Happy Holidays from all of us at Earth Promise! We are taking some time off to be with our families, but don’t worry, we’ll be back in 2010!
Have a safe, happy and healthy holiday season.
Archive for December, 2009 |
Happy Holidays!Thursday, December 24th, 2009 |
The Eco-Alternative To Single-Use Plastic Garment BagsTuesday, December 15th, 2009 It’s nice to open up my email and find e-newsletters from my choice driven sites. One great website is, Style Substance Soul, which I have blogged about back in June of this year: “Visiting StyleSubstanceSoul is like entering a cozy, yet sassy girlfriend’s home. The founders are all observably concerned about humanitarian and environmental issues worldwide. They take action by calling out to all women. Whether it be via product reviews, promoting women’s sites and bloggers, or a click a day for charity through charitable sites, their agenda is genuine: getting like–minded people to join and take action who can make a difference in the world.” “The only thing better than giving a gift is giving a gift that gives back, and all of these great companies donate at least some of their proceeds to charity.”
“The Green Garmento is a ‘hanging hamper,’ a laundry bag, a duffel bag and carrying bag! Holds all of your dry cleaning and is a hanging garment bag! Be fantastic…use less plastic!” Started by married couple, Jennie Nigrosh and Rick Siegel, former entertainment industry people, The Green Garmento is advantageous not only for the dry cleaning industry, but for the consumer as well. The amount of single-use plastic garment bags is staggering: “three hundred million pounds (300,000,000) of single-use plastic dry cleaning bags fill America’s landfills and kill our wildlife.” By lowering the dry cleaners’ single-use plastic bag costs will lower their cost of doing business. Sounds good, right? The dry cleaning industry has been looking for ways to cut down on their plastic and now consumers can help. The Green Garmento is a 3 in 1 bag that comes in different colors. It can be utilized as a (1) regular or hanging hamper; (2) it has a large sturdy shoulder strap (think: yoga bag) as well as smaller handles (more of a shopping bag style) so that you can tote your dirty clothes to the dry cleaners; (3) now you can request your clothes to be returned to you “naked” (no plastic, please) since you are providing your own reusable, water-resistant, breathable, made from recyclable non-woven polypropylene eco-friendly laundry bag. The best part is that The Green Garmento is only $9.99! StyleSubstanceSoul is keeping to their promise of providing information on products that give back: “For every bag you buy using coupon code DFS, The Green Garmento will donate one bag to the Los Angeles chapter “boutique” of Dress for Success and take one dollar off your purchase.” |
Wrap-n-Mat Gets a Thumbs Up!Wednesday, December 9th, 2009 For as long as my girls have been in school, I (on occasion they, too) pack their lunches. Over the years, I have purchased diverse types of reusable containers and yes, I’ll admit, even used the Zip Lock baggies. The first of my reusable purchases was this fabulous cube-like contraption from the Container Store called the Klip Lunch cube . I bought mine over 4 years ago, which only came in a clear color. Now you can choose from a variety of colors and it touts that it is BPA free. It is a bit bulky, so finding the right lunch box can be a challenge. Also, with the worry regarding plastics, this may not be an option for you.
Clean up was easy! The few crumbs (and crust) left in the Wrap-n-Mat were tossed (into your compost if you have!) and then with a wet cloth wiped clean. Viola! My girls and I really love the Wrap-n-Mat. Not only is it perfect for school lunches, but also for the beach, picnics or wherever you bring your lunch or snacks. This dual purpose product (reusable food container–good for the earth and placemat—good to keep germ-free) is perfect. What a safe feeling knowing your child’s lunch is not sitting directly on his/her desk or lunch table! For more information, visit Wrap-n-Mat |
Waste-Free Lunch Gift Ideas With A 15% CouponMonday, December 7th, 2009 Kids and their parents are becoming more aware of the amount of waste produced via school lunches. My daughters’ school has set up recycling bins in the cafeteria for water bottles. There are even Terracycle bins accessible so the children can keep chip bags, cookie wrappers and juice pouches out of the landfills. A big challenge with many school’s are the polystyrene lunch trays. They are damaging to the Earth since they are made from oil, and when they are thrown away, they usually end up in landfills. Some schools may recycle these trays, but then they are made into other products that end up getting tossed into landfills anyway. Let’s think about the amount of school children who bring their lunches to school. The magnitude of waste can be staggering. According to Kids Konserve, an informational website dedicated to waste-free lunch kits and other reusable products: • Children’s lunches create 3.5 billion pounds of garbage each year Below is an impressive list from KidsKonserve containing useful and eco-friendly gifts for those lunch toting children (and adults, too!). Be sure to visit their site as it is filled with other reusable products to purchase, educational facts about plastics , and contests for kids. For our special Earth Promise readers, Kids Konserve has set up a 15% coupon code “promise” valid until 12/31/09.
Put meaning in the greening this holiday season. Want to make this a truly eco-friendly holiday for your family and friends? Our Kids Konserve’s gift guide features the season’s best non-toxic and sustainable gifts. Whether you are the green guru of the house, or you’re struggling to find a gift for one, you’ll find selections that you can be proud to give. Hostess & Teacher Gifts: Thinking about what to give to the hostess of the party, your child’s teacher, hairdresser, neighbor gift, what to bring to the cookie/gift exchange…. Tired of giving out candles? Here are some great ideas hanging from the tree (below) at great prices. As seen in Entrepreneur Magazine: The Greening of Lunch/Greening of Holidays
The Kids Konserve 2009 Gift Guide – 12 Earth Friendly Holiday Solutions 2. Reusable Party Pak for the Classroom. Take the trash out of the bash! 3. Nesting Trio Leak-Proof Stainless Steel Containers, all the right sizes 4. Cotton Napkins – Save a tree and use these at your family dinners. Pick
5. Food Kozies - The reusable wrap for homemade cookies, peanut brittle, 6. Waste-Free Lunch Kits – Give a Kid a Kit (choose your style, pattern, or 7. Bottles – No Liners! Non-Toxic Stainless Steel bottles. One for everyone in the 8. Minis – From nuts to jelly beans, you can always find something to put in these! 9. Drawstring bags – Great gift wrap, for a bottle of wine or on the go snacks, or
10. Snack Paks - Perfect for light lunches and on the go snacks. 11. Green Cleaning – Greenwood Naturals! Biodegradable and Non-Toxic! 12. 12 oz. Insulated Thermos - Going beyond the Sandwich! Endless options!
Kids Konserve wishes you a very Happy, Green, and Eco-Friendly Holiday! Don’t forget the generous 15% coupon! Be sure to type in “promise” when it asks for the coupon code. |
Water Saving TrendsTuesday, December 1st, 2009
Why does it take so long? The latest trend in household construction is to make larger pipes and to use lower flow rate faucets and showerheads. This combination delivers hot water the slowest. In some situations, it can take as long as a few minutes. To read the post in its entirety, click here. Here are some other quick water saving tips:
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