EcoTools "Choose To Live Beautifully" coupons

I got my coupons from the EcoTools "Choose To Live Beautifully" campaign! They arrived less than 2 weeks after I mailed my items in. If you haven't sent products in yet, there's still time! Check out http://choosetolivebeautifully.com for details.

The coupons are worth up to $7.99, which can get you individual brushes, lotions, shower accessories, or a set like their 6 piece eye brush set or 5 piece travel kit!

Greenworks Green It Yourself videos for green tips

Greenworks facebook page has lot of videos offering tips to go greener. There's videos for greener tips for kids rooms, bathroom, kitchen, painting, more.

One of my favorites in the painting tips video here:



There are lots of great tips though. Many of the tips Cart give in the Green It Yourself Videos (GIY) are easy changes and pretty easy to implement.

Another tip I liked that I don't often think about is using metal or ceramic baking dishes and cooking utensils to eliminate BPAs getting you your food.    I had changed some of our waterbottles to the eco-friendly reusable metal or BPA free but never thought about my cooking utensils.  Not sure why.  The video kind of gave me that aha moment if you know what I mean?

So stop on by Greenworks Facebook page and pick up a few tips that interest you. 



***I wrote this post as an entry into the Mom Bloggers Club summer giveaway. ***


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New Recyclebank Learn and Earn opportunity--diapers

A new Learn and Earn opportunity is available from Recyclebank.com. In this learn and earn, learn facts about diapers and the environment. This learn and earn is not up on the site yet, you can be one of the first to earn the points here:

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Free products with EcoTools' Recycling Campaign!

EcoTools is teaming up with RecycleBank for a cosmetics recycling campaign! This one is called Choose to Live Beautifully and like last year's promotion, they will give you coupons for free products in exchange for your old beauty products! All you have to do is mail in your old brushes, body wash, lotions, or other products to the address listed on the website, and you will receive free product coupons (limit 2 per person) in the mail.

I love EcoTools, I use their brushes every day and they're great quality. In addition to brushes, EcoTools also makes lotions, body washes, lip balm and other cosmetics free of parabens and phthalates, as well as cosmetics bags, shower tools and other supplies . I didn't remember to participate in this promotion when they had it last year, so I'm definitely going to do it this time around!

Check out the full details on choosetolivebeautifully.com

Thanks to Sophie's Dish for the heads up!

Pledge to be more eco-friendly and get free stuff from soap.com!

Soap.com is having a cool little promotion for Earth Day. They teamed up with Bolder (actbolder.com) which awards you for making pledges. They have 9 eco-friendly pledges available, with rewards like $10 in free Seventh Generation products, a free 4-pack of Scott Natural paper towels, and $2 off Aveeno Active Naturals products. The full list is here: Bolder - Soap.com Challenges

When you fill out a short (under 140 characters) response, they email you a coupon code that you can use on the site. You can use as many as you want at one time - right now I have a cart full of free stuff! One glitch though - the $10 off Seventh Generation products coupon should be off multiple items, but it only takes $10 off one item. It also doesn't work on their Earth Day special bundle. So you can choose an item at or over $10 (I'm getting the paper towels for free) or lose some value off the coupon. They have 15% off Seventh Generation items, so everything is cheaper than usual!

Soap.com gives you free shipping at $39, and your free items count towards the cart total. You can pay shipping on the free items, or shop for other things while you're at it - there are tons of cheap beauty and household products available, with sales and coupons available. I had no problem getting to $39 with stuff I've been wanting to buy!

They also have a neat referral program - if you've never shopped there before, enter my referral code KN084036 at checkout, and you'll get 20% off your order! If you placed an order before, you won't get the discount, but the code MYSOAP2 will also get you 20% off if it's your second order. I'm not sure if it will work if you've made 2 or more orders in the past.

Free sample of Garnier Pure Clean plus coupon!

Garnier has a new line of eco-friendly hair products called Pure Clean - they contain no dyes, silicones or parabens, and are biodegradable! The bottles are also 100% recyclable and are made of 50% recycled plastic. You can get a free sample of the shampoo and conditioner on their Facebook page, like them and then scroll down to where you see the above image and click "get my free sample".

They also have a printable coupon on their official website if you'd rather just buy the stuff!

Recyclebanks Green Your Home Challenge week 3 is open

Today a new room in the Green Your Home Challenge from Recyclebank is open. Stop by to learn some eco-friendly facts for the bedroom and baby's room. Earn Recyclebank points and entry to win one of over 100 prizes.

If you don't have a recyclebank account, no worries.  You can sign up for free.  It only takes a few seconds.  You can start earning points for your green actions to trade in for rewards.

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New product alert: The Body Shop "earth lovers" shower gels

The Body Shop has released a fantastic new line of shower gels called "earth lovers"! They are 100% biodegradable, free of sulfates, parabens, colorants, and soaps, and contain real plant extracts. Each product has added aloe extract for extra moisture, which is fair trade and grown without pesticides or fertilizers. The plastic bottle is also 100% recyclable!

The shower gels come in 6 delicious-sounding scents and are $12 each. They currently ship free on The Body Shop official webpage.

Can't wait to try them!

20% off plus free shipping at organic Aromafloria

Aromafloria is an excellent eco-friendly company that produces gentle, natural, fair-trade and organic skin care products. They have firm guidelines to make sure everything that goes into their products is good for you and the environment - and no animal-derived ingredients either.

Through Sunday they're having a special 20% off sale with the coupon code GIFTS2010. Shipping is free through December 31st as a special holiday promotion too! They're also including a free travel size of Healing Waters body lotion with all orders - a triple whammy of deals!

If you're looking for natural skin care products - now's your chance to try them at a discounted price. I have one of their body butters and it's my favorite!

Ways to reuse and recycle your unwanted health & beauty products

While trying to clear the clutter from my cosmetics collection, I've been finding more and more products that I want to toss. But to throw everything away just seems so wasteful! So I brainstormed this list of ways to reuse, repurpose, or recycle those products you no longer want, but don't know what to do with.

If it's brand new, unopened and still fresh:

• Donate your toiletries, cosmetics and other health and beauty products to a local shelter or food pantry – both would welcome such items, which are donated less often than food products
• Donate hand soaps, dish soaps, laundry products, and cleaning supplies to animal shelters
• Create care packages for troops overseas – try AnySoldier.com or U.S. Troop Care Package
• Give to friends or relatives
• Create gift baskets of necessities for friends and relatives who are going off to college, just got a new house/apartment, had a new baby, or other milestone events where such products are necessary
  
• Sell on ebay, Amazon, or at the next garage sale you have
  

If it's open but barely used:

• Keep a basket of shampoo, conditioner, body wash, lotions, toothpaste and other necessities stashed away for overnight guests
  
• Offer toiletries, fragrances, lotions, and makeup to less-picky friends
  
• Host a beauty swap where everyone brings some things (that aren't icky for multiple users) to trade
  
• Leave hand soaps, hand creams, fragrances, etc in your office bathroom for everyone to use
  

If it's mostly used or otherwise not in giftable condition:

• Wash your sink, shower, and toilet with shampoo, body wash, hand soap or other cleansers (it works, with less toxic chemicals)
  
• Use conditioner as a shaving cream
  
• Clean your stockings, delicate laundry, makeup brushes, or combs with shampoo or gentle face wash
  
• Use unwanted face lotion as hand or foot cream
• Rub lip balms on your elbows, knees, and other scaly skin
• Use old clear nailpolish (top or base coats) for crafts, sealing cut ribbons so they don't fray, or as sealant for rhinestones and other cheap jewelery
• Give toiletries to your kids (or other kids you know) to make 'potions' in the bathtub

Of course, if it's moldy, smelly, or simply that bad, just dump it down the drain and recycle the packaging! Origins "Return to Origins" recycling program will take clean, empty cosmetics containers to recycle and give you a free sample in return. Many Whole Foods stores collect any packaging with the 5 logo, if your local recycling program doesn't take them.

Have any more recycling or repurposing ideas? Leave a comment!

Share your photos and help save the environment!

GE is hosting a unique charity project called the Ecomagination Photo Project. Share your photos of light, wind, and water and they and their partner charities will donate light, wind, and water to those who need it. Every photo of wind you submit will provide 4.5 kW hours of wind energy, light photos make 175 hours of solar power, and water photos provide 480 gallons of clean drinking water.

All you have to do is browse your photo folder and find something you've taken - or if you're a Flickr member, it can pull right from your photostream. If you use Swagbucks (and click through their link), you'll receive 7 SB for your submission.

Spare a quick moment and do something good for the earth!

Return to Origins Recycling Program

I recently heard of a program Origins started last year to reduce the amount of cosmetics packaging going to waste. Most empty product containers are not of a plastic typically recyclable by community waste disposal programs, and end up in landfills. In an effort to reduce waste and promote recycling, Origins will take clean, empty cosmetic product containers (tubes, bottles, jars, caps - whatever!) from any brand and recycle them. For your effort, they'll reward you with a free sample of one of their products!

So don't toss those empty containers and bring them to your nearest Origins counter instead. Helping the environment and receive freebies in return - could it get any better?

Review: Ecostore.com for eco-friendly living

I've been slowly taking steps to live greener.  After all saving money and living greener seem to overlap. It's a great feeling knowing that I'm helping our environment and making my home safer for my kids.  When Ecostore.com let me review some of their products, I was excited.


I chose to review the Ecostore USA all-purpose cleaner and the Ecostore USA Laundry liquid.

I put the Ecostore USA laundry liquid to work right away.  When I opened the bottle and poured the liquid laundry detergent into the cap I noticed it was clearish yellow color.  The scent reminded me of something.  When I read the description I realized what it was.  The 100% certified organic Eucalyptus that's in the detergent.  After the clothes are washed and dried you don't smell the Eucalyptus.
It's 3X ultra concentrated.  So just the small capful or half a cap if it's a smaller load will do. It worked great.  The bottle suggests washing in warm water is ideal for this product. I'd like to a version that works in cold water for even more eco-friendliness. 


Next was the Ecostore USA All Purpose Cleaner.  I really did use this all over the place. The most frequent use might have been to wipe off the tray of the high chair several times a day.  I also used it to wipe down my counter tops.  The biggest job I used it for?  It was definitely cleaning out my refridgerator.  With the kids putting cups in there, things getting shoved in there, etc.  there was sticky nastiness all over the refridgerator shelves.  This cleaned up up nice.  It had a nice fresh lemony scent. This would be because the Ecostore USA All Purpose Cleaner used zest of citrus peel in the cleaner.  I found it worked better if you sprayed it, allowed it to soak for a minute then wiped.  For really grimy dried stuff it took some hard scrubbing.

You can find many more eco-friendly products at www.ecostoreusa.com.  From baby care, household, pet care, and more. Just an interesting piece of information, the found was a stay at home dad living in an eco-village. 

You can also find Ecostore USA on facebook and twitter. 


On Ecostore USA's facebook page you can also sign up for their newsletter.


Review Summary:  If you're looking for eco-friendly and safer products for your family, this is a great place to start.  While at first glance they seem pricey all their products are super concentrated so a little goes a long way.  Peace of mind having these in my house instead of another harmful product makes it worth it as well. Right now, Ecostore USA is offering free shipping on orders over $25 as well.



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Beauty Bargain: Save 20% off The Body Shop this weekend!

The Body Shop is having a sale until this Sunday, online only! Enter code FF10 at checkout to receive an extra 20% off all regular- and sale-priced items!

They just released a line of eco-friendly hair care products that are free of parabens, sulfates, silicones, and colorants - which are also B1G1 50% off at the moment - so now would be a good time to try them out!

And don't forget to shop through Ebates to get an additional 5% cash back!