Sustain your lifestyle with Sustain Stores

I live in the desert and am pretty far away from a lot of the conveniences I was used to in the Midwest. Since moving to Arizona, I've come to rely on a lot of Internet shopping to save on gas and time wasted driving. One of my newest and most favorite places to shop online is the super green and well-priced Sustain Stores site. Sustain is 100% committed to providing customers with well-priced, Eco-friendly options in order to live a--you guessed it!--more sustainable life.

The best part? Sustain co-creators and brothers Tim and Mark Appleberry independently verify all Eco-friendly claims for all products they sell on their site. That's commitment!

I had the opportunity to try the Evolve Roadrunner Optimized Shower Head, priced at $39.95. With four adults in my household, it's become increasingly important to me to conserve water for both environmental and budgeting reasons. This shower head is perfect for that. Not only does the Roadrunner save nearly eight gallons of water for every five minutes in the shower, estimated yearly savings top $200 on the water bill!

We've been using ours for a few months now and couldn't be happier.

Be sure to check out the Sustain Stores site for their Top Five under $25 section for wonderful ideas for you, your home, and those you love.

Post-it Products go eco-friendly!

Earth Day has come and gone, but the Post-it product company has now made it easier to stay organized with style and sustainability on an everyday basis.

I recently received a (very colorful!)variety of samples from the Post-It Recycled Collection, and I'm loving the fact that I'm now recycling used post-its that are made with a minimum of 30 percent post-consumer content.

I mean, really, how long does a Post-it note stay up where you stuck it? For me, it used to just get tossed in the trash as soon as whatever I was reminding myself to do had been accomplished. But even when I decided to join the environmentally-concsious, I was still recycling a product that wasn't exactly contributing its share to doing some good for the planet.

With that said, it's great to see that Post-its made with recycled paper are now being offered. My thanks go to the Post-it Brand for taking such a major step in truly making every day Earth Day! With SFI (Sustainable Forest Initiative) Chain-of-Custody certification, it's nice to know that the Post-it Brand is now making their products from paper sourced from well-managed forests where trees are replanted, which contributes to the protection of wild habitats and many other initiatives.


Oh, and major berrie sweet bonus points for the vibrant color choices! (Just remember to do your part and continue to recycle your Post-its!)

Want to try them out for yourself? Post-it is offering three lucky Berrie Sweet Picks readers the chance to win one set each containing Post-it Recycled Notes and Post-it Super Sticky Recycled Notes. To enter, leave me a comment telling me your favorite place to stick your Post-its. Is it on your computer screen? Your bathroom mirror? Make sure to include your email so I can contact you if you are selected as winner. Entries will be accepted until midnight, EST, on May 25, 2009 and winners have four days to respond or an alternate will be selected. Please note that the contest is limited to the United States and Canada, only.

Additional extra entries are also available if you:
* Become a fan of Berrie Sweet Picks on Facebook
* subscribe to my RSS feed and comment letting me know you did so.
* Blog about contest and link to this post.
* Non-bloggers can email three of their friends about the contest at berriesweet.info (at) gmail (dot) com and CC me on the email. Girl Scout's honor that I will never bother these sweet people. I promise!
* Grab my Berrie Sweet Picks button and place it on your blog page. I'll check!
* Follow me on Twitter! (nickname: berriesweetest)
* Tweet the contest by saying "Post-it Notes Recycled Products giveaway at Berrie Sweet Picks!
* Vlog about the contest and post at www.newbaby.com!

Please note all entries MUST include a valid email address to be considered for the drawing! That means that well, all entries must include an email address to be considered valid. Simple enough, right? ;)

Sustain stores makes buying green easier

I'm not exactly a true shade of green, but my eforts to lessen my carbon footprint and be as eco-mindful as possible do make me feel pretty good.

A new site, Sustain Stores, is just one resourse eco-mommas like me can rely on to make it just that much easier. No more nasty surprises that can come with learning a "supposedly" sustainable product was nothing more than just sneaky marketing. Instead, the Sustain Stores staff has done the work for all of us by independently verifying each and every item in their inventory.

Buy green for your home, your baby, and yourself with Sustain Stores with the help of a sweet little 20% percent off coupon code off your TOTAL order! Use code "sustain" during checkout and then wait for your email confirmation after order processing for a great bargain on buying green. The discount code expires May 15.

I Dream about buying green

If I could afford it, every item I ate would be organic. Every fruit, vegetable, meat source, and snack consumed by my family would be free of toxins and pesticides.

But guess what? If I stopped there, I'd still be missing the mark when it comes to personal care items. Not for Buttercup, of course. But for me.

I recently got to try the lovely (and handmade) I Dream Intensity Body Wash from BuyGreen.com and realized what I've been missing. And this stuff is truly a crunchy mama's dream come true: it's completely biodegradable, contains no harsh chemicals, no synthetics, and is made from hgh quality organic, wild, or sustainably grown ingredients.

The difference between I Dream's body wash ($20 for 10 oz.) and most traditional skin care options is that "100 % natural" doesn't include any of the bad stuff like sulfates, parabens, or pesticide/herbicide residue that can be associated with other "plant-based" options.

Buygreen.com describes the scent as "warm" and "spicy." I prefer to think of it as "green" and "sassy" and a perfectly sensible indulgence to start hinting for as a mother's day present.

;)

Rejuvenate with ReJavanate!

Reusable shopping bags have passed the "in" thing to do and, in my opinion, have simply become a "must-do."

I've had the chance to try a few different options on the market, and recently found my favorite. The ReJAVAnate bag is just cool-for a variety of reasons.

ReJAVAnate bags are made from burlap from coffee roasters that would have otherwise went straight to a landfill. That's just a smart way to recycle and eliminate a large source of waste.

(Did you know that coffee is the second largest commodity in the world and a resulting 800,000 tons of burlap are out into landfills every year? I was surprised to find that out, too!)

The company works with individuals with bags developmentally disabled individuals through The Arc to hand make the ReJAVAnate bags, providing the rest of us with a sustainable way to reduce paper and plastic bag consumption.

I took the ReJavanate to the grocery store with the me to grab some stuff, and was impressed with the roominess. I managed to fit 2 boxes of cereal, a bag of baby carrots, a head of romaine lettuce, and a bottle of juice. There was even room for a handful of boxes of Jello!

And as Rachel from Honeychunks pointed out to me, I even get a five cent bag credit for every reusable bag I bring in. Sweet!

I'm really loving this and think you will, too. It would definitely be a great way to bring in the New Year, wouldn't it?

ReJavanate is offering two of my winners the chance to win one Grower Logo bag (like mine!) each! To enter, visit the ReJAVAnate sister site at Buy Green and leave a comment telling me which item you are most interested in seeing reviewed next.

Entries will be accepted until midnight, EST, Jan. 7, 2009 and the winner will have four business days from the announcement date to contact me with their information or an alternate will be selected.

Additional extra entries are also available if you:
*subscribe to my RSS feed and comment letting me know you did so.
* Blog about contest and link to this post.
* Non-bloggers can email three of their friends about the contest at berriesweet.info (at) gmail (dot) com and CC me on the email. Girl Scout's honor that I will never bother these sweet people. I promise!
* Grab my Berrie Sweet Picks button and place it on your blog page. I'll check!
* Follow me on Twitter! (nickname: berriesweetest)
* Tweet the contest leave a comment with your username telling me what you said to your "tweeple"!Please note all entries MUST include a valid email address to be considered for the drawing! That means that well, all entries must include an email address to be considered valid. Simple enough, right? ;)