Giveaway at the bottom of this post!

I blogged about glass bottles and I blogged about safer, BPA Free Plastic Bottles and I thought those were pretty much going to be our only options. Boy was I wrong. I was amazed to find out while back that there are now silicone bottles. It is pretty nifty! The medical grade silicone that nipples and pacifiers are made of is also extended to the body of the bottle. The advantages of silicone over glass is that it won’t break and the advantage of silicone over hard plastic is that is has no BPA. And I LOVE the squishy feel of these bottles too. They are made by one of my new favorite green baby companies… Prince Lionheart.

Honestly, silicone would be my third choice… first is breast and second is glass bottle but hurray for other BPA free options because this issue is important and parents need an array of choices beyond cheap plastic bottles that leach hormone disrupting chemicals. They are BPA, phthalate, PVC latex and lead free.

Another Prince Lionheart product I recently got to check out is the Ultimate Wipes Warmer. I have never used one but I know some other mom who do. Using a warmer would be easier than running to the bathroom to soak cloth wipes in warm water first… which is what I did during the frigid 10 above weather in Ohio. My last baby was born in January after all.

What makes this warmer unique is that it uses cloth wipes! The Prince Lionheart warmies wipes warmer is specially designed for the warmies reusable clothwipes. The wipes warmer’s enhanced 3-part heating unit keeps wipes moist and fresh. It comes with four warmies made with bamboo fabric and additional packs can be purchased separately. The warmies are great for using as family cloth too and we have some of these in rotation with our cloth wipes that we use in lieu of TP. They are sooooo silky soft! You may want to scoop some of them up even you don’t want or need the warmer… trust me they are delicious.

So while there are certainly other companies that have greener products for the uber conscious moms I love the fact that they take conventional products and make them greener and safer but still recognizable and convenient for moms who are new to eco awareness.

Prince Lionheart sent me these products (above) to test out, but I have no baby and therefore no need for them. So I am passing them on to a lucky reader. You will get the warmer and two bottles. Just comment to win and I will choose a winner using a random number generator on August 10th! Good luck!

If you're new here, you may want to subscribe to my RSS feed. You can subscribe via RSS reader or email (right). Thanks for visiting!

For most green families, plastic is one of those items that is on its way “out”. We are constantly examining how we can choose products that involve bringing less plastic into lives. Why? Because plastic lasts forever! It doesn’t biodegrade so at best we can only hope to recycle it into something else useful but with the staggering amount that makes its way into the modern home, we know much of it ends up in the landfill instead. Much of that plastic is unnecessary too. Do we really need that plastic film to cover magazines that come in the mail? Do we really need plastic drink straws when we could just drink out of the cup? NO.

Of course this week my family has been trying a straw alternative, which has been very nice. We still have some plastic straws that came with various reusable bottles but haven’t bought plastic straws in a store for a very long time and kids loves straws. I find they make drinking green smoothies just a bit more fun when you use a straw… So we gave some glass straws a try. We got these from an awesome company called Strawsome. They have beautiful glass straws that make you feel like you are drinking out of a sculpture rather a straw but a straw they are and the kids really liked them.

We wanted to use glass as opposed to stainless steel because being able to see through the straw and make sure it is clean is VERY important to me. My kids aren’t good at making sure their cups/straws are rinsed out. Oh an please ignore that Ziploc baggie in the pic below, LOL. I still haven’t found a good solution to replace those and I have been freezing local produce quite a bit lately.

We made a green smoothie with 2 big leaves of Swiss Chard, a couple handfuls of frozen strawberries, some frozen peaches, and a frozen banana. I also added some Vita-Mineral Green.

My son made the smoothie for us… something he LOVES to do and it was pretty tasty.

After blending everything together I poured my two boys some smoothie. The youngest was kind of baffled by this straw thingy in his glass. But he caught on fast and the lure of the nifty straw kept him there until it was all gone. Usually he will make his smoothie last for a couple hours while he plays. He liked the decorations on the straw and well, he is three… he just plain likes drinking out of a straw.

My youngest used the regular size straw and it worked very well for his thick smoothie. My oldest used the bigger “smoothie” size straw.

He too was fascinated with the decorations on the straw. The size and the unique decorations will help them to identify their own straws.

I found they were not hard to clean but I cleaned them right away. Strawesome does have special cleaning brushes for the straws though. They also have bent straws that look pretty cool, but IMO maybe slightly harder to clean.

Many of you may wonder about breakage and I can tell you I haven’t been very “careful” with them on purpose. I needed to see of looking at them crossly would result in breakage. Who the heck wants to imagine broken glass in their kids mouth? Not me that’s for sure! I have used the straws myself and crunched down on them with my teeth. I suppose I could break them but it be deliberate pressure, not accidental. If you have a kid who likes to chew on straws then maybe these wouldn’t be for you. But I have a chewer in my oldest and he doesn’t chew on these. Even so I have been watchful. These are for use at the kitchen table in our house… not for use in the bedroom while playing video games. I also store these with all our glass cups and tumblers and no breakage so far. They are pretty sturdy.

As parents we may have been taught that hard sole shoes offer the best support for growing feet but research has actually shown that this may not be true. A child’s foot is soft and pliable and pressure from the wrong shoe may actually impede proper foot development. Many pediatricians, including the renowned Dr. Sears, are now recommending that children under two not wear shoes at all. Going barefoot helps their feet to grow naturally and helps them to gain musculature and strength. Soft sole shoes provide an excellent alternative for those times when going barefoot might not be so practical. They still allow for feet to grow and develop with confinement.

My two youngest wore soft sole shoes often in their younger days but I was often disappointed by the fact that most soft sole shoe company’s did not offer shoes for kids past baby and toddler age. So I was thrilled recently to find Nowali Moccasins!

I love soft sole shoes and I adore moccasins so this is the best of both worlds. Nowali moccasins are a cozy sock-in-a-soft-shoe that stay on kids’ feet.  The one piece design makes them super easy to put on, and the double elastic at the top helps to keep them on.  Because they are soft and have fun designs, kids want to wear them all the time.
 
Nowali moccasins are especially popular with children who are starting to walk and run around the house.  The non-skid soles really help prevent slips and falls on hardwood and tile floors.  As parents know, pediatricians generally recommend footwear with flexible soles to help the foot muscles and arches develop naturally.
 
Winner of The New Parents Guide Seal of Approval, Nowali slipper socks have been keeping little feet happy for over 50 years.  This year, Nowali introduces adult versions of their cozy footwear.

My daughter is wearing pink striped Nowali moccasins in size 6Y. They have some styles that go up to 10Y. I LOVE the fact that I can get them for both my older kids AND my toddler. My daughter also really likes them. She does find them a bit hard to get on but with my help she is good to go. They aren’t too hot either because it has been super hot here and yet she wears them non-stop.

This morning she wore them to Costco and we were stopped by 3 different moms wanting to know where we got those cool shoes. At first I think people assume they are socks and then when they look closer they can see they are actually shoes and they want some. We are very happy with ours and will continue to buy them as the kids grow.

So, do you want some of your own? Sure you do! The people at Nowali gave me a coupon code: HAPPYFEET, which gives you 10% off + free shipping for orders over $40.  This is good thru 12/31.

Everyone loves to support a good cause and I have found a good one that appeals to me. It is the Look Good Feel Better Campaign, a free, non-medical, brand-neutral, national public service program created to help individuals with cancer look good, improve their self-esteem, and manage their treatment and recovery with greater confidence.  And why does it speak to me? Well, I am a cancer survivor too and there is nothing more unglamorous then going through Chemo. I had treatments at a place so posh and upscale it looked like day spa but nope, still no glamour.

I was lucky in that I did not lose my hair but chemo does all sorts of other nasty things to you. Is it any wonder I quit chemo halfway through? I was tired, my skin was ghostly pale, I had skin sores, I glamorously vomited in my purse several times a day in the beginning, and the chemo drugs actually dyed my veins orange so I had bizarre orange streaks all over.

But look at some of the amazing transformations this program provides. They also have a “Women of Hope is Beautiful” Campaign. They are providing some wonderful information and help for women who already feel like they have been kicked in the gut.. they don’t need to feel like an alien when they look in the mirror.

Years ago, in my teen years, I used to use Kiss My Face products. I think it was shampoo and some type of body lotion. But as a I became a mom I lost interest in moisturizing my legs and having flower scented hair. I just didn’t have the time or energy to care. But I have always seen their products at Whole Foods and thought they looked lovely and I picked up a bar of their soap here and there. I am not at all attracted to lotions and potions but a bar of soap… mmmmm. I have a bar soap fetish I think. I guess that sums up my ideals of beauty and personal maintenance… cleanliness and simplicity. A bar of soap is all I need or want usually.

When the folks at Kiss My Face sent me two sets of their Potent & Pure skin care line I was happy for my readers…who will have a chance to get one free but I wasn’t so sure I would even use any of MY set. I thought I might give away both sets. BUT, a box of exfoliating face wash was staring at me before I was about to hit the shower one morning. I grabbed and off I went.

I loved the grapefruity smell but was kinda disappointed it didn’t have those little scrubby beads in it. But I found the next day that the Jojoba & Mint Facial Scrub does. I REALLY liked that one.

Then I tried some of the natural mineral lip colors and lip shines. The were pretty but I am not much into makeup so when my husband came home and saw me with lipstick on, he was really confused. I guess seeing me in makeup is about as common as seeing Halley’s Comet apparently. I have been letting my daughter play with them.

Anyway I felt like a girl at the spa getting to try all these new products. All in all, there are one or two I may pick again if I see them at the store but mostly I realize I am just a bar soap kinda gal. But there are tons of women out there who love to buy these type of products and these are much better than the conventional ones. They use organic ingredients and they have no parabens, phthalates, SLS, artificial colors, artificial fragrances, animal ingredients, and they are not animal tested. All in all a very good pick for women shopping the beauty isle.

Thanks to Kiss My Face I have a nice big package for one lucky winner. The winner will get 5 sheer lip shimmers, 5 sheer lip shines, exfoliating face wash, Creamy Face Cleanser, Jojoba & Mint Facial Scrub, Botanical Acne Gel, Deep Cleansing Mask, a bottle of antioxidant toner, Ester C Serum, Facial Cream & Sunscreen, Intensive Repair Night Creme, Eye Repair Creme, Brightening Day Creme, and Ultra Hydrating Moisturizer. LOTS of good stuff.

CLOSED and a winner chosen at random.