If Valentine's Day is an important day for you or the one you love, try also showing a bit of extra love for the environment by carefully considering what you buy.
Here are some good for the earth Valentine's Day gift ideas!
1. Fair trade chocolate
Who doesn’t love a big heart shaped box full of various chocolates to enjoy? Your sweetheart will enjoy them even better if those chocolates come from fair trade farms. By buying fair trade, you ensure your purchase justly pays the workers involved and that the planting and harvesting of the chocolates are treated with a respectful long-term commitment to preserving the environment.
2. Organic flowers
Roses are the cliche Valentine’s Day gift. This year make them a little more special by choosing ones that were grown organically. Skip the pesticides and fertilizers that get dumped into the ground and choose flowers with a more natural beauty.
3. Jewelry for a good cause
Jewelry doesn’t have to just look good, it can be good too. There are sites that offer hand crafted jewelry from artisans all over the world. The jewelry is fair trade and often a main source of income for families in poorer areas. Go ahead and buy several pieces!
4. Plant a tree
It might not seem romantic at first, but having a tree planted in your sweetheart’s name can be a beautiful gift. Sell it with “as the tree grows, so does our love” and you have the makings of an incredibly romantic gift that also helps the earth. You can buy a tree from a local nursery to plant yourself, or you can order a special tree be planted for your valentine and receive a certificate of planting to give.
5. Make it yourself
Of course the best gift you could give is something that you made yourself. Skip all the fancy packaging and put something together with your own two hands. Try making a basket of homemade goodies. Making the gift yourself not only makes it extra special, it often makes it the more eco-friendly option.
For additional information on improving the environment, environmental baby products, green baby gifts, washable cloth baby wipes and natural baby care, please visit: http://blog.bottoms-up-baby.com/blog/eco-friendly-baby-products
The bathroom is the room where we begin and end each day, with a variety of cleaning routines designed to help keep us healthy. Odd then, that the room in which we clean our teeth, our skin and the rest of our bodies is often filled with toxic chemicals and even then, not very clean itself.
Make your bathroom a greener place by following these simple tips that will help clear the air, enable low-flow and keep the toxins out of your way!
1. Low-Flow
There are many water-saving opportunities in the bathroom. By installing a low-flow showerhead, a low-flow faucet aerator, and a dual-flush toilet, you'll save thousands of gallons of water each year!
2. Recycled Toilet Paper
When it comes to using the toilets themselves, be sure you're reaching for toilet paper created from recycled sources and avoid using products made from virgin boreal forest trees. When it comes time to flush, close the lid before hitting the button to prevent the spread of bacteria around your bathroom.
3. Reusable Cleaning Products
Toilet paper is about the only "disposable" product allowed in your green bathroom, so when it comes time to clean up, avoid the temptation to reach for disposable products. That means paper towels and other disposable wipes should be replaced by reusable rags or microfiber towels for mirrors, sinks, and the like.
4. Green Cleaners
Bathrooms are notoriously small and often poorly ventilated, so, of all the rooms in the house, this is the one that should be cleaned with green, non-toxic cleaners. Common household ingredients, like baking soda and vinegar, and a little elbow grease will do the job for most everything in the bathroom.
5. Shower Yourself with a Safe Curtain
If your shower has a curtain, be sure to avoid polyvinyl chloride (PVC) plastic. The production of PVC often results in creating dioxins, a group of highly toxic compounds and once in your home, PVC releases chemical gases and odors. Go for a greener solution, like hemp, which is naturally resistant to mold, as long as you keep your bathroom well-ventilated.
6. Maintain Your New Green Ways
Once you go green, you'll want to keep it that way, so remember to do regular light maintenance—unclogging drains, fixing leaky faucets, etc.—with green in mind.
For additional information on improving the environment, environmental baby products, green baby gifts, washable cloth baby wipes and natural baby care, please visit: http://blog.bottoms-up-baby.com/blog/eco-friendly-baby-products
Washing dishes uses water, energy, chemicals, as well as your valuable time, so an efficient approach can save a lot of each. Since dishwashing machines are the norm for the majority of people, it’s important to know how to use one more efficiently. Here are six simple tips for making your dishwasher environmentally friendly!
1. Full load
Before running the dishwasher, wait until you have a full load (same rule of thumb for washing clothes). This will help make the most of the energy, water, and detergent the machine uses.
2. Choose your washer wisely
Choose a dishwasher that is rated for energy and water efficiency. In the US, you can start by looking for Energy Star rated appliances, which use 25% less energy than the mandated minimum.
3. Dishwashing liquids and detergents
Go for dishwashing liquid and powder that is natural, biodegradable, and free of petroleum and phosphates. Also look for products sold in bulk to save on packaging. Powdered detergents are lighter and so require less energy to ship. If you are running into spotting problems using phosphate-free detergents, try using a natural residue eliminator.
4. Skip the pre-rinse
Most dishwashers today are powerful enough to get the all the gunk off, so a lot of pre-rinsing by hand is often just a waste of water and time.
5. Turn down the heat
Most modern dishwashers have booster heaters to heat the water that comes from your home’s water tank. Turning the water tank’s thermostat down to 120 degrees results in additional energy savings without compromising on cleanliness.
6. Air dry
Instead of letting your washer use electric heat or a fan to dry the dishes, just open the door at the end of the washing cycle and let them air dry. Leave the dishes to dry overnight and they’ll be ready for you when you wake up.
For additional information on improving the environment, environmental baby products, green baby gifts, washable cloth baby wipes and natural baby care, please visit: http://blog.bottoms-up-baby.com/blog/eco-friendly-baby-products
Many are divided on the subject of environmental impact of disposables vs. cloth but knowing that your baby will use approximately 6,000 diapers before toilet training, and that disposable diapers take 200-500 years to decompose, is certainly a key issue to ponder.
Washing cloth diapers takes water, energy, and chemicals (not to mention time), but you might want to consider the benefits of a laundering service. Some studies have found that home-washing cloth diapers has only 53 percent of the ecological footprint of disposables, and if you use a diaper laundering service that impact is halved again.
Cloth Diapers
When choosing a cloth diaper brand, go for fitted cloth diapers with Velcro or snap closures for convenience that are made from an eco-friendly material such as hemp, bamboo, or organic cotton. Use an organic wool cover that is both warm and breathable, minimizing diaper rash and cold bottoms at night. Use either removable or flushable liners and when washing, either use a laundering service or wash at home at lower temperatures.
Biodegradable Diapers
These diapers are made with plant-based plastics (also known as bioplastics), are non-petroleum based and are compostable. While these have been found not to break down under landfill conditions, there are other options to compost them such as using a composting toilet, an earthworm system, or a highly active and properly conditioned composting area.
For additional information on improving the environment, environmental baby products, green baby gifts and natural baby care, please visit: http://blog.bottoms-up-baby.com/blog/eco-friendly-baby-products
Meet Alex Wayne, my niece Sydney's first child! Now Alex isn't quite born yet, but I couldn't wait to share this picture! Isn't his third trimester photo absolutely ADORABLE?!?!?My sister and I were chatting the other night about how amazing today's technology is that you can actually see your baby's face before he's born! "Back in the good old days" (as we like to say) if you had to have an ultrasound, the only one who could actually distinguish what all the shadows were was the technician, and even that was suspect! What a different world!
Well, you'd better believe little Alex is going to get a green baby gift from us - a Bottoms Up safe baby wipe kit! He'll LOVE the cloth baby wipes that his mom will use to clean his cute little bottom and he'll be so proud of her for using an eco friendly variety of baby wipes! Can't wait to you in the flesh Alex! Thanks for sharing, Sydney!
Got any unique baby shower gift ideas? Send them to us and we'll spread the word! We think everyone should use environmentally safe baby products!
I wear alot of hats around here. PR is one of them these days. The challenge is being in the right place, at the right time, with the right stuff, and the right spin that the writer/editor/publisher/blogger needs for what they're working on that particular day. The stars REALLY have to be in almost perfect alignment for that to happen. But when it does...OH BABY, does it make it all worth while!Christine Esposito, a writer for Happi.com, was looking for interesting green baby products to write about. I happened to notice her post on HARO (HARO stands for Help A Reporter Out and is a great site for matching up the people who need content and those of us who want to get our content out there, even if it's just by association to an unrelated topic) I responded to her post, we went back and forth a few times and today, Bottoms Up Baby Wipes were the headline "Featured Content" online exclusive on Happi.com!
Says Christine in her opening paragraph, "Lesley Mattos’ children are all grown up, but she hasn’t stopped thinking about diaper changing—and the havoc it can wreak on the environment. This San Francisco mom is doing her part to green diaper duty with the Bottoms Up Baby Wipes Kit, which features reusable baby wipes and relies of essential oils rather than chemicals."
Happi.com is the internet compliment to the 37 year old monthly print publication which covers soaps, detergents, cosmetics & toiletries, waxes and polishes, insecticides, aerosols and related chemical specialties, for people involved in the personal care, household, industrial and institutional fields. Hopefully our online placement will raise awareness about our product and allow alot more moms to green up in the baby wipe department! Thank you Christine!
The internet can be an amazing resource for moms these days. It can also be a big help for a company like Bottoms Up that is just getting started and trying to get the word out about their brand new eco friendly baby wipes!MomsLikeMe.com is a national organization that allows local moms to connect and share experiences about being both a mom and a woman. And one of the things that got shared by one of the moms in the Los Angeles group just recently was the Bottoms Up reusable, all natural, cloth baby wipe kit!
Said this SoCal mom, "So I was a bit skeptical about reusable baby wipes. But I have to admit, this kit is pretty cool. It contains two containers (one for clean and one for dirty wipes), and you prep the clean ones with essential oils. When you use a wipe, you just stick it in the sack [in the dirty container with more essential oils] and when it's full, you throw the whole thing into the washer. Pretty easy and convenient!"
Back in the dark ages when I was having my kids, the closest thing we had to a site like MomsLikeMe.com was the group of 5 or 6 moms that would get together with their kids in tow for lunch every Wednesday at someone's house. Sometimes there would be as many as 15 kids ranging from infants to toddlers. Alot different experience than reading/chatting online!
We are absolutlely delighted to annouce our newest distribution partners - The Green Diaper Store and Angel Bunz - both owned and operated by Lisa Carey. Lisa tried Bottoms Up eco friendly washable cotton baby wipes and was so impressed that she decided to cary them on her natural baby care sites!
When Lisa learned about all the chemicals and toxins used in paper diapers and other baby products, Lisa was motivated to reduce her carbon footprint and provide a more environmentally friendly approach to raising her two children, Michael (6) and William (3), and live a greener lifestyle. From choosing cloth diapers and napkins to safer cleaning and bath and beauty products to banishing plastic bags, Lisa learned that leading a greener lifestyle requires a holistic approach.
The Green Diaper Store and Angel Bunz both offer a large selection of cost effective, environmentally friendly cloth diapers and other family friendly green product alternatives to alot of the big box products. In addition to actual products, Lisa also offers regular cloth diaper workshops and consults with parents and educators about the benefits of using cloth and chosing a system that best fits into any lifestyle and budget.
Lisa's mission is simple: To change the world one bottom at a time! We're delighted to help her acheive her mission!
We look forward to a long and mutually beneficial partnership! Thanks Lisa!
Marybeth had her first baby in July 2008 and quickly realized that having a baby just wasn't as expensive as everything she'd read and heard. She decided to share her knowledge and shopping expertise with others and started Baby Goodbuys where "bargains and advice to save big on baby" abound!
We're tickled to be a part of the Baby Goodbuys 2009 Holiday Gift Guide, and recommend you visit Marybeth's site for other great gift ideas!
Every month, Bottoms Up hosts a Fan Appreciation Giveaway on Facebook where fans have the opportunity to post on our wall and tell us why they love our eco-friendly baby wipes kit.
On the first day of the following month, all submissions are gathered and one lucky winner is selected at random and is awarded with a $25.00 gift card to use towards their next purchase from bottoms-up-baby.com. Yesterday was that day and we are happy to announce Tamara Szogedi as the November winner of our Fan Appreciation Giveaway!
Tamara loves our reusable kit, saying:
“What I really love about Bottoms Up Baby Wipes is how organized and streamlined everything is. The all-in-one kit has EVERYTHING you need, other than the baby, of course!”
If you also love Bottoms Up Baby Wipes, become a Fan of our Facebook page and let us know! You could be our next lucky winner!
For additional information on baby safe products, natural baby care and other environmentally safe baby products, please visit: http://blog.bottoms-up-baby.com/blog/eco-friendly-baby-products
Last Thursday, the Bottoms Up All-In-One Baby Wipes Kit was featured on Better, a nationally syndicated lifestyle TV show that aims to make life "better" by focusing on topics that affect your family and relationships.
On Thursday’s “Baby Boom Must Haves” segment, host Audra Lowe welcomed lifestyle expert and mother-to-be Mina-Jacqueline Au to the show to recommend products to new moms who are looking for ways to make their lives easier when it comes to caring for their babies and themselves. One of the items featured during the show was our reusable baby wipes kit!
Mina-Jacqueline Au had nothing but great things to say about our kit (see for yourself here), often referring to it as being:
- Eco-friendly
- Money saving
- Easy, great and brilliant
We’re grateful for the wonderful opportunity of being featured on the show and look forward to continuing to provide chemical free baby products that are good for your baby, the environment and your wallet!
For additional information on our cloth baby wipes kit, please visit: http://www.bottoms-up-baby.com/baby-wipes-kit.html
Mom's are naturally concerned about what comes in contact with their babies, so here's the skinny on the essential oil blends that our cloth baby wipes soak in:
Are the essential oils included in your kit safe for my baby?
Both lavender and chamomile are well known for their calming effect and their skin care benefits and offer the added benefit of a wonderful fragrance. One of our moms actually puts a dab of the lavender and chamomile blends on her wrists every day in addition to the few drops she soaks her clean washable baby wipes in!
Are the essential oils a problem for sensitive skin?
We recommend only a few drops of the essential oils in the clean and dirty tubs. The water dilutes the oils resulting in a extremely mild solution for natural baby care with none of the unnatural or potentially irritating chemicals that are found in some disposable baby wipes.
For answers to other frequently asked questions and environmental baby products, visit our website at http://www.bottoms-up-baby.com
Yak About It!
That’s exactly what customers and fans of the Bottoms Up All-In-One Kit did last Thursday, helping our reusable baby wipes product finish in the lead in Yak About It’s “Daily Yak Poll.”
Every day, two new products created by independent inventors and entrepreneurs are featured on YakAboutIt.com and compete for consumer attention, purchase and the glory of being the “Most Yakable.” Besides having the opportunity to purchase either product, you can learn about the story, the inventor and the random facts that gave life to the products.
We’re incredibly grateful for the opportunity of being featured and would like to thank all of our supporters for helping us win the highly coveted titled of “Most Yakable”!
For additional information our cloth baby wipes and green baby products, please visit: http://blog.bottoms-up-baby.com/blog/eco-friendly-baby-products
I had my children a long time ago and while there was definitely a movement afoot towards a more natural way of birthing, it had not reached critical mass by any means. Many of us were given drugs to induce or intensify labor and opted for pain relieving anesthesia as soon as it could be administered. Since we launched the Bottoms Up reusable cloth baby wipes product, I've learned alot about what today's moms are concerned about. Yes, they're concerned about cloth baby wipes and non toxic baby bottles and baby products that are safe for the environment. But they're also concerned with how they bring their babies into the world, the actual process of giving birth, before all the products are purchased.
I recently stumbled across the trailer for a documentary that offers women an insight into the U.S. hospital system and the "Business of Being Born", which is the title of the movie produced by Rikki Lake and has been referred to "The Inconvenient Truth of Childbirth."
I don't know if I'd do anything differently, times were different in the late 70's/early 80's, but this film offers a different perspective than was prevalent back then. It's worth a peek for all us soon-to-be Grandmas!
The 25 cloth baby wipes included in the Bottoms Up All-In-One Kit are sufficient if you generally buy one container of disposable wipes per week and you do laundry every other day. The wipes are made from high quality terry cloth and are available for purchase à la carte in quantities of 25.
They're easy to use:
The cotton baby wipes are soft, 100% natural and require no drying after being washed. After a machine wash, simply re-soak your reusable baby wipes in the Clean Wipes Container, along with one inch of water and 4-5 drops of the Clean Baby Wipes Essential Oil Blend solution before using them again.
They're great for other purposes:
What’s great about the wipes is that they can be used for anything! Yes, cleaning your baby’s bottom is their primary purpose but consider snagging an additional set of wipes and using them for cleaning around the house, or after snack or meal times. Our wipes are a great way of saving money and the environment from excess waste.
For additional information on our baby safe products, please visit: http://blog.bottoms-up-baby.com/blog/eco-friendly-baby-products
When spending the day out, we suggest taking a minimum of 8-10 cloth baby wipes with you, along with both the Clean wipe and Dirty wipe travel bags. Here are tips for using the travel bags:Clean Travel Bag
- The clean travel bag is waterproof and has a drawstring to tote your clean, fresh, damp baby wipes while out traveling with your baby. It comfortably holds 15 wipes and can be wiped clean after use
- The fresh wipes should be given a good squeeze before being placed in the clean bag. That way, they’re moist as opposed to sopping wet and won’t add a lot of liquid to the bag
Dirty Travel Bag- The dirty travel bag is waterproof and designed to carry your soiled baby wipes while 'out & about' or traveling with baby. It comfortably holds 15 cloth baby wipes and is practically a hands-free storage of those dirty baby wipes!
- The dirty bag comes with a Nylon Mesh Bag Insert, so you can easily drop those soiled baby wipes in the wash when you get home
For additional green tips, baby safe products, natural baby care and other environmentally safe baby products, please visit: http://blog.bottoms-up-baby.com/blog/eco-friendly-baby-products
Abe's Market is the very first distribution partner for the Bottoms Up reusable, washable, cotton baby wipes kit and boy oh boy are we glad they are! Abe’s Market is "the online marketplace for great natural products." They connect buyers seeking amazing natural products (like our eco friendly baby wipes) with the people (like us) who make them, eliminating the need to search the Internet - you can get all your natural product buying done in one place - Abe's Market!Plus, at Abe’s Market you have the unique opportunity to learn the story behind the products – straight from the products’ creators, which goes WAY beyond what you can find on a label! You can even chat directly with the sellers and get answers to your questions and feel good about the products you are bringing into your home.
And beyond that, they're getting us exposed to some super duper, real live mom bloggers who are giving our product a big thumbs up! Thank you Abe's and MrsMogul! How long the essential oil bottles last depends on the number of baby wipes used per day and how frequently the container solutions are changed. Our rule of thumb is that the bottles included in the all-in-one reusable baby wipes kit should last approximately 4 to 6 months.
To get the most out of each bottle:
Use about 4-5 drops of the clean essential oil blend for the Clean Wipes container, along with one inch of water for soaking the 25 baby wipes. Change the solution periodically, and be sure to thoroughly rinse the container with warm soapy water before adding new solution.
- The Dirty Wipes container should contain 2 inches of water along with 4-5 drops of the Dirty Wipes essential oil blend. Most moms have a wash load going every other day and if that's your laundry schedule, change the dirty wipes solution with every new wash, or at least twice a week.
For additional tips on using our cloth baby wipes, green baby products and other environmentally safe baby products, please visit: http://blog.bottoms-up-baby.com/blog/eco-friendly-baby-products
Autumn is the perfect time to clean your house from top to bottom before the cold winter season locks you inside. Toss out the conventional cleaners and try whipping up some of your own non-toxic, eco-friendly versions.Start by stocking your green cleaning kit with baking soda, vinegar, lemons and reusable cloth baby wipes. There are so many uses for baby wipes. Use yours in place of one-time-use paper towels.
Baking Soda
Baking soda is an excellent green cleaning product to use throughout your home, especially in the kitchen. It's also food-safe and has no odor. Baking soda is mildly abrasive, yet it can't harm your surfaces, whether they're linoleum or expensive imported Italian marble. When mixed with warm water, baking soda is also great for removing stains from clothing.
Vinegar and Lemons
Vinegar and lemons can often serve the same purpose, but lemon has a much nicer scent. Try boiling vinegar or lemon juice in the microwave to rid away any persistent smells. Vinegar and lemons can also be used as all purpose cleaners for your bathroom, kitchen, walls and floors. You can also slice a lemon open and use it as a natural air refresher.Once you get these basic green cleaning products, roll up those sleeves and get started on your Fall cleaning!
For additional green tips, baby safe products, natural baby care and other environmentally safe baby products, please visit: http://blog.bottoms-up-baby.com/blog/eco-friendly-baby-products
As moms or babysitters or grandmas we've all changed one of "those" diapers and we know what a challenge they can be! Well, we've got good news for you! Because they're a soft cotton terry cloth, Bottoms Up Baby Wipes have more "traction" than those smooth disposable baby wipes, which makes the clean up process more "efficient."
Here’s how easy it is to use our reusable baby wipes for this kind of diaper:
- Use the front of the diaper to do the "heavy lifting" part of the clean up
- Finish the job with our natural, eco friendly baby wipes
- Place the dirty baby wipes into the mesh bag insert in your dirty wipes container
- Next time you do laundry, grab the mesh bag, loosen the drawstring and toss it in the washing machine
- When the wash is finished, pull out the clean wipes and put them into a fresh container of clean essential oil solution and use them all over again!
For additional tips on using our baby wipes and other green tips, please visit: http://blog.bottoms-up-baby.com/blog/eco-friendly-baby-products
