Monthly Archives: September 2010
Product Review: Ely Organics
| September 29, 2010 | Posted by Lisa Sharp under Uncategorized |
Did you know the terms “natural” and “organic” have no regulations or standards? With so many products out there saying they are “natural” or “organic” how do you know which are really safe?
Looking for a third party certification like USDA organic helps ensure the product you are getting had to abide by a standard. One great certified organic personal care line is Miessence, the brand sold by Ely Organics.
I got the chance to try out some products from Ely Organics; here are my thoughts on the products I tried.
Products Reviewed- Desert Flower Shampoo, Tropicana Body Milk, Mint Toothpaste, Shine Herbal Hair Conditioner, and Freshening Mouth Wash.
All the products work very well. The shampoo is one of the best natural or organic shampoos I have tried. Even when my hair was oily it got it clean but didn’t dry it out. It has a nice, not overwhelming scent.
The toothpaste is one the only toothpaste I have found that is free of fluoride, SLS, and glycerin. It has a nice mint flavor that is not overly sweet or fake like most toothpaste. It has the best taste of any of the natural toothpastes I have tried.
The conditioner left my hair very soft without having to use to much. I have very long hair and often have to use a handful of conditioner, this one worked well with about half the amount I normally use.
The body milk made my hands feel soft instantly. It’s pretty amazing. The scent is not my favorite but my husband really likes it.
The mouth wash is my favorite product. This is the one product I choose to buy for myself. While the price may seem high you only use a few drops in some water so it lasts a very long time. The flavor is great and I love all the wonderful antibacterial herbs and that it is free of dyes, fluoride, and glycerin.
The products do come in plastic, though they are recyclable. The conditioner only comes in one scent and it may not be everyone’s style. It was not may favorite scent but it is light so not a big deal.
The prices can seem a bit high but you are getting good quality and many of the items last longer than normal.
Ely Organics has great customer service, great organic products, and products you know are safe. They may not fit in all budgets but I highly recommend giving a few of them a try. Items like the mouth wash work out to be a great price and very much worth it.
Spray-On Clothing?
| September 28, 2010 | Posted by Lisa Sharp under Uncategorized |
What are your thoughts on this idea? I’m not a fan. The idea of breathing little cotton and plastic fibers doesn’t sound like a good one. Plus what else is in this stuff?!
Starbucks, Hypocritical?
| September 27, 2010 | Posted by Lisa Sharp under Uncategorized |
Starbucks talks a lot about all the cups you can save by bring your own mug, they sell the mugs, give you a discount and even have videos like this one.
For a few years now I have been taking my own mug to Starbucks but I won’t be anymore. Why, you ask. Because this past weekend I went to Starbucks in Norman, Oklahoma and my husband and I had our mugs and asked for our drinks to be put in them. We told them the size, got our discount and thought all was fine. But then my husband goes, “he made my drink in a plastic cup and poured it in my mug.” So I was very annoyed but thought maybe it was a mistake, he was busy. THEN he made my drink the same way!
This not only meant two plastic cups were thrown away (couldn’t stop him in time to get them and recycle them) but also our hot drinks now contained toxic chemicals. When I went to get the drinks I said “for the future, people bring their own mugs so they don’t waste plastic.” He said “I know but I can’t make the drinks in the mugs.” Huh? I have watched people do it dozens of times. And if this is true why is Starbucks selling their own mugs and giving a discount, plus telling you how many cups you will save?
Thinking maybe this is just that Starbucks I posted on Facebook and Twitter how upset I was and found several people had seen this happen. So Starbucks I hope you are listening, I will not be back until this problem is fixed and I will be watching very closely. I feel you are pretty much lying to your customers. If this is not how it should be done you need to train your staff to make the drinks in the mugs.
So have you had this happen? Will you be going to Starbucks still after knowing this?
World Tiger Day
| September 26, 2010 | Posted by Lisa Sharp under Uncategorized |
Tigers need our help. Their numbers are dropping at an alarming rate. In the past 100 years wild tiger numbers declined 97%. There may be as few as 3,200 wild tigers left in existence.
If we don’t want to lose them forever we must act now. It’s the year of the year of the Tiger and WWF has launched a campaign to help save the tigers. Here are their suggestions for how to help the tigers.
Spread the word! Tell your friends about the Save Tigers Now campaign.
Donate in support of WWF’s tiger conservation efforts. Funds are urgently needed and will go directly to:
- support antipoaching efforts on the ground; tigers are under siege from poachers and we need to increase patrols to protect them
- strengthen projects to save tiger habitat; keeping areas tigers live intact, with enough prey for tigers to eat and enough room for them to roam
- build political will so that governments commit to bold, game-changing strategies that give wild tigers a future
Together, we can preserve an icon of nature and save wild tigers for future generations.
You can find more info about tigers and how to help them by visiting WWF’s page Save Tigers Now. You can also find a free World Tiger Day picture for your Facebook/Twitter on the Bush Warrior’s blog.
Do you ever wonder what animals the next generations will only be able to see in zoos or books?
The Real Cost of Clothing
| September 25, 2010 | Posted by Lisa Sharp under Uncategorized |
When we talk about environmentally friendly clothing we think organic fabrics. You can even find organic t-shirts for as low as $5 but what about the hidden cost of that shirt. How much do you know about how your clothing was made? Even if it was made in the US it may come from a sweatshop. About 60% of clothing is made in sweatshops.
So who’s responsibility is it? I believe it’s both ours and the companies, but we hold a lot of power. If we stop shopping somewhere they will have to look at why they are losing money and change to get their customers back.
So how can we buy ethical clothing? First look for clothing that is Fair Trade, this is a reliable certification that means the item was made under fair conditions. You can also look for brands like American Apparel that insure their clothing is sweatshop free.
You can also buy used to keep new items from being made. An even cheaper idea is to buy less clothing. Check out this project asking people to try wearing six items of clothing for a month. If that seems to hard you can try just a week or two.
So does knowing brands like Old Navy, Gap, Nike, A&E, and more use sweatshops make you think twice about buying their products?
This month the Green Mom’s Carnival is talking about clothing, this is my post. Go over to the Big Green Purse on Monday to see the other posts.
It’s Tough Being an Activist
| September 24, 2010 | Posted by Lisa Sharp under Uncategorized |
Being an activist is not always a happy job, seems someone is always mad at you. I know for me it’s meant I have lost friends and even had family members treat me differently and had some name calling. However sometimes it can get downright ugly and mean.
By now you may have see all of the buzz about a blog Cate Nelson from Eco Child’s Play. She calls for a boycott of Old Navy because of this onesie.
It seems most people covering this are trying to get a rise out of people. The comments on these articles are mean and nasty.
I have read several of the articles and most seem to be trying to start a fight between breast feeding activist and formula feeders. They all leave out a valuable piece of information from Nelson’s blog.
“I am a former formula-feeder, as some of you might know. As a single mama to my older child, working full-time, I couldn’t always pump enough to satiate him. So I supplemented with organic formula, as well as breastfed until he was 10 months old.”
She is not out to say formula feeding is always wrong and bad. She is not targeting formula feeding moms but the formula companies that are pushing their products and often making women feel like they have no choice.
Why on earth would we want to promote this industry while they are having a huge recall due to beetles in their products? When many violate WHO rules on adverting in third world countries?
This isn’t a formula feeding mom vs. breast feeding mom issue. It’s a mom’s vs. big companies issue, mom’s fighting to support breast feeding moms while ads try and tell moms they should just buy formula.
*Feel free to disagree with me or Cate Nelson but be nice. Personal attacks will be deleted. *
International Day of Peace
| September 23, 2010 | Posted by Lisa Sharp under Uncategorized |
The International Day of Peace was yesterday and I meant to write this then so let’s pretend I did, ok?
The American author Robert Fulghum said “Peace is not something you wish for; It’s something you make, Something you do, Something you are, And something you give away.”
So are you someone that is just wishes for peace or do you make peace happen? I have to be honest and say in my life I don’t always do the best I could to bring peace. I get wrapped up in my own life and forget what’s important. I’m making sure to work harder and get out of my own head.
I think we would all be happier if we thought more about others and less about ourselves. So I challenge you the rest of this week to do things for others just because. Bake for someone, let someone go ahead of you, leave a bigger than normal tip, etc… Come back and tell me what you did.
OKC Zoo Alligator Killed By Litter
| September 21, 2010 | Posted by Lisa Sharp under Uncategorized |
I wrote about the OKC Zoo alligator that was killed last month by litter on the website Got2BeGreen. It’s such a sad reminder of what litter really can do.
It’s not just ugly and bad for the environment, it’s killing our wildlife. While ideally we are reducing our amounts of trash, we at least need to make sure it’s properly disposed of. Here is part of my article.
“An alligator died at the Oklahoma City zoo last month. What they found as the cause of death is disturbing, litter. There were seven plastic bottles blocking his stomach. The alligator was unable to digest his food and ended up with an infection.
After the alligator’s death they checked the other alligator’s stomachs found more plastic bottles, a plastic alligator toy, bottle caps, coins and even a shoe!”- read more
Remember this sad story next time you see litter, think about littering, or see someone litter. Litter truly does kill.
Line Drying Challenge
| September 21, 2010 | Posted by Lisa Sharp under Uncategorized |
Deanna over at Crunchy Chicken is doing a line drying challenge next month. The challenge-
“The Hang ‘em Dry Challenge is a challenge to get you to line dry all of your laundry for the month of October. Preferably, you’ll air dry all of your laundry and not use your dryer at all, but, since it’s October (and might be moist in your area), if you need to finish off drying a load, that is allowed as long as it doesn’t take more than 15 minutes to finish drying it.”
She is also giving away an indoor drying rack right now so hurry up and go over there and join the challenge and enter her giveaway.
Petition To Remove Chemical Oil Dispersants from Oil Spill Contingency Plan
| September 20, 2010 | Posted by Lisa Sharp under Uncategorized |
After the Gulf oil spill there are questions being raised about the chemical oil dispersants that are part of the EPA oil spill contingency plan. Grist talks about the toxicity of the chemicals that were used.
“We finally know the main two dispersants that BP and the U.S. government are using to treat the ongoing Gulf spill. Both, by their maker’s own admission, have the “potential to bioconcentrate,” and both have “moderate toxicity to early life stages of fish, crustaceans, and mollusks,” according to a study by Exxon, the company that originally developed them.”- read more
We need to work now to find a safer way to clean up oil spills and we need to tell the EPA we don’t want more chemicals sprayed on top of oil. To help remove these chemicals from the oil spill contingency plan sign this petition.
