Stuff Parents Need

Easing the chaos in the nest, one find at a time.

White Cloud Introduces the GreenEarth Line (Sweepstakes Announcement!)

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This post brought to you by White Cloud. All opinions are 100% mine.

I'm a big fan of going green, especially when making the switch to something more eco-friendly doesn't present a hardship to my budget. 

That's why I'm absolutely thrilled to hear that White Cloud, a paper products company sold exclusively at Walmart, has just launched the GreenEarth line. All the GreenEarth products are made with 100% recycled fibers and have been ceritified by the Forest Stewardship Council. Be sure to check out the White Cloud GreenEarth products page for all the details on this new line. 

I'll be headed to Walmart tomorrow, actually, and I have these products at the top of my list (I need to buy new toilet paper since 2 weeks ago I accidentally purchased single ply stuff…it has been NO fun trying to use that stuff up!). White Cloud is a brand I already know to be affordable and to also be quality, and now they can add eco-friendly to the mix. That's the perfect trifecta for me! Click here to Find a Store Near You!

Since April is the perfect time of year to think about how your family can go green, I thought I'd share with you a few ways we reduce, reuse and recyle around here, all without overly burdening ourselves or our pocketbooks. 

1. Switch to recycled and recyclable disposable products. We use mostly cloth diapers, but I'm not interested in giving up my toilet paper, personally. But I can make the switch over to more environmentally responsible choices with ease thanks to White Cloud's GreenEarth line. 

2. Recycle your food containers. We go through a LOT of cardboard boxes, aluminum cans and plastic containers, all of which held food we purchased. Almost all of them are recyclable. Get a large plastic tub to hold your recyclables while you wait for the next curbside pickup or while you wait until you next head over to the recycling center. Committing to doing this only takes a few extra minutes every few days. We've been doing this in earnest for the last 6 years, and while it requires dedicating some additional space in your home or in your garage to garbage collection, it has substantially reduced the amount of trash we are putting in landfills. 

3. Talk about the changes you are making with your kids. You are already setting a great example by your actions, but make sure your kids really understand the impact of your decisions by explaining it to them. This will also help them get more excited about what you are committing to as a family. Our oldest goes out with dad to transfer our recylables to our larger bin outside, and she LOVES to watch the recycling truck pick up our items every other week. It is so important for the next generation to have environmental stewardship engrained in them at a young age, as that increases the likelihood that they will continue (and hopefully improve upon) the practices as an adult. 

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In addition to sharing about the ways my family is going green, I also wanted to share something I know you love: a great sweepstakes! Check out the White Cloud “Living the Green” Pinterest board and then follow the White Cloud Pinterest page. Then you just need to create yhour own "Living the Green" Pinterest board and repin at least one pin from the White Cloud "Living the Green" board back onto your board. Be sure to use the hashtag #Livingthegreen in your pin's caption so that White Cloud can find you! Finally, you'll visit mywhitecloud.com/promotions and complte the sweepstakes entry form. Click here for Sweepstakes Rules and Regulations. NO PURCHASE NECESSARY. Ends 4/30/13. Click here for Official Rules.

There are a lot of fantastic prizes up for grabs, and I want Stuff Parents Need readers to win them! Good luck, everyone! 

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Ultimate Green Store Review and $20 Gift Certificate GIVEAWAY!!!

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If you are looking for a really great one-stop-shop online for all things green that relate to mom, kid and baby, you really need to check out The Ultimate Green Store! They even offer a green baby registry. If this were my first time expecting, I’d definitely be signing up for that one!

After looking around at The Ultimate Green Store, I am really blown away by the number of products they have, and just how many great gift options there are for different people who may be on your gift list throughout the year. They have everything from luxurious organic cotton jersey sheets to a solar powered ipad charger and everything you can imagine in between!

I, of course, couldn’t help but check out their babysection. When I saw that The Ultimate Green Store carried cloth diapers, I was absolutely delighted! They only carry a few lines, and I think they have chosen to carry one of the brands that is the absolute very best: BumGenius. BumGenius AIO is what I started out with when cloth diapering, and I called it the “gateway drug” of diapers, because it was an all-in-one with velcro closures…it was as close to a disposable as you could get, and every bit as absorbent.

I had the opportunity to review the BumGenius 4.0 in Blossom from The Ultimate Green Store. I decided to try out this diaper because I wanted to see what all the fuss was about, and also because I wanted to make absolutely sure that you, my fabulous readers, know that The Ultimate Green Store has all their BumGenius on sale right now! You can get the 3.0 pocket diapers for just $10.99! EEEEEE!!!!!! The BG 4.0 with velcro are on sale for $15.95 and the organic cotton 4.0 with snap closures is on sale for $20.95. You most definitely need to check out this sale if you are a BumGenius fan. If you’ve never tried this line, then I want to strongly encourage you to buy one at these great prices right now…you won’t regret it!

What makes the 4.0 different from the 3.0? Well, the 4.0 comes with both a small insert for a newborn or younger infant, as well as a larger insert to use as your baby grows. It has also been designed to be an even trimmer fit than the 3.0 version. It is designed to fit babies from 7-35 pounds, which is quite a range! I put the diaper on the smallest setting to get ready for our little one, and it certainly does look like a small, trim diaper! Prepping it was easy; just one wash needed. I’m extremely excited to have this diaper in my collection and I know it will be one of the diapers I frequently reach for, based on my previous experience with BumGenius.

It seems to me that The Ultimate Green Store has put a lot of thought into the brands and items that it carries. I love when a store has that extra layer of quality control, so that you can shop with confidence knowing that you are going to get something terrific. The bargain shopper in me is also so pleased to see that they have a warehouse clearance sale section up right now, with deals at up to 50% off. This is a great opportunity to re-stock your gift closet with things that people would be thrilled to receive! I’m loving this circuit board picture frame, which my self-professed geek husband would love to have on his desk at work!

 

Win it!: One lucky Stuff Parents Need reader will win a $20 gift certificate to The Ultimate Green Store! LUCKY!!!!

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Rub-a-Dub-Dub, Eco-Friendly Toys in the Tub! Sprig Toys Review

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Today I want to introduce you to a fabulous toy company based right here in the USA! It’s called Sprig Toys and they make eco-friendly and fun toys that are built to last and that inspire creative play. I really love the story of how this company got started. It is the brain child of 3 toy designers who had been having fantastic success with their toy designs. But when they toured the plants where their ideas were being turned into toys, they realized that what they had created was having very harmful effects on the environment surrounding the plant. This was such a shock to them, and they decided to change the way they were designing toys altogether! I am always impressed when someone sees a real problem with something (even if it is working in terms of profits being made) and decides to do something about it!

Sprig Toys currently offers four different groupings of toys, including the following:

Adventure Series: a world full of vehicles, characters, and animals to take your child on a fun filled expedition on both land and water!

Sprig Hollow: a cast of wacky bee and butterfly characters on adventures in the sand, garden, or pool. Includes playsets, vehicles, and outdoor tools all in one!

Eco-Trucks: include a loader and a dump truck for playing in the sand!

Storybuilders: classic tales of princesses and working hard on Old Mac’s Farm. These playsets allow children to build fast and tell their own stories. Our Storybulding classics books are great on the go, a complete building playset and classic storybook all in one!

We have been playing with the Dolphin Explorer Boat  from the Adventure Series, and it is a HUGE hit, especially at bath time! I have absolutely no worries about harming the toys by having them in the tub, because they are made from a product this company calls Sprigwood. It’s a bio-composite material made from bits of reclaimed wood and recycled plastic. It is completely safe for children. It also gets pigmented during the production process, so the toys, themselves have not been painted with anything. Having your child play with these toys, get them wet, and even chew on them will give no cause for concern! I can also tell that these toys are going to hold up well to repeated exposure to water and rough play (Darah is a site in the bathtub…she plays so hard in there!). As her other toys bend and break, Sprig toys are going to hang tight with her, likely until she outgrows them!

Overall, we are extremely impressed with Sprig Toys and would highly recommend them to anyone. The set we reviewed retails for $24.99 and can be purchased here or you can find your nearest retailer here.

Want to keep up with the latest and greatest at Sprig Toys? Follow them on Facebook and Twitterand stay in the know about new products and promotions!

Disclosure: I received a complimentary product for review purposes. All thoughts and opinions expressed here are strictly my own.

Green Toys Fire Truck Review and GIVEAWAY!!!

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When we were expecting Darah, I had many parents warn us that our home was about to become a plastic jungle, at least for the next 10 years. Tim and I REALLY didn’t want to see that happen. We didn’t want our house to be overrun with toys at all (um, yeah, totally FAILED that one), and we also didn’t want plastic junk everywhere made with questionable chemicals and that would easily break and have to be pitched.

 

So it may seem a little strange that I’m featuring a plastic fire trucktoday as an excellent toy of choice for your little. But this isn’t just any old plastic fire truck! It’s from Green Toys, and it is made entirely out of recycled plastic! milk containers! Even the packaging it comes in is made entirely of recycled and recyclable materials. It is the world’s greenest emergency vehicle!

It’s also SO much fun! Darah is a HUGE fan of fire trucks, always on the lookout for them when she takes a ride in the car, and always listening out for their sirens. We live a few blocks away from a big fire station, so she gets to hear those sirens at least once a day, much to her delight. Her Green Toys fire truck rarely even gets put away. It seems to now live in our hallway, which is the best place for “driving.” Her smaller stuffed animals and figurines are also getting extra play time, as they will fit on top of the fire truck, much to Darah’s delight.

I have given the truck a thorough inspection, and I am very impressed with the quality. It really looks as though it was built to endure many hours of play from children who love their toys, but aren’t necessarily the best at taking care of them, yet. I expect that our fire truck will endure quite a bit of rough-housing with Darah, but will still be in fine shape for the next child, or even for Darah’s kids later on. It’s definitely a winner!

Green Toys has an excellent line of eco-friendly toys, all made from recycled materials, and also all free from lights, batteries and other annoying things that play for your child, instead of encouraging imaginative play. The price points for the toys are a bit higher than their non-recycled plastic counterparts from other brands, but these are toys that are built to last generations, instead of having planned obsolescence, so I think they are worth it! The fire truck I reviewed retails for $27.99

Win it!: One lucky Stuff Parents Need reader will win a Green Toys Fire Truck! The contest will run until September 4th at 11:59pm EST when a winner will be selected via Random.org. The winner will have 48 hours to respond to winning notification before the prize is forfeited and a new winner is selected. Open to residents of the United States. Limit one entrant per household, please.

Mandatory entry: Tell me one other Green Toys product that would be welcome in your home!

My answer: The school bus!

Additional entries:

1. Sponsor love: Like Green Toys on Facebook

2. Blogger love: Like Stuff Parents Need on Facebook

Be sure to enter my other current giveaways, found on the sidebar of my blog.

Disclosure: I received a complimentary product for review purposes. The opinions expressed here are strictly my own.

EcoMistic: Eco-Friendly and Optimistic!

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All of you fabulous folks out there in bloggy land know that I love going green, especially when it is also a frugal choice! Today I’m bringing you a company with a mission based on making “going green” not only easy, but also inexpensive! EcoMistic is a company that you’ll want to do some shopping with, especially if you are on the lookout for economical ways to lighten your footprint on this earth.

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I love the name of the company, because it is a blend of two wonderful terms: eco-friendly and optimistic. From their site, “One who has a positive outlook on the future of our planet is to be
EcoMistic.” I love it, and I hope that I’m an EcoMistic person in my day to day life!

EcoMistic has waded through much of what is being offered on the “green” market today, and has sought out the smartest products that are eco-friendly and kind to your wallet, all at the same time! Every product in their store is useful and high quality. I know I saw several things on their site that I’d love to start using in my home!

I purchased some holiday gifts through EcoMistic, and my invoice included a personal note from an employee who put together my order about how he personally owns one of the products I purchased and how much he loves it. I thought that was a really cool and personal touch and showed me that EcoMistic is a company run by real people who really care about customer service. Take that, Amazon!

If you are shopping around for something green for yourself or someone else, EcoMistic has a lot of great things to offer. Some of my top picks include the odor neutralizing carpet shake (never seen a green version of this type of product!) and the Water Week bottle set, which offers 5 really cute REUSABLE water bottles, so you are set for the week!

Buy it!: I think EcoMistic is a perfect holiday shopping destination. I know I love getting gifts that are super cool and are actually useful. And if they can save me some money over time? That’s a winning gift, to me! Be sure to check out the money saving packages they offer!

Win it!: EcoMistic wants to give one super lucky Stuff Parents Need reader a water bottle makeover unlike any you’ve known before! You’re going to snag those amazing Water Week water bottles I mentioned earlier in the post! Woo hoo! The contest will run until December 10th at 11:59pm EST when a winner will be selected using Random.org. The winner will have 48 hours to respond to winning notification before the prize is forfeited and a new winner is selected. Open to residents of the United States. Limit one entrant per household, please.

Mandatory entry: Tell me about one product you own that saves you money AND that is good for the environment!
My answer: For all but my cloth diapers, I make my own laundry detergent (using Ivory, Washing Soda and Borax) for mere pennies per load, and the ingredients are much more eco-friendly than the stuff you find in most stores!

Additional entries:
1. Sponsor love: “Like” Ecomistic on Facebook
2. Blogger love: Follow Stuff Parents Need on Twitter

Be sure to enter my other current giveaways, found on the sidebar of my homepage.

Disclosure: I purchased the products reviewed myself, though I did receive a discount on my purchase in exchange for my honest review. The opinions expressed here are strictly my own.