Go New Wave Enviro For The Holidays - Review & Giveaway

I recently got some (free) products from New Wave Enviro, a company that makes some of my favorite types of products like water filters, water bottles and reusable lunch containers. I know, it makes me happy just typing that!

How did I hear about them you ask. Well, from Twitter of course. I talk about them so much I should get paid! (hint, hint Twitter people!)

So what lovely goodies did they send me to try?

Well the first thing is a reusable lunch kit which includes the 100% bamboo lunch bag, stainless steel food container and a blue tinted stainless steel water bottle.

When it got here Dylan asked, “Is that my new lunch bag?”

I told him “No, this ones mine.”

He said, “Why, you don't go to school?”

Well he's got me there but there are times that I do actually leave the house and sometimes I go far enough that I need to take some snacks with me. Have I mentioned Dr. Heather's office is 45 minutes away?

But you know what's really great? They want to give one of you a lunch kit as well! Woo-Hoo, that means another giveaway, and just in time for the holidays! More about that later.

The lunch bag is super soft and slightly padded which I really like. On the site they say that it's “light as a feather, strong as steel and soft as silk.”

The water bottle is made from 304 food grade stainless steel, which is something that I look for. I also really love how light it is, you don't want a heavy water bottle that gets even heavier when you fill it up. OK, I don't at any rate.

Also, I loved how on the site, and the package, tells you to clean the bottle with vinegar and water so easy!

The stainless steel food container is easy to open and close and when closed, is well sealed. Plus, when it's not being used for lunch it makes an excellent leftovers container.

So needless to say I really like the lunch kit and I know it will get a lot of use around here!

Now onto the part you've been waiting for, the New Wave Enviro lunch kit giveaway!

The great thing about this giveaway is that the lunch kit would also make a great holiday gift for someone. And actually, since it's 3 pieces it's like getting 3 gifts that you can give!

The contest will go from today 11/30 thru 12/7 at midnight. My green helpers Tyler & Dylan will help me pick the winner again.

For the main entry (you must do this one first!) go to New Wave Enviro and tell me what product you'd most like to get as a gift.

For additional entries:

• Follow me on Twitter @easyecotogo
  
• Follow New Wave Enviro on Twitter @NewWaveEnviro
  
• Tweet about the giveaway example: RT @easyecotogo Win a @NewWaveEnviro lunch kit, just in time for the holidays! http://bit.ly/4zkhzY #giveaway (can be done once a day)
  
• Follow Easy Eco To Go
  
• Subscribe by RSS or email
  
• Blog about this giveaway (3 entries)
  
• Email 5 people about this giveaway and CC me easyecotogo at gmail dot com (3 entries)
  
• Grab my button and post on your blog/website

Be sure to leave a separate comment for each entry! And leave me a way to contact you!

And if you'd like to buy their products you can find a store near you or buy them online.
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I'm Thankful It's Not Full

This past week was Thanksgiving and the boys were home for the whole week. So not only was I dealing with them, I was also cleaning like a crazy person because this year (and most likely every year from now on) Thanksgiving was here.

Our trash is definitely the worse for wear from such a crazy week. There were definitely times that just being done got the better of just being green. Some cleaning wipes were used and a paper napkin (left over from my Small Steps review) or 2 were used for cleaning because it was just easier.

But for the actual Thanksgiving dinner we did quite well. We used regular dishes and cloth napkins and leftovers were stored in reusable containers.

But hey, the last time it was this full I still managed to stretch it out for another 2 weeks, so there's still hope.

Oh, and in case you were wondering about the slightly odd bag (you know you were), it's the bag that the boys school fundraising items came home in. I plan on bringing up green fundraising for next year to the PTA.

3 Generations - Wordless Wednesday

Wordless Wednesday

Apple Buttery Goodness

This holiday I'm going to try to make as many homemade gifts as I possibly can. Which realistically means, gifts for adults. Kids will still get toys, but like I said earlier, better toys.

The first idea isn't actually something I've done but a gift that reader (and friend) Jessica does and I just really liked it.

You may have noticed that we really love apples around here and right now there are lots of apples to be found. Heck there's probably lots of apples to be found where ever you live right now seeing as it's apple season!

So onto Jessica's gift. What she makes with her family to give is apple butter. I love apple butter, I love it almost as much as I love pumpkin butter which I may just have to find a recipe for.

Anyways, the recipe doesn't look too hard and it sounds really good so here it is:

2 quarts apple pieces, peeled
1 quart apple cider
3 cups sugar
1 tsp cinnamon
1 tsp allspice
1 tsp ground cloves

In a large non-reactive pot, add the apples and apple cider. Cook until the apples are tender. Press through a sieve or pass through a food mill. Add sugar and spices to the pureed mixture. Return the mixture to the pot and continue to cook until thick, stirring constantly. Pour into hot, sterilized jars and seal.

Jessica says that the recipe makes 3 cups so you may need to make a few batches if you've got a lot of family.

There's also a really easy apple butter in the oven recipe over at Making Love in the Kitchen.

To make it feel a little extra special give it with your favorite bread or crackers.

This would also make a great hostess gift for holiday parties or even for Thanksgiving.

There are lots of food type items you can give for Christmas; the ingredients for your famous chocolate chip cookies, some fantastic fudge or crushed up candy cane peppermint bark. Whatever you do as long as it's from you, they'll love it.

If you decide to make the apple butter let me know how it goes.

Like I said, we love our apples!

Green Certification For All

I just found out about this site called Pinemark that helps you calculate your carbon footprint.

They're actually the first company to provide individual environmental certification. There are lots of companies that offer this service to businesses but not to regular people like you and me.

All you have to do is answer questions about your lifestyle and provide copies of your electricity/gas usage.

If you qualify for the certification you get a lot more than just a pat on the back, you also become a member and membership always has benefits.

By being a member you get discounts for great green items like, hybrid flashlights, tees and even travel, plus lots more.

But it's not just about getting discounts, it's about locating weaknesses and finding ways to fix them. As you fill out the questionnaire you get tips on how to live a little lighter.

I've tried other carbon footprint calculators before and I definitely liked this one the best.

Now for the best part, for the next 4 weeks you can get $10 off your membership with the code “easyecotogo”! Which means that the normal cost of $49 for a household ($39 for individual) will only be $39 (or $29)!

The cost will more than make up for itself with all the discounts you will get and just in time for the holidays!

Just The Way I Like It

So the trash is most definitely, utterly and completely full. Just the way I like it when I take it out. I'm actually a little surprised I made it 3 weeks considering how full it was 2 weeks ago.

Other than a little bit of plastic it's really mostly diapers in there this week. I know, I really need to get over to Ebay and find some reusable cloth diapers for Dylan to wear at night.

So other than the diapers, it wasn't a bad week.

And The EcoSMART Winner Is.....

My first giveaway has come to an end and I'd like to thank everyone who entered and passed it along.

This morning the boys and I went about picking a winner.

First I wrote the names down on a piece of scratch paper.

Then Tyler threw them into the air.

And lastly Dylan picked the winner.



And the winner is (insert drum roll here!).... Bitt!!

It looks like I will be doing another giveaway in the not so distant future, so be on the look out for that!

And of course there's the green holiday ideas to come so keep sharing what you do, your idea may just become a post!

I should also thank the boys for doing this so early in the morning!

There's Nothing Better Than Fresh Picked Apples - Wordless Wednesday

...especially when they're the size of your head!

Wordless Wednesday


While you're here, why not enter the EcoSMART giveaway?

Sticker Shock

Did you know that the numbers on fruits and veggies tell you more than “I'm a pear” or “I'm a banana”?

If you know how to read the PLU stickers, they can tell you a lot about how the food was grown.

A 4 digit number means that it was conventionally grown.

A 5 digit number that starts with a 9 means it's organic.

And a 5 digit number that starts with an 8 means it's been genetically modified.

Genetically modified foods have other genes (from plants or animals) injected into them to bring about some desired result.

If you watched “The World According to Monsanto” you saw that soybeans (unless marked non-GMO) have been engineered to be Round Up resistant. Yes, the stuff that kills weeds. What would have to be added to soybeans so they could resist Round Up? I don't know, but if you ask me, that's just creepy.

So the next time your out shopping, check the sticker and if you find one that starts with an 8, let me know.


While you're here, why not enter the EcoSMART giveaway? Tomorrow's the last day!

Christmas Is A Coming!

Christmas is coming and that always means lots of presents. And it seems to me that it seems like the presents are taking over.

Now I'm certainly not going to sit here and say presents are bad and we should stop giving them. I just think that we can give gifts that maybe mean a little more and are a little more personal then whatever's on sale at your local toy store.

Remember the story of stuff? There's a reason why those cheap toys are so cheap.

You can still give toys, but maybe instead of a lot of cheaply made toys how about just a few really well made ones?

And if you like giving (or getting) clothes how about ones made from organic cotton or recycled materials?

Better yet why not make gifts? That's actually what my family is going to do this year.

I've got a couple ideas like the hankies from earlier and I'm going to iron on the Easy Eco To Go logo (my moms idea), another is ornaments made from beads and crystals (my moms got tons of each so I don't even have to buy anything!) and magnets made from photos.

Along with more meaningful gifts why not add in some new holiday traditions as well. Make an advent calender to count down the days, bake cookies Christmas Eve to decorate Christmas morning after presents and always read The Night Before Christmas.

I am still going to buy some gifts for the boys and I know they'll still be getting lots of stuff from their grandparents. But my hope is to make the focus the time we spend with our family.

This year, for the first time in at least 8 years my mom, my brother and his fiance and my sister and her boyfriend will be here for Christmas day with us, besides my dad being here too, there's really not much more I could want for Christmas.

I didn't want to make this too long so be sure to stop back for some great green shopping ideas and how to make the ornaments and magnets!

Do you have any traditions are green gift ideas?

While you're here, why not enter the EcoSMART giveaway?

Pretty Impressed It's Not Full

I think we did pretty well this week. Last week we ended with the garbage being ¾ of the way full and as you can see, at the end of this week, we still a (very) little bit of room left.

Like I said, I'm cutting back on how much packaged foods I buy and I'm sure that helped. Turns out there's not a lot of packaging when it comes to fruits and veggies, go figure.

I'm also trying to be extra vigilant about making sure the packaged food that I do buy comes in something that I can recycle, i.e. not plastic.

Even though it's pretty full I think that if we're careful we can make it another week. Here's to hoping!


While you're here, why not enter the EcoSMART giveaway?

Oh How I Love Avocados

I made the Portobello Mushroom Avocado Burgers last night for my mom and me and I thought I'd let you know how it went.

1.It turns out that the cheese I bought was blue cheese. It also turns out that I do not like blue cheese. And as you can see, I put a lot on my burger.

2.It is very hard to scrape blue cheese out of a mushroom. So needles to say, it still tasted like blue cheese.

3.Eating a mostly raw mushroom is very weird. If I make these again I may try bar-b-quing the mushrooms instead of just heating them in the skillet.

4.Most importantly, and something I didn't mention last night, is during the worst of my food issues avocados were one of the things that I could not eat at all. Eating them would result in extreme itchiness and an asthma attack. This was especially awful because I absolutely love avocados. It's a very long story about how I went from loving avocados to not being able to eat them, suffice it to say I nearly cried when I took a tiny taste and found that they no longer caused those severe reactions.

So was this the best thing I've ever eaten? No, but that could have had a lot to do with the blue cheese. Will I make this again? Yes, but like I said, I'll cook the mushrooms a little longer and I definitely won't add any blue cheese. Besides, with the creaminess of the avocados you don't really need cheese.

The (Almost) Vegetarian

Now that I've gone gluten-free and done my detox my body is starting to normalize when it comes to other foods.

Way back before I started all this, pretty much anything I ate would make me feel sick. This was especially true for fruits and vegetables. I know, too weird.

However, since making all these diet changes I've slowly started trying foods that used to make me sick and I thought I was allergic to.

So tonight I'm making a veggie only dinner (ok, the kids are having pizza, baby steps) with a recipe I found on Simply Raw Recipes.

Now that I can eat more fruits and veggies I've been searching out food sites that have easy, fruit & veggie recipes, some of my faves are: Simply Raw Recipes, Making Love in th Kitchen, The Happy Raw Kitchen and A Bitt of Raw.

Way back in June I talked about the environmental impacts of a meat eating diet. Well since then I've learned that while conventionally raised animals are bad for the environment and not all that healthy, grass-fed and sustainably raised animals can actually be beneficial to the environment and very healthy. So I've decided that giving up meat entirely isn't something I feel I need to do, but eating less of it is.

There's still no doubt (to me) that plants are less harmful to the planet then animals and are extremely important for our health.

My plan is to limit my families meat consumption to 1 meal a day and super increase our fruit and veggie consumption. I also plan to (slowly) eliminate most packaged/processed foods from our diets. Anything that has more than 5 ingredients needs a lot of processing which means lots of natural resources for growing, harvesting, and production. Not very green to me.

The boys usually only meat for dinner as it is, the hard part will be having them give up packaged foods. I've already started and they aren't too thrilled with me for it.

For my first foray into a meatless meal I'm going to make portobello mushroom avocado “burgers”. Like I said this recipe comes from Simply Raw Recipes and you'll never guess where I heard about this site, Twitter, of course. You should totally follow him too if you're on Twitter: @CanarsieBK

So I went to the store, got my ingredients and am hoping for a tasty dinner tonight!

Again, here's the recipe (or figure it out by looking at the photo) and the only things that I'm doing differently are that I'm adding a little bit of raw milk crumbled cheese and I'm going to lightly cook the mushrooms.

Green Living: Avoiding Asbestos

Taking the day off. But don't worry, I wouldn't leave you hanging! Hope you enjoy this guest post!

Going green used to be considered expensive and a luxury for those who could afford the trend. Now it appears that we are learning that not only is adopting more environmentally conscious attitudes good for our economic situation, but also our….health? Yes, if we dig a bit deeper we can see that dirty industries and backwards policy is actually harming the health of the earth for our children and the health of her inhabitants today.

There are two levels of health consequences associated with dirty industry, both direct and indirect. The direct consequences are examples like increased asthma rates in areas with high smog indices. Chlorofluorocarbon release into the atmosphere has shown to decrease the filter of direct sunlight on the planet, resulting in more concentrated ultraviolet light reaching the surface of the earth. Perhaps it is no surprise then that in countries with depleted atmospheric gas, skin cancer rates are among the highest in the world.

The indirect health consequences are harder to see immediately, but closer examination reveals that these are, in fact, perhaps the most hazardous. Bi-products of dirty and backwards industries, such as coal and oil processing, include cancer causing substances like asbestos and benzene. A U.K. study conducted in 2002 indicated that coal and oil industry workers are at a much higher risk of developing mesothelioma and leukemia. 

Can we really afford to continue on the path we were on before? Investment in clean industry means not a healthier planet for our children and grandchildren, but also a healthier place for us to live today.

-- Written by James O’ Shea with the maacenter

Huge Pumpkins And A Happy Family For Wordless Wednesday

Wordless Wednesday

While you're here, why not enter the EcoSMART giveaway?

Great Green Giveaway With EcoSMART

!!GIVEAWAY ALERT!!

Yep, you read that right, I’m having my first ever giveaway, but more about that later. ;)

I received an email from EcoSMART asking me if I had heard of their organic insecticides & pesticides, I had not but was intrigued by the idea. So I popped on over to their site to check them out.

What I found was all kinds of pest control products that are made from natural ingredients including essential oils. Sweet!

Now here’s the cool part, along with wanting to know if I had heard of them they also wanted to know if I would be interested in doing a giveaway for their Safe Home Value Bundle!



And my answer, of course, was “Heck yeah!” I mean, it’s about time some of you got some great free stuff too, right!

But I certainly couldn’t do a giveaway or write about products that I hadn’t tried yet so they sent over a bottle of Home Pest Control (which is included in the Safe Home Value Bundle) for me to try out.

According to EcoSMART Home Pest Control “Kills and repels over 100 home invading pests: Ants (including Carpenter, Red Harvester, Pavement and Argentine), Beetles, Centipedes, Cockroaches, Crickets, Earwigs, Fleas, Millipedes, Pantry Pests, Pillbugs, Silverfish, Spiders, Sowbugs, Ticks and other crawling insect pests.”



As you may remember we recently moved and now live up in the mountains. Well we have bugs here that I have never even seen before. Thing like, stink bugs, beetles, millipedes and oh yeah, scorpions. Yes you read that right, it turns out there are scorpions in the mountains, go figure! They’re not the big deadly kind you find in the dessert. Instead they’re fairly small and apparently it just feels like a bee sting if you get stung by one. Lovely, I feel much better now.

Plus there are still all the regular pains like ants, fleas, ticks, earwigs and spiders. Good times.

So needless to say I was pretty excited to be trying out this spray.

Well, I was excited to try it out until I actually started spraying and was then promptly told by Todd I was doing it wrong. So after only spraying around the back door Todd took over and did the rest. Apparently my master plan worked. ;)

You can use Home Pest Control inside as well as outside. We (as in Todd) just sprayed it outside this time. He told me that while he was spraying, all manner of bugs started to flee from the cracks. He also said it was especially freaky spraying under the house (read: master planned worked).

I would definitely be willing to spray it inside because of the ingredients listed:

• 2-Phenethyl Propionate .... 2.0%
• Clove Oil .... 1.0%
• Rosemary Oil ... 1.0%
• Peppermint Oil ...1.0%
• Thyme Oil ... 0.5%
• Other Ingredients* ... 94.5%
*Water, Octadecenoic Acid Potassium Salt, Lecithin

Now when I first read this I was a little worried about what 2-Phenethyl Propionate or Octadecenoic Acid Potassium Salt were so I immediately looked them up. I found that 2-Phenethyl Propionate is a natural botanical extract commonly found in food and that the chemical class of Octadecenoic Acid Potassium Salt is soap.

So what I found is a green product that, I believe, really is green. So I am very happy!

Ok, now onto to the part that you’ve all been waiting for; the giveaway!

One lucky reader will win EcoSMART’s Safe Home Value Bundle. The contest will run from Monday November 9, 2009 thru Wednesday November 18, 2009 at midnight PST. The winner will be chosen at random by Tyler and Dylan, my little green helpers, and notified on Thursday the 19th. Sorry, but the contest is only open to US residents.

For the main entry go to EcoSMART and then leave a comment here on the blog post saying which product you’d most like to try. This one must be done before any additional entries will count.

For additional entries:

• Follow @easyecotogo on Twitter and then leave a comment here with your @name = 1 entry
• Write a blog about the contest. Don't have a blog, email 3 friends & cc me easyecotogo(at)gmail(dot)com = 3 entries (leave 3 comments)
• Tweet about the contest (include @easyecotogo & #giveaway) = 1 entry
• Follow my blog = 1 entry
• Subscribe to emails = 1 entry
• Add my button to your blog (leave your site with your comment so I can stop by) = 1 entry

Be sure to leave separate comments on the blog for each additional entry!!

Also, please include your email with comments or if you’d rather, after you leave your main entry comment, email me at easyecotogo(at)gmail(dot)com so I will have a way of contacting you if you win.

Good Luck!

*Update: Facebook no longer allows bloggers to use Facebook for entries into contest/giveaways. Any comments that referred to Facebook for the entry will be deleted and not counted. I think this is totally lame and is something they will hopefully change.

Not Bad, But Not Great Either

Looking at our trash, I must admit, this was not our best week.

Our 13 gallon can must be at least ¾ full, the fullest it’s been in a one week period since we first started reducing our waste.

For one, the diapers are back. I decided to check freecycle and craigslist to see if I could find any cloth diapers that were being gotten of nearby but I didn’t have any luck. I’m going to check out ebay and etsy as well to see what I can find. However, Dylan decided that he didn’t want to wear one to bed tonight because he’s going to stay dry, so here’s to hoping.

The second part is that we just simply weren’t as vigilant about making sure we did everything we could to keep our waste down. I bought things that had too much packaging and thus we had too much waste.

I just went shopping for the week on Friday and bought a lot less packaged food so hopefully this week the trash won’t change much from where it is now.

However, I'm certainly not going to beat myself up over this weeks over abundance of garbage considering I used to fill a can twice that size every week. It's all about perspective and doing better next time.

Talkin' Turkey

We got our turkey order in yesterday; it’ll be close to 20 pounds. That’s a whole lotta turkey. But there’ll also be a whole lot of us come Thanksgiving.

There will be me, Todd, the boys, my mom, gramma, grampa, Aunt Connie, my cousin and her 2 boys and possibly my sister and her boyfriend. That’s a total of (possibly) 13, so like I said, a whole lotta us.

As you may have guessed if you’ve read about my buying green chicken or grass-fed beef, this won’t be any old factory farmed, artificial growth induced turkey.

Nope, the turkey I got is from Shelton’s and there’s nothing fake or phony about it.

In the pamphlet I picked up at Noah’s Ark (my local health food store) it says that the turkeys are:

• Grown without antibiotics, hormones or artificial growth stimulants.
• Not fed any animal protein.
• Grown in free range conditions, not inside buildings.

This is exactly the opposite of commercial turkeys according to Shelton’s.

For me, all of the things Shelton’s does in raising their turkeys is very important. Whatever is put into the turkey will end up in you.

In Food Inc I learned that commercial farmers grow their chickens in 49 days with growth hormones. It actually takes a chicken 3 months for them to reach maturity naturally. I imagine it’s pretty similar with turkeys.

Plus, the chickens that I've been buying that are grown this way taste way better than any other chicken I have ever eaten. So again, I imagine it will be pretty much the same when it comes to the turkey.

Ok, getting of my soap box now. ;)

My next endeavor is to find recipes for gluten free stuffing and pie crusts. Oh, and that don’t taste like cardboard!

So what’s your Thanksgiving Day menu going to look like?

Our turkeys don't do drugs"" I love that!

Wordless At Apple Hill

Wordless Wednesday

Green Cleaning With Carissa

I was recently contacted by Carissa who follows me on Twitter about trying out some Shaklee products to review on my blog.

First, can you believe I have followers and that they keep wanting to send me stuff?! I feel all important and stuff.

Second, geeze what am I 10? I need to calm down!

Anyways, if you haven’t heard of Shaklee they’re a company that makes green cleaning products among other things.

The thing about Shaklee is that they don’t sell their products in stores; they only sell them online through independent distributors, which is what Carissa is.

So I obviously said yes to writing a review so she sent me the Basic H2 cleaner and 3 spray bottles. Each spray bottle has a different cleaning purpose; there's 1 for windows, 1 for degreasing and 1 that's a multi-purpose cleaner.

A 16 oz bottle of Basic H2 makes up to 48 gallons of cleaner. That seems like an awful lot doesn’t it? Well it’s because you only add a tiny amount of concentrate to water in the spray bottle. How little you ask? For the multi-purpose cleaner you only need ¼ teaspoon, 1 ½ teaspoons for the degreaser and only 2 drops for the window cleaner. That also comes out to very little money per use!

You can hardly tell that any of it was used after making 3 different bottles.



If you’re like me you’re thinking “There’s no way 1 ½ teaspoons of cleaner mixed with water is going to clean a greasy mess.”

Well let me just tell you, if that’s what you’re thinking, you’re wrong.

I can’t believe I’m about to do this but here’s a picture of my stove.



I know, way beyond funky. But hey, at least it was a great way to test the degreaser!

They say a picture says a thousand words, so here’s my picture in lieu of a thousand words.



Pretty aint it?

I did have to let it sit and soak on some of the worst parts, but as you can see it all came up in the end.

I’d also like to note that I probably used twice as much as necessary because Dylan was “helping” me. Like my Grandma always says, “He just cuts my work in double!”

But more importantly, because Basic H2 is non-toxic I didn’t have to worry about him using it. We also used the other 2 to clean the bathtub, shower and mirrors all with great results.

I chose to do this review for Carissa because she’s a mom a lot like me; mom of 2 (girls instead of boys), started going green after the second one came along and grows some of her own food in her backyard (ok, I just wish I did that part!).

I really am happy with the Basic H2 cleaner and I was really impressed to see that they were the first Climate Neutral Certified Company.

So if you’re looking for a great green cleaner pop on over to Carissa’s Shaklee site and pick some up.

Bad Beans Blow

I cleaned out my fridge again yesterday and found some beans that I had made that were definitely not good anymore. They looked a little suspect so I didn’t want to put them in my composter and instead threw them away in the trash.

Well that wasn’t a very good idea either. The garbage was pretty stinky today so even though it wasn’t full it definitely had to go. I’d say my 13 gallon can was about 2/3 full when I tossed it.

I also noticed that there was far more plastic this week then I would have liked to see. Keeping plastic out of the house is still one of the hardest things to do. So many things come with that if you let your guard down for a moment while shopping the next thing you know it’s filling up the trash.

Here’s hoping for a less plastic week.