Monthly Archives: October 2011
Product Review + Giveaway: Itti Bitti Cloth Diaper
| October 12, 2011 | Posted by Lisa Sharp under Green Parenting |
Cloth diapering is something that can bring fear to many parents but fear not. Cloth diapering today is not the same as cloth diapering of our parents and grandparents days, gone are the plastic pants and pins. Cloth diapers are now easy to use and super cute.
There are so many options when it comes to cloth diapering and one new diaper brand to hit the US market is Itti Bitti. Itti Bitti is an Australian company that started in 2005. They have had a lot of popularity in Australia and now Americans have the chance to try out their great diapers.
My bear modeling the Bitti Tutto diaper.
Itti Bitti diapers are ultra trim without sacrificing absorbency. The diaper I was able to review is the Bitti Tutto. The Bitti Tutto is a one size diaper meaning it grows with your child. It fits from newborn to potty trained. One size diapers are great because you only have to buy diapers once for your child. You size the diaper using snaps on the front of the diaper, they are very easy to size and they even have hip snaps that prevent wing droop. If you don’t need the wing snaps they are easily hidden in a soft pouch so the snaps won’t hurt your baby. The video below shows how to size the diaper, it’s super simple.
It did take me a bit to figure out the three soaker pads but Calley at The Eco Chic shared with me that there are how-to videos for the Bitti Tutto and after watching the quick video below I became a soaker pad expert haha.
Another feature of the Bitti Tutto that parents will love is the “poo fence” which helps prevent blowouts. That alone maybe enough to get some parents to try the Bitti Tutto! The Bitti Tutto comes in 18 beautiful colors and seasonal prints. The outside of the diaper is a very soft minkee fabric that you will love, the inside is very soft as well and is sure to be more comfortable for your baby than a disposable diaper. Of all the cloth diapers I have had the chance to play with in person the Bitti Tutto has to be a favorite. It’s easy to use, very customizable and so cute.
If this diaper seems like a good fit for your child, this is your lucky day, Itti Bitti has been kind enough to offer one free diaper for one lucky reader! So read the rules and enter to win.
And now for the rules-
1. Post your e-mail!!!!! Every time people forget, you can’t win if you don’t leave an e-mail address. (If it’s on your profile that counts, just make sure I can find it)
2. Go to Itti Bitti and have a look around at the Bitti Tutto and their other diaper, come back and tell me something new you learned about cloth diapers or something you really like about the Bitti Tutto.
3. Enter by October 20th at 11:59 p.m.
Extra Entries (post separate comment for each):
1. Blog about the giveaway, post link.
2. Post on Twitter, post link.
3. Add me on Twitter @retrohousewife5, leave username in comment.
4. Follow me, let me know which way you are following. (Google, NetworkedBlog, E-mail, other)
5. Add my button to your site. (the button and code are on the right side of the page) Be sure to leave a link for where you put the button.
6. Subscribe to the Retro Housewife Goes Green newsletter.
7. Like Retro Housewife Goes Green on Facebook.
8. Like Itti Bitti on Facebook.
9. Follow @ittibittius on Twitter.
Remember post a separate comment for each of the above ways to enter! They will only count if they are separate.
This giveaway is open to U.S. residents, 18+ only. No purchase necessary. Void where prohibited. The number of eligible entries received determines the odds of winning. Winner will be selected October 21st and will have 7 days to respond or a new winner will be picked.
*This giveaway is sponsored by Itti Bitti. The prizes comes from them. I was not paid for this post but I did receive a diaper to review. This does not effect my review, these are my honest opinions.
Greener Dog Toys
| October 11, 2011 | Posted by Lisa Sharp under Green Living |
My dog Patience, as seen below, is a green dog, she eats organic food and plays with organic and eco-friendly toys, and why wouldn’t she since she is part of an eco-friendly family. Since this month’s Green Mom’s Carnival, hosted by Condo Blues, is about Green Pets, I thought I would share with you some great eco-friendly toys your pets will love.
Patience with her Purrfect Play organic rope.
These bones are from Purrfectplay and are made in the USA with organic cotton. They are durable and a fun toy for all dogs.
These ropes also come from Purrfectplay and are made from organic cotton as well. You can see how much my dog loves her Purrfectplay rope in the picture above.
This cute little mouse is from Purrfectplay and is made from organic cotton and filled with organic catnip.
Here is another neat organic catnip toy. This one is from Only Natural Pet Store. It’s made from hemp and is filled with organic catnip.
If your dog is a heavy chewer these hemp ropes are great! They are made from 100% hemp and are made in the USA. You can get them from Only Natural Pet Store.
Check out Purrfectplay and Only Natural Pet Store to find even more great eco-friendly pet toys. And also please share your pet’s favorites in the comments below.
Disclaimer: I was giving these items to review by Purrfect Play. However, I was not paid by for the review. I am an affiliate for Only Natural Pet Store and earn a small percent if you order from the links in this post. These are my honest views. For more info please read my full disclaimer.
Happy Indigenous People’s Day
| October 10, 2011 | Posted by Lisa Sharp under Uncategorized |
I encourage everyone to learn the truth about Columbus today.
Product Review: Applegate Farms
| October 10, 2011 | Posted by Lisa Sharp under Review |
As I have talked about before, Applegate Farms is one of the few non-local meats I will buy. Normally you have no idea where the meat came from if you buy from a big name brand. However, Applegate Farms is different you can even track your products by using the code on the back and entering it in to the site. Their meat is also either natural or organic and is raised humanely. Here is what they say is they promise their customers-
- Our animals are never given antibiotics. Healthy animals don’t need medicine. Instead, we give them space, fresh air, and a healthy diet, which we’re certain beats the alternative.
- Our livestock eat a completely vegetarian diet with no animal by-products. Cattle in our organic program are grass-fed. Hogs and poultry in our organic program are fed a grain diet that includes corn, soy, barley, and flax that are free from GMOs.
- Our animals are never given hormones or artificial growth promotants. They grow at their natural rate.
- All of our products are made with natural and organic ingredients. If you aren’t familiar with a particular ingredient, email us and we’ll tell you what it is.
- Our products are all minimally processed, allowing for a wholesome texture and taste.
- Our products never contain artificial nitrates or nitrites. Instead, we use celery juice and sea salt to preserve our products the natural and old fashioned way.
- Our deli meat, hot dogs, burgers, and bacon are gluten and casein free.
- Our products are made from natural and organic whole muscle meat. Yes, even our hot dogs! No mystery here.
I got the chance to try some of their new products, here is what I thought.
Organic Uncured Thick Cut Bacon is one of the products I tried out. I have gotten their Uncured Sunday Bacon a number of times and my husband and I have always enjoyed it but it’s natural not organic and I prefer organic when possible. I was so happy to see they now sell organic bacon. It is just as good or better than the Sunday Bacon.
The other product I tried was the Organic Uncured Turkey Bologna. Bologna was always a guilty pleasure but it can have some pretty questionable ingredients so I haven’t had any in years. This bologna is much higher quality than what I remembered and it was a great treat.
My overall view on these new Applegate Farms products is that they live up to the same great taste and quality I have come to expect from Applegate Farms. You can find there products at Whole Foods and other natural food stores. If you are looking for natural/organic and humanely raised meat be sure to check out Applegate Farms.
Disclaimer: I was giving these items to review by Applegate Farms. However, I was not paid for the review and these are my honest views. For more info please read my full disclaimer.
October Green Living Twitter Party
| October 9, 2011 | Posted by Lisa Sharp under Twitter Party |
When: Sunday, October 16th at 8:00 p.m. eastern time
Where: On Twitter, we recommend you use TweetGrid to keep up with the party.
To learn about using TweetGrid for Twitter parties watch the video at the end of this post.
Hashtag: #glparty
What is a Hashtag?
How to Join:
RSVP in the comments with your Twitter name. (You don’t have to RSVP to join in the fun but you can only win a prize if you RSVP)
Follow @Retrohousewife5 and our sponsors @GlassDharma and @TerraCollection
Use the #glparty Hashtag in your tweets.
Be on Twitter at on October 16th at 8 p.m. eastern time!
Sponsors:
Prizes:
Set of four straws with a brush
Terra Tee Project shirt of your choice
How to Use Tweetgrid for a Twitter Party
Disclaimer: The prizes come from the sponsors and not from me. I was paid to host this party but all views stated by me (@retrohousewife5) are my honest views. The sponsors and Lisa Sharp are not responsible for the content at the Twitter party.
A Greener Halloween
| October 8, 2011 | Posted by Lisa Sharp under Green Holidays |
It’s almost Halloween time, 2nd most commercially successful holiday. It can be a very wasteful time of the year but there are ways to reduce the impact and have a greener Halloween.
Candy
Halloween candy sales average about 2 billion dollars annually in the United States. That’s a lot of candy and most of it is full of un-natural ingredients that can be harmful. The Natural Candy Store has some great options so be sure to check them out.
Your kids are also going to need bags to hold all of their candy. Here are some great reusable bag options from Reuseit.com.
What about the candy your kids get while trick-or-treating? You can trade your kids there choice of natural candy, homemade goodies, or non-food items. Some dentists will also let kids trade candy for money. Another great option is reverse trick-or-treating. Visit Global Exchange for more info and to order a kit.
Costumes
You can find a lot of great costume ideas on Green Halloween’s blog. Another idea is to swap costumes with friends and family, or even set up a swap event in your town.
Decorations
Etsy.com is one of my favorite places to get decorations. You can find a lot of great eco-friendly options and you are supporting the artists.
You can also check out my guest post on My Plastic-Free Life, Plastic-Free Fall Decorating Ideas.
Be sure to also share your ideas for a greener Halloween in the comments below.
Disclaimer: I am an affliate for Natural Candy Store and ReuseIt. If you order from the links in this post I earn a small percent. However, I was not paid for this post and all of the opinions in the post are my own. For more info please read my full disclaimer.
Review + Giveaway: Patagonia and OnlineShoes *Closed*
| October 7, 2011 | Posted by Lisa Sharp under Giveaway, Review |
Patagonia is one of my favorite green brands. They make eco-friendly clothing and shoes and they also are a truly green company. They will take back their products for recycling and recently opened a Ebay store and are encouraging people to buy their products used before they buy new. How many companies do that?!
I recently heard about a store called OnlineShoes that sells Patagonia products and a few other great eco-friendly brands. I love that they have free shipping and free returns. When you buy shoes online it can be a bit iffy that they will fit right if you haven’t worn that brand or style before, so free returns are very important.
My husband wears Patagonia shoes to work almost everyday. He loves Patagonia shoes so much he has different several pairs. He says they are the most conformable dress shoes he has owned, this is important since he is a teacher and on his feet a lot. I love that they are high quality so even though he wears them a lot, they are holding up great.
My favorite pair of Patagonia shoes are the Fiona Quilted Mid boots in black. I have wanted some new black boots for a long time but almost all boots are leather or vinyl. I avoid leather and I don’t use vinyl because it often has lead and other toxins. So needless to say when I found these boots from Patagonia that are made from recycled materials like EVA, polyester and nylon I was in love. Now if the weather will just cool off enough that I can wear them! They are going to look great with a nice pair of jeans and they are so comfortable. The inside of the shoe is so soft you almost want to go without socks.
Now is a great time to buy Patagonia shoes because OnlineShoes has a wonderful promotion right now, for every pair of Patagonia shoes sold between now and October 17th, 2011 they will donate $10 to Healthy Child, Healthy World. Healthy Child, Healthy World is a great organization that is working to make the world a better and safer place for our children. So you get a new pair of eco-friendly shoes and know that you are helping a great environmental organization!
OnlineShoes has also been kind enough to offer one lucky reader their choice of a pair of Patagonia shoes and a copy of the book Healthy Child, Healthy World.
And now for the rules-
1. Post your e-mail!!!!! Every time people forget, you can’t win if you don’t leave an e-mail address. (If it’s on your profile that counts, just make sure I can find it)
2. Go to OnlineShoes.com and have a look around at the Patagonia shoes, come back and tell me which shoes you would pick if you won. This is the mandatory entry.
3. Enter by October 15th at 11:59 p.m.
Extra Entries (post separate comment for each):
1. Blog about the giveaway, post link.
2. Post on Twitter, post link.
3. Add me on Twitter @retrohousewife5, leave username in comment.
4. Follow me, let me know which way you are following. (Google, NetworkedBlog, E-mail, other)
5. Add my button to your site. (the button and code are on the right side of the page) Be sure to leave a link for where you put the button.
6. Subscribe to the Retro Housewife Goes Green newsletter.
7. Like Retro Housewife Goes Green on Facebook.
8. Like OnlineShoes.com on Facebook.
9. Follow @OnlineShoes_com on Twitter.
Remember post a separate comment for each of the above ways to enter! They will only count if they are separate.
*This giveaway is sponsored by OnlineShoes.com. The prizes comes from them. I was not paid for this post but I did receive a pair of shoes, a copy of the Healthy Child, Healthy World book, and a Healthy Home Party Kit. This does not effect my review, these are my honest opinions.
Another Attack on Clean Air
| October 6, 2011 | Posted by Lisa Sharp under Pollution |
As if the TRAIN Act wasn’t enough the Cement Sector Regulatory Relief Act of 2011 (H.R. 2681) just passed the House. As someone that lives just 2.5 miles from a cement plant that is a violator of the Clean Air Act, I’m furious over the passing of this bill. I happen to be struggling with an asthma attack as I write this, which makes it even more painful to hear this news.
Tears streamed down my face as I wrote an email to Rep. John Sullivan (an Oklahoma US Rep and the sponsor of H.R. 2681 and the TRAIN Act) telling him my story and how pollution from a cement plant has effected my life. I also invited him to come down to my town and meet the people that this bill will effect.
The timing of these bills is interesting, I’m currently waiting to find out if one of my close friends has cancer and last month was the anniversary of a family friend’s death as a result of cancer. And as I said before I’m dealing with an asthma attack. This is interesting since my town has a high cancer rates and I can’t find the numbers but when talking to people we seem to have a higher than average asthma rate as well.
You can read more about this bill and the upcoming H.R. 2250 on Green Oklahoma. I urge everyone to take action and contact your senator today and ask them to vote no on these bills.
Breast Cancer Awareness or Pinkwashing
| October 3, 2011 | Posted by Lisa Sharp under Natural Health, Toxins |
It’s that time of year again, the time when everything seems to be pink, even football. This is said to bring awareness but it often is hiding a dark secret, and that secret is that the product displaying the pink ribbon may cause the very illness those ribbons are fighting.
Sadly this year Susan G. Komen for the Cure has reached a new low when it comes to pinkwashing. They commissioned a perfume called “Promise Me.” This perfume contains at least three cancer causing ingredients! Watch this video to learn more.
Breast cancer awareness is great but it isn’t worth causing more cancer. Of course one thing to think about is the fact that Susan G. Komen is supported by some companies working on cancer drugs and those drug companies have reasons to want to cure cancer and not prevent it. If we prevent cancer who will buy their drugs?
Having watched someone close to me die of breast cancer and currently waiting to find out if a close friend has it, I don’t think a cure is enough.We need to prevent it in the first place. The Breast Cancer Fund shares that belief and is fighting to prevent cancer in the first place. They only put their label on products that aren’t known to cause cancer and only take money from companies that don’t sell toxic products.
So this year before you go pink, check out Think Before You Pink and think prevention. Together we can help bring down cancer rates and prevent families from having to go through the pain that comes from a cancer diagnosis. Be sure to also tell Susan G. Komen that they need to stop putting their label on toxic products and to recall “Promise Me” perfume.
