). Plus, right now on their website, http://www.ecousable.com/, for every bottle sold you get a free Water Wrapz.

EcoUsable is also offering 3 Mommy Has to Work readers an EcoUsable Stainless Steel Water Bottle! To enter check out their website and tell me which bottle you’d like to win. (I have the winning bottles, so I’ll do my best to match)

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. You can tweet once a day, just leave a comment for each one.
6. Email a friend about this giveaway and CC mommyhastowork@aol.com
7. Follow me on www.twitter.com/mommyhastoworkand/or
become a friend on Facebook
8. Follow me through Networked Blogs.

Contest ends November 16th at 9:00pm EST. Winner will chosen by Random.org and will have 48 hours to respond. I was not paid to do this review, however I did receive several free water bottles.