I was recently invited to sign up at Influenster to be part of a review panel of various green products. Influenster is an “Exclusive Community of Trendsetters Invited to Receive Free Products” and I was honored to receive the request. . The VoxBox showed up about 2 weeks ago and included:

• Pureology Hydrate Shampoo
• Pureology Hydrate Light Condition
• Desert Essence Oil Control Moisturizer
• Maxim Hygiene Variety Pack
• Kiss My Face Peace Soap
• ZSweet All Natural Zero Calorie Sweetener Box (packets)
• ZSweet All Natural Zero Calorie Sweetener Canister
• Rishi Tea Chocolate Chai Tea

I haven’t tried every product yet, but I have gotten a good start in sampling most of them.

Hands down my favorite is the Pureology Hydrate Light Condition.  Made with organic botanical Peppermint, Sage, and Rosemary, it smells heavenly in the bottle, in your hair and even on your hands and body long after rinsing it out!  A little bit goes a long way which is great since I tend to have to use a lot. Although it claims to be a “light” conditioner, it has the consistency of a creme rinse, which is mandatory for my thick curls. I have fallen in love with this product.

The Pureology Hydrate Shampoo has also worked great on my hair, although I will say I don’t keep up well with my coloring so I could not test it’s Anti Fade claims. The Multiweight Protein Complex: Soy, Oat, and Wheat and Signature Aromatherapy Blend: Ylang Ylang, Bergamot, Anise, and Patchouli make for a great lather and wonderful scented product.

Kiss My Face Peace Soap was another favorite from the bunch. This light Pomegranate Acai scented castile soap with claims to have 101 uses including body wash, veggie wash, laundry and more, has been a great addition to the house.  Additionally, 10% of profits from each product sold supports Seeds of Peace and their mission to help young people from regions of conflict develop the leadership skills necessary to advance reconciliation and coexistence.  The only place this product fell short so far was the bubble bath. The suds disappeared almost instantly, but it still made for a great scented bath, so all is well.

I have been pushing the Desert Essence Oil Control Moisturizer on my 15 year old son. I was always blessed with fairly clear skin and I cringe at all the harsh chemicals he puts on his face. I love tea tree products, they leave me feeling so refreshed. It works as a great moisturizer, not greasy feeling at all and it almost has a tightening feeling.

On a shorter note, I’m not one to use sweeteners, my preferred option is organic pure cane sugar, so I have not tried the Zsweet products and honestly, I don’t know if I will. However, I did let my mother-in-law have a few packets and she liked it very much. I still have to try the Chocolate Chai, too. Maybe if I need to sweeten it up, I’ll try the Zsweet, stay tuned.

I also tried the Maxim tampon made with Organic and Natural Cotton, Chlorine/Dioxin Free, Synthetic Free, Wood Fluff Pulp Free, Hypoallergenic/Irritation Free, Eco-Friendly & User-Friendly, too. With the long list of healthy pluses and it did the job at hand, I recommend trying these as an alternative to their toxic competition.

Influenster did a great job putting together a variety of great eco-friendly products to try.  I really can’t say anything bad about any of them. If you are a blogger check them out on Twitter and Facebook for upcoming boxes to review and too see what others are saying about their VoxBox green products.  I think the next box headed out is for foodie bloggers.  YUM! Would love to try to  qualify for that! Can we squeeze it in with Green Biz??

Have you tried any of the products above? What do you think of them?

Disclosure:  I received this VoxBox free of charge from Influenster. All ideas, thoughts, words and opinions are my own and are not influenced by Influenster or the product companies featured.

Post from: Eco-Office Gals

Influenster: Green VoxBox Review

Let’s get this party started!

Earth Day (Month) is approaching 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!

Last year Eco-Office Gals Green My World Giveaway was a HUGE hit and we will give it a go again!!

Today, we’ll just 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 2010 and their generous donations to Green Your World (I will be adding to the list throughout the coming weeks!):

• EcoStore USA – Gift basket with 10 products
• Affordable Mineral Make Up – $25 Gift Certificate
• Naked Binder – Set of 9 project binders (one of all colors)
• Ely Organics – $25 eGift Certificate
• BuyGreen.com – $50 Gift Certificate
• Watercheck.biz – Niagara Conservation XSWEK07 Indoor Water Conservation EcoKit
• Kir DeVries – $25 Gift Certificate
• Ecominders – Ecominders Gift Bag – A reusable tote with packages of all 3 Ecominders product lines – Home, Office and Kids & Schools, along with organic cotton adult & children’s Ecominders t-shirts
• Barefoot Books – One World, One Planet Gift Collection
• weeBgreen – 1 kidzsack
• Project GLO – very adorably wrap 3 sets of 5 pens made from biodegradable cardboard and corn plastic!
• Cactus & Ivy – Body Souffle
• Sarva Soap – $25 gift certificate plus 15% coupon off first purchase
• Intention Kits – 1 Intention Kit made on Recycled Paper
• Natural Luxe – $25 eGift Certificate
• HappyFamily Organics – 2 free trials for each product line, 2 free trails for YB Meals, FAQ Guide on organics, HappyFamily Nutrition Guide, HappyFamily Recipes, HappyBaby’s new book “Our Organic guide to the first 24 months

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 there great products!

• 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/2010/02/14/2nd-annual-green-my-world-earth-day-giveaway-2010/” 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!

Sooooo…. although this years giveaway received 1229 visit I only recieved 163 entries into the giveaway. You would think this would make picking a winner easier right? NO! There were some wonderful comments left by many of you on how you are going green and how you hope to make a lighter impact on the earth in the future. Many of you also did a wonderful job tweeting and sharing to spread the word about this giveaway and all of it’s great sponsors. So, it wasn’t easy to hand pick a winner at all! However as I continued to read through the comments one person started to shine through with their great efforts already in place, their acknowledged need for improvement, helpful tips, genuine thoughts and aspirations for their continued green efforts in the future.  So, the winner has been picked!

Ginny – Congrats we are going to Green your world!! Check out her comments:

• So, I am sure this is just the start of my greening and trying to do extra things and “think out of the box”, but I have been very conscious of the chemicals in my products for awhile, but it sometimes seems really hard to really keep on top of it. So, I am going to be creating some of my own skin care products. I bought a book with some recipes and I am buying bottles and organic essential oils so that they are really pure. The bottles are glass so that there is no BPA in them for me or my family. For me going green and being healthy are one and the same. I also have subscriptions to some magazines. I usually recycle them as soon as I am done, but I have some friends who are interested in reading, so we are going to trade between the three of us, all I ask is that they give them back if they have no intention of recycling or that they recycle them when they are done. I am going to start paying more attention to packaging as well. I have noticed that there are some products which cannot be recycled in my area, so I am going to try to make an effort to pay attention to the plastic that is in the packaging, etc. so that it doesn’t go in the trash, it can be recycled.
• So, in addition to what I previously posted I am going to buy a Barnes and Noble Nook…. I am an avid reader and I can save a lot of trees if I go that route. I am also going to take some of my old books that I don’t want to the local thrift store. I need to buy some new clothes because I lost some weight too… I still have more to lose so I don’t want to revamp my whole wardrobe so I will buy some clothes at a consignment shop to get me through. There are new clothes there sometimes and some really good stuff for way cheaper than buying it brand new! And when I lose the weight I want to buy clothes that are organic and made of natural fabrics. This might sound kind of gross too… but I know they make things like the Diva Cup and reusable ladies products, so I have been looking into those options. I am counting the days to the farmer’s market as well so I can buy local, fresh produce. Showers are a hard one for me… I love my showers but I really need to conserve water, so I am trying to keep them to under 7 minutes… I will try to get down to 5 minutes… baby steps right?
• Green Tip: Avoid products with Parabens in them! They are bad for you and your family and they wash down the drain when you use them in the bath!
• Green Tip: Don’t throw medicines/prescriptions in the toilet or down the sink, they contaminate the water supply. There is more information on what to do at fda.gov
• I am looking at getting a composter and rain barrels this year. I am seriously considering taking the local train to work this year, even though it is a 2 mile walk from the station to work, that will be fine. My husband and I have reduced our trash so much that we only have to put the trash bins out every 4-5 weeks, all the rest goes to recycle. I have also noticed that I have been looking more closely to the packaging of food products that we buy… I am trying specifically to look for plastics that can be recycled. I used to buy a handful of organic products when I would shop, now I try to buy as much organic as I can. My mindset is changing I noted the other day because instead of thinking of how much it costs right now, I am thinking of the long term effect. I have also sworn off of aerosols…. even though I never liked the hairsprays that come in the spritzy type bottles, I will use them for the greater good (old habits are hard to break I guess). I am also not using the disposable break items at work anymore. I bought some bamboo utensils to use and a ceramic mug and we bought some glass containers to put our food in that needs to be heated so that we are not exposed to the chemicals in the plastic containers. Whew…. that was quite the novella.
• Green Tip: Eat locally grown foods and eat what is in season! It will reduce your carbon footprint.
• Oh! I forgot! I am really trying to eat more like a vegetarian. I am having mixed success so far, but I am working on eating lower on the food chain overall!
• I will be making bar soap for my hubby and I as well here in a couple of weeks.
• Well…. I watched the movie Food Inc. and man does that make me angry! I think that has been the best diet for me thus far! I am not going to support that kind of thing, that is horrible and we are slowly killing everyone! I subscribed to E magazine (the environmental magazine) and man does that have some good information. I sent in some information to volunteer for environmental data recovery to help for the future. Oh, and I finally hit my goal with the 7 minute shower! Now to move on to 5 minutes! I am really loving this green movement and I am finally fully immersed I think, after going into it gradually for the last couple of years I am at the point where it just makes me angry that we are subjected to the chemicals and such that we are subjected to and it washes into our water and pollutes and ugh!!! So mad…. but happy to that I feel I can make a difference.
• Oh, and my hubby and I are looking into getting solar panels… I don’t know if we can afford it yet, but it is definitely on our list of improvements to make along with replacing the old windows with more efficient ones.

I hope you will all take a bit to read all of the great comments shared by everyone and get inspired to make everyday Earth Day! Thank you all for your efforts!  Congrats again Ginny!

And we have heard back from Ginny:

OMG Jennifer!!!  I am so happy!  This has really made my week you are so awesome! Wow, you really made my day with this one, I am so excited to try everything!!!

Post from: Eco-Office Gals

2nd Annual Green My World Earth Day Giveaway 2010!

So the readers that visit Eco-Office Gals should have at least one fairly common goal: do what we can to help the Earth, right?  I certainly hope so!  So, when you get all these ideas going of simple things you can do each day to help the environment, where do you go? myEARTH360! A great online source full of great home products to green your home, work, yourself, your family and the pets.  I like that myEarth360 stocks products that are practical, things that you actually use in your home on a regular basis.

However, myEARTH360 goes beyond simply supplying environmentally sound products, portions of each sale goes back to schools to support environmental education and awareness! Here are some great details from the site:

• Development of the I Count for My Earth Campaign, a school program that gets the green message out to kids in an interactive, fun way. Lynn personally developed the campaign before the business even existed and is just something I do because I think enviro-awareness has to start with the kids so they can become the champions at home.
• Schools can participate in the I Count campaign for free, Shop & Share is optional.
• Creating and selling signature I Count for My Earth water bottles at Lynn’s son’s suburban Chicago school.
• Encouraging consumers to ‘vote with your dollars’, by shopping her online store and its diverse array of no-sacrifices-necessary, low-impact products. From essentials (home, school and office supplies, pet care, etc.) to extras (tableware and fashion), everything you buy counts for the earth!
• Launch of myEARTH360 hosted green parties: attendees share ideas on how to buy more eco-responsibly while discovering amazing green products from the eco.practical to the eco.chic in an upbeat, communal atmosphere.
• Regular e-newsletters and blog updates covering important eco-related issues like indoor air pollution, the battle of bottled water and what you can do about them.

This is a great place to shop and know you are really making a difference! So, I got to try a few fun products from Lynn’s store including some beeswax candles and some Shaklee Basic H2 All-Purpose Cleaner.

The Beeswax candles were a first for me and I was excited to try some of these. I do enjoy candles and know how cruddy paraffin candles are. They were great and very slow burning in comparison to paraffin.

Lynn also included a bottle of Shaklee Basic H2 All-Purpose Cleaner from her Shaklee Get Clean Site. Shaklee is non-toxic, biodegradable and manufactured by a green company. The bottle came with a little bit of cleaner, which I just added water to the fill line. The cleaner was truly versatile and cleaned up everything nicely.  There were no strong odors, crazy colors, just clean!

I love the concept behind myEARTH360 and encourage you to visit them for your eco-friendly needs!

Meanwhile, how about a chance to try out some goodies from myEARTH360? Lynn will give one lucky a $25 Gift Certificate to use in her store ! Do as many of the below as you wish and leave a separate comment for each one:

• Visit myEARTH360 and comment here on which product you would love to try or something you learn from the site.
• Blog about this giveaway or the I count for my Earth Campaign and link back to this post.
• Follow @myEARTH360 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 myEARTH360 and comment 5 times that you did! (I will confirm)

The deadline for entering is Wednesday 10/07/09 at 8pm EST at which time one winner will be randomly chosen.  Please don’t forget to leave a separate entry 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!

Here are your random numbers:

4

Timestamp: 2009-10-09 18:10:45 UTC

Congrats Jessica!

Post from: Eco-Office Gals

Flaunt It! Monday: myEARTH360

Add one more to the “Things We’re Sick Of Hearing About” category. Already in there are celebrities having babies, athletes in handcuffs and politicians screwing somebody (literally and figuratively). What’s next to be thrown onto that ill-regarded pile? Goin’ Green. That’s right, I said it. Take your hybrids, rubber playground mulch, CFL bulbs, and solar panels and shove ‘em all in the giant recycling bin labeled “PAPER ONLY” sitting in your local grocery store parking lot.

Some of you are at this moment red-faced with smoke coming out of your ears typing your response to this article on your made-from-refurbished-seaweed keyboard after reading just the title of my article. Before you hit send you need to know that I AM A GREEN MANUFACTURER MYSELF and you need to hear my take on things. For the rest of you with your fingers over your face leaving just enough space to allow one eyeball to take a gander, let’s all just be completely honest – it’s easy to hate goin’ green, and there are three very good reasons to do so:

1. Green Products Stink

I’m not the least bit opposed to saving the planet. As a matter of fact I’m ALL FOR IT (remember, I’m in the green product business myself). And when there is a green alternative for the non-green product I am shopping for I really want to give it a try. However, in my possession at this moment I have a box full of green pens (black ink, green manufacturing) that work about as well as a hammer and chisel, a 23-pack of green toilet paper (threw the 1^st roll away immediately after enduring a 1^st degree cardboard burn over a significant portion of my posterior during the maiden voyage), and a handful of corkscrew fluorescent light bulbs I promptly removed from my house when discovering that when watching TV in my living room I had enough lumens to perform gall bladder surgery.

BOTTOM LINE: See Jimmy Buffet’s Cheeseburger In Paradise VS a tofu burger. There are some great green products out there that are as good as if not better than their non-green counterparts, but the reality is that they are few and far between. Few Americans snub the thought of making environmentally friendly choices but until the majority of our green products are equivalent replacements, STOP SHOVING THEM DOWN THE COLLECTIVE THROAT OF THIS COUNTRY.

1. Green Products & Programs Are Outrageously Priced

Because I do manufacture an eco-friendly product I try my best to support other entrepreneurial individuals and companies doing the same. For example, I ship my product in small recyclable cardboard boxes so I’m thinking not only should I use a box that CAN be recycled (which I do), I should also use one that has ALREADY been made from recycled materials.

Great THEORY, eh? When the rubber meets the road the non-recycled cardboard is about 1/3^rd the cost of the recycled version. You do the math. Oh, and how about the recycling bin for my home? The local recycling company wants me to separate all of my stuff (no problem), wash it out (ok), put it in the plastic bin (got it), drag it to the curb on Tuesday morning (uh huh) and then PAY THEM to take it away, recycle it and sell it for a profit. I’m no rocket scientist but isn’t that double dipping?

BOTTOM LINE: Green products & programs won’t really become mainstream viable until they make sense financially for the CONSUMER. To those of you who gladly pay premiums for sub-par green products and programs under the heading of “it’s worth it for Mother Earth” I truly applaud your efforts (I do the same). However, if we want green to reach the SUV-driving suburbanites we’re going to have to meet them at a place near and dear to their hearts – their pocket books.

1. Goin’ Green is a Pain In The Butt

Why do we as a country embrace NetFlix, Google, and Fandango? Because they all take something we were used to doing the hard way and make it easier. Their reward, adoption by millions. Thus far, however, almost everything green requires us to go out of our way. I have to drive across town to the organic food store, load up my cans, bottles and newspapers that I’ve been collecting in a corner of my garage for 3 months and take them to the recycling center, search endlessly online for green toothpaste, mouthwash & dental floss – I could go on.

BOTTOM LINE: If we want the nation to go green with us we need to make it not just a good thing to do, but a CONVENIENT thing to do as well.

On of my favorite companies is Southwest Airlines. They have a GREAT PRODUCT, it’s PRICED BETTER THAN THEIR COMPETITORS, and they MAKE THE USER EXPERIENCE WONDERFUL. Contrast that to most of our green products that are 1. Inferior, 2. More Expensive and 3. Harder to Use or Acquire than the non-green version. Good Ole American economics says that one of those two models is a sustainable movement while the other is a fad that will eventually dry up and blow away. None of us want the momentum of today’s environmental consciousness to die. How do we avoid that? We become dedicated to creating green products and services that are superior, better priced and more convenient.

BOTTOM, BOTTOM LINE: Either we get green goin’ in the aforementioned direction or goin’ green is gonna be goin’ out of style.

About the Author: Andy Sperry is a Geologist by education, former Environmental Consultant, and the founder and owner of InkFlip.com, a supplier of discount remanufactured (refilled) printer ink cartridges. InkFlip.com offers recycled ink cartridges that meet or exceed OEM specifications, prices that are up to 70% less than big box retail stores and the convenience of their never-run-out program where empty cartridges are mailed from customers to InkFlip.com in a pre-paid box, refilled and returned to the customer immediately. http://www.InkFlip.com – BETTER, FASTER, CHEAPER.

Post from: Eco-Office Gals

Guest Post – Top 3 Reasons to HATE “Goin’ Green”

EarthTalk^TM
From the Editors of E/The Environmental Magazine

Dear EarthTalk: Where can I locate directories of environmental groups, businesses and jobs so that I can get involved in making a difference? — Jeanette, Carle Place, NY

The most comprehensive directory of environmental groups—from small to large and local to international—is provided for free online by the Washington, DC-based National Wildlife Federation. The group’s Conservation Directory (www.nwf.org/conservationDirectory) features listings for some 4,200 groups, including conservation-oriented non-profits, commercial businesses, government entities, colleges and universities, zoos, aquariums, museums, grant-giving organizations, and related coalitions.

Each listing includes all contact information, as well as a general description of the group’s work, the issues it focuses on and other relevant information. Users can search by keyword, location, issue and even contact name. Groups that aren’t in the directory can easily add themselves via an online form. NWF reports that new groups are added every day.

EnviroLink (www.envirolink.org), which started as a mailing list in 1991 between 20 students at Carnegie Mellon University, is today one of the best resources for green info on the web. The EnviroLink database has links to thousands of groups and resources across the U.S. and beyond, and is keyword-searchable.

Another old-standby is EcoMall (www.ecomall.com), which has an extensive “activism” section listing various eco groups and their campaigns. The site allows users to search by keyword or to navigate through well-conceived listings by issue topic. While the simple design of the site may bring users back to the early days of the World Wide Web, the listings remain fresh for the most part.

Beyond organizational listings, there are many other sites where you can find various green resources. Those looking for green products or services, for example, need steer their web browsers no further than Coop America’s National Green Pages (www.coopamerica.org/pubs/greenpages). The trusted directory lists some 3,000 businesses that have made commitments to sustainable, socially just principles, including support for sweatshop-free labor, organic farms and “cruelty-free” (not tested on animals) products.

Another good online directory of environmental products, services and even related job opportunities is the Eco Business Links Environmental Directory (www.ecobusinesslinks.com). A couple of other excellent environmental jobs listings include 5 Million Green Jobs (www.5milliongreenjobs.org) and the Green Jobs Network (www.greenjobs.net). Meanwhile, EnviroEducation.com also offers job listings, but focuses on helping aspiring students of environmental education, policy and science find graduate- and certificate-level programs to indulge their green learning muses.

Of course, in this day and age Internet search engines rival these directories for helping people find groups to work or volunteer with. An expertly crafted keyword search on Google (www.google.com/Top/Society/Issues/Environment) is sure to turn up some promising results. Remember to set key phrases apart by surrounding them with quotation marks to get better results. Navigating through Yahoo’s topic-based Environment and Nature Organizations page (http://dir.yahoo.com/Society_and_Culture/environment_and_nature/organizations) is another way to harness the power of the Internet to find environmental groups, information and resources.

SEND YOUR ENVIRONMENTAL QUESTIONS TO: EarthTalk, P.O. Box 5098, Westport, CT 06881; earthtalk@emagazine.com. Read past columns at: www.emagazine.com/earthtalk/archives.php. EarthTalk is now a book! Details and order information at: www.emagazine.com/earthtalkbook.

Post from: Eco-Office Gals

Directories of Environmental Groups, Businesses and Jobs

I interrupt the regularly scheduled Flaunt It! Monday to voice a concern I recently had.  To date I had been happy with pretty much every product that companies had sent my way to review and giveaway. I love being able to introduce these companies that are really trying to bring “green” into the mainstream and practice what they preach. However, at the end of last week I received one that immediately bothered me.

I was approached to review a product, a reusable grocery bag, and I told the company to send one over. I had not even looked at the site.  I guess I assume when my Flaunt It! Monday Sponsorship mentions truly green products, it explains itself.

So, Friday seemed to be the day for product reviews to hit my mail box, I got several at once! One was the reusable bag company I agreed to review.   I will not mention brand names since I hope this company will rethink it’s product and become a true green product in the future.  When I pulled these two bags out of a virgin paper, plastic bubble wrap mailer I already knew there was an issue.  Next issue? The tag… 100% Polyester (from madehow.com):

Polyester is a synthetic fiber derived from coal, air, water, and petroleum. Developed in a 20th-century laboratory, polyester fibers are formed from a chemical reaction between an acid and alcohol. In this reaction, two or more molecules combine to make a large molecule whose structure repeats throughout its length. Polyester fibers can form very iong molecules that are very stable and strong.

Seriously, there is a reason that my father-in-laws Polyester suits had to be hidden in the trash back in the 90′s… they still looked the same as the day they were made…. i.e. they don’t wear out…. greener term…  they do not BIODEGRADE! They looked as ugly in the ’90′s as they did in the 70′s!

So, point is this really bothered me. Why am I bothering to bring my reusable bags to the store when their production process is just as harmful anyway? I mean they may be reusable but they are also being manufactured in mass quantities these days.  There’s one in every size, shape, color and style, you know?

After doing a little research I found that many of the stylish reusable bags people are toting around are made out of polyester.  And the bags we typically purchase for a buck or so at most stores are made by a company called Green Bag and made of Non Woven Polypropylene, and claim:

• 100% recyclable and totally re-usable
  Packing and carrying capacity of 3-4 plastic bags eliminating thousands of harmful bags over its lifespan
• Our materials are water repellent and so avoids bacteria or foul odours
• Our materials are non toxic, non corrosive, non-allergenic

I really can’t say I’m still convinced. Shouldn’t the bags we are using to ideally eliminate the use of plastic bags, themselves be environmentally friendly? One article “How green is your bag” writes: “Your environmentally friendly green bags are made of plastic – polypropylene is a fossil fuel-based plastic. The bags are also imported from China. So, plastic, non-renewable, doing nothing for our balance of payments and guess what? You’re paying for the privilege. Supermarkets are laughing all the way to the bank.” and “I’ve just retired after 30 years in the packaging industry and, frankly, I’m amazed at the constant rave about the ‘environmental’ green bags … Doesn’t anyone realize these bags are made of the same ‘almost indestructible’ materials used in car bumpers and wheelie bins? … These bags replace the plastic bags, which were in the throes of changing to a safe cornstarch biodegradable form … what happens when these ‘cool’ bags reach their use-by date? Will there be millions of them in circulation?”

So what is the answer to this? In my opinion, it seems as if the paper or plastic question is not being well answered by our choices of mainstream reusable bags.  Are there better options? What are your thoughts on this?

Post from: Eco-Office Gals

Are you being Bagged?

Happy Monday Morning!  Hope everyone had a great weekend and is ready to get the new week started!

So, let’s get to some fun green stuff! I have another great company for you this morning. Tilvee: Eco Ethical Skin Care creates facial, bath and body products that are safe for you and the environment:

Our Commitment (from the site)

* To produce fresh, innovative, nutrient rich skin care products without the use of synthetic fragrances, harsh preservatives and ANY potentially harmful ingredient.
* To educate our customers about ingredients used in the skin care industry so they can make healthy decisions.
* To be on the forefront of research and efficacy of naturally sourced ingredients.
* To be committed to green business practices.

Tilvee also takes a great approach towards making sure their products meet healthy and safe standards, and also their business as a whole.  They have a great Green Business Practices plan in place that covers every area of their business; paper, shipping, packaging, even their building materials. Additionally, I love their site design.  It’s visually pleasing and easy to navigate.

So, I got to try out their Acai Pomegranate Rejuvenating Masque: (from site)

Unique dry masque formula rich Acai & Pomegranate that gently purifies & instantly softens.

WHAT IS IT:
Our Acai Pomegranate Rejuvenating Masque is an innovative dry masque formula that purifies, instantly softens and boosts the skin’s radiance. Pomegranate and Acai deliver powerful antioxidants to fight free radical damage and aging. Rhassoul clay detoxifies, improves tone, texture and elasticity. Bamboo gently exfoliates to reveal smoother skin.

I loved this masque! Be forwarned that it will make a bit of a purple red mess and temporarily turns your finger nails a little purple. I guess it’s really no different then if you were eating a Pomegranate. However, the result is insanly soft skin with a kind of tingling feeling.  I just mixed it with a very small amount of water, but I will be trying their Cranberry & Honey recipe soon! I also got my husband to join in the mini-makeover and it really calmed red flakiness he suffers from. While we were at it I slapped some on my mother-in-law (no, not literally) the next morning and she was very happy with how clean and smooth her face felt. All of us were very happy with this Masque!

Want to try some of this great product? Then get your entries in below! Tilvee will be giving one of my readers a full size Acai Pomegranate Rejuvenating Masque! Do as many of the below as you wish and leave a separate comment for each one.

• Visit Tilvee and comment here on which product you would love to try
• Blog about this giveaway and link back to this post.
• 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 Tilvee and comment 5 times that you did! (I will confirm)

One winner will be chosen on Wednesday 2/25/09. Please don’t forget to leave a separate entry 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!

Jen

Random.org picked commenter 168. Congrats!

Becky

I would love to try the Tea Tree Facial Cleansing Bar.

Thanks!

Post from: Eco-Office Gals

Flaunt It! Monday: Tilvee

Hosting websites takes HUGE amounts of energy.  You may not think of it when you sit in your home office and your host serves is located in some other state.  However, if you ever have a chance to go to a corporate office that has their own servers, take a walk in the room.  I guarantee…. it will be sub zero in there, bet you thought I would say hot right? No, they keep it climate controlled at super cold levels so the servers don’t over heat.

Many people choose their web host for various reasons.  Cost, uptime, features available, etc.  Although, you may not take the time to consider where the energy comes from when you are deciding.

There are several options for green hosting, here are a few for you to check out:

HostGator: When I started Eco-Office Gals, HostGator was recommended because I was going to be using WordPress for my platform.  However, when I checked out the site and saw they  had recently made the move to wind powered hosting, I felt it was a good fit for me. My choice has been very satisfying, they have top notch customer service and were quick to follow me on Twitter and offer assistance when I sent out a question to my followers!

The basics:

• 130% Wind powered from local Texas wind farms. They’re not just neutralizing our environmental impact, they’re reversing it!
• Green-e Certified RECs: All of HostGators REC’s have been registered, verified, and retired from the market.

Read more…

Sommer of Green & Clean Mom picked Solar Powered Web Site Hosting provided by AISO.Net

Many hosting companies use carbon offsets or some of their hosting efforts are “green” but with AISO they are 100% solar powered. I had reservations, thinking I would have down time and it wouldn’t be reliable. This isn’t the case but that doesn’t mean there haven’t been glitches. I’ve had WordPress issues that happened to be simple code changes and when there was an issue, I made a call got a human being to talk to and it was quickly fixed. AISO runs on solar panels that run their data center and office. Solar tubes bring in natural light from the outside during the day, making everything about AISO green. Read more here. Besides being solar powered, they are friendly and quick to reply.

Jenn of  The Green Parent uses Dream Host for her hosting:

“Love, Love, Love Dreamhost!  Their service is easy to use, even for folks (like me!) who don’t know their FTP from their PHP.  Their customer service is outstanding, and as a greenie, I’m thrilled that they offer green, carbon neutral hosting.”

Dreamhost, the Basics:

• purchases Renewable Energy Credits and neutralizes unavoidable emissions by investing in Emission Reduction Credits (a.k.a. “offsets”) which guarantee their remaining impact is effectively erased.
• Green-e Certified RECs

Read more here…

All options have plans that run around $5-$10 per month so cost isn’t a factor.  Finding a host that suits you needs and cares about the environment is what matters!

Do you have a green hosting company you recommend? Share some green wisdom below and let us know about it!

All the best,
Jen

Post from: Eco-Office Gals

Green Options: Web Hosting

Flaunt It! Monday is back!  If you’re still in holiday mode and miss out then us working folks can’t give you anymore sympathy!

Today’s review is this great reusable shopping bag from The Green Apple. I had the opportunity to use this bag Saturday for my big monthly shopping.  I have about half a dozen or more of the $1 bags you can pick up from various grocery stores and this one got added to the bunch.  The fact that I remembered them is amazing in itself! My bagger at checkout showed no mercy on these bags either, so it was really put to the test.  More on my thoughts in a bit.

First let me tell give you some background on the Green Apple Bag (from the site):

The Green Apple Bag is a high quality bag utilizing Woven RPET, a durable eco-friendly material made of post consumer recycled plastic bottles. Instead of ending up in landfills, these bottles can be used for a sturdy material which will be able to be used for years to come by you and your family.

Woven RPET material is one of the highest quality fabrics found on the market today. This material gives a unique quality and caliber over many bags sold worldwide. We are proud to be able to provide a healthy, yet classy, solution for the environment. We think you will agree.

I do agree! I was amazed how soft the material is!  This was the first product upcycled from plastic I have had the opportunity to use and I was impressed.  When I first got the bag I had my friends and family check the bag out and guess what it was made with.  Since they know how I am always reviewing all these green products they gave a shot with answers like hemp or organic cotton.  Their eyes popped when I told them soda bottles!

As I mentioned, I had a bagger this weekend that showed no mercy.  He stuffed the bags overfull.  Since this bag is much taller (17” tall x  13” wide x  6.5” deep & 25” long handles) then the others, it took the worst of his abuse.  The bags were insanely heavy, and I did hold a few of my dollar bags on the bottom for fear of busting them.  However, I carried the Green Apple Bag on my shoulder and it passed the test.  The material is great and the quality is top notch, with an embroidered logo and front pouch for shopping list, keys or any other small items you may want to use it for.

I want to get the word out about Green Apple bag and it’s top notch quality!  Lesa will be awarding one lucky winner a Green Apple Bag.  For entries do any of the following:

• follow The Green Apple Bag or Eco-Office Gals on Twitter
• Tweet about this giveaway
• Stumble or blog The Green Apple Bag or this giveaway
• Join the Green Apple Bag Fan Page on Facebook
• Use the share button on this button for any of the other social bookmarking options.
• Email 3 friends about this giveaway using the new Eco-Safe buttons on the bottom of this post.  Copy jsmith at eco-officegals dot com in the email.
• comment about your tip or trick for remembering your reusable bag
• Subscribe to the Eco-Office Gals feed so you don’t miss out on all the great green info, reviews and giveaways!

Leave a separate comment for each one you do! Each comment is an entry. US residents only please. Winner will be announced Wednesday 1/14/09 … Good Luck!

As info I subtracted myself from the entry count.

Here are your random numbers:

25

Timestamp: 2009-01-15 01:41:25 UTC

Misty VanEpps Says:
January 12th, 2009 at 8:36 pm

Subscribed.

Jen

Post from: Eco-Office Gals

Flaunt It! Monday: The Green Apple Bag

Greenwashing as defined by Wikipedia -  the perception of consumers that they are being misled by a company regarding the environmental practices of the company or the environmental benefits of a product or service.

I often find myself weary of buying “green” products at Big Box stores, since chances are a brand name company is trying to get me to buy their brand by throwing “green” on the label. Meanwhile, they’re not actually living up to the standards of consumers that are honestly trying to become green.  I had this conversation with Dave at The Good Human one day on Twitter.  I had to laugh when Dave had me sitting at my kitchen table with all my cleaners looking for ingredients and tweeting away.  Wouldn’t you know that most of my “green” products did not disclose their ingredients? How is a consumer supposed to make an educated purchase?

So, Dave had this great post “The Six Sins of Greenwashing” that I asked permission to share with you:

1. Sin of the Hidden Trade-Off: Suggesting a product is green based on a single attribute, such as the recycled content of paper for example, without attention to other issues such as energy, global warming, water and forestry impacts of paper.

2. Sin of No Proof: Failing to substantiate a claim by easily accessible supporting information or by a reliable third-party certification, such as a claim that a light bulb is energy efficient, but the product lacks certification.

3. Sin of Vagueness: Making a claim that is so poorly defined or broad that its real meaning is likely to be misunderstood, such as the terms ‘green’ and ‘environmentally friendly,’ which are meaningless without elaboration.

4. Sin of Lesser of Two Evils: Claiming that a product, such as cigarettes made with organic tobacco, is green, and obscuring the fact that smoking is damaging.

5. Sin of Irrelevance: Making a claim that may be truthful, but is unimportant and not helpful for those seeking environmentally referable products. For example, stating that a product is free of chlorofluorocarbons, which deplete the ozone layer. Since CFCs have been banned for 30 years, no products are manufactured with it.

6. Sin of Fibbing: Making a false claim, for example, that a product is certified when it’s not.

Read some of Dave’s other great greenwashing posts on big name companies!

In the New Year look for companies truly passionate about bringing green products to your home!  Look for companies that disclose their ingredients upfront or are at least happy to respond if you ask.  If they don’t, chances are they have something to hide and you’re being greenwashed!

My Flaunt It! Monday series does some of the work for you.  I research the companies I bring to you, to the best of my ability. I try to make sure you are being introduced  to companies that are proud to bring you safe and environmentally friendly products.  As a disclaimer, I cannot guarantee anything I review or giveaway and if I miss something always feel free to contact me!

Grow Green!
Jen

Post from: Eco-Office Gals

A Little Less Greenwashing In Your New Year