Filtered Water Bottle

I was out Christmas shopping and found the coolest thing .......... Liv Pure fit & fresh filtered water bottle. The bottle filters 50% of chlorine from tap water and you can fill the bottle on the go where ever you are. I bought one for myself and several as gifts. The box advertises that it keeps up to 500 bottles out of the landfills. It is a great alternative when you are at the gym or out for the day. Fit & Fresh is BPA free and also plastic #4 which is a safe number. Instead of trowing away the bottle, you can buy replacement filters. I purchased the bottles at Walgreens but you can look at their website above for other locations.

Green Christmas Ideas

I was thinking what our family could do to be more green this Christmas. I suggested an artificial Christmas tree; however, the idea was vetoed by my husband and daughter. We have had the tradition of a real tree for many years and I must admit, they smell wonderful. So unfortunately, I lost that one.

However, we have done a significant amount of shopping online this year. It was not only convenient but cost effective.. many retailers are offering great deals online. It just made sense to take advantage of the online specials, shop at our convenience without the crowds and then sit back and packages arrive. What a great way to shop!

My next idea was for teacher gifts. Every year I wonder what to buy. The dilema is to give them something they will use - while letting them know how much they are appreciated. So, this year I gave our teachers Basic H2, a super concentrated non-toxic cleaner and a Christmas ornament. One personal and one not so personal but more practical gift and something I know they will use and hopefully think of our family when they do. Giving gifts of health this Christmas.

p.s. when I was out Christmas shopping... I finally bought a set of glass drinking glasses to replace all the plastic ones I recycled last month. I love knowing they are safe.

Teens and Toxic Skin Care Products

As a mother of a teen, it can be difficult to limit their skin care, cosmetic and fragrence choices to only those you know are safe. Being a teen is hard enough (I do remember what it was like); they have a lot of things on their mind and safety and ingredients are usually not top of the list. However, we know it is so important to watch what we put on our skin - think about the nicotene patch and birth control patch - both provide medicine through our skin. Everything that we put on our skin is absorbed the same way... good or bad. If you are like me, I have bought my teen safe skin care and cosmetics; however, I still get questions and I don't think there is a complete buy-in on my daughter's part. Good news! A free ebook is downloadable from: http://www.gonando.com/healthier-lifest... that lists and identifies the major toxic, synthetic chemical ingredients that we should be concerned about and that could appear on personal care labels. Most teenagers are not always open to mom's recommendations; however, if we can persuade them to read a resource where they can learn about the health risks on their own... that may be a different story. I know I will again be filling my teens stocking with organic safe alternatives and hopefully she will soon understand and appreciate more fully why I don't allow her to wear what "everyone else" is wearing at school. I am sure there are a few other mean moms at school just like me.