Again... Why?

In my travels through Cyberspace, I stumbled upon a wonderful blog called Live Renewed: My Journey Toward Living "Frugally Green."  For those of you who wonder why I feel the way I do, I found an entry on her blog that explains it so perfectly, and I want to share that with you.  Her entry is entitled Encouragement for the Journey: Simple Acts.  I know that I am living my life more each day as God calls me to live it as I follow His Son.  I believe strongly in stewardship being about much more than just what we do with our paycheck.  My small steps make a difference, even if Heaven is the only one who notices.  God uses even the small things for His purposes.

Now, I need a copy of Serve God, Save the Planet.  :)

Real (not fake) Organics & Naturals

This just goes to show you... never believe everything you read on the front of your products.  For those of you seeking to choose organic or natural products for you and your family, you will want to read this.  I just stumbled upon an article posted by Organic Gal on Nesting.com about body care products that use the label "organic" or "natural" without really being so.  (She didn't actually write it, either; she got it from another site.)  Apparently, you can put anything on the front of your package, so be sure to read your ingredient lists!  If you want to see the article, it's at nesting.com.  The article is a little hard to read, because it's in one continuous paragraph instead of a list, so here's a list of the brands that are true to their organic or natural label.  *Disclaimer: I have not personally checked any of these yet, but as some of the fakers are in my home, I will be making some personal adjustments.*

The following paragraph is taking directly from the Organic Gal posting:
Body care is not a regulated industry.  The USDA Organic regulations/laws only extend to food items or body care items that are food grade.  Because of lax regulations a body care company can use the word "Natural" any way they want, regardless of if they threw in chemicals and synthetics to the final product. A company can only use the word Organic (as in the product name, etc) on the front of their packaging if the product contains at least 70% organic ingredients.  For a company to display a label that reads "Made with Organic ingredients" the product must carry 70% or more organics with no restrictions on the other ingredients.  For a company to display the USDA organic label, it must have 95% or higher organic ingredients with the other 5% being from an approved list.  To carry the new Natural Products Association Label the natural product must only contain pre-approved naturally derived ingredients.  The Eco-Cert label has fallen under scrutiny lately, for allowing synthetics in products (which is against its own rules) with many interest groups now not trusting the integrity of the EcoCert logo.

Real Organic: no synthetics, never ever
Badger Balm
Bottled Earth Company
Dr. Bronners
Earth Mama
Angel Baby
Eco-Beauty Organics
Eminence
Essensa
Gratefulbody Organics
iLike
Intelligent Nutrients Le FP
Green body Care
Miessence Organics (food grade, carries USDA label)
Nature's Baby Organics
Nourish (food grade, carries USDA label)
Oracle Organics
Organic Essence
Pangea Organics
Perfect Organics
Sun Dog
Trillium

Real Natural: Though they might not use all organic ingredients, their finished product has NO added synthetics.
Alaffia (*Fair Trade)
Aubrey Organics, (they are not on the organic list because not all products are fully organic, though they never use chemicals or synthetics in finished product)
Bon Vital's natural line
Devita
Dr. Bronners
Earth Mama
Angel Baby
Mexitan
Mychelle
Rare 2 B
Suki
Weleda
Zum

Organic Gal posts a lengthy list of fakers, as well as a list of companies who are "hit or miss."  The "hit or miss" companies have some great products that would be considered true to their labels, but they also have some products that use synthetics.  If you want me to post the list of fakers here, I will, but I figured the list of real companies made this post long enough.  :)

Another great website to check this stuff out at is that of the Organic Consumers Association.  I highly recommend checking out your products.  This site also includes a spreadsheet that gives the Skin Deep hazard rankings to each brand's products.  You definitely want to look at this!

Fluff Friday Giveaway

Visit The Cloth Diaper Whisperer to enter her giveaway for a Knickernappies One-Size Diaper with two Loopy-Do inserts and a Knickernappies Hanging Door Pail Liner at http://www.theclothdiaperwhisperer.com/2010/02/fluff-friday-67.html.  Enter through Thursday, February 25th at 7 p.m.

Moby Wrap Giveaway

Another great website for all you moms out there -- http://givemeneither.com/.  Any of you expecting or with wee ones or know someone that falls into those categories?  Check out the Moby Wrap giveaway at http://givemeneither.com/moby-baby-wrap-giveaway/.  Enter and share with your friends!

The Disappearing Male

Do you have children?  Or grandchildren?  Do you want to?  You NEED to make 40 minutes in your schedule to watch this video, The Disappearing Male.  It is frightening.

When I started my journey toward green, some of my decisions and choices were based on my feeling that all these man-made chemicals couldn't be great for our God-created human bodies more than facts (and some were definitely based on fact), but this documentary provides some frightening and specific effects of all these chemicals.  I fear for our children's generation, but perhaps even moreso, for their children.  What will their world be like???  We can make a change, but we have to do it now, not tomorrow, not next week, not next month...  You don't need to go "cold turkey" or do it all, but choose today to make one small, green change for your family.  One small step at a time to change the world.

Cooking with All Things Trader Joe's Giveaway

So, I just discovered The $30 Weekly Grocery Challenge!  You really need to check this blog out.  What a great resource!!!  Anyway, she has tons of great giveaways, including this one for a copy of the book Cooking with All Things Trader Joe's.  Check it out today and regularly (I've added a button on my blog page), because her giveaways usually are only 48 hours.  Good luck!

Kids Eat Free 2/13-15 @ IKEA

Save some green, right?  This weekend, February 13-15, kids can get a free lunch at participating IKEA stores.  No purchase necessary.  Free lunch is for kids 12 and under, and you get to choose 3 kid-sized items to make a meal (including five meatballs, mac and cheese, PB&J sandwich, kids yogurt, two cookies, chocolate milk and more)!  Call your local IKEA store to make sure they are participating.


From the IKEA website: "Our Restaurants welcome you with a relaxing atmosphere and menu offers that satisfy most every taste at a price that satisfies every budget. Of course we’re famous for our Swedish meatballs and Lingonberry drink, but there’s so much more, you’re guaranteed not to go home hungry! And to show we’re concerned for your well being and satisfaction, we want you to know that IKEA is committed to sourcing food for our menu items from companies that are committed to the highest food safety standards as well as being environmentally and socially responsible. We take every measure to insure our suppliers comply with all international and national food legislation. We make strict demands concerning animal welfare and the non use of antibiotics or hormones to stimulate growth. We support ecological farming and prefer organically grown products. It’s our commitment, to make it Tasty, Uncomplicated and Good for You!"

A Review of Six Green Laundry Detergents

Someone just shared this link with me, and I wanted to pass it on to you.  I think our laundry detergent is a big place we need to "go green," a good first thing to replace with something greener when you run out of whatever you've been using.  It goes into our water, it goes into our clothes, which come in constant, close contact with our family's skin, etc.  Anyway, the site is http://www.grist.org/ (A Beacon in the Smog), and the article is at http://www.grist.org/article/its-a-wash.  Check it out.