What: VidaAire Lemongrass Sanitizer and Air Purifier

Features: Odor neutralizer and sanitizer made from natural essential oils. Can be used virtually anywhere to sanitize any surface because it leaves no residue. Lemongrass oil is a natural disinfectant and the essential oils in VidaAire have been clinically proven to help alleviate stress and anxiety and elevate mood.

Green Factor: Non-ozone depleting, non-toxic, organic, safe for people with allergies to harsh chemicals.

Bonus: VidaAire smells lemony fresh and clean naturally.

What: Dandelion Organic Teething Blanket

Features: The bear on this blanket has knotted appendages and wiggly ears for infants to touch, feel and teethe on; the soft material makes it the perfect bedtime companion (or anytime lovey!)

Green Factor: Made with the good stuff (100% certified organic cotton and natural dyes), not the bad stuff (pesticides and chemicals). Packaged in recycled materials.

Bonus: Baby Green Sprout only chooses products from companies that employ fair-trade and sweatshop-free standards.

Find It Here: Baby Green Sprout

What: Badger’s Winter Wonder Balm

Features: Natural ingredients (like essential oils, Eucalyptus, Rosemary and Peppermint) offer soothing time-tested relief from coughs, colds and congestion

Green Factor: Its USDA certified organic

Bonus: Can be used as a rub OR in a humidifier to help with cough and cold symptoms

Find It Here: Badger

What: Wine.com

Features: Green wines made with sustainable, organic and/or biodynamic practices and a fabulous, very reasonably priced organic wine and food gift set.

Bonus: 1¢ shipping on orders over $99 for a limited time. Use promo code “1cent” in the shopping cart. in the shopping cart1cent

Find It Here: Wine.com

What: The Baby Bunch

Features: This exquisite bouquet of rosebuds is made out of itty bitty baby clothes–newborn onesies, t-shirts, bibs and socks

Green Factor: Clothing items are 100% organic cotton

Bonus: Makes a great baby shower gift. Right now, take $10 off the price plus shipping is free!

Find It Here: Boys to Men Gifts

On Our Blog: Disinfectant Overkill

We all know chlorine is a poison. It’s toxic and has been linked to infertility and disease. Sadly it’s everywhere—in our drinking water, bleaching our paper towels and toilet paper, in pools, in PVC plastics, in pesticides, so we do our best to avoid it by getting unbleached products and filtering our water (even the showers!) and just when we thought we were safe, we find out that chlorine is routinely used to keep our healthy produce “fresh” by, and I quote the MMS Newsletter:

“In the grocery store, glistening carrots, lettuce, tomatoes, bell peppers, etc. all glisten and look fresh primarily because five days ago they were picked, washed, then passed under a cloud of ClO2 gas that destroyed bacteria and disease-germs that ordinarily cause food to quickly spoil.

Some transportation trucks carrying produce (sometimes on two-day trips) can blow some ClO2 into the enclosed truck before closing the rear doors. The spoiling of food begins from invisible surface contaminants. ClO2 eradicates such bacteria.”

I learned this first hand before searching for it on the web to confirm. A truck driver was explaining how when transporting strawberries, chlorine vapor kept his strawberries from molding and therefore looking pretty and lasting longer. Read the rest of this entry »

Dog owners, you want your pet to have the very best, right? Consider this: because of his smaller size, your beloved Fido is more prone to the chemicals, hormones and additives found in conventional pet foods and supplies. Fortunately, the pet supply market does have safer, healthier organic and all-natural options for your canine furbabies.

Check out these awesome goods from Karma: organic, all-natural dog food and shampoo. Each seven-pound bag of kibble is made with 95% organic ingredients that are USDA Certified Organic, including fresh meats and whole grains, all-natural fruits and vegetables and complete vitamin and mineral supplements—same with the Vermont Soap Organics Pet Shampoo, too – it’s made with natural and organic essential oils and aloe vera (natural rosemary extract is the only preservative found in this shampoo). It’s hypoallergenic, free of petroleum and animal by-products, and it meets all USDA Organic Food Standards.

Food and shampoo for your dog, with no synthetic herbicides or pesticides, and no chemical preservatives or additives? We think that puts the WOW back in bow wow!

Find It Here: Alamo Organics

Bath and beauty products that are made using all-natural ingredients and come in completely recycled packaging, from a company that doesn’t test on animals. That’s not too much to ask, now is it?

Not if you ask Danny Seo, whose line of organic skin care and body products, called wholearth, is chock full of goodness. Created by combining natural ingredients like juices and essential oils, beeswax and plain ol’ water, wholearth’s perfume spray and body specifics (such as wash, lotion, scrub and soufflé) are good for you and your bod, and our beloved Mother Earth.

What’s not in any of wholearth’s products is the bad stuff: parabens, phthalates, petrochemicals, sodium laureth sulfates, aluminum and synthetic dyes, to name just a few. The list of harmful substances found in some of the bath and beauty products out there is long and hard to pronounce, whereas all of the additives used to make up wholearth’s delectable wares are USDA certified organic. Check their web site for a complete list of what goes in to their products, along with what, thankfully, doesn’t.

Find It Here: wholearth

My name is Janet and I’m a lip balm addict aficionado. My current balm of choice is the EOS (Evolution of Smooth) Smooth Sphere. Of course, I love it because it’s 100% natural with 95% organic ingredients but I also love it’s unique shape—inside it’s weirdly wonderful round case, the balm is shaped like an egg. Well, half an egg, actually, and applying it to my lips is oddly pleasant. In fact, I think I need some right now. Stop looking at me like that. I don’t have a problem. I can quit any time I want!

Find It Here: EOS

On Our Blog: One of the Easiest Ways to Go Green

Have you ever wondered what your kids’ art supplies are made of? One of my daughter’s favorite pastimes is painting, and there were a few occasions this summer where she wound up with paint in rather precarious places. Like her eyelashes. And I stood there and wondered just what, exactly, is in that paint? As previously noted in this post, many finger paints (and regular paints) contain heavy metals, VOCs and petro-chemicals.

From Clementine Art comes a line of all-natural children’s art products with nothing to hide. The ingredients, all of them, are listed right there on the package. Now that’s a first! The six creative staples–washable paints, soy crayons, water-based markers, flour-based modeling dough, soy crayon ‘rocks’ and washable glue–are made right here in the US of A using natural, non-toxic materials. Kids can dig in and express themselves, and we don’t have to worry about what it is they’re digging in to.

Cool things to note: the modeling dough is colored with turmeric, spinach and carmine, there’s a Clementine Art blog, and an informative ingredients glossary on the web site (look for the ‘nitty gritty’ heading).

Find It Here: Clementine Art

Here in our household, we’re gearing up for back to school. My kids hit the hallowed halls this week and I’ll be back to packing lunches and blowing my children curb side kisses within a few days. My kids are excited for school to start and I’m looking forward to the year that’s awaiting them, but with one exception: the fundraising.

Now, don’t get me wrong. I’m all for raising money for the school, but over the last couple of years I’ve often wished there was a fundraising campaign out there for schools that was a bit greener. I mean, I want to raise money for my kids’ as much as the next mom, but does it have to be by selling plastic bags or wrapping paper?

Enter Koru, a fundraising platform that not only benefits schools and their communities, but the environment as well. Koru offers natural, organic products that are fair trade and non-toxic. Their goal? To lead by example to inspire the leaders of tomorrow. Seventy-five per cent of Koru’s products – which range from bracelets and cosmetics to spices, household items and pet toys – are $10 or less, and all of them are green. They’re original items, too – you won’t find boxes of chocolate bars or packs of Christmas cards in Koru’s catalogue. What you will find, though, are unique products that you can actually USE. And that? Is reason enough to suggest greener fundraising with companies like Koru at your next PTA meeting.

Find It Here: Koru Fundraising

More:  EcoLabel Fundraising, Ecobags Fundraising

I have a number of different reusable containers and bags that I use for my kids’ lunches and our snacks on-the-go and generally speaking, I like them all—they work well and do what they’re supposed to do. The reusable bags from Graze Organics, however, are about the cutest things I’ve ever seen! Made from 100% organic cotton with no plastic lining and printed with earth-friendly water-based inks, these adorable bags are festooned with simple but bright and happy food graphics that totally appeal to my inner graphic designer. Additionally, they are machine-washable, made in the USA and sweatshop-free.

Graze Organics’ motto is “because every bag matters” and without getting all lecture-y it’s true. Every plastic bag you DON’T use is one less piece of petroleum-based, hormone-disrupting plastic that will be here long after you’re gone. If everyone utilized reusable bags instead of the millions of plastic ones that are used EVERY SINGLE DAY, the impact would be staggering. Viva la reusables!!

Graze also carries the cutest organic cotton cloth napkins. When you pull one out of your lunch bag, you’ll look all fancy and totally shame the paper napkin users at your table. Wait. Did  just type that out loud? What I meant to say was you will be admired by all for your good taste and eco-friendly ways :)

We’ve partnered with Graze Organics to give away one set of their fabulous reusable bags! Details below.

Find It Here: Graze Organics

Win It: We’re giving away a set of three Graze Organic reusable snack and sandwich bags. Click here to fill out our simple entry form. Just enter GR08 as the giveaway name and provide the answer to this question: Name the four different kinds of cloth napkins available from Graze Organics. Enter by 8/27/09. $26 value. Open to US residents. Winner to be notified by email. Contest Closed.

On Our Blog: Food Inc: The Truth About What We Eat