Green Cupboards

It seems I have been slacking on my hunting down green businesses. I have been a bad beagle! I didn’t want to continue to disappoint so I have found GreenCupboards.com. I have written a few articles on items I have found at their store. GreenCupboards.com offers a wide variety of items such as toys, grocery items, outdoor, office and even electronics. I know many green retailers may sell green products but their values are lacking. GreenCupboards.comgoes out of their way to assure their customers that they are as legitimate as their products.

About GreenCupboards.com: Green Cupboards is a leading online retailer of eco-friendly products for homes and businesses. Based in Spokane, Washington, the company was the winner of a regional university business plan competition and was subsequently co-founded in 2008 by Gonzaga University graduates Josh Neblett, Sarah Wollnick and their Adjunct Professor, Tom Simpson.
Struck by the lack of one-stop shopping alternatives for eco-friendly merchandise, the co-founders set out to create a customer-centric brand and streamline the way people buy green. Greencupboards targets consumers who strive to do the right things to sustain the planet, yet are challenged to find a broad selection of eco-friendly products that work and cost about the same as a their non-green counterparts.
GreenCupboards offers the vastest array of thoroughly vetted eco-friendly products of any e-retailer in our market. We currently provide approximately 15,000 unique items from over 600 suppliers. Critical to our mission, we endeavor to provide an easy, fun and educational shopping experience, over-the-top customer service and competitive prices. To date, we have satisfied the purchasing needs of over 100,000 consumers.
GreenCupboards employs over 50 youthful, zany and eco-friendly minds. Our culture is as dynamic as the shopping experience we deliver.

Vandana Eco Shoes

Holy Cuteness Batman! These flats are perfect for the summer! I have an affinity for anything coconut shell so I may be biases but I love these. I know they are a bit pricey at $76.00 but you can wear these almost year round so personally I think it’s worth it. The Vandana shoes come in 3 colors: bark, rose, & slate. I really like the Vandana and think I need at least one pair for my unflip flop days! You can get a pair of your own here!

Product Description: Colourful Grass Shoe designs and create eco-friendly shoes that are accessible to all. It has done so by setting a standard for sustainable product development in regards to environmental and humanitarian leadership. The Colourful Grass standards are the highest in the industry and will always be improved for the betterment of the planet as a whole.
Our shoes are fashionable, durable and comfortable. Colourful Grass combine the best eco-friendly and recycled materials with cutting edge style to produce a highly sought after product line.
OUR MATERIALS – We use only eco-friendly and recyclable and/or recycled materials. We are currently utilizing the best materials available to us and will always strive to create the best in sustainable shoes with continuous improvements!
Here are our materials: Organic Hemp Canvas, Organic Cotton, Recycled Rubber, PU and Coconut Shell Buttons.

April is here and almost gone! Here are some great deals on some great eco-friendly products. You may even find some great things you didn’t even know existed or some new green stores you will love forever!

Natural Lip Balms and Vegan soaps on sale!

10% off The Eco Friendly Dollhouses

Save 5% on your first order at Only Natural Pet – Coupon Code LS05

15% Off All Flea & Tick Products! Use Coupon Code FLEA15OFF!

Save Addn. 10% Envirocycle Mini Composter/Tea Maker

15% off Everything in the Eco Coffee Shop

Save 10% On Nokero Solar Light Bulbs

Save 15% on Bamboo Towel Sets

Take $15 off any $40+ order & get FREE SHIPPING with any $25+ order at Botanic Choice! Use coupon APR15 Exp 4/30/12

Great Deals on Burt’s Bees Products at Burt’s Outlet

Sign up now and receive ethical Deals from across North America!

Take an Additional 10% off Eco-friendly Furniture

Save 20% on Canine Ear Cleaning Products

New Spring Bedding & Free Shipping Offer from Coyuchi.com! Click Here!

Use Code EARTHDAY2012 to Save 15% This Month on Earth Friendly, Fair Trade Handbags at EarthDivas.com

Need a great gift for Mom? Check out great Mother’s Day gift ideas at Gildentree.com.

Organic Dry Hair Shea Butter

Warm weather is creeping up on us and with all of the outside time your hair will take a beating! Especially those of you who may color it. You don’t want your hair to look like fried straw right? Here is a great organic/vegan dry hair treatment from one of my fave places Just Natural Organic Care. Here is a little blurb about this super awesome leave in dry hair shea butter:
Dry hair needs instant hydration and nourishment to keep it looking and feeling healthier.Natural butters nourish, soften and protect hair leaving it shiny with fewer flyaways. This natural shea butter for dry hair restores moisture and adds volume to your hair. It closes hair cuticles to make your hair less porous and therefore more resistant to damage.
This leave in treatment is rich in vitamins and nutrients that promote
strong, healthy hair growth.This natural hair butter will moisturize, de-frizz and give you definition with soft hold without leaving residue or weighing hair down.

I always like to look at the ingredients on products who make claims that they are organic, vegan, natural so if you are like me and want to know what you are putting on your body here is a list Just Natural Organic Care provides as they do with all of their products:
Aloe Vera Leaf Juice, Shea Butter, Kokum Butter, Illipe Butter, Mowrah Butter, Fenugreek Extract, Grapeseed Oil, Kukui Nut Oil, Carrot Seed Oil, Rosehip Oil, Essential Oils of Sweet Orange Blossom, Rosemary, Lavender, Ylang Ylang, Atlas Cedarwood, Chamomile Extract, Horsetail Root Extract, Nettle Root Extract, Marigold Extract.

Eco-friendly toys and games are becoming easier to find these days so why not get in on the fun! I found some amazingly green fun for kids and the family at one of my favorite green stores Green Retail and Wholesale, LLC. You can stock up on summer fun all in one place for the entire family.

Head1Liners

Head1Liners is a total family fun game! You can get everyone involved! Adults would probably get a kick out of it even if kinds aren’t around to play. Description: A hilarious party game in which you literally write the news! Players are given 1 of 386 curious “front page” photographs and write a news headlines for it. Creativity, satire, or straightforward journalism attempts will all fare well in this inclusive, social game about our diverse perspectives. Expect absurd headlines that leave you in stitches laughing!

Xeko Mission Games

Xeko Mission Games are almost like a modern day Where in the World is Carmen San Diego. I like it! This is not only educational but really fun! Description: Xeko combines two things kids love: collectible cards and animals. Play tested across the USA and the verdict is in – having fun is only natural! Ancient Xeko forces are joining together to defend the most fascinating and most threatened places on Earth. The search is on for the next generation of Xeko Masters. Are you ready for the awesome animals, globe-trotting fun, eye-popping art, and brain-stimulating strategy?

idbids

idbids are kind of really cool! They are an exceptionally fun interactive toy that really teaches kids how to protect the environment. Description: Lovingly handcrafted using 100% organic Egyptian cotton which has been colored with natural organic dyes. No two are alike, just like children! With the purchase of each kit, a child can enter a code online that will help protect the habitats of animal friends through The Nature Conservancy’s Plant A Billion Trees campaign, Adopt an Acre, or Rescue the Reef programs.

BUZZ FREE ZONE

The summer is coming quickly and the one thing I absolutely despised about it was bug bites! Most repellents are super gross but not miessense! Description: Every single ingredient in miessence certified organics line of products is beneficial to your skins health. Not only is every ingredient safe (in fact, edible) but every ingredient does something great for your skin right down to the preservatives and antioxidants. These products use only certified organic cold-pressed and unrefined oils and therapeutic grade herb and flower extracts. Products are also cold-formulated so precious oils are never exposed to damaging heat.

Butterfly Bloom Contest

I love coconut shells!!! I have a handbag made from them and I am in love! I figured this necklace would make for an awesome give away!!! The Butterfly Bloom necklace is perfect for the spring and summer! The winner didn’t claim her prize so I am starting the contest over!!
To enter all you have to do is click here and you are entered to win. The contest ends on April25th so don’t miss out! The winner has 48 hours to contact me with their info. After 48 hours if the winner doesn’t contact me the contest will start all over again!
If you want to win an additional prize you must friend me on Facebook, follow me on Twitter and like my Pinterest boards. Once you have done all three comment on this post below with your Facebook (not my fan page), Twitter and Pinterest names so I can follow you back. If you don’t have all 3 of these accounts just say so below.
Good Luck and I hope you enjoy!!

Learn Science by Making and Breaking Toys!

I have been seeing tons of green science projects and green toys in commercial stores lately. This is something I haven’t seen before. Usually when shopping for gifts I have to do it online at green stores because they are the only ones who carry them but over the weekend while looking for some gifts I saw this My Toy Factory – Learn Science by Making and Breaking Toys!
set and I was excited! I got a few of them to give to some kids that I knew would love them.  I can’t stress enough how important it is to start teaching children at a young age the importance of our environment and being eco-friendly.  This is something that will stick with them throughout their whole lives. Click here if you want to get My Toy Factory – Learn Science by Making and Breaking Toys! of your own.

Product Description:
My Toy Factory is an entertaining and eco-friendly concept where children MAKE their own play area and play environment using everyday material like straws, ice-cream sticks and newspapers etc and then BREAK these toys to understand how they work. Children open the kit and get an appointment letter to become workers in their own Toy Factory. They make tickly whistles out of ice cream sticks, swooshing jet cars from bottles & balloons along with ten more exciting toys using their toy kit. A perfect gift to engage the creative gene pool of your kid!

Sleepytime Tonic

As I have mentioned a zillion times my house is full of pets and they are all rescues. I love them all and they are my life but sometimes rescuing an animal does require you to give them a little extra TLC. My animals are also super spoiled because the BF works from home and is with them every waking moment.
That being said the girls have horrendous separation anxiety. We have to lock our puppy in a crate when we leave because she eats holes in walls and furniture which is not good. Our older dog was abandoned in the first year of her life and was chained to a fence for a long period of time before she was rescued so she gets terribly nervous and scared when we leave and for a multitude of reasons when you haven’t left. We have tried training and different products to help but nothing really has worked.
I have written about Happy Tails Spa a few times and feel like I can trust their brand so I went searching to see what they had to help soothe my pooches. I found their Sleepytime Tonic and was excited to try it. I had tried other products like it before and they never really had an effect but I was determined to help my babies. I tried putting the drops directly in the pooches mouths but they didn’t seem to like that too much so I put a few drops on their Frosty Paws treats or in their water and that worked like a charm. I will say I didn’t notice an immediate change the first few times I used it but after a little while the girls definitely started to exhibit a calmer demeanor when we got home. I started giving our older dog a few drops when it would storm out because she really hates that and I have to say she hid under things much less and seemed less bothered by it over all.
I am extremely happy my pooches are having an easier time when we leave them and even happier our older dog seems more relaxed. I hate to see them sad.
Here is a little more about what Sleepytime Tonic does:
Sleepytime Tonic was developed to relax and calm an over-anxious dog. The blend of all natural ingredients address underlying predispositions and weaknesses which cause the anxiety. If you have a nervous dog, an overactive puppy or simply want to calm down a hyper hound Sleepytime will do the trick. It does not sedate your dog it simply calms them down.
To learn more about Sleepy Time Tonic and Happy Tails Spa click here! Don’t forget to follow them on Twitter and Facebook.  You don’t want to miss out on awesome stuff for your pet!

Eco Nuts

Since I have a zoo living in my house (bf included) laundry builds up fast and although we try to stick to doing our laundry once a week to save water sometimes that just isn’t possible. I am a huge proponent of using biodegradable, organic and chemical free detergents and softeners. I don’t like detergents that smell too much. They never smell natural and I feel like if a detergent needs that much fragrance it is doing so because the laundry probably isn’t as clean as it should be. I’d rather have a fresh clean smell then some made up smell that doesn’t even exist in nature. What really gets my goat is some of these eco-detergents cost an arm and a leg. I never really understand that if the product is supposed to be natural have no harmful chemicals and whatever other attributes the product boasts why should it costs more than the harmful crap detergents. I always hear the excuse well to process it right or package it appropriately it is more costly. I really think that is a load of rubbish personally. Either way on my hunt for eco-awesome laundry solutions I stumbled upon EcoNuts. If you don’t know what a soap nut is click here, I didn’t know either but I will say they are quite an interesting little nut!
EcoNuts have hit my personal trifecta of green awesomeness 1. They package responsibly and don’t try to trick the consumer. 2. EcoNuts are found in nature and are a reasonable alternative to using harmful products without having to be manipulated to become a suitable green product. 3. The price is right! EcoNuts do not over charge their merchandise and because their packaging is so responsible they can’t even use it as an excuse for the high prices.  If you haven’t tried them yet you should!! If you have let me know how you liked Pure Citizen” target=”_blank”>EcoNuts!!

Owl Kitchen Art

As usual Pinterest has blown my mind! In my quest to find crafts for items that would otherwise be recycled or thrown out I found these crafts that use jar lids, pot tops,strainers, forks, spoons, bottle caps, whatever!! I am in love with this! The Kitchen Owl makes for a great housewarming gift or rainy day craft for students. The Kitchen Owl is the perfect way to really implement the ideas of Reduce, Recycle, & Reuse.  Think of all of the things that would have otherwise been thrown out. Talk about another man’s trash is another mans treasure!  This just goes to show that you really can reuse almost anything if you put your mind to it creatively. 
I found this at the perfect time because while reorganizing my kitchen I put aside a bunch of kitchen items that really aren’t so usable anymore and should be recycled or things we had a bunch of that we didn’t need. I cannot wait to break open that box and get started on all the fun animals that can be made. You can probably do bunnies, kittens even dogs. Get creative you can add other things to the kitchen craft they don’t have to all be metal. Use glitter or paint and make them colorful. Add stickers or jewels to them.