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?

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!

Going Green This Holiday

December 16, 2009 By Anne

( picture from my aunt’s garden, thanks!)

There are so many ways to “be green” this holiday season, but will we?

Here’s a list of what I’m doing:

1. Use recycled wrapping paper or make your own. I am not buying any wrapping paper or tags this year. you can use your kids artwork, brown paper bags, comics or even cloth bags out of scrap material or clothing (see The Frugal Girl)

2. Buy eco-friendly products and share the knowledge. My Secret Santa at work wants grocery totes – yeah. I bought several from different stores.

3. Buy toys and books from thrift stores or from yard sales. I bought several gifts for Savannah this year from yard sales.

4. Make your own gift tags. Use Christmas cards from last year or kids artwork. I bought a stencil kit from Current several years ago and use it every year.

5. Make your own gifts. I usually make cookies and give to the neighbors ( I’m not sure if I’ll do that this year). I’m making cotton dish clothes this year to give to teachers – they’re eco-friendly (less paper towels).

6. Recycle your Christmas Tree! Take off all the tinsel and make sure to put your tree out for recycling.

What are you doing this yea to be more eco – friendly?

Anne

Paloma Pottery – Recylced Glass Necklace Review and Giveaway

December 10, 2009 By Anne

There are so many products that are made out of recycled materials but they’re not always easy to find. I’m on a mission to find them.

I found a great website called Paloma Pottery. Nicole Whitney,owner, states:

“Always trying to find new uses for things that otherwise would be thrown away, I was inspired to recycle glass within my pottery. When I saw the results I knew I had found my niche,” says Whitney. “I believe that social responsibility in business is simply good practice and good business. I am committed to customer service, following through with my word, and dedicated to encouraging and following sustainable business.”

Paloma Pottery emerged in Jan of 2000 with a mission to run a socially responsible and sustainable business while providing unique recycled products at low affordable prices.

Each piece is made by collecting glass jars, beer and wine bottles, and other discarded glass which is then broken and fused into the pottery. The unique shapes and positioning of each fragment insures each piece to have a sparkle and depth that is truly unique. The crackle glass surface created is smooth to touch and sparkles with profound rich colors and textures.

There are many different items to choose from. Check out their website and see all the wonderful gifts!

I received the above necklace to review. It’s beautiful and well made. I love that it’s made with recycled glass. My only complaint is that I have to give it away. But that’s okay.

To enter, visit Paloma Pottery 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 December 21st 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, nor did I receive a any product.

Anne

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

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.