Recycle 2 Save

I hope that everyone had (or is having) a great Holiday with their family. I promised that I would try to keep giving ingredients to avoid. Below is the next offender. I somehow knew (maybe based on the fact that the "real" natural guys said that their product didn't contain it) that parabens were to be avoided. When my husband asked why I said.. "cause they are bad". I had no clue. Below is an excerpt from an article about toxins in the products we buy everyday. Parabens (Methyl, Butyl, Ethyl, Propyl): Used as preservatives and aren’t always labeled “parabens.” They’re used in deodorants and antiperspirants and have been found in breast cancer tumors. Parabens, as xenoestrogens (hormone disruptors), may contribute to sterility in male mice and humans. Estrogen-like activity causes hormone imbalance in females and early puberty. Read more: http://www.care2.com/greenliving/the-toxic-12-beauty-ingredients.html#ixzz1hqggR0ga So this is the second.. more to come.

.. I was singing (it's ashame you couldn't hear me .. or is it?). Writing a pretty simple post just to wish all of our readers, customers, staff & random people walking down the street a very Merry Christmas & Happiest of Holidays. We are so thankful for our customers & staff. We look forward to a bright New Year and wish you all one as well.

It's a fad. I mean, it's so very helpful for my job but really green has become a fad. Celebrities are driving Prius's and talking about their carbon footprint. It's a good fad because no one is hurt and only our planet gains.. or not? I've said so many times that education is the first step to getting recycling to catch on and become second nature. Miseducation on the other hand makes us take giant leaps back. So many companies are cashing in on the eco fad and are green washing us to death. Now it is so much more difficult to determine what's really "green" and what is a company trying to persuade us to buy the same old product wrapped in a green package. It takes a very detail oriented person with extra time to be sure that the product you specifically bought because it was a bit healthier for the planet and your family is in fact just that. Unfortunately for most of us, time is not something we have a lot extra of.  A friend recently informed m...

Drum roll please.. can't handle the suspense? Lisa has won the tee shirt (made from Recycled PET)  & drink tumbler. Yay Lisa!! If you are Lisa and posted a comment that you wanted to hear more on educating children about recycling please email me. I need your address to get your prize on it's way. If you aren't Lisa but do have a topic in mind that you'd be interested in discussing, hearing about, or looking at from another point of view please comment & let me know. Thanks much.. have a great week!

Thanks for the comment Lisa, by request: I was involved in recycling well before it became the craze. It was second nature in our household and as a child I assumed it was the same everywhere else. I just did it because that's what I knew. The missing link in recycling is education. We've done better recently but what we really need is to instill it at a young age. Many schools are hoping on board but some aren't picking it up quite as quickly as they should. As always, Mom and Dad are the first step and below are a few ways to introduce it in your home. 1. Look at your garbage: It is helpful to "stage" a garbage can filled with recyclables and real garbage (you can control the amount of recyclables versus waste that they'll find). If you compost include those materials too. It is fun and also shows the true impact of pulling items out of the garbage. They will see the amount of landfill bound garbage diminish and the bin empty. I know it'll be a bit m...