EcoTex Bed Pillows

Three eco-cheers for a great night's sleep! The next time your looking to replace your bed pillows, be sure to check out these little sweeties.




Contains fiber made from recycled water bottles. Filled with eco-fill polyester to reduce landfill waste by reusing plastic. Very fluffy!

Biodegradable packaging begins to break down in the landfill in as little as three months. (I went a step farther and reused the bag my pillows came in as a trash bag.)

Features a 200 thread count of the 100% cotton covering. The cotton is bleached with natural hydrogen peroxide which is an effective bleaching agent...quite a bit safer for the environment.

EcoTex produced 2 different sizes: a standard 20" x 26" inch pillow for $5 and a full size body pillow for just under $9. I've seen them at various Phoenix Walmarts...so I'm hoping they're in most stores nation wide. Trust me...they are so comfy to sink into after a long day!

Sappo Hill Vegetable Soaps

So with everyone worrying over the H1N1 Epidemic...aka The Swine Flu, I thought I'd show off an Earth friendly soap.



The round bars of Sappo Hill soaps are vegan; produced without the use of animal products or testing. Packaging is minimal (you can order the soaps wrapped or unwrapped) and as environmentally friendly as possible (which is great in our book!). They offer 10 different scented varieties (like Lavender, Oatmeal, and Lemon Gardener's, and Aloe/Oatmeal pictured below.) as well as 3 unscented/uncolored soaps.



How are they priced? Oh so nice!
A 3.55 oz round soap cake will run $2.20 for the packaged and labeled soaps or $1.65 for the unpackaged soaps - great for refilling empty soap dishes.
They also have a guest-size (.9oz) for $.50 ea and are cello bagged and labeled.
For ordering online, they do have a minimum order of $15.00, but if you'd like to try a new scent out they have a store locator on their web site.

www.sappohillorders.com

Yay! They sell them at a Sprout's in a neighboring town! Think I'll go grab me a couple and share with a "Soap Sensitve" friend of mine to test their mild-ness.

Back Thru The Future CD / DVD Recycling

Did that last burn of data backup or your favorite songs go bad? Fear not...and don't throw it out!



Free CD and DVD Recycling and free hard drive recycling are services to consumers with a desire to improve their environmental footprint. CDs and hard drives are made of high value recyclable material - polycarbonate plastic and aluminum respectively. The recycling of CDs and hard drives saves substantial amounts of energy and prevents significant amounts of both air and water pollution attributed to the manufacturing of these items from virgin material.

Now before you think, "What harm could 1 cd do...consider this:
~ To manufacture a pound of plastic (30 CDs per pound), it requires 300 cubic feet of natural gas, 2 cups of crude oil and 24 gallons of water.

~ It is estimated that AOL alone has distributed more than 2 billion CDs. That is the natural gas equivalent of heating 200,000 homes for 1 year. (Shame on them!)

~ It is estimated that it will take over 1 million years for a CD to completely decompose in a landfill.

~ A cd/dvd is considered a class 7 other recyclable plastic, meaning that many city recycling programs can't accommodate this type of plastic.

Yay! Sign me up right? The best part is that it's a free service! You just have to pay shipping, and they do the rest. Place your CDs and/or DVDs in suitable shipping package. It is important that you do not include any packing materials and that you separate cds or dvds from cases. Large quantities of non-separated materials will be refused.

Ship to: Back Thru The Future, 150 Main Street, Ogdensburg, NJ 07439. Write "FREE CD/DVD RECYCLING " on the outside of your shipping package.

www.cdrecyclingforfree.com

Questions? E-mail questions to RECYCLE@BackThruTheFuture.com

~*~ UPDATE ~*~
10/6/09
Just wanted to say thanks for the returned shout-out!
http://twitter.com/shredharddrives/status/1695918101

EarthShell Plates and Bowls

Feeling lazy? Too lazy to get up to tackle the dishes that are accruing after each meal? Want to have more time to visit with family and friends rather than setting up your dishwasher for a load? Here's a disposible solution perfect for the eco-minded.


EarthShell plates and bowls are completely American made including all of its natural, raw materials, using starch from renewable potatoes and other vegetables, mixed with abundant limestone, water and air. And since they are completely natural, they go a step further by being environmentally responsible compared to traditional paper, plastic and foam disposables that take years longer to biodegrade, or never biodegrade.

Now I know what you're thinking, "That's all nice and dandy-but how do they perform?" Just like the eco-super heroes you'd expect them to be. From my experience, they are stronger than normal foam tableware, and microwave safe! No nasty chems leaching into your food like with plastic or foam, and they hold up amazingly well against knife cuts and are soak-proof. In fact, they worked great at our camping trip last year...with steaks.

Best of all, the price was very comparable to other premium brands, about $2.50 for 25 plates (about the same for Chinet) at my AJ Walmart. Alas, I can't seem to find them in any Walmarts anymore-but there's still hope! They have a store-finder option that I'm going to utilize AND, they have a 'community developer' to contact retailers to get their products in the stores locally. Go drop them a line to tell them, "My store too please!"

www.earthshell.com

Make it a good one!

Grab a Funny Picture from pYzam.com

Huggies Pure & Natural

Phew! It's been a while since I updated-but that doesn't mean there's been a shortage of Earth-friendly products! For example...


Huggies Brand Pure & Natural Disposable Diapers

I know what your thinking...how on Earth is something that's disposable nice to our environment? Well, they are NICER than your average diaper-and that's the point. Making many small changes to add up to big results. For instance...

* Made with organic cotton for a soft outer cover-less pesticides/herbicides!

* Liner includes renewable materials

* Hypoallergenic, Fragrance Free with Added Aloe and Vitamin E for soft rash-free baby-butts

* A lighter design on the diaper, using less inks versus Huggies Natural Fit Diapers

* Packaging utilizes 20% post-consumer recycled materials, primarily sourced from milk jugs and plastic bottles. Less plastic in landfills-but not sure if packaging is recycliable with plastic grocery bags...there wasn't a recycle symbol on the package. (I'll try to contact Kimberly-Clark to find out!)

AND for a limited time...you can request a free sample
(sizes N,1, or 2) at:
http://www.huggiespureandnatural.com/FreeSample.aspx

I found my package at my Walmart (ha-cuz I work there!) for $10.97 for 20 diapers(jumbo/small package)...about a dollar more than the same size of regular Huggies diapers. And they had sizes from Newborn up to 5's. Granted, they are a lot more expensive than the Walmart cheapies I normally buy, but these seem like a whole size bigger, letting my son wear this size longer.

(I'm gonna try to contact Kimberly-Clark to find out if packaging is recycliable and what they mean by renewable materials used in liner...and perhaps to suggest adding chlorine-free to the benefits of these sweeties!)


Hehe...I love the sweet little tree/blue bird desgn on the butt!

Eco-Glue

I'll have to get some of this to have on hand for household repairs!
Presenting...

Amazing EcoGlue®!
-is a water-based adhesive.
-Less than 1% VOCs (volatile organic compounds)
-Virtually no hazardous air pollutants (less than 0.165 by weight)
-No animal derivatives
-Excellent water resistance
-100% recyclable packaging!

Amazing EcoGlue® is for people wanting Earth Friendly products!

Be good to the Earth, yourself and your family.

I found this a my AJ Walmart ($3.97 in the craft section) but if you can't find it in your local Walmart...Their website has a "where to buy" searcher.

http://www.eclecticproducts.com/ecoglue/