Eco Friendly Products | Faith and Family Reviews

Archive for Eco Friendly Products

Product Review: Eco Jot!

Posted by Bobbie Gould on August 12, 2010
in Eco Friendly Products

I received the following product in exchange for writing a review. While I consider it a privilege to receive free products to review, my review is my honest opinion and thoughts of the product.

I received the “Happiness Is A Form” journal from Eco Jot to review and really, really liked it! It was very nice as it didn’t make my pen skip like some journals and the pages do not come out easily. The binding is really nice and the pages are not too thin but they are not to thick either. I liked the cover design it was cute! It was very colorful and since I like (okay LOVE) bright things that was a bonus feature The journal itself retails for $15-16.

Some pictures of the journal:

There are two cool things about Eco Jot

1. They have this policy called “Buy 1 We Give 1″ so each time you buy a product they will send a product to Africa. ( I think!)

2. And the other cool thing is that they are all Eco-Friendly! They even don’t use chlorine bleach and they recycle. How cool is that? Eco Jot has a lot of cool products so take a look at them!

Check out their blog Jot and Dot and check them out on Facebook.

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Back to School Product Guide: Eco-Friendly Lunch Box Products

Posted by Bobbie Gould on August 12, 2010
in Eco Friendly Products, Product Guides 2010

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Eco-Friendly Lunch Box Products (Yes, some of these are repeats from the other day but we thought these where worth mentioning again.)

1.) Reduce- Water Week Kids Water Bottles ($17.99) WaterWeek™ offers the ONLY true solution to end the costly and wasteful purchasing of bottled water without giving up convenience. Just fill, chill & go! They are: BPA free, 10oz capacity, Saves consumers an average of $500 per year!, Includes fridge tray that slides neatly into your fridge, Dishwasher and freezer safe, This size is perfect for school lunches. Choose from 3 sets: girls, boys, and sports.

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Reduce Everyday has a special running on their Facebook page for $5.00 off any of their water bottle sets. Go here to learn more.

We will also be featuring a review of these too. I’ll add the link here once we have it ready.

2.) Easy Lunch Boxes- Check out these great back to school lunch boxes! They’re BPA-free, SAFE and environmentally friendly, too! You’ll find it easy to ‘go green’ by using EasyLunchboxes for a waste-free lunch. You can buy a set of 4 lunch boxes for $13.95 and a lunch box cooler for $7.95

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We will be posting a review of the Easy Lunch Boxes at a later date, so stay tuned!

3.) Pack A Lunch- Caterpillar Waste-Free Lunch Kit cut back on lunchtime trash by packing your little one’s mid-day meal in a Kids Konserve lunch bag (www.kidskonserve.com) made from recycled plastic bottles. Reusable, waste-free lunch kit includes recycled cotton sack, cloth napkin, 304 food-grade stainless steel beverage bottle, food kozy and two 304 food-grade stainless steel food containers. Lunch Sack is 7″ W x 10.5″ T x 4.5″.

The Kids Konserve Resident Chef is a new monthly feature that challenges chefs across the country to design recipes specifically tailored for a Kids Konserve reusable, waste-free product. You don’t want to miss these recipes! http://www.kidskonserve.com/resident_chef.asp.

Also, on August 1, Kids Konserve and Annie’s kicks off their “Being Green is Better” campaign. Visit Annies.com to win a FREE Kids Konserve Reusable Lunch Sack.

And check out this 15% Back to School coupon code for all. Enter coupon code: “school” valid through August.

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4.) Living Green- Green Little Lunch Pack includes products from New Wave Enviro. It comes with a stainless steel water or juice bottle, a stainless steel food tin, and a lunch back made from 100% sustainable bamboo. ($22.95)

Rayon and bamboo lunch bag kit

5.) Terra Cycle- Round Drink Pouch Lunchbox this traditional lunch box is made with a twist, because it’s made from upcycled drink pouches. This insulated dual compartment lunch box allows you to keep your food and drink separated so your drink pouch stays cool and refreshing, while your food stays crisp and fresh. Specific wrapper is subject to variability. ($8.00)

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Check back at 12:00 PM today for our feature of Eco-Friendly Fashion Products.

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A Backpack Made of Billboard Material

Posted by html404 on August 12, 2010
in Eco Friendly Products, Product Guides 2010

I received the following product in exchange for writing a review. While I consider it a privilege to receive free products to review, my review is my honest opinion and thoughts of this product.

About Terracycle

The goal of TerraCycle and Yak Pak is to reduce waste and the use of all our natural resources, all the while creating great products for consumers to enjoy. Their business practices are sustainable.

Terra Cycle also gives back to charity.

Yak Pak Backpack – Retail $23.99

The Yak Pak is made of upcycled, repurposed billboard material. It is super durable, it feels really thick, just think of the material billboards are made of. It is also water resistant and comes with a lifetime warranty. Can’t get better than that, eh?

Their definition of upcycled – “The practice of taking something that is disposable and transforming it into something of greater use adn value.”

Their definition of repurposed – “To use or convert for use in another format or product.”

Our Review

We love hearing about innovative companies and the way they use or in this case reuse trash. One of my clients does this and it is such a wonderful way to create new products out of things we would normally just discard and fill landfills with.

The Yak Pak is just as they describe. I was surprised to learn that billboards were made out of such a thick material, but once I thought about it I remembered a sign we had made five years ago and realized that billboards would have to be durable with the weather elements that they have to endure.

What else can I say? I have written so many reviews this week and especially today that I fear that I am going to sound redundant soon. But we really like the Yak Pak. We gave it to our son for his school supplies and he’s thrilled with it. Time will tell how durable it is compared to other backpacks we have in the house, as we have a few canvas style ones and then the Disney one our daughter received.

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Reduce Kids WaterWeek Review

Posted by html404 on August 10, 2010
in Eco Friendly Products, Product Guides 2010, School

I received the following product in exchange for writing a review. While I consider it a privilege to receive free products to review, my review is my honest opinion and thoughts of this product.

Kids-Girls-WaterWeek

We featured Reduce Kids WaterWeek in our Back to School Product Guide, but since we actually received a Girls Set, we are also posting a review of this product.

WaterWeek Kids

WaterWeek™ offers the ONLY true solution to end the costly and wasteful purchasing of bottled water without giving up convenience. Just fill, chill & go!™

• BPA free
• 10oz capacity
• Saves consumers an average of $500 per year!
• Includes fridge tray that slides neatly into your fridge.
• Dishwasher and freezer safe.
• This size is perfect for school lunches.

Green Quality
Eco friendly bottles! WaterWeek™ makes it easy and economical for consumers to reduce the 25 million bottles being disposed everyday. Now you can save on kids lunches too!

Retail Price: $17.99 for a set of 5 eco friendly bottles.

Faith and Family Review

We really like the concept of the WaterWeek and see how it would benefit those attending public school each day. However, me have to be honest and tell you that we did not use them as they were designed. We allowed our younger children to choose a water bottle for their own and they even saved one out for the new baby to use next summer.

Love the holder for the refrigerator to keep them all in one place. The bottles are perfect for little hands. The caps are screw on, which the children haven’t had a problem with, but I have. I like the ones that are either like a straw or flip top so the children cannot easily spill the contents or lose the cover. That is my only negative though. When the covers are screwed on tightly, they do not leak.

The colors are bright and the designs fun.

Visit www.ReduceEveryDay.com for additional information about the company or to find out more about the other products they have to offer.

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Product Review: Alabu Soap

Posted by Bobbie Gould on August 6, 2010
in Eco Friendly Products, Handmade Items, Personal Care Products

I received the following product in exchange for writing a review. While I consider it a privilege to receive free products to review, my review is my honest opinion and thoughts of the product.

The owners just wrote and told me that they have a coupon code for you all! Here it is!

It’s good for 15% off any order of $10 or more (can only be used once per customer) at www.alabu.com. The coupon code is below: COUPON-VGHOOD-15

I recently received some product from Alabu Natural Goat Milk Soap and liked it alot! The product that I received was:

Organic All Natural Shea Body Butter: This body butter was very nice to use as it helped take away some of my eczema on my arm. I really liked that it is all natural and comes in 2 kinds of ‘scents’ the product that type that I received is the Original with jojoba oil. The other scent is: Tea Tree. It is defiantly really nice for dry skin when you don’t have any hand-cream on hand or after a shower! It is priced at: $4.90 for Original but the Tea Tree is priced at $6.90. Very reasonable for all natural shea body butter.

Organic All Natural Lip Balm: The lip balm comes in 3 different flavors so to speak and I received mint. I liked the scent and “flavor” it helps chapped lips but, I didn’t find that it made any drastic changes for my lips. But I thought that it was a nice lip balm. The scents are: Mint, Tea Tree, Vanilla, and Natural. They are all priced at $3.50

Organic All Natural Neem Essential Oil Soap: Neem oil contributes conditioning properties and a wonderful lather to this soap, making it a good choice for dry and problem skin. The neem oil is not added for the great scent (it actually smells terrible, and they add lavender essential oil to help tone down the scent). It’s in the soap because it’s great for your skin. So I just wanted you to be informed: don’t judge it for it’s smell! I didn’t really smell anything that bad, it smelled like lavender to me. I found it a very nice soap and it made my skin VERY soft! It must be the goat soap that does that! It is priced at: $6.30.

Organic All Natural Baby Me Ultra-Moisturizing cleansing Bar:I really liked this soap and it is all the name says it is! It too makes my skin feel soft and silky! It smells nice and I think it was my favorite of the two soap. Extra special handmade soap for anyone with extra sensitive skin. I found it lathered nicely and was a great bath bar! It made my hands very soft after working in the garden all day. It is reasonably priced at: $5.15

All in all I would highly recommend Alabu products. Here is a little bit about Alabu:

” A Brief History:

After making goat milk soap for a home-school chemistry project, we quickly realized how drying and harsh commercial soap was to our skin. We found that handmade natural soap (made with the “cold process” soap method) retains the naturally occurring glycerin that is very beneficial to your skin. Family and friends told us how our soap was a great skin care product, and how it did not leave their skin feeling dry and itchy like commercial soap did and helped with their eczema treatment. That is when Alabu Soap was born. Now we have retail and wholesale soap customers world wide.” (My note, the Alabu company was founded by a Christian Home-Schooling family.)

Happy Shopping!

~Miss RJ

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Back to School Product Guide

Posted by html404 on August 5, 2010
in Eco Friendly Products, Education, Fashion, Food and Treats

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Even though we homeschool, back to school sales are on our minds too. After all we need school supplies just like everyone else. We are looking forward to taking advantage of the IL tax break starting August 6th, I think.

Thanks to a HARO query, we have many wonderful products to share with you over the week or two starting on Monday! Bear with us as we try to post as many of them as possible. We received close to 100 pitches, however, not all of them will be featured. We are trying to narrow them down to our favorites and ones that we think best fit our Back to School Product Guide.

Here are the categories we will be covering:

School Supplies

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Fashion

backtoschoolfashion

Lunches

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Eco Friendly Products

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Technology/Electronics

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Product Review: Blue Ridge Gypsy Studio

Posted by Bobbie Gould on August 2, 2010
in All Natural Products, Eco Friendly Products, Fashion

I received the following product in exchange for writing a review. While I consider it a privilege to receive free products to review, my review is my honest opinion and thoughts of the product.

The product that I received was:

Honeysuckle Shea Butter Soap: I like this soap as it had a really nice scent and I liked at how smooth it made my skin. It is $4.99 for a 4 oz. bar.

Mandarin Vanilla Shea Butter Soap: I think that this is my favorite scent out of all the soap. It smells so nice. It too makes my skin so soft. It is $4.99 for a 4 0z. bar.

Grapefruit Geranium Shea Butter Soap: This may say geranium but it is a more masculine scent I think that might be because of the grapefruit though! It was the most “sudsy” out of all the soaps that I received and it makes a really nice lather It is a nice smell just not as feminine as some of their other scents. It is $4.99 for a 4 oz. bar.

Honeysuckle After Shower Moisture Spritz: This moisturizer was very nice and it is a nice way to get your tan to glow It smells very flowery as well and is a pleasant way to get your lotion in if you don’t have any on hand and if you are traveling and forgot your lotion. It is $9.50 for a 8 oz. bottle.

Truest Rose Butter Creme: This lotion smell SO good it is hard to believe that it is all natural! The super rich Butter Creme’ Hand and Body Lotion it is made from Organic Macadamia Nut Oil, Shea Butter, and Extra Virgin Olive Oil. The lotion smells like fresh roses and made my skin so very, very soft. You don’t need to use alot to get soft hands though. I defiantly recommend this lotion. It is priced at $12.99 for a 8 oz. bottle.

Every product comes in 8 scents:
Tuscan Lavender
Truest Rose
Mandarin Vanilla
Winter Yuzu
Woodspice
Honeysuckle
Peaceful Patchouli
Grapefruit Geranium

I thought Blue Ridge Gypsy Studio had VERY nice packaging. It is a little hard to open though if you are like me and don’t like to “wreck” the packaging The packaging is done in pretty paper with their logo than tied with ribbon. It is a nice touch to Blue Ridge Gypsy Studio’s superior soap! Also all of their Shea butter soaps are made the old-fashioned way and add lots of super moisturizing Shea butter to ensure your skin will be soft and smooth. And, they are organic which is a plus!

I encourage you to check out http://blueridgegypsy.com/! Also if you cannot use fragrances than they have another company with the same products just not the sweet fragrances. Here it is: Skin Free

Enjoy your day!

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Recycled Mosquito Coin Purse and Keychain/Cell Phone Holder

Posted by html404 on July 30, 2010
in Eco Friendly Products, Fashion, Giving Back/Charity, Handmade Items

Coin Purse

Coin Purse 2

I have been using these two purses for a while now and really, really, like them! They look small but they hold alot! In the grey purse I have been putting my cell phone and other needed objects and I am using the black one for my keys etc, etc. The key ring with cell phone holder (pictured above) and coin purse are perfect to attach to the inside of five’s messenger bag. The key ring and coin purse features a five petal flower similar to five’s logo flower. The purses have a zipper closure.

These purses are from the new line made by a fair trade co-op in Cambodia, is made from recycled plastic mosquito netting, carefully washed and cleaned, originally used to protect livestock, safety netting, and brick layers used it as a sand sieve. They are recycled, Eco-Friendly and support needy people in Cambodia.

These purses are available from five ACCESSORIES. They are $15 for the black and $20 for the grey. For more info contact: info@fiveaccessories.com or call 312.504.3483.

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Product Review: Flower Bracelet From five ACCESSORIES

Posted by html404 on July 26, 2010
in Eco Friendly Products, Fashion, Giving Back/Charity, Handmade Items, Uncategorized

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The Flower Bracelet $10

The Flower bracelet adds color and life to a neutral or dark outfit. Made of natural wood with handpainted blue and white flowers on each square block. On SALE from $15 to $10.

I liked that this bracelet was handmade and that the flowers where hand painted. I love flowers and this definitely attracted my eye. It has a nice loose fit, is very pretty and is one of my favorites out of five’s bracelets!

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Product Review! Wood and Pearl Bracelet From five ACCESSORIES

Posted by html404 on July 24, 2010
in Eco Friendly Products, Fashion, Giving Back/Charity

wood and pearl bracelet

The Wood and Pearl Bracelet $10.00

“Oval-shaped wood sections are united with small beads in between and finished with a circular shaped pearl overlay. Elastic provides stretch. From our Bali Collection.”

This bracelet was very comfy and did not scratch my arm at all. It has a nice look and feel to it! I like it alot and will be wearing it alot this summer. It adds a really nice touch to any summer outfit.