Friday Favorite & a Celebration!

First Friday Favorites post in quite awhile! I have to share a product that I absolutely LOVE with you today but first I want to share my excitement over a recent milestone:

The Good Life facebook page has reached and surpassed 100 likes! I know that this may seem like small potatoes to some bloggers, but for me it was really exciting. I feel like I don't even know 100 people in real life so to have SO many fans like and follow the page truly means a lot. Thank you all for sharing with your friends and for passing the word along! I will do my very best to keep bringing you tips and tricks for living a greener, better, simpler life!

One more thing before we move on to my Friday Favorite. It has been brought to my attention by my friend Kelly, a fellow blogger over at Healthy Revenge, that sometimes facebook makes it hard for people to see all of my posts on The Good Life page, including blog updates. So if you would, please head on over to The Good Life's facebook page and make sure your screen looks like this:

"Following" should have a check next to it. Also, if you click on the "liked" box it will also give you the option to "get notifications" which you can click if you feel like being notified every time I post in your notifications. Thank you! Keep sharing and engaging in The Good Life here on the blog and on facebook!

Now for my current Friday Favorite!

This one is especially for all the mamas out there, but all women (and maybe some men too...with long hair?) can definitely benefit from this one!

As a busy mom there are always days when Little Miss wakes up before I am ready and I am cursing the fact that I can't just leave the house with my hair wet and not done...I might scare the children in my class. And my mother, who has a peeve about wet hair would kill me. (I know she would probably never know but I would have lingering guilt that she'd find me out!)

Showering, makeup, dressing, and coffee can all be taken care of in a reasonable amount of time, but factor in drying and straightening my longish hair and it adds about 20 minutes. That is a great deal of precious time when you have to get a toddler out the door and want to actually spend a few minutes of quality time with her before you leave. I have to be to work at 7:25. I work 5 minutes from home....thank God. Otherwise I would never make it. And usually am walking in right on time!

I am a big fan of the IDEA of dry shampoo. A product that will help a busy mama on the go get ready and not have greasy looking hair? I'm sold. But I tried tons of other ones that just didn't work. They made my hair heavy, thick, gray looking, and some even more greasy. Not to mention the chemicals! Before I was pregnant with Little Miss I tried the Tresemme dry shampoo. It smelled atrocious. I actually would hold my breath when I used it! Just look at the EWG ratings!

Ingredient Concerns

Ingredient	Concerns	Score
FRAGRANCE	Ecotoxicology, Allergies/immunotoxicity, Irritation (skin, eyes, or lungs), Miscellaneous, Organ system toxicity (non-reproductive)	Data: Fair
OCTINOXATE METHOXYCINNAMATE	Enhanced skin absorption, Biochemical or cellular level changes, Developmental/reproductive toxicity, Endocrine disruption, Allergies/immunotoxicity, Organ system toxicity (non-reproductive), Persistence and bioaccumulation	Data: Limited
ISOBUTANE	Multiple, additive exposure sources, Allergies/immunotoxicity, Contamination concerns (BUTADIENE), Irritation (skin, eyes, or lungs), Organ system toxicity (non-reproductive)	Data: Limited
BUTANE	Multiple, additive exposure sources, Allergies/immunotoxicity, Contamination concerns (BUTADIENE), Irritation (skin, eyes, or lungs), Organ system toxicity (non-reproductive)	Data: Fair
PROPANE	Multiple, additive exposure sources, Allergies/immunotoxicity, Irritation (skin, eyes, or lungs), Organ system toxicity (non-reproductive)	Data: Fair
SD ALCOHOL 40B	Enhanced skin absorption, Cancer, Developmental/reproductive toxicity, Multiple, additive exposure sources, Organ system toxicity (non-reproductive)	Data: None
SULISOBENZONE BENZOPHENONE 4	Enhanced skin absorption, Endocrine disruption, Allergies/immunotoxicity, Irritation (skin, eyes, or lungs), Organ system toxicity (non-reproductive)	Data: Fair
SILICA, AMORPHOUS	Organ system toxicity (non-reproductive), Persistence and bioaccumulation	Data: Fair
ALUMINUM STARCH OCTENYLSUCCINATE	Contamination concerns (ALUMINUM POWDER), Organ system toxicity (non-reproductive), Use restrictions	Data: None
ISOPROPYL MYRISTATE	Irritation (skin, eyes, or lungs)	Data: Fair

The overall score is an 8 which is considered "High Hazard." No wonder I had to hold my breath!
Not to mention it didn't work! 

I gave up on dry shampoo. Until thankfully due to my short lived Birchbox subscription I discovered this awesome product! It totally comes in handy on days when I just don't have time to wash my hair let alone do all the other primping that comes along with it!

LuLu Organics Hair Powder is seriously a miracle product. It is talc free, organic, and made from completely all natural ingredients. Check it out:

I was not sure this stuff would work. After all the directions say that you only need a dime sized amount. Boy was I mistaken! A little goes a LONG way. And it doesn't leave your hair feeling weighted down or greasy, and doesn't leave a residue or look gray like other dry shampoos. It comes in four scents, the one I received which I LOVE is lavender and clary sage which is a nice fresh smelling scent. It retails for $30 for 4 oz which might seem like a lot but it will last FOREVER. The tiny sample amount that I received lasted me for a long time, and I used it a lot! If you aren't sure you want to commit to the larger size before trying, they have a 1 oz travel size that is only $9.50! I absolutely love this stuff. It's the perfect solution to those "days of unwash" where you still want to look, smell, and feel good! You can purchase it directly from their website or from Amazon as well! The best part about it besides the fact that it WORKS is that it is completely natural. Talc is controversial, being linked to carcinogens, and many powder based cosmetics contain talc. I don't know about you but I would much rather spend a little extra and KNOW I am getting a fabulous all natural product. Especially if I am putting it on my body where all the ingredients will be absorbed!




So if you are looking for a fabulous dry shampoo alternative, then look no further than LuLu Organics!

I thank you all again for reading and following, and hope you will continue to enjoy and share The Good Life!

Love and Laughs,

Danielle

Friday Favorites: Produce Bags

Ok ok I know I already posted a little bit about these here but I am so in love with them that I just HAD to do a Friday Favorites about them!

Produce bags ROCK!!!

Whenever I go shopping I always bring my reusables, but it always bothered me that I had to put my produce in those plastic bags. It seemed counterproductive and so wasteful. Not to mention who knows what kind of chemicals are seeping into my fruits and veggies from the yucky plastic! Even when I went to the farmer's market they would use plastic bags because what else could they use?

Enter the produce bags.

They're made of almost a mesh like material that allows the produce to breathe (makes sense, since the plastic DOESN'T!) and they have a drawstring to close. They are a pretty good size too. As you saw from last week's post, that's a bag of avocados, a bag of cilantro, a bag with a giant yam, and a bag of lemons and limes. I did not buy enough the first time and was very sad that I couldn't put my bananas in one, but I figured they'd be ok on their own. I was kicking myself for only buying four of them!

So then I went back to Target and of course they were gone. If you ever want anything from the $1 section at Target buy it IMMEDIATELY. Because if you change your mind and go back it will almost always be gone forever. Which is very sad. So my trip to Target ended the way every trip to Target ends...I left without the produce bags but with $50 worth of stuff I had no intention of buying. I cannot be the only person that this happens to.


Then today I had to go to the Target on Transit near Maple and lo and behold there they were, like a beacon in the night.

 

A whole stack of them!!! I will have you know I was not at Target to buy these but I ended up with 5 more because you can never have enough of these! Now my lemons and limes can each have their own bag! The yams and regular potatoes don't have to share! Even the bananas can have a bag! No more cold bananas! 

I hope you can find these at Target in the $1 section nearest you. However, if they are gone you can always get them for a very reasonable price on Amazon. It is definitely worth the price. Think about how much waste is created by bags for produce. I really wish that more people would understand how important it is to use reusable bags when they go grocery shopping. And I sometimes forget my bags! I am not a perfect resuable bag user, but I always recycle them after I use them. The important thing is to do your best to remember to bring your reusables and now include your produce bags too! I keep my reusables hanging on the door that we leave from, and keep the extra produce bags inside those bags. That way I always remember to grab them when I head to the market.

I hope you will try to make this small change in your shopping and storing produce routine! 

Oh! I bet you are wondering how they work at keeping my fruits and veggies fresh? Check out my limes and lemons after a week! Still fresh, still firm, and no soft spots! So I give these two thumbs up! I hope you will too!

Do you use resuable produce bags already? What do you think of them? 

Happy Memorial Day to all!

Love and Laughs,

Danielle

Friday Favorites: CJs Butter

So as I was sitting here enjoying my PB Brownie Dough ice cream straight from the carton and watching The Goonies on ABC Family (yes, you read that right) I realized it's Friday!

So I owe my loyal readers a post. I promised, and I am sticking with it!

I decided that I wanted to write about one of my favorite body products today: CJs BUTTer

CJs BUTTer is an amazing, amazing lotion/cream. Although I feel like it's not really a lotion, because it goes on thicker like a salve, but it's not really a salve....I am not explaining it well. Here's a picture of the inside of a tub:

It goes on a little thick but not sticky. A little greasy but when you rub it in your skin is SO soft! It comes in SO many yummy scents and REAL essential oils are used in most of them.

I discovered CJs because I was looking for a cloth diaper safe cream for Little Miss months before she was born. A friend of mine swore by it as her cloth diaper cream, and cream for everything else because her little guy has severe allergies to nuts, dairy, eggs, etc. and she needed something that would be safe to use on his eczema. She let me try some of hers in the Sweet Orange scent and I was hooked!

I immediately hopped on the CJs website to order some and I was overwhelmed with choices of scents. I had no idea what I wanted, especially since I didn't know which ones I would like and lo and behold this must be a common predicament because they have a sampler pack! I ordered a whole bunch I wanted to try and let me tell you that this stuff lasts forever! I ordered the sampler pack last summer and I still have some little pots left! I have since purchased big tubs of it but I stash the little pots everywhere just in case I need some!

In our home we have used CJs for a variety of things such as:

• cloth diaper cream
• eczema
• dry skin
• hangnails
• cracked heels
• baby acne
• scars
• itchy pregnant belly
• dry elbows
• cuticles
• tame frizz
• chapped baby cheeks
• hand cream

When I was pregnant my stomach itched a lot and  my hands and feet were really dry and cracked. I used this stuff every day and not only did it help relieve and heal my ailments, but I never got any stretch marks! That for me was an amazing feat and I definitely attribute it to the CJs.

As you know from this post, when you use cloth diapers you can't use regular creams because they can ruin your diapers and that it not something you want to do! So CJs is a great option because it is multipurpose. You have it in the house and can use it for everything! Can you do that with desitin? I didn't think so! Not to mention that you don't want to use chemicals on your baby's sensitive skin!

CJs is all natural. You know what's in it? According to the website:

"The only ingredients in original BUTTer are shea butter, olive oil, coconut oil, lanolin, beeswax, cocoa butter, Vitamin E (derived from soy), and gluten-free colloidal oatmeal. The CJ's BUTTer® Stick has the same ingredients, except there is no lanolin and the proportions are different. We also have a 'BUTTer PLUS formula', which comes only in unscented and contains no lanolin or oatmeal and includes sesame and neem oils which have skin protection, healing and antifungal properties. Our spritz contains coconut oil, olive oil, castor oil and vitamin E. Again, the spritz PLUS includes sesame and neem oils in addition to the previous ingredients. Our vegan formula contains just shea butter, cocoa butter and sesame oil and can only be scented with essential oils...unscented is always available, too. Fragrance or essential oils are only added if you choose to have it scented (those listed under All Natural scents are essential oils, the others are fragrance oils. We don't have ingredients for fragrances, as that is proprietary information and the manufacturer is not required to disclose them. They are all phlalate free, though.)"

Awesome! Completely natural and free from yucky chemicals. And it's a family owned company which I love supporting! Thankfully I can now get it locally at fresh & fluffy as well, so I don't even have to pay shipping. Plus, Steph always keeps lots of scents in stock! 

We also use the CJs BUTTer stick for daycare and the diaper bag. It's like a glue stick and it is SO easy and convenient. The daycare loves it! And it is so nice to have a stick in my diaper bag so I don't have to dig into a tub of it when on the go. Love the convenience!

Another product we use is the CJs carcass cleaner and we use it as wipes solution for our cloth wipes. We use a squirt or two of carcass cleaner and a squirt of baby oil and some water and just pour it into the wipes warmer. It smells great and I love knowing I am using all natural products on my little one! You can also use the carcass cleaner for body wash! It's not just for babies!

They have all sorts of other products too like lip balm, creamy lotion, cleaners, bug banisher, etc. Check out the website for lots of all natural products for the whole family!

Some scents I especially love are oatmeal, milk, & honey, lullaby baby lotion, blueberry crumble, mango, sugar, & mint, lavender and tea tree, and my pixie pie. But there are tons more! There are even scents especially for men! Definitely a whole line of products to love! And remember the big tubs last a LONG time. To put it in perspective: My daughter was born 9 months ago and I have only gone through one 12 oz. tub, and one 8 oz. pot. We change her diaper several times daily and use it every time we change her. We also use the butter for all the ailments I listed above and it STILL lasts forever! So that shows you how far a tub can go! You only need a little to go a long way!

So check out CJs BUTTer products and let me know what you think! And don't forget to "like" my new facebook page, "The Good Life!" Thanks for reading!

Love and Laughs,

Danielle

Friday Favorites: Wean Green Cubes

I hate packing lunches.

It's literally one of my least favorite household tasks along with putting laundry away and doing dishes.

But I have found some ways to make packing lunches a little more exciting and a lot more green!

Enter the wean green containers! I have no idea where that name came from, but these little babies have changed my life for the better!

Before I tell you about today's Friday Favorite, I will give you a little background as to how I stumbled upon these pretty babies.


I had been been trying to find ways to green our lunches since my whole crusade started last year. I first purchased these Kids Konserve sandwich wrappers through amazon and they are a great way to wrap up a sandwich without using foil or Saran Wrap or a plastic baggie...all three of which creates unnecessary waste after just one use. They work really well for sandwiches, but I wanted something that I could use to put chips or grapes or other snacks in.

So then I found these cool lunchskins snack baggies on ecomom and they work really well for snacky kind of stuff. They wash out really well and are super cute.

I was using these two items but then we were still using plastic glad and ziploc containers for other messier items like cottage cheese or yogurt or soup.

The more research I did the more I realized the dangers of plastic food storage containers and the toxins that leach from the plastic, especially if the plastic is too old or when it is microwaved.  So I kept going in my search to find reusables that were glass. I couldn't find anything that A) I liked, or B) were affordable. So I just was really cognizant about not microwaving in plastic containers as much as I could.


Then around Christmas time this year I discovered ecomom. I LOVE this website. Consequently it's being revamped right now but will be back in a few months. Anyways, I discovered this site and that is where I found the wean green cubes. They are super affordable and are AMAZING! They are made of really heavy duty glass and can be kept cold, frozen, heated up, you name it! The lids are free from any of the dangerous stuff that is in plastic. They seal up really well too and won't leak! They come in tons of shapes and sizes, see?

They are great for lunches, baby food, storing leftovers, you name it!  Look how stinking cute they are!  

  

  I  LOVE the colors!

I think the prices are pretty reasonable, about $12-$18 for two. That may seem like a lot when you are comparing it to gladware, but these will last you a lot longer, and who can argue that it is worth it to pay a little bit more for something that is going to be better for your health? These babies have dropped on my kitchen floor and have not broken. They are made to last! I love these so much that I actually cried when my aussie ate one of my pink lids-little did I know you can order replacement parts!

Wean green cubes are my favorite this week because they are such a better option for packing lunches than using ziploc bags, and they are such a better option for food storage than chemical laden plastic containers. And the bottom line is that they make making lunches much more fun! In order to green my kitchen I have been trading my plastic containers for these, and using the plastic for non-food items or recycling it.

So go ahead and order yourself some wean green cubes. They are available from the wean green website, amazon, ecomom, and tons of other online retailers. Keep an eye out for sales and deals and eventually you can trade all that yucky plastic for safe, eco-friendly,  useful, and adorable glass!

Love and Laughs,

Danielle

Friday Favorites: Wool Dryer Balls

Happy Friday to you!

It's a dreary day here in Western New York, the perfect day for doing laundry! (Exactly what you want to be doing on a Friday night, right?)


Speaking of laundry, how many of you use dryer sheets? Probably a lot. I used to as well. Until I read about the dangers of using them. Here's one study from the University of Washington that tells about the dangers in your dryer sheets. Check that out. Don't worry, I will wait.

Ok, are you back? Here's some of what is lurking in your dryer sheets:

1.  Alpha-Terpineol–This chemical has been linked to disorders of the brain and nervous system, loss of muscle control, depression, and headaches
2.  Benzyl acetate–Benzyl acetate has been linked to cancer of the pancreas
3.  Benzyl alcohol–Linked to headaches, nausea, vomiting, dizziness, depression, as well as disorders of the brain and nervous system
4.  Chloroform–Chloroform is on the Environmental Protection Agency’s Hazardous Waste list because it has been identified as a carcinogen and neurotoxin (toxic to the brain and nervous system)
5.  Ethanol–also on the EPA’s Hazardous Waste list for its ability to cause brain and nervous system disorder
6.  Ethyl Acetate–causes headaches and is on the EPA Hazardous Waste list
7.  Linalool–in studies, this chemical caused loss of muscle coordination, nervous system and brain disorders, and depression
8.  Pentane–causes headaches, nausea, dizziness, fatigue, drowsiness, and depression

Source: http://www.care2.com/greenliving/8-toxins-lurking-in-your-fabric-softener.html#ixzz2Qwv6sNfJ


AWESOME.

Once again, guess what? The EPA does not have to list or tell you about all the dangers of these toxins. Supposedly:

"The standard argument in favor of using fabric softeners is that the amount of the chemicals to which a person is exposed is insufficient to cause harm."

I call BS on that!

According to the link above:

 Studies are showing that even small amounts of these toxins can have serious effects.  So, think twice before you add that dryer sheet or liquid fabric softener to your laundry, particularly for children whose developing brains are more vulnerable to the effects of toxins.

But I want my laundry to smell fresh! I want my laundry to dry faster! I want my clothes to be softer!


So what are we to use?


Enter wool dryer balls!

Source: http://lovelivegrow.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/04/felted-wool-dryer-balls.jpg

These pretty balls rock. They help dry your laundry and fluff it up quickly! And we got rid of the fabric softener because it's toxic but guess what? They help soften your clothes too! According to Jillee here's how they work:

"The balls circulate and separate the clothing and get the warm dry air right down to the core of the laundry load! The more balls you add, the faster the drying time. They also soften your clothes through gentle friction of the felted wool fibers against your clothing fibers. And as if that weren’t enough…..they LAST for YEARS!"

These are one of my favorite things ever because they just make sense. In the past I'd heard you could use tennis balls, but then I imagine your clothes would smell like rubber, and I don't even want to know what bad stuff might be in hot rubber! And tennis balls are loud. Wool dryer balls are really quiet so they won't wake your napping baby!

Wool dryer balls are also super soft and come in so many cute colors and patterns! The ones I have are purple, green, and white. Lame compared to some, but I enjoy them. But you should see all the choices!

Check out these cute ones:

Source: http://img0.etsystatic.com/015/0/7758642/il_340x270.431303036_4utz.jpg

And these:

Source: http://jessiegunderson.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/05/dryer-balls.jpg

And OMG are you kidding I can't take the cuteness!

 Source: http://i1317.photobucket.com/albums/t634/pardoheather/Butternut/a91d0a1c-bddf-43b4-9cc9-dd338f10ff7f_zps1678ca22.jpg

Who are these people that are so creative and talented?! On Etsy there are tons and tons of stores you can buy these from. You can also purchase them from time to time on green baby bargains if you keep an eye out. They are available in abundance on the internet if you do a simple google search. Look at that, I did it for you, you don't even have to type the words now!

I bought mine locally at fresh & fluffy.  I can't stress enough how important it is to shop local and shop at mom and pop stores. But that's another blog post! Stephanie has lot of varieties and sizes in stock.

Or if you are crafty (not I said the fly), you can make your own. Here's a fun and easy tutorial. Easy peasy.

The coolest thing is that they last and last and last I have had mine since last spring and they barely show any signs of wear, minus one loose string where my Aussie got a hold of one of them. But they still work! You literally never have to replace them. At some point I am sure they will loosen and fall apart, but mine are still going strong after over a year!

Did I mention that they are reasonably priced as well? I bought my pair for $12 and I plan to keep them forever. You can find them on Etsy for about $20 for 4 give or take.  And did I mention that they shorten your drying time?! Another bonus for being green AND frugal!

So if you want to avoid chemicals AND have softer, faster drying clothes, pick some wool dryer balls up! You will be so glad you did.

I hope you enjoyed my first Friday Favorite!

Let me know what you think in the comments!

Happy weekend!

Love and Laughs,

 Danielle

Coming soon: Friday Favorites

Welcome back to the good life! Thanks for stopping!

Since a lot of my posts tend to take time, research, and yes, even some experimentation before I can write them, I thought it would be fun to start a quick category for the blog that I could do quickly even if it's not a "long post" week!

Enter, "Friday Favorites."

I will try my best to write a quick post each Friday sharing one of my favorite "green" things. It might be a product, website, tip, etc. We shall see where it goes from here!

My goal is to share information about the great products and places I have come to know and love since becoming what my sister affectionately calls crunchy granola.

So make sure you subscribe to the blog by e-mail  over on the top left side of the page (under my picture!) so you never miss a post and look out for the new column starting on Friday!

I hope that you too will continue to embrace being crunchy granola right along with me!

Crunch crunch!

Love and Laughs,

Danielle