Monday, March 28, 2011

One to grow on ...plant paper?



Living green can be easy if you incorporate things slowly. 

No need to be dramatic about ...keep it simple and your environmental conscious will become second nature.

It's easy to ignite your earth friendly habits by making a couple changes like using a ceramic mug daily instead of Styrofoam or paper cup, using household items in multiple ways, or writing notes, invitations, promoting your business or your "to do" list on plant paper instead of regular paper.

Think before you buy the next notepad and purchase seed paper instead.

Grow A Note


If you are wondering, how do they do that? According to Green Field Paper, each note is a custom blended wildflower mixture to produce Grow A Note® plantable handmade paper. Some notes are made of catnip and miniature sunflowers and some are made of a variety of custom infusions like forget-me-nots, spruce tree, lettuce, grasses and vegetables....sounds like a mixed salad at a raw bar but it's better than that because it's natural.

Once you are done with the note, you can grow it. How does one do that? 

Each card is generously embedded with a special mixture of wildflower seeds that will grow just about anywhere.  The back of each card is printed with easy planting instructions, and the paper will recycle naturally into the soil as the seedlings grow!   Simply, plant them in the soil and watch your paper grow.

Greenfield Paper Picture (2 weeks in soil)




Shoptobegreen is proud to carry Green Field Paper products and we love the fact they truly care about our planet. 

Cheers!

Saturday, March 12, 2011

Shoptobegreen - Earth Friendly Favorites

by Katy Green

Check out our Earth Friendly products highlights of the month. We select products that represent all the elements water, earth, fire and air. Take your time to peruse, shop and enjoy your day.



 

Friday, March 11, 2011

Eco Friendly Wedding Registry...waste not ..want not!

by Katy Green
shoptobegreen.com


At times I wonder if the plethora of "green" information available on the web and the hundreds of books on how to make your wedding eco-chic weddings or eco-friendly weddings is green overkill.


Earth Friendly Wedding Tips


Is a total green wedding too much of a challenge? Can you really make a difference?  Yes, but you don't need to make your wedding plans more complicated by going completely green. It may cost you more or not depending on your creativity and bargain hunting savvy. 


I have shared several ways to incorporate organic wedding items like a green wedding dress or vintage favors or eco-invites to make it easy.


One of the things that I want to highlight this time is the Green Gift Wedding Registry for all eco-conscious brides:


Eco-Friendly Wedding Registry Tips:


  • Make two lists, the first list is stuff you really need and the second is stuff you want and be honest with each other. You may be surprised at the final result.
  • Choose eco-friendly honeymoons or wedding venues. For more check out our favorite eco-wedding venues page.
  • Start a fund for one of your favorite non profit organization like Nature Conservancy.com or Greenpeace.com.
  • Add a Honeymoon Registry to the mix, instead of asking for a ton of products ask your guests to help fund your honeymoon. Try Sendusoff.com which promotes eco-friendly travel or Honeymoonwishes.com and Honeyfund.com.
  • Encourage your guests to help with one of your green initiatives like recycling. Provide recycling tips for your guests via email in lieu of your wedding.
  • Sign up for stores that offer you gifts for months instead of one time like eating at your favorite restaurant or shopping for food. Asking for gift cards is a great way to reduce waste. WholeFoods offers a $500 gift card. The Organic Wine Company offers 3 bottles of organic wine for 50.00 a month if you join their wine club (which is more than most) and you only have to commit for three months.
  • Alternative Gifts are great for a wedding registry and these requests can be included on certain gift registries that allow you to post whatever you want like dog sitting for those romantic date nights or tickets to your favorite game. There are many ways to enjoy non-material gifts.

Green Wedding Reception - dailygreen.com


Don't have time to click on all the links, it is okay we listed all the sites (and a little more) below for your perusal and to bookmark.

Shoptobegreen.com Registry

Tuesday, March 8, 2011

Organic Cup O' Joe is great for shiny hair

by The Greenista
shoptobegreen.com

The best way to preserve the environment is to precycle so use products in your home in many ways instead of one.


Certified organic coffee (organic coffee has less chemicals) which is healthier for you, no pesticides, more antioxidants, tastes great, less bitterness, great for flavoring cakes (ground coffee) boost your hair color and shine.Organic coffee improves the shine of dull gray hair.

Certified Organic Coffee Shine Recipe: Note: Use Ground Coffee or Espresso not instant coffee (has additives)

Mix:
  • 1 cup of brewed coffee 
  • 2 tbsp of Certified organic ground coffee
  • 2 cups of  your favorite leave in conditioner
Some sites claim use (2-4 cups or even 8 cups) there are many different hair types -  the thicker and longer the hair the more cups of coffee you will need. I would experiment.

This is not for long term conditioning...

If you prefer to keep it simple then ignore the recipe above and pour coffee on dry hair before you shampoo or after you shampoo but always before you condition. Leave it in you hair for 20 minutes. You hair will smell like coffee unless you rinse it out thoroughly.

If you want to preserve you hair color rinse out with beer or apple cider vinegar then rinse again.

Some obvious things to remember when rinsing with coffee:
  • Don't pour on your hair when the coffee is hot.
  • Don't use on light hair or bleached hair
  • Coffee stains so use a hair towel.
  • Use Lukewarm water for rinsing out coffee.