Winner!

The lovely winner of the Organic Cotton lounge set from Maggie's Organics is the Sassy Pink Boutique! Congrats! Thanks for entering guys!

What Not To Wear....And a Prize!

I have a chance to share something with you that I'm really excited about. Recently, I read a post by Shaun Groves that made me want to research more before purchasing clothing for my family. I followed the links within the story to other posts detailing a recent trip he took to the Dominican Republic with Compassion International and immediately felt convicted. Of all the things I've been trying to change within our family, I have given little thought to our clothing, where it comes from and how it's made.

Ideally, I'd love to be able to support companies that use organic cotton, safe dye and support fair trade. I realize that this is often difficult to do given the extra expense involved and time it would take you to research in order to find such a company.

Maggie's Organics is a company that I am proud to introduce to you. They use only organic materials in making their apparel and were instrumental in creating the Fair Trade Zone, "a 100% worker-owned Sewing Co-Operative in Nicaragua that has helped hurricane refugees create a new life for themselves and their families."

Further, they are currently helping a group of displaced textile workers in rural NC (an area that owns a piece of my heart because I am originally from there!) by helping them start a sewing company owned by the workers themselves.

This company is getting it right. Click here to find out more about how they are putting back into local communities and using materials that are sustainable and safe. If you're curious, Maggie's Organics is also very reasonably priced. I know that is a big issue for me when finding companies to support.



Maggie's recently sent me one of their lounge sets to try out and let me tell you, I'm hooked. I love pajamas and these are soft, comfortable AND cute! They were also kind enough to send along a pair for me to share with you! I have this one in a size large and to win, go to Maggie's Organics site and browse through their products. Come back here and let me know what you love the most and I'll randomly draw a winner from the comments on Wednesday, July 30. In you post about this contest on your own blog, I'll give you three extra entries! (Be sure to let me know that you've done this!)

If you have any questions, feel free to leave them here in the comments or click the link on your right to email me! Good luck!

Color Again

I just love when kids get involved in doing something to make a difference. If kids can come up with creative ideas, why can't the rest of us? Check out this story:

http://www.coloragain.org/about.html

How cool is that?

Bad Hair Day

Hi, I'm Heather and I'm addicted to hair products. A lot of hair products. My basket overfloweth.

I'm at your mercy, Internets. I can't go green in the area of the hair products. I've tried several greenish shampoos and conditioners and they just leave me ugly. Like, frizzy and Frankenstein ugly. I haven't even attempted to change in my old hair styling products for the green version because I'm scared.

Yes, I said it. I'm scared. I don't like to be ugly, frizzy and Frankenstein.

Come on, you know you don't like it either.

This is where I turn to you. For the love of all things healthy and green, please tell me if you have a product that you use and love. For the record, I have naturally curly and dry hair. I straighten it a couple of times a week. Help me.

Stinky Subjects

Back in the spring, I started looking at switching deodorants. I wanted an aluminum free version that would keep me from smelling like an unwashed farm animal. I tried Tom's of Maine first since it's most readily available at all of the mainstream stores.

I thought I had hit the jackpot. I didn't notice any smelliness coming from the pits and I felt good about using a product that didn't have the potential to give me cancer. Along came summer. Tom let me down. As it turns out, he wasn't as good in the summer heat as I needed him to be.

I picked up Trader Joe's brand next. It goes on a little sticky. As in, you put it on and hold up your arms a little bit to wait for it to dry...like a roll on, but it's not. However, Joe has been so much better to me than Tom. I haven't had any smelliness yet. I've been using it for almost a month now and the temps here have been in the high 90's many times. I'm impressed.

I'll post a little more later on why it's important to use deodorant without aluminum but for now, I wanted to get this out there in case you are struggling in the dog days of summer, like me.

Cloth Napkins

I've been hoping for some time now to start using cloth napkins for our family. I didn't have big hopes of completely replacing paper napkins with them yet but I figured as with most things, we'd move towards the goal slowly. Within the past two weeks, I realized that we are using more paper napkins than ever before and it started to bother me. It bothers me to the point that every time I hand out the napkins for a meal, I cringe a little on the inside. People, this is a major step for me.

Last weekend, I was doing some shopping with my Sisters and I ran across some beautiful cloth napkins on clearance. They are well made and I loved the way they looked. I decided to pick them up and give them a try with our family. My kids thought we were celebrating something! They looked nice and my Son didn't need to go through three of them in one meal to keep his hands clean. (He HATES being dirty!) I've decided that I can make them just as easily myself because I like to sew and I have lots of material left over from various projects that will be just the right size. If you don't sew, check out Etsy and Ebay because I found some great deals on both of those sites. My thinking is that if I keep enough on hand, I won't have to scramble to keep them washed up and it will be easier to resist the temptation to use paper napkins. I'll keep you posted on how it goes.

I've told you before that I'm not an all or nothing girl. I'm also not someone who you'd consider totally green. I'm getting there. But daily I'm seeing changes in myself and my way of thinking that I know are for the better. I'm liking it! This is one thing that I'm hoping to be all or nothing about. I'd love to not have to buy napkins again!

What about you? Do you use cloth? Make your own or buy from other places?