Author: Jennifer Lance

LUSH Handmade Cosmetics prides themselves on selling “naked” products. 65% of their products are sold without packaging, making them more environmentally friendly. Furthermore, Lush is against animal testing, as you would expect.

Our Core Beliefs
We believe in making effective products from fresh, organic* fruit and vegetables, the finest essential oils and safe synthetics.

We invent our own products and fragrances. We make them fresh by hand using little or no preservative or packaging, using only vegetarian ingredients, and tell you when they were made.

We believe in buying ingredients only from companies that do not commission tests on animals and in testing our products on humans.

We believe in happy people making happy soap, putting our faces on our products and making our mums proud.

We believe in long candlelit baths, sharing showers, massage, filling the world with perfume and in the right to make mistakes, lose everything and start again.

We believe our products are good value, that we should make a profit and that the customer is always right.

* We also believe words like fresh and organic have honest meaning beyond marketing.

I’ve tried out two LUSH products:

Breath of Fresh Air Toner by LUSH: This is a nice skin toner that “tones without tightness”. It’s not my all time favorite toner, but I do like it. Perhaps it is the hint of patchouli that reminds me of my Dead tour days. I like that this product uses sea water as an ingredient.

Vanilla in the Mist Body Soap by LUSH: I’m a big vanilla fan, and I love this soap. It actually uses real vanilla pods to create a wonderful scent. Lush is also “the only cosmetics company in the world using a palm-free soap base, but we’re happy to share the formula with other cosmetics companies (we’ve already done so) so they can make the switch away from palm!”

Disclosure: We were sent the above described products to test in order to write this review. No advance assurances were given as to whether the review would be positive or negative.

With the buzz surrounding climate talks in Copenhagen next month, the news about climate change is rather grim. For example, researchers have documented Greenland has lost “1500 cubic kilometres of ice between 2000 and 2008, making it responsible for one-sixth of global sea-level rise. Even worse, there are signs that the rate of ice loss is increasing.”
1/6 of sea-level rise translates to “0.75 millimetres per year”. That may not sound like much, but year after year the effect is cumulative.

Celiac’s disease runs in my family, so we try to limit our gluten intake, even though no one has yet to show gluten sensitivity. Many of Nature’s Paths Envirokidz line of organic cereals has always been gluten-free. Some of our favorites include:

• EnviroKidz Amazon Frosted Flakes Cereal: This cereal reminds me of my old childhood favorite, only in a healthier, organic variety. You can make a delicious gluten-free Cran-Apple Gorilla Munch Crisp with this cereal!
• EnviroKidz Organic Gorilla Munch Cereal: This was one of my favorite cereals before I ever had children. The little balls stay crunchy in milk, and it has the right amount of sweetness.
• Envirokidz Organic Leapin’ Lemurs Peanut Butter & Chocolate Cereal: This would by my least favorite Envirokidz cereal, as I believe peanut butter and chocolate do not belong in breakfast, but my kids love it, and who said cereal was just for breakfast anyway?

All of these products are gluten-free, organic, vegetarian, low in sodium, and contain no preservatives or additives.

Disclosure: I was sent the above described products to try out in order to write an authentic review. Assurances were not given as to whether the review would be positive or negative.

I truly believe that one of the best gifts you can give a child are art supplies; however, even though many kid art supplies carry the “non-toxic” label, they may not be truly sustainable or natural. Clementine Art’s motto is “Non-toxic is just the beginning,” and the company was born out of a children’s art studio in Boulder, CO.

Clementine Art produces professional-quality and earth-friendly art supplies with pure, simple ingredients. Clementine’s products are colored with plant and mineral pigments instead of artificial dyes, providing an innovative solution to chemical laden, artificially colored art supplies. Clementine Art’s products do not contain any synthetic preservatives, animal byproducts, or petroleum bases, and Clementine is the first art product company to list all ingredients on its packages.

Considering how messy young children are when they create often getting supplies in their hair, skin, and even mouth, choosing quality natural products is key.  The Clementine Art Holiday Eco-Art Gift Set contains:

• Natural Soy Crayon Rocks
• Natural Soy Crayons
• Natural Glue
• Natural Modeling Dough

The vivid colors of these art supplies are wonderful, and the crayon and rock shapes are perfect for little hands. The soy crayons and rock work better than traditional crayons, and I am in love with all of the products we tried. Furthermore, Clementine Art’s packaging is made from recyclable and recycled content in a wind-powered facility.

Disclosure: We were sent a Clementine Art Holiday Eco-Art Gift Set to review without prior assurances of positive or negative opinions.

Snow season is upon us, and often neighbors are envious of each others gas-powered, polluting snow blowers that ease the burden of shoveling sidewalks and driveways. An eco-friendly version is now available that will be the envy of those competing to be the greenest on their street: the Sno Wovel Wheeled Snow Shovel.

The Sno Wovel™ is the only non-combustion alternative snow removal device performing equal to or better than a snow blower…Shoveling and snow blower injuries result in approximately 100,000 serious emergency room visits annually in North America. Cumulative injuries affect millions, resulting in lost time and productivity for recovery – all of which are now preventable without sacrificing performance. The University of Massachusetts, one of the top U.S. ergonomic research centers, has released the results of an independent study verifying that use of the patented Sno Wovel wheel-based shovel results in a 3-4 times reduction in lower back stress and cardio exertion. The innovative wheeled design allows for effortless snow clearing on all types of surfaces while avoiding twisting, bending and post snowstorm muscle aches.

I do not personally own a Sno Wovel, nor have I tried one, but I think this is an ingenious invention. According to Eco Cycle, snow blowers “send 30 percent of the unburned fuel out with the exhaust.” From noise pollution to greenhouse gas emission, traditional snow blowers are not good for the earth.

Written by the some of the great folks at DeSmogBlog, Climate Cover-Up: The Crusade to Deny Global Warming explores how such a large portion of Americans have come to believe that climate change is just a hoax. Authors Hoggan and Littlemore explain how the climate “debate” is actually a “public relations creation” and support their claims with proof, including corporate strategy papers. Unfortunately, such debate “cripples public policy and paralyzes public action”.

It seems that there are no safe compromises to be made in dealing with climate change. Denying it was wrong. Delaying action is dangerous. People who say otherwise should, at some point in the very near future, have to stand accountable for their recklessness.

It’s time to drop the hype around climate change and deal with it now. Exposing those who are responsible for creating confusion on the issue, such as Exxon Mobil that “has funneled tens of millions of dollars into denial”, is the first step, but it should also not hinder or confuse progress on true environmental policy. Thankfully, as Hogan and Littlemore write, “That tide is turning.”

In a recent study published in Psychological Science, the somewhat logical has been discovered: thinking of a loved one eases physical pain. The study’s co-author Naomi Eisenberger, assistant professor of psychology at UCLA, explains in LiveScience:

This changes our notion of how social support influences people. Typically, we think that in order for social support to make us feel good, it has to be the kind of support that is very responsive to our emotional needs. Here, however, we are seeing that just a photo of one’s significant other can have the same effect.

Using psychological support to ease pain is a natural approach anyone can adopt, reaffirming the importance of love in our lives.  I imagine even the love of a pet can substitute when human relationships go awry.

You have until Monday, November 23, 2009 to order one of these unique Caramel Apples from Mrs. Prindables in time for Thanksgiving. Loaded with chocolate, almonds, and peanut butter chips, this apple serves between eight to ten people. Mrs. Prindables also makes gourmet gift baskets.

My family tried one of the Autumn Wreath Jumbo Apples. My deprived children had never had a caramel apple before, and they didn’t know what to expect. This apple is so loaded with chocolate and peanut butter chips, it’s hard to find the apple inside. It’s a good thing a tart granny smith is inside to counter that sweetness on the outside. In my opinion, it’s a little (OK, a lot) too much. My children enjoyed it, but this apple is not made from organic ingredients and contains corn syrup (not high fructose).

Disclosure:  I was sent this product for review at no cost.  No assurances were given as to whether the review would be positive or negative in exchange for the product.