Black Friday, Small Business Saturday, Cyber Monday… Let’s go with the HUGE EOG SALE! We’re combining all our affiliate savings to bring you and offer you’d be crazy not to grab! Build a great site on the best platform with wonderful hosting and a superior theme and save, save save!!

Hosting: 50% OFF ANY hosting package! {affiliate link}

Premium Theme: 25% Off any StudioPress theme with Coupon code THANKS {affiliate link}

FREE Installation! WordPress Installation – FREE with Hosting AND Theme installation FREE with StudioPress theme purchase!

Not a DIY’er?? Get all the FREE and discounted offers above and $200 off our Silver, Gold or The Works WordPress Design packages.

The Design services offer will be available thru Tuesday morning, but the other offers above are only available for a limited time, so don’t miss out on combining all these savings and saving BIG! Contact us today!

Post from: Eco-Office Gals

Save Huge on Eco-Office Gals Services!

I was given the opportunity to try out the Caroma Flow Showerhead over the last few months and I have really enjoyed this addition to the master bath.  It has a unique look and great pressure for being low flow.

From the site:

New Caroma Flow shower offers the ultimate shower experience. Delivering a comfortable flow rate of just 6.5 litres per minute, Flow is engineered to produce the same or better performance as a conventional shower (9 litres per minute) whilst saving both water usage and hot water energy running costs.

• Easy to use sliding spray adjustable system
• Easy to install
• WELS 3 star rated, 6.5L/minute
• Available as fixed or adjustable arm

There are plenty of simple steps you can take to make your home and office a little greener and a low-flow shower head is one of them. The only downside to the Caroma for me is the price – retailed at $129.00 it’s much more pricey then the $20 low-flow shower head I had on there – BUT the other one wasn’t as pleasing to the eye. So, it comes down to look and budget.

Visit Caroma’s product line for your low-flow needs including toilets, basins, baths and more they have a wide range of options for your Eco-friendly bathroom needs.

Post from: Eco-Office Gals

Green Pick of the Week: Caroma Showerhead

The internet is a buzz with Earth Day Happenings including the Green My World Earth Day Giveaway! I hope you are leaving tons of great green tips, sharing the products you hope to win, and sharing the giveaway on all your social networks!

As we come to the final hours, lets give you a few more ways to enter! Below you will find some green tips and retweets to share on Twitter or Facebook.  Follow the giveaway sponsors on Twitter and share their green tips (comment on the giveaway post that you did and your twitter name):

Green Tip: @natgoodsoaps Indoor composting has changed my life. Try it, it is so worth it. http://bit.ly/gVRf7a

Green Tip: @GlassDharma Drink with a “Touch of Glass” http://bit.ly/gVRf7a

Green Tip: @erinely Don’t settle for organic impostors look for 3rd party organic certification to verify organic claims. http://bit.ly/gVRf7a

Gree Tip: @soapsbynature handcrafted soaps don’t contain detergents or phosphates – better for the skin and the environment. http://bit.ly/gVRf7a

RT @ecologicbrands Earth Day Giveaway 2011 Win one year of #7thGeneration Detergent – and more! http://bit.ly/gVRf7a

Win Big! 6 hours of Green Consulting – $900 Value from @infinitellc & much more Green My World! http://bit.ly/gVRf7a #earthday #giveaway

Follow all the other sponsors too: @GreenMarketGirl @nakedbinder @saferbrand @hellotogreen @grapeseedco

Good luck! I look forward to picking the person that shines the greenest to win all those great prizes!

Post from: Eco-Office Gals

Earth Day 2011 Green Tips & Additional Entries

Let’s get this party started!

Earth Day (Month) is here and Eco-Office Gals wants to get as many people as possible on board to grow a little greener.   If you’ve been wanting to, trying to, thinking about growing a little greener there’s no better time to do it then now! We don’t want to make you go it alone either. We have once again reached out to our great green cyberspace friends to bring you green products to Green Your World!

The past 2 years of Eco-Office Gals Green My World Giveaway were a HUGE hit and we will give it a go again!!

So, let’s get things started.  We’ll give you a chance to check out a few of the initial sponsors and a peek at the prizes coming in, look around their sites and get your creative green juices flowing.  So, lets get started!

Welcome all our Earth Day Giveaway Sponsors for 2011 and their generous donations to Green Your World (I will be adding to the list as sponsors come in!):

• Infinite Future, LLC – Six hours of Sustainable Consulting Time (Value – $900)
• Naturally Good Soaps – $75.00 Gift Certificate
• Green Market Girl – $45.00 Gift Certificate
• Naked Binder – Set of 4 Naked Binder Project Binders, Assorted colors, 1.5″ d-ring Roundbacks ($30 Value)
• GlassDharma – eGift Certificate $25.00
• Safer Brand – 1 bottle of 3-in-1 1 bottle of EndALL 1 bottle of Weed & Grass Killer 1 bottle of Oxygen Plus 1 bottle of Tomato and Vegetable Insect Killer ($50 Value)
• Ecologic Brands – One Year of Seventh Generation 4X Detergent ($200+ Value)
• HTG Paper Company – 10 Reams of HTG 100% Wood Free Multi Purpose Paper Letter Size ($64.99 Value)
• ElyOrganics.com – $25.00 eGift Certificate
• Soaps by Nature – Handcrafted Lip Balm Sampler ($17 Value)
• The GrapeSeed Company – Wine Bar & Butter Gift Set ($22 Value)

This list is growing by the day sooo…  here’s the deal, one person will win it ALL! Put your green recycled thinking caps on since  you will need to do a little work! You need to green up your act!  Absolutely, no “Thanks for the great giveaway” comments, they WILL be deleted.  DO NOT copy and paste someone’s comment as your own, be original.  You can enter as many times as you’d like as long as you follow one of the options below. For shipping purposes – US residents only, please.  Contest will end April 22nd Earth Day, at 12 noon (EST). One winner will be picked to win the whole thing! This will not be a random drawing, rather the person that really seems to put some effort towards making a difference in their life will be given the chance to make their changes with these great products!

• First & Mandatory! Pick a green step that will help the environment. Something new, that you are not already doing. Leave a comment about it, or if you post about it on your own blog, provide a link in your comment so we can check it out!
• Leave a comment about any progress and achievements in your green goals, too.  Let us know how it’s going!
• Leave a unique tip to be green, chemical free, etc
• Visit the sponsors and let us know how one of their products could help your green up your act.  Leave a link to the product so we can all check it out.
• Send out a tweet about the giveaway & consider using the #earthtweet hashtag – be sure to include a link to it.
• Use other Social Networking avenues to get the word out about the giveaway and let us know which ones you did.
• Add the giveaway button to your sidebar and let us know you did. Here’s the code:

<a href=”http://eco-officegals.com/2011/04/04/3rd-annual-gmw-earth-day-giveaway-2011/” target=”_blank”><img src=”http://eco-officegals.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/02/earthday.png” border=”0″ alt=”Green My World”></a>

• Think a product is so awesome on one of our sponsors sites, you can’t wait to win before you buy? Leave 5 separate entries telling us what you bought from who — we will confirm.

Be sure to sign up for Eco-Office Gals RSS by feed or email.  I’ll be continuing to bring you information, tips and events from our sponsors and may just throw in a few extra ways to enter as we go along!

WE HAVE A WINNER!

This is never an easy decision, some of you have been leaving some great tips, sharing wonderful green efforts, and sharing the giveaway with all your might! Sometimes it may be easier to just pick a random winner, but this gives others great ideas and encourages us all to be friendly to the earth.

As in years past one of you has risen above the others, has taken the effort to share your green steps and promote the giveaway just a little bit more.  GreenEcoChick really seems to be making some great green efforts currently and is looking forward to new green changes in her future. She also took the time to share the giveaway consistently. All the way around she shone through the greenest! I hope you enjoy making your world even more greener with these great prizes! Congrats!!

Post from: Eco-Office Gals

3rd Annual GMW Earth Day Giveaway 2011 (closed)

It’s no secret that I have fallen in favor of the StudioPress Genesis Theme Framework and child themes over the past year and have been working nearly exclusively with the themes. Eco-Office Gals has been redesigned on the Enterprise Child Theme and I am finally happy – third time IS the charm!

StudioPress has been rolling out several new child themes lately, including the Social Eyes Child Theme.

One of the great benefits of Social Media is the ability to meet people where they are. On Facebook? Over at Twitter? No problem.

Social Eyes is an elegant and easy way to assemble a stunning home for all of your Social Media work, and to expand it with your own unique take on what’s going on.

What could be a better fit for a giveaway on Eco-Office Gals then a perfect merge of paperless outlets to promote your small business – WordPress, StudioPress & Social Media! That’s right! Brian Gardner – Founder of StudioPress – is donating a copy of Social Eyes (or child theme of choice) to one lucky Eco-Office Gals Facebook Fan and upon request, Eco-Office Gals will install it on WordPress for you! If you have been looking to upgrade to a great premium theme, here is your chance!

Eco-Office Gals wants to reach 1,000 FB fans. A tall order? Maybe – but we are talking about winning the best premium theme of 2010 valued at $79.95 plus install.  So, the requirement to win – you MUST be a fan! Go to our the Eco-Office Gals Fan page and “like” us. Then comment here that you did.

Already a Fan? Then you’re one step ahead of the game, just comment here that you are a fan, who you are on FB and you want to win the theme.

Extra entries – Like or share this post on Facebook, recommend the EOG fan page to your friends on FB. Heck, send your twitter followers to our FanPage. No one wins until we hit 1,000 fans – so the more ways you send people to “Like” us the quicker your chance of getting your hands on this theme!

Leave a comment below for everything and anything you do since the winner will be picked from the comments, upon confirmation that you are a FaceBook Fan.

* A few obvious details for the winner, you must have a domain purchased and a self-hosted WordPress.org platform installed. Theme is for personal use only and may not be resold. Theme is installed out of the box free of charge – customization is not included. If you don’t have any of the above upon winning, Eco-Office Gals can assist with the details, but it is not included in the winnings. Good Luck!

Post from: Eco-Office Gals

Giveaway: Like Eco-Office Gals Win Studiopress!

Late last night I read another article about chicken nuggets, this one about the 50% non-chicken ingredients in McNuggets. Last month it was the gag factor image of the pink goop that makes a nugget. Although we didn’t make fast food part of our daily diet before I saw these, the kids loved them for a treat. Now they have been removed from our diet, unless we make them ourselves. Cut up chicken breast, flour or breadcrumbs and seasoning – period.

When you work in the real world (unlike my virtual work life) it’s so much easier to grab and go on your lunch hour. Trust me, I know from 15 years of personal experience.  However, you really have to question what you are eating on the go, and when you start to see articles like this – do you honestly want to know??

When you take your lunch with you, not only is there a better chance you will know what’s in it. There are several other advantages to packing your lunch as well:

Waste Reduction

Chances are your mystery meat nugget also comes in a paper or Styrofoam container, with individual serving condiments and paper napkins, all packed up in a paper bag, right? There are so many options out to make your lunch waste free:

Built NY Market Tote – Nolita Stripe – $ 39.75
A lightweight and durable insulating tote perfect for shopping or picnicking, in your choice of 3 great designs. Designed to keep contents insulated and protected soft grip handles make the tote comfortable to carry. Machine washable and stain resistant.

Kids Konserve 4 Pack Cotton Napkin – Squiggle – $ 19.95
These napkins from Kids Konserve are a great, fun alternative to paper napkins. Use in the school cafeteria or pre-school lunch room as a napkin or a place-mat to put food on and avoid those dirty, germ filled surfaces! Name-tag prominently displayed so they won’t get lost. Easy to wash. Use in sets at home for more stylish reusable dinner napkins. Comes in a pack of four.

To-Go Ware RePEaT Utensil Set – Family Pack – $ 54.90
We’ve got our travel mugs and our reusable shopping bags. How about a bamboo utensil set to round out the perfect toolkit for life on the go? A handy carabiner on the back lets you clip and carry a fork, knife, spoon and chopsticks wherever they may roam. Perfect for a busy lifestyle and our precious planet. This great package deal is a great option if you want to give the gift of green to friends and loved ones, or offer a stylish option to disposable plastics to the folks at your picnic or barbeque. Get 5 of these fabulous kits all in a bundle!

Portion Control

Are you going to eat that? I remember the days of Chinese Lunch Specials. What a bang for your buck… and belt! Sometimes I made one lunch last me 2-3 days, but sometimes it was just SO YUM! I wiped it out and paid dearly the rest of the day. Packing your lunch allows you to pre-plan the size of the meal you will eat that day. All without the waste of individual servings, too!

Laptop Lunch System 2.0 – Flower – $ 39.95

The Flower Fun Bento System 2.0 is ideal for families who embrace the bento concept for its function and sustainable style, but value the insulation and appeal of the traditional lunchbox. This brand new Flower Fun Bento System 2.0 is ideal for work, school, and travel. The insulated carrying case keeps foods fresh, and the sturdy containers prevent squishing. Don’t leave home without it! Includes the Laptop Lunch insulated carrying case with flower pattern, a water bottle, the Laptop Lunch Bento 2.0 with a black outer container, magenta inner containers and all-stainless utensils, and one copy of The Laptop Lunch User’s Guide.

Kids Konserve Food Container – 3 Pack – $ 24.95
Leak-proof nesting trio of containers from Kids Konserve are the perfect solution for packing yogurt, fruit salad, apple sauce, pasta salad, chips and hummus, apples and peanut butter and more! Use them to store your leftovers in the frig and get rid of those other pesky plastic containers! And since they all nest perfectly inside one another they will take up very little space in your cupboard, which means you will have room for a few sets! Food grade stainless steel, recyclable leak proof Bisphenol-A (BPA) free lid.

Increase Your Liquid Intake

Whether you need to reduce your cappuccino budget or increase your water intake, bringing reusable and stylish bottles and drinkware can reduce your budget and intake of high calorie drinks, eliminate waste, and encourage water consumption.

I am Not a Paper Cup Reusable Coffee Mug – $ 19.95
We love this reusable coffee mug! How often can you combine kitschy, functional and eco-friendly into one unique design? A fun way to BYOC and save paper doing it!

Timolino Vacuum Metro Tea Mug – Pastel Blue – $ 18.99

All New! Travel Tea Mug. This stylish and innovative design features a stainless steel mesh filter attachment for brewing tea (or coffee) right in the cup. The Travel Tea Mug is made from patented stainless steel construction will not leach toxins, is neutral to taste and smell, and is stain and tarnish resistant. Timolino, a leading contemporary drinkware brand has develop quality, innovative beverage containers designed to keep your favorite beverage hot, cold and fresh longer. Timolino has won numerous awards for its quality and innovative products from the Specialty Coffee Association of America and the National Specialty Association for Specialty Food Trade.

KOR ONE Water Bottle – Sunrise Orange – $ 29.50
A Striking Profile Inspired by the organic beauty of blown glass, the ONE’s elliptical shape embodies balance and flow, while the body sparkles with the clarity and emotional resonance of crystal. Easy, ErgonomicThe ONE’s “no-worry cap” swivels open with a press of a button and a twist of the wrist revealing a mouth wide enough for a quenching flow, but designed to minimize splashing. An integrated handle allows for easy, comfortable carrying. Materials Matter You wouldn’t drink contaminated water. Why put good water into a contaminated bottle? The KOR ONE is made from Eastman Tritan, which is free of bisphenol-A (BPA), a leaching toxin found in polycarbonate bottles.

With so many earth friendly options. There is no excuse not to bring your lunch with you. You’ll save yourself with healthier eating habits and reduce waste with flare!

Post from: Eco-Office Gals

Take Your Lunch to Work!

This holiday season I discovered Kiss Naturals. I really love their kits and if you have little ones like me I know you will, too! Kiss Naturals makes DIY kits which come with everything needed to make your own natural lip gloss, perfume, soap and bath fizzies. A bit about Kiss Naturals:

At Kiss Naturals, we believe that Nature got it right the first time. We don’t add fillers, additives, dyes or synthetics to any of our products. We simply use Nature’s ingredients in their purest form.

I reviewed the lip balm kit. My girls LOVE “chop stick” as they call it. However, I have heard horror stories about the crud that can be found in the stuff you buy from the store and half the time I can’t stand the synthetic scents. The kit includes:

A fun all-natural do it yourself kit that makes 10 amazing lip balms! This treat for your lips contains 2 bottles of pure essential oils, Shea butter, Safflower oil and Beeswax in pre measured bottles. You simply melt the beeswax, safflower oil and shea butter (on stovetop or in the microwave) then once they melt get creative and start adding the essential oils of your choice! A great treat to make at birthday parties or to share with friends and family!

Lip balms are ready to use in 30 minutes!

Our kit came with orange and peppermint oils. I’m a sucker for peppermint so I was as excited as the girls to get these made! This was really easy to put together. I have to recommend you may want to use some disposable bowls for this. I’m sure you can clean everything up, but it is a bit of a greasy mess. The beeswax took a tad longer to melt then directed in my microwave, but I’m sure that will vary. Finally, don’t take your time with the final pour, the balm starts to harden up quick, as soon as you add the flavor you need to have the containers ready.  The end result was 10 little containers of lip balm that we love to use. The girls gave a few away to friends and grandma and we kept the rest. I want to try a few more of these kits for sure!

Kiss Naturals is letting one of my readers win a kit of their choice to try as well! With the count down to Christmas coming up, I won’t promise Marie will have these out in time – although, mine arrived in about a day. If it doesn’t get there in time for Christmas, no worries this will still make for a fun project during the holiday break.

Do as many of the below as you wish and leave a separate comment for each one:

• Visit Kiss Naturals and comment here on which kit you would love to buy if you won.
• Blog about this giveaway and link back to this post.
• Follow @kissnaturals on Twitter or become a Fan on Facebook and comment that you did.
• Tweet this giveaway
• Stumble this giveaway
• Use other forms of social networking to spread the word about this giveaway.
• Subscribe to my feed to stay up to date with the latest from Eco-Office Gals.
• Buy anything from Kiss Naturals and comment 5 times that you did! Don’t forget to use the coupon code! (I will confirm)

The deadline for entering is Wednesday 12/22/10 at 8am EST at which time one winner will be randomly chosen.  Please don’t forget to leave a separate entry for each one of the above that you do and any entries that show obvious laziness i.e. a simple “Thanks for the great giveaway” will not be published therefore not counted. It’s just not fair for the people that do know how to follow simple directions. US & Canada residents only. Thanks!

(In compliance with the new FTC Guildlines, please note that this is a sponsored post.  I was given these products to test and review free of charge.  However, I was not paid for the review and the opinions are my own.)

And the winner is..

Post from: Eco-Office Gals

Green Gift Giving: Kiss Naturals

One area of our home that is not green is our kitchen cabinets. I confess, our plates, cups and travel mugs… they are littered with plastic. With 3 kids in the home and a husband that walks out the door with cups full of coffee or soda, never to return (the cups, he normally comes back), plastic is a cheap convenience. In our defense, we are paperless in the kitchen, no disposables, no coffee filters, no paper products and we recycle, and compost. Am I forgiven?

When I came across The Green Glass Company, I was intrigued. What better way to step beyond simple recycling efforts then turning wine, beer and soda bottles into tableware?

With origins dating back to 1992 in South Africa, The Green Glass Company has seen many incarnations and has grown into the largest producer of reclaimed glassware in the world.The Green Glass Company strives to satisfy not only its recycling heritage but also its eclectic and diverse clientele. With its patent on the unique wine bottle to goblet conversion process, The Green Glass Company team and its state-of-the-art equipment are at the forefront of the reclaimed glassware market.

Revered throughout Europe and other parts of the world as collectible art glass, The Green Glass Company goblets have even been chosen for the table of King Carlos of Spain, a former Mayor of New York City, movie sets, and, celebrity dinners. In addition to their popularity with consumers and collectors, The Green Glass Company products are quickly becoming a valuable marketing tool in the corporate world. Sandblasted with a company name or logo, the glasses not only provide enduring brand exposure, they also provide insight into a company’s awareness and commitment to preserving our resources.

From Kings and Mayors to the Smith household, we have had the pleasure of sampling a set of these glasses in our home for a few weeks now.  As much as I loved the goblets, I went practical with a set of tumblers, or the bottom section of the bottle.

Through a partnership with Cave B winery, these tumblers are created from reclaimed Bordeaux bottles collected from the organic restaurant, B&B and tasting room on the Cave B estate.

I was sent a set of 4 glasses, each one different from the other and they are really nice. They are thick, heavy weight glass, not the thin garbage you get in the sets from the store.They are made from wine bottles, after all. Another plus, my husband doesn’t walk out of the house with them and the little ones won’t touch them.

The Glass Company’s product line creations don’t stop at glassware. Their line includes vases, pitchers, candle holders, even coat hooks made with bottle tops! There is a wonderful variety to choose from when deciding on your Green Gift Giving this season!

How about giving (or receiving) something from The Green Glass Company this holiday season? The Green Glass Company is giving away a $40 gift code to one of my readers!  Do as many of the below as you wish and leave a separate comment for each one:

• Visit The Green Glass Company Store and comment here on what you would love to buy if you won the GC.
• Blog about this giveaway and link back to this post.
• Become a fan of The Green Glass Company or Eco-Office Gals and comment that you did.
• Tweet this giveaway
• Stumble this giveaway
• Use other forms of social networking to spread the word about this giveaway.
• Subscribe to my feed to stay up to date with the latest from Eco-Office Gals.
• Buy anything from The Green Glass Company and comment 5 times that you did! Don’t forget to use the coupon code! (I will confirm)

The deadline for entering is Friday 12/10/10 at 8pm EST at which time one winner will be randomly chosen.  Please don’t forget to leave a separate entry for each one of the above that you do and any entries that show obvious laziness i.e. a simple “Thanks for the great giveaway” will not be published therefore not counted. It’s just not fair for the people that do know how to follow simple directions. US residents only. Thanks!

(In compliance with the new FTC Guildlines, please note that this is a sponsored post.  I was given these products to test and review free of charge.  However, I was not paid for the review and the opinions are my own.)

And the winner is….

Post from: Eco-Office Gals

Green Gift Giving: Green Glass Company

Stocking stuffers, we tend not to do them in this house. I find that there is just too much junk that goes into them, candy, junk toys from the dollar store, etc. I’d rather take the money I would spend on a bunch of junk and get one more decent gift. BUT this year I’ve discovered a cute gift that may make me think twice.

Piggy Paint™ is specially formulated from God’s natural ingredients and dries to a hard, durable finish. There are  no toxic chemicals; it’s free of formaldehyde, toluene, phthalates, Bisphenol A, ethyl acetate and acetone. Click here to see how our polish compares!

Say good-bye to harsh, smelly chemicals and hello to Piggy Paint™…it’s as Natural as Mud!

My girls are girlie girls, so Piggy Paint was a huge hit. There are many cute colors to choose from, it would be hard for me to choose. Luckily, I didn’t have to, my sample was randomly selected for me. They sent us a bottle of Forever Fancy & a bottle of their Nail Polish Remover to try out on our piggy’s, yes I am sporting some on my piggy’s, too.  I tend to be very sensitive to the harsh smell of nail polish. My girls probably even think I’m a little mean because I almost NEVER paint there nails. I just can’t stand the smell, I have to really get in the mood to deal with it. Piggy Paint is almost void off all harsh scents!  It dries fairly quickly and lasts as long as other mainstream nail polish.

I originally tried the Remover on my leftover black nail polish from Halloween, it didn’t seem to touch it. So, this morning I gave it a shot on the piggy paint. It takes more scrubbing then regular remover, the bottle says to soak the nail with a saturated cotton ball for 30 seconds, I don’t have any cotton balls and the TP wasn’t cutting it.  So, I’m not currently having much luck with the remover.

I love all the holiday gift sets available! They have Mistle Toes shown to the left, what a perfect Christmas Eve gift! They also have Dreidel Dreams, Kolors of Kwanzaa as well as gift sets for other occasions and holidays as well.

Piggy Paint is offering all our readers a coupon code use OFFICE10L expiration January 31, 2011 for 10% off on anything on the Website including sale items!

How about winning some Piggy Paint to dress up your piggy’s for the Holidays? Piggy Paint is giving away a $15 gift code to one of my readers!  Do as many of the below as you wish and leave a separate comment for each one:

• Visit Piggy Paint and comment here on which color or gift set you would love to buy if you won the GC.
• Blog about this giveaway and link back to this post.
• Follow @piggypaint on Twitter or become a Fan on Facebook and comment that you did.
• Tweet this giveaway
• Stumble this giveaway
• Use other forms of social networking to spread the word about this giveaway.
• Subscribe to my feed to stay up to date with the latest from Eco-Office Gals.
• Buy anything from Piggy Paint and comment 5 times that you did! Don’t forget to use the coupon code! (I will confirm)

The deadline for entering is Friday 12/03/10 at 8pm EST at which time one winner will be randomly chosen.  Please don’t forget to leave a separate entry for each one of the above that you do and any entries that show obvious laziness i.e. a simple “Thanks for the great giveaway” will not be published therefore not counted. It’s just not fair for the people that do know how to follow simple directions. US residents only. Thanks!

(In compliance with the new FTC Guildlines, please note that this is a sponsored post.  I was given these products to test and review free of charge.  However, I was not paid for the review and the opinions are my own.)

Sorry for the delay, been a busy week – The winner is….

Post from: Eco-Office Gals

Green Gift Giving: Piggy Paint

The Sodastream products had struck my fancy for a few holiday seasons. Several blogs had been giving them away and unfortunately, I hadn’t won one yet. So, I was excited when the company agreed to be part of my Green Gift Giving series this season!

Sodastream’s products are a great addition to the home or office making green steps:

How Does SodaStream Help the Environment?

SodaStream is an “Active Green” product, meaning that consumers  are actively reducing their CO₂ footprint every time they make soda  or sparkling water at home instead of buying it from the store. The more the system is used on a daily basis, the more CO₂ footprint the user actively saves. (This differs from “Passive Green” products, which use green-friendly production processes, but their products are not inherently helping the consumers save on their daily footprint.)

Because SodaStream uses water straight from the tap, the system makes traditional store-bought beverage bottles obsolete. That means less plastic manufactured, less plastic waste is created, and fewer bottled beverages must be transported from manufacturers to distributors to stores to homes.

Globally, 206 billion liters of bottled water were consumed in 2008 (Zenith International Global Bottled Water Report, 2008). The energy required to make water bottles in the US only, is equivalent to 17 million barrels of oil (Container Recycling Institute, 2002).
According to the US Recycling Institute, more than 80% of bottles in the US do not get recycled and end up in landfills. Also, an estimated 4.7 million tons of greenhouse gas emissions were produced in the process of replacing the 134 billion bottles and cans not recycled in 2005.

Using your own home carbonation system means:

• Less packaging waste from cans and bottles.
• Less pollution caused by transport of bottled beverages.

One SodaStream carbonator makes 60 or 110 liters, equivalent to 170 or 310 aluminum cans! When empty, the carbonator is refilled and reused, ready to make more fizzy and tasty soda whenever you want it.

I was sent the Fountain Jet Starter Kit in black and silver to review. It came with 2 1 liter blottles, 1 carbonator, 6 flavored syrups from their regular and diet line, 2 of their Sparkling Naturals, and a 3 pack of MyWater Flavor Essence retail $99.95.

The Fountain Jet was super simple to get together, just insert the carbonator and you’re ready to go. No batteries, plugs or assembly required.  The first and only problem with the product I had: when asked which flavors I wanted to try I mentioned that I am a Diet Coke Gal, so since I was the main reviewer be sure to include that. No Diet Cola syrup was included. Since I don’t really like any other soda I had to leave taste testing to the rest of the family. So far Root Beer has been the family hit, Orange falling close behind. My Mother-in-law really liked the Sparkling Naturals Apple Mango, we sent her home with a large glass and a stainless steel bottle full.

Now, I have found myself drinking something I HATED when I was younger… Seltzer Water. I haven’t tried any of the flavor essences, yet. It’s next on the list (when there is a spare bottle not filled with Root Beer), but I have a new found craving for seltzer and to be able to make it in seconds is really cool! My son took a swig of it (probably thought it was lemon-lime) I heard him gag! That’ll teach him to drink out of the bottle! How many times do I have to say it??

The guys in the house go through soda fast, so this is great. No running out of drinks, running to the store, we’re reducing waste from store bought sodas, too. This has many pros for sure! SodaStream is available at several retail locations and you can search for a location near you on the site. I’ll need to take a trip to a location near me to buy some of the diet cola, then I can start to really enjoy the SodaStream.

This will make a great green gift for the soda lover in your life. So why not try to win one? Yep, SodaStream is giving one of my readers a Fountain Jet to keep or give as a gift this holiday season!

Do as many of the below as you wish and leave a separate comment for each one:

• Visit Soda Stream or the Ms. Fizzy Blog and comment here on which flavor or drink recipe you would love to try if you won the Fountain Jet.
• Blog about this giveaway and link back to this post.
• Follow @sodastreamusa on Twitter or become a Fan on Facebook and comment that you did.
• Tweet this giveaway
• Stumble this giveaway
• Use other forms of social networking to spread the word about this giveaway.
• Subscribe to my feed to stay up to date with the latest from Eco-Office Gals.
• Buy anything from SodaStream and comment 5 times that you did! (I will confirm)

The deadline for entering is Monday, 11/22/10 at 8pm EST at which time one winner will be randomly chosen.  Please don’t forget to leave a separate entry for each one of the above that you do and any entries that show obvious laziness i.e. a simple “Thanks for the great giveaway” will not be published therefore not counted. It’s just not fair for the people that do know how to follow simple directions. US residents only. Thanks!

(In compliance with the new FTC Guildlines, please note that this is a sponsored post.  I was given these products to test and review free of charge.  However, I was not paid for the review and the opinions are my own.)

Congrats…. um anonymous… at least you left an email

Comment:

I would love to try the Pete’s choice and the orange.

Post from: Eco-Office Gals

Green Gift Giving: Soda Stream Review & Giveaway!