Great Green Gift Ideas

This Christmas take some stress out of the holiday season by shopping online.  Shopping online is fun, easy and it reduces your carbon footprint!  Here are some of my favourite websites and products.

Lavish and Lime is an online store based in Vancouver, British Columbia that focuses on contemporary eco-friendly products to help you live life a little greener.  They have fabulous non-toxic art supplies for kids.  My boys love their Natural Rock Crayons and Recycled Worm Crayons.  These items are priced at $9.50 and $13.50 and are great stocking stuffers.  Find them at www.lavishandlime.com.

Kippo Kids is an online store based in British Columbia.  They offer a mix of products that include eco-friendly, handmade, organic, and Made in Canada items.  Their products are in line with contemporary trends and are superior quality.  I love their great selection of puzzles.  If you are tired of your children's puzzle boxes falling apart, you will love these too!  My favourites are the Djeco puzzles which come in sturdy silhouette boxes that stand up.  They come in Cows on the Farm, Mummy Rabbit's Pie, Panda, Pirates, Knights and Ballerina.  Find them at www.kippokids.com.

Bugalug is based in Calgary, Alberta and offers a collection of accessories for baby, toddlers and girls.  Their products are non-toxic and lead-free, their hair accessories contain one of a kind non-slip grip and they are made in Canada.  I love the modern ribbon they use on their Non-Slip Clips and I especially LOVE their Cool Cuffs for Boys.  As a mother of two boys, I know how hard it is to find funky items for boys.  I was thrilled to find Bugalug!  The Skull Cuff and Flames Cuff will be in my boys' stockings this Christmas.  Shhhhhh!  Find them at www.bugalugbaby.com.

Oh, and remember, you can always find unique, modern and safe gift ideas for baby at www.tyandlumi.com.  Happy Internet shopping!

A Step in the Right Direction

I have to admit that originally I didn’t really know that much about organics or eco-friendly products. I also didn’t see the need to know about it either. It didn’t seem to affect me either way. That is until 2007 when I was leaving the hospital when my daughter after she was diagnosed with Asthma. I found myself sitting at home reading through the materials that the Asthma Clinic had sent home. In search for more information, I turned to the internet, the more I read about the effects that certain chemicals had on us the more I was confused as to why these products were even available to us as consumers.
I became obsessed about getting rid of anything we had. At first I thought it was an all or nothing kind of deal but soon learned that it could be quite expensive to throw out the majority of your products and start anew. I figured a better option was to start in stages. I started by purchasing organic food and replacing the products that my two youngest used, lotions, soap, shampoo etc….. Food was the easiest to replace since I seemed to be at the grocery store almost every day. As for the other products we made those changes by replacing items with organic, natural or eco friendly products each time we needed to purchase something for ourselves or for our home.
As for bigger items, I saved them for when I did my “spring cleaning”. That’s when I would try to replace household items such as bed linens, pots and pans etc… Asking for these items for Christmas and my birthday was another way we replaced things.
There are lots of options to making changes progressively without breaking your budget. I found an organic food wholesaler close by who host Saturday shopping to the general public their deals can be easy on the pocket! Shopping at a Farmer’s Market is also a great way to shop local organic foods. My daughter has been in a parent participation preschool for the last 2 years which requires us to do a lot of fundraising. We try to fundraise as many eco friendly options as possible such as stainless steel water bottles, stainless containers for food and fair trade organic coffee. So by helping out the school I am also able to make changes in the right direction for my family.
One thing that I found to be very frustrating was not knowing what to do with all the “stuff” after going through everything. I didn’t want to just pour them down the drain or throw them in the garbage that didn’t seem like a good option. But, where do we take these products when we no longer want them? Up until now I have had them in our basement waiting to be dealt with. It was suggested to me to either drop them off at a non profit facility that could use them or put them in a box marked FREE. I have since found that our city now has a depot that you can take all your unwanted products to be disposed of properly free of charge which I feel is a better option.
If you are ready to make some changes, give yourself a break and remember it doesn’t have to be all or nothing. Even the smallest change is a change for the better.