About us...

Two moms trying to raise their families a little greener, a little healthier, and with a whole lot of love. All this while trying to save a little green along the way. Product reviews, green ideas, money-saving tips, and more!

Saturday, October 31, 2009

Happy Halloween!


Hopefully the H1N1 scares are not keeping you held up at home today foregoing trick or treating. That's not keeping me inside with my lights turned off tonight. My fear? Allergies.. Food allergies. Not that my 16 month old son will be eating candy this year, but I worry about next year and the following years that he'll go trick or treating and not get any candy he can actually eat! (For those of you who don't know, little E is allergic to eggs, soy, milk, sesame, and a few fruits.) I know, such a stupid thing to worry about, but I just LOVE Halloween and want little E to be able to enjoy it as much as I do. So, after a little bit of research, I thought I would share some allergy friendly treats in honor of Halloween with you all. After all, we ALL need a treat once in a while. Moderation, not elimination, is key when it comes to treats!

Here is a great article from Martha Stewart outlining some well-known and lesser-known allergy friendly treats. Candies like Starburst, Skittles, Dum-dums, and Dots are all on this list. But I know what you're thinking- where is the chocolate!?

My favorite chocolate treat on this list are these BOOM Choco BOOM crispy rice bars by Enjoy Life foods. Think a safe version of a Crunch bar but with a way cooler name. There is even a 75 cent off coupon for these little numbers on the link. Although I have not seen these in store or tried them yet, it looks like Whole Foods, Sprouts, and Vitamin Cottage (for you local Coloradoans) carries them and you can bet I'll be picking up one of these to stuff in Ethan's stocking this Christmas.

Have a happy and safe Halloween!

Saturday, October 17, 2009

Cloth diapering on the go just got easier...

thanks to The Natural Baby Company's new Biosoaker!

You may have read a previous post written by Jackie entitled, "A cloth diaper convert". In that post Jackie spoke about her transition from disposables to cloth diapers. Jackie raved about Gro Baby and Bum Genius diapers. Both are incredibly easy to use but Gro Baby just got even better! The Natural Baby Company just introduced their line of biodegradable soaker pads to be used inside your Gro Baby shell. The already super convenient Gro Baby diapering system just became as convenient when out and about! I was lucky enough to try out the biosoakers as a tester before they hit the retail market. I was impressed with nearly every aspect of these biosoakers. Straight from The Natural Baby Company site, the Gro Baby biosoakers are:

- Biodegradable & Compostable
- Breathable & Hypo-Allergenic
- Fragrance & Dye Free
- Plastic Free
- Chlorine Free

Super Soft Lining
Certified natural, 100% Ingeo spunbound non-woven fabric.
Compostable to EN13432 (EU) standard and ASTM D 6400 (USA)

Core
Biodegradable Wood Pulp fibers, contains 3 grams of SAP gel (compared to 10-20 grams in other disposables).

Waterproof Outer
The Bio-Film used (fecula) is waterproof and 100% natural.
Compostable to the following standard: EN 13432 (EU)

Compost - Remove any solid matter and compost in your garden. Compostable to EU and USA composting standards.

Dispose - Biodegradable soaker pads are plastic-free, they will break down in a landfill in 50-150 days (Disposables take up to 500 years).

Flush - You can flush your soaker pads. Simply tear open your pad and empty the core contents into the toilet. Throw outer away.


Use
Made for use with the Gro Baby system. Remove soiled soaker pad and replace with a fresh one as needed.


I was pleasantly surprised by the softness of the soaker. They almost had a silkiness to them. They also couldn't have been any easier to use. Each biosoaker has two adhesive tabs, one on each end of the soaker, to keep it in place in the shell. I have to admit that with a very active toddler I was initially skeptical that these little adhesive tabs would keep the soaker in place. I was wrong, they did a great job and I never had them move an inch! The soakers also seemed very thin upon first appearance. So again, I was skeptical. I thought there was no way that these thin soakers would be very absorbent with my heavy wetter. Again, I was wrong! On one occasion they survived a 5 hour nap without leaking! I did have issues with the soaker bunching up in the middle but it bunches in a similar way to the actual cloth soaker from the Gro Baby system. On a positive note, the bunching in no way compromised the absorbency of the soaker. The only issue I had with the biosoakers was that on occasion I noticed some reside from the adhesive tabs left on my Gro Baby shells. This was not a significant issue as the reside did wash off with a few washes. I can't stress enough how convenient these were to use. I have to admit that I do not use cloth diapers when on the go and out of the house for extended periods of time. I just don't want to deal with toting around a stinky and dirty diaper. However, these biosoakers made cloth diapering on the go easy and clean. I now have NO excuse to not give up the 'sposies all together!


A package of 50 biosoakers will cost about $19.99. I initially thought that was on the expensive side. However, it isn't much more than a package of huggies which costs $17.79 for a 52 count package. I definitely think that the biosoakers are worth the extra couple of bucks. Not only are they better for baby and the environment but they are also more convenient and since they are about half the size of a disposable they are also a space saver!


Saturday, October 10, 2009

Gymboree Gymbucks Giveaway Winner!

Congratulations JonesEthiopia! We will be emailing you the gymbucks codes shortly. Happy shopping!

Rockin' Green winner!


The winner is comment #61! Congrats Annie, you've won some Rockin' Green soap! Please email us to claim your prize!

Gymboree Gymbucks GIVEAWAY!

As you probably know, Jackie and I LOVE dressing our little guys in gymboree clothing! You may have read a previous post about a gymboree sale which also included my gymboree shopping tips. One of my tips was to only shop during gymbuck earning and gymbuck redemption time. Well, it's currently redemption time! As the previous post stated, you can use a $25 gymbuck like a credit when you purchase $50 worth of merchandise during the redemption dates. That's like getting everything for 50% off! We have $50 in gymbucks to offer as a giveaway prize! You can use the gymbucks online and receive $50 off your purchase of $100 or more! The gymbucks expire on October 11th so this is a very brief giveaway contest. Enter quickly! You have 5 opportunities to enter this giveaway.

For your first comment you must - leave a comment on HERE sharing your biggest money save tip.

For additional entries do any or all of the following. Please note: to get your extra entries you must leave a separate comment on this blog post for each additional entry. Confused? Let us know if this doesn't make sense.

1. Follow us on Twitter - link to the right (or if you already follow) and leave an additional and separate comment HERE on the blog letting us know, along with your Twitter username.

2. Become a fan of us on Facebook - link to the right (or if you're already a fan) and leave an additional and separate comment HERE on the blog post letting us know your Facebook name.

3. Follow our blog (or if you already follow) and leave an additional and separate comment HERE on this blog post letting us know.

4. Tweet about this giveaway and then leave an additional and separate comment HERE on this blog post with the permalink of the tweet.

Contest will end October 10th at 11pm CST. Winner will be chosen at random and announced on October 11th. Please include your email address in your comment for notification or check back on October 11th to see if you were the lucky winner! The winner will be emailed the gymbuck codes so that they can be redeemed online. Good Luck!