What: Kits to make natural lip balms, perfumes, bath fizzies and soaps

Features: Everything you need to make your own fun personal care goodies

Green Factor: Natural ingredients like shea butter, witch hazel, essential oils with no fillers, additives, dyes or synthetics

Bonus:  Fun to make at birthday parties and sleepovers!

Find It Here: Kiss Naturals

Win It: We’ve partnered with Kiss Naturals to give away a Bath Fizzie Kit and Lip Balm Kit to one randomly selected winner. Click here to fill out our simple entry form. Just enter KN12 as the giveaway name and tell us how long it takes to make lip balm and soap with a Kiss Naturals kit. Enter by 12/21/09. $35 value. Open to residents of US and Canada. Winner to be notified by email. Contest Closed.

It’s that time of year again…the most wonderful time of the year, if your kids are heading back to the classroom. This fall marks the first year that both of my children are in school full-time, and I’m trying to make a conscious effort to make it a great green year. Here are some ways that we can all keep the earth in mind as we get our kids settled in to school again and throughout the year.

Use the goods you’ve already got – Take stock of what you’ve got at home and can use again (such as clothing, shoes, knapsacks and school supplies) before you buy everything new.

Reusable lunch containers – Instead of sending sandwiches and snacks in plastic baggies, I picked up a couple of sandwich containers, a compact water bottle and several small reusable containers to pack my kids’ lunches with. I’m not only curbing my household waste output this way, I’m saving money by not having to constantly buy plastic baggies. Read the rest of this entry »

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

When I buy Basmati rice, I get it in the big, ten-pound bags that are outfitted with handles, a zippered top and a colourful, festive elephant on the front. When I get home, I dump the rice in a reusable container and save the bag – they’re sturdy and durable, and they’re great for lugging groceries around in.

With that in mind, I love the thinking behind these factory-reject rice bags that have been re-fashioned into fun and funky laptop bags! The Child Health Site has seen the potential these awesome bags have to offer and have come up with a great way to stop the duds from winding up in a landfill somewhere. Why carry your computer around in a dull black bag like everyone else when you can have a bag that’s not only unique and stylish but recycled, as well?

Each bag is hand-held and has two zippered compartments and compared to other options that I’ve seen elsewhere, are reasonably priced at $22.95. They’re made and fairly traded in Thailand, and not only that—with each purchase, The Child Health Site donates 20 cents to The Bamboo Watch Ring, an organization that benefits children who are infected or affected by the HIV virus.

Find It Here: The Child Health Site

After reading the results of the study done by Environmental Working Group that illuminated just how many chemicals teen girls have in their bodies, many of which were due to their personal care products, I couldn’t help but think of my own daughter. She’s only eight and a half but I know that stage of hyper-showering and deodorizing and perfuming and overall grooming that tween and teen girls go through is just around the bend. I’ve wondered many times if I’d be able to find non-toxic personal care products for her that would serve her needs AND keep her body from becoming laden with so much toxic junk. It seems the folks behind tweenBeauty had the same thoughts—to curtail the toxins that are bombarding the bodies of girls at such a delicate time in their lives. Their line of personal care products designed just for tweens includes shampoo, conditioner, body wash and lip gloss and all of the are free of parabens, phthalates and sulfates and they’re vegan. Oh, and they smell absolutely delicious. How do I know this? Because I’ve been using my daughter’s tweenBeauty shampoo, conditoner and bodywash, too—but that’s just between us, okay?

 Find it Here: tweenBeauty

Win It: We’re giving away a tweenBeauty  gift set that includes a shampoo, conditioner, body wash and a tube of lip shine in a hand woven fair-trade bag. Click here to fill out our simple entry form. Just enter TB3 as the giveaway name and provide the answer to this question: tweenBeauty shampoos and conditioners are available in which scents? Open to US residents. Enter by 3/17/09. $25 value. Contest Closed. Congrats Stefanie!

As someone born and raised in a warm part of California, I must say that when it comes to cold, I am a wimp. I admit it. I no likey the cold. And that means that when it dips below 70 degrees, I’m pulling out my jacket, gloves, scarf…and now….my muffatees too! Muffatees are these really cool fingerless gloves designed to give coverage to that little space between the top of your mitten and your jacket sleeve….because no one likes cold wrists, right?! Hand-knit by a woman’s collective in Peru, muffatees are made of super soft alpaca wool and available in sizes for mamas and children/toddlers. At $20 and under, they might just be the perfect holiday gift for the girlfriend/co-worker/niece/nephew that you need a present for, but just weren’t sure what to get. And if you pick up a pair for yourself, we’ll totally understand.

Find It Here: Go Baby 

ShainsWare wants you to say it, wear it, mean it with their 100% recycled rubber bracelets. When I was teen hipster back in the nineties, if I could have worn a bracelet that said “save the dolphins” I probably would have. Thanks to ShainsWare, today’s kids, tweens and teens can make a personalized statement with these groovy bracelets by choosing from 9 different colors and inserting letters, numbers and icons that can be changed whenever they feel like it PLUS ShainsWare donates 10% of net profits to environmental organizations. With their totally unique and customizable bracelets, Shainsware has made environmentally conscious self-expression easy and cool!

Find It Here: ShainsWare

Got a teenager with an attitude? Got a tween who loves collecting? Then check out these ATTITUDEsters Monster Pets. Handmade in Thailand, these little cat, dog and bear creatures are made from scraps of material that would otherwise be thrown away. Each one is made with one-of-a-kind fabrics and embellishments and comes with a tag and personalized quotation. They make cool party favors for elementary school kids, while teens can use them as key chains to express their attitude(s) — because teens don’t do that nearly enough :)

Note: These are not suitable for children under the age of six.

Find It Here: Green Party Goods

Congratulations to Ann G., winner of a set of 12 fabric monsters (4 of each character)!

Deal: Receive 20% your purchase at Green Party Goods with code “GREENMOM”. Valid for 90 days.