I’m loving Earth Friendly Product’s Ultra Dishmate in Natural Pear for washing my dishes by hand!  This is a very concentrated product so a little goes a long way making it a great value at less than $3.00, which is competitively priced compared to any conventional dish soap.  In fact, while we’re at it, let’s do a little compare-and-stare at the ingredients of a popular household dish soap, Palmolive. 

Palmolive Ingredients: Water, Ammonium C12-15 Pareth Sulfate, Magnesium Isododecylbenzenesulfonate, Lauramidopropylamine Oxide, SD Alcohol 3-A, Sodium Xylenesulfonate, Sodium Chloride, Fragrance, Pentasodium Pentetate, DMDM Hydantoin, Sodium Bisulfite, D&C Orange No. 4 (active ingredients: Triclosan 0.12%)

Ultra Dishmate Ingredients: Water, Coconut Oil Derived Surfactants, salt and pear oil. 

Hmmm….it doesn’t take long to figure out which one I’d rather use! 

All Earth Friendly Products are biodegradable and recyclable, they don’t contain any phosphates, dyes, perfumes, SLS (sodium laurel sulphate), or cocomide DEA.  They are never tested on animals (noted by the leaping bunny logo on the bottle) and this bottle is made from #1 PETE plastic.  This foams nicely and does not cause any spots on my dishes and the light pear aroma is nice and fresh in the kitchen.  If you’re looking for a non-toxic, natural dish soap that is not overly scented, try this one - I think you’ll like it! 

You may or may not have heard that this Saturday, March 28th between 8:30-9:30 p.m. is Earth Hour when millions of people in over 500 cities in 75 countries on all 7 continents will turn off their lights for one hour to send a powerful message. 

I’ll be participating and I’ve already started wondering what to do for an hour with no power…no TV, no internet…oh my!  (And I’ve started gathering candles.)  So my question for you is this: What you will do for one hour this Saturday while the lights are out??? 

Fun fact: Celebrity Earth Hour ambassadors include Cate Blanchett, Alanis Morissette, Janeane Garofalo, Gavin DeGraw, KT Tunstall, Big Kenny (Big & Rich), Jo Dee Messina, Kathy Mattea, Wynonna Judd and Coldplay.

To learn more visit www.earthhourus.org. 

I purchased the Frigidaire FTF2140 Washing Machine about a month ago and I really like it.  I was in need of a new washer and dryer and decided to buy stackables that would fit in the perfect alcove in my kitchen.  The following factors helped me decide to purchase this model:  

 1). Stackable: But not attached so if, in the future, I decide to put them in an actual laundry room, they can be placed side-by-side.   

2). Front-loading: I like the way it looks and if I decide to unstack them in the future, I could also place them underneath a countertop. 

3). Capacity: Holds 1.5 times more than the standard washing machine.

4). Energy Efficient: This model uses 70% less water and energy than standard models.   During the spin cycle the wash barrel spins up to 900 rpm instead of the standard 700 rpm, which means that my clothes are substantially more dry than when I used my old dryer.  About 15 minutes are shaved off dry time meaning saving on power and time! 

5). Less Detergent: This Energy Star washer uses 1/3 the amount of standard top-loading machines meaning spending less on laundry detergent. 

I really love the washer and very happy with my purchase, but the one downside is that after each load water gets trapped in the detergent/softener/bleach drawer (specifically in the softener/bleach compartments) and stays there until I pull the entire drawer out and empty it into the sink.  I’d rather not have to do this one extra step, but the pros definitely outweigh this one con. 

Think those rosy cheeks are au naturale?  Wonder how Jennifer Garner gets her glow?  According to Suki (and Treehugger.com) she gets it from a product I just so happen to use and love myself, SukiColor’s Lip/Cheek Stain.  

Both SukiPure skin care and SukiColor cosmetics are lines I trust implicitly.  Their standards are high and they really do set the bar in terms of high-performance, high-end, quality skin care that is pure, natural and organic.  Suki products are stamped with EcoCert certification and you can be sure that you are getting what you pay for.  I get that mineral makeup is all the rage right now, but I’m still not a fan of the matte look.  Even when I do use mineral makeup, I have to be sure to pat a bit of moisturizer on top so I look fresh and dewy, not dry and cakey.  This product is multi-purpose and I don’t need to use moisturizer over the top of this cream blush and its a lip color as well so I’ll often throw just this is my purse if I need to add flush to cheeks or color to lips throughout the day or night.  You only need a bit to get great color so this pot is sure to last months and months! 

 Psst:  I’ve also heard that Tom Hanks and Rita Wilson are fans of the Suki skin care line. 

For the last 100 years consumers have trusted the Good Housekeeping Seal Of Approval when making purchases and now they’re following consumer demand by introducing a new Green Seal of Approval to help clear up rampant confusion.  GH has partnered with Santa Barbara, California-based consultancy firm Brown & Wilmanns Environmental to develop its green criteria.  “Determining what products get the green thumbs-up will include evaluating its health value and toxicity”, said Michael Brown, of Brown and Wilmanns.

“We want people to be able to see how we arrived at the decisions. Not every green advocate will be happy, but we’ve bent over backward,” Ellis said.  Jordana Gustafson, Editor at SustainLane.com says “no matter the timing, the Good Housekeeping brand name alone will give consumers confidence to trust that what they’re buying is environmentally friendly”. 

Tomorrow when the April issue hits newsstands Editor-In-Chief Rosemary Ellis will announce the additional of their Green Seal to the already trusted standard Good Housekeeping Seal Of Approval found on 5000 products to date.  “Marketers were slapping a lot of words on products sometimes legitimately, no doubt, sometimes not so legitimately,” Ellis said, ticking off labels like “natural” and “organic.”  “It just became clear consumers were confused and frustrated,” she said.

“None of them, I would say, has been able to cut a wide swath,” Ellis said. “That’s one reason we think Good Housekeeping is an ideal entity to do this. I think a lot of readers will say, ‘What took you so long?’” ”From a business point of view we have a lot on the line and from a trust point of view we have even more on the line,” Ellis said. “But if something has the Good Housekeeping seal, whether it’s an expensive or inexpensive product, you know you’re getting your money’s worth.”

Products already granted the standard Good Housekeeping Seal of Approval can now ask to be evaluated for the Green Seal.  The green seal has the same sleek look as the original Good Housekeeping Seal, but is a dark green color and has leaves on either side.  Determining what products get the green thumbs-up will include evaluating its health value and toxicity, said Michael Brown, of Brown and Wilmanns.

“It’s a combination of looking at the materials that go into the product, aspects of waste, energy use, water use and certainly the potential health impacts associated with the product,” said Brown, whose firm will train Good Housekeeping researchers to test products against the decided green criteria.

Image credit: www.GoodHousekeeping.com

When my cell phone died last week, I ordered this one, the Rumor LG in green.  Eco-ness aside, green happens to be my favorite color, so why not?  I considered a Blackberry and several others, but since I really just wanted an actual keyboard so that I could quickly type text messages and reply to emails and the ability to snap a picture as needed, I couldn’t justify the cost when this one was much cheaper and could also do those things. 

When it arrived the very next day after I placed the order I was intrigued by the Good to be Green slogan plastered all over the recycled box, the user guide and the ‘Welcome To Sprint’ pamphlet.  What was so green about it other than the color?  For starters, the box is made of post-consumer waste recyclable materials.  The tray inside the box in which everything was nestled is recyclable and stamped with a NCFB (non-corregated fiberboard) recycled logo and the plastic bag that contained the cell phone charger is made of HDPE (#2) plastic, which can be recycled as well. 

What’s really great is the postage-paid, pre-addressed plastic envelope bag that comes inside.  This is to send back my old cell phone in to recycle it.  In 2002 Sprint created Project Connect, a wireless recycling program to help millions of cell phones from ending up in landfills.  Sprint donates the net proceeds from your recycled phone to the National Center For Missing & Exploited Children, the NEA Health Information Network, and others to educate parents, guardians, teachers and kids about internet safety through the 4NetSafety program. 

Sprint Recycling + Sustainability Effforts: 

-Sprint Project Connect was one of the first nationwide wireless phone recycling programs.

-Since its inception, Sprint Project Connect has raised more than $4 million for charitable programs.

-Since 2001, Sprint has collected more than seven million used wireless phones and kept those phones out of the waste stream through Sprint Project Connect and other equipment collection efforts including Sprint Buyback, a program that gives Sprint customers account credit for returning eligible phones.

-In addition to in-store recycling efforts with Sprint Project Connect, Sprint also conducts separate wireless phone recycling drives with Keep America Beautiful, NFL Charities, and Victory Junction Gang Camp.

-Wireless phones donated to Sprint Project Connect are either refurbished and resold or recycled with 100 percent of the net proceeds going to support Internet safety for kids.

-Phones designated for recycling are handled in an environmentally sound manner in accordance with applicable federal, state, and local environmental laws and regulations.

-Sprint is a proud partner of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s Plug-In To eCycling program.

-Sprint is a participating member of “Wireless… The New Recyclable” an industry program designed to provide consumers with information about the importance and ease of recycling wireless devices.

I’ve been using Ecover Dishwashing Liquid for about a month.  It works really well and I like the high foam, no spot factor (something that I can’t say about all eco dish soap I’ve tried).  There is a nice, yet subtle minty aroma that smells fresh, despite the “Chamomile and Marigold” insinuations on the front of the bottle that might otherwise lead you to believe it smells herbal.

Ecocover cleaning products can be found throughout the world and was founded in Belgium in 1980.  In ‘92 they built the world’s first ecological factory with a grass roof spanning 10,800² feet that still brings visitors. 

Ecover products are developed using raw materials from vegetable and mineral sources that are carefully selected and guarantee maximum biodegradability. The raw materials for Ecover products are based on vegetable and mineral resources.  Their products are renewable meaning they can be grown again or replenished and are inexhaustible.  By using renewable sources of materials, this avoids creating both environmental and health burdens.

So why should we care?  Conventional detergents and cleansing agents use raw materials made from petroleum. Petroleum is a non-renewable resource and the extraction, processing, and use of petroleum puts a heavy burden on the environment.

Have you tried Ecover?  If so, what do you think?