Stainless Steel Water Bottle

I just saw on Slickdeals that AMAZON has got a stainless steel water bottle on sale for about $5 before shipping. It's eco-friendly and there's no BPA (see my previous post about BPA) in it! Check it out here.

Bleach

So I guess I never realized that bleach was harmful. I mean I knew it was harmful if you swallowed it or got it in your eyes, but I didn't really know the effect it has on the enviroment. Doing a little research I found out that Chlorine bleach is a toxin and linked to carcinogens which we KNOW aren't healthy for us, and it hurts the ozone layer.

For an easy alternative that actually keeps your whites looking white - White Vinegar or hydrogen peroxide.
Easy enough, oh and vinegar is actually better on your fabrics too!

Cookie Magazine

Being a mom I like a little advise now and again about running a household. I found a great new magazine that also includes quite a bit of green solutions as well for the "everyday" mom like myself. They have lots of great ideas for easy solutions to your green problems.

Envirokidz

I've been trying to buy organic food for my family when I can find it on sale or when the price difference isn't too bad. Yesterday while I was doing my grocery shopping I found an organic kids cereal - Envirokidz Organic that was a really great price, about $2/box. That's definitely doable! It's USDA certified organic and they have lots of different kinds to choose from with cute animal pics on the front. I bought a box to try out and after reading through the material on the box I was really impressed. There are no preservatives, it's gluten free, and has low sodium. They also donate 1% of there sales to endangered species, which just feels good, and to top it all off, they reduce their packaging size by 10% which is not only good for the environment (saves 1.3 mil gallons of water, 940,000 KWh of energy, and 144 tons of paperboard) but there isn't that wasted space in the box like most cereals so you actually know what you are paying for.
The big test: Does it taste good? ---- My three year old daughter loved it!
Go Envirokidz!

I read somewhere that organic food prices are based on supply and demand. If we buy it more, the prices will go down, so do what you can to buy Organic. Sometimes you can even find coupons which will make the prices equivalent if not cheaper than its non-organic competitor.

BPA

Bisphenol-A is a chemical used in the plastic and epoxy of formula cans and is also present in some baby bottles. There have been concerns that BPA could cause health risks to infants, though the FDA has assured us that the levels are not high enough to do so. However, Gerber along with other companies have started making BPA-free products which now can be found in most stores. The first kind I saw were the drop-ins by playtex, but now you can buy the cheap gerber bottles, BPA-free for about a dollar. Though there may not be any apparent health risks, I tend to wonder why Gerber has decided to make all of their products BPA-free, whatever the reason, It's good to know that there are cheap alternatives for going BPA-free.

Just for information, BPA is present in much of our food packaging NOT just baby bottles and some researchers say high amounts have been linked to causing cancers, obesity, autism and other hormonal and developmental problems.

For some really great information on the issue go to this reputable sight.

Cradle to grave

My father created a prototype for a label that would go on our foods to show the environmental impacts of each food. I think it's a great idea and it really shows you just how much energy it takes to get something like a piece of steak from the cow to the plate. Take a look at it and if you like it, tell your friends. I think this should be something we NEED to be seeing when we go to pour ourselves a bowl of cereal.

Corn-based giftcards

So I got a new gift card in the mail from Target. On the back it says it's made from a corn based material that is completely bio-degradable! If I can find these in the stores I will be getting these from now on!
I think it's the same material they've been using to replace the plastic for plastic plates and cups. Hope to see these things in the store.