Eco-Friendly & Green Living Blog

One thing that’s sure to make a winter night feel cosy to me is lighting up a candle, and now all I use are soy or beeswax candles – they don’t have any nasty things like carcinogens.

Dirt Candles are my latest indulgence. Sure, at first glance the name sounds strange, but dirt is, as the website says, “where nature begins and ends,” and Dirt Candles are “formulated from beginning to end with natural things.”

The 10-oz candles made of GMO-free organic soy wax and natural essential oils, are lead- and soot-free and have a natural cotton wick. They come in 25 fun scents like Take It Easy (Bulgarian & English lavenders, Mexican and Madagascar vanillas) and Beach Bum (seawater, kelp, fresh rain, white sand), and the metal lids ensure those scents remain fresh.

I like them because the ones I tried out (including Fountain of Youth, After Hours and Open Arms) are subtle and not overpowering, a big plus in my books. I like some scent, but being knocked over by any too-powerful perfume is not only irritating to me, it’s also potentially harmful since it can trigger a painful migraine. There’s also an unscented version, cheekily called Skinny Dip.

The paper packaging is 100% post-consumer recycled (and recyclable) and printed with soy inks and the labels are made from corn. The recycled-metal lids and glass are all recyclable, but hold onto the glass containers – after you finish burning the candle and wash them out, they make nice tumblers for drinking!

An added bonus: a portion of the money made from each candle sold goes to charity; for a list of the charities funded click here.

Available at: www.dirtcandles.com, as well as Pistachio stores in Toronto (check out www.epistachio.com)

Price: approx. $31.50

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Toronto’s Bloor Street Diner deserves a gold medal in my books for being the first restaurant to join the innovative Green on Tap program: it will offer customers filtered water in the usual bottled water options (still or sparkling), the customers will receive their water in reusable 1L bottles, and $1 of the $4 cost will to toward the cost of transforming the Brick Works in Toronto’s Don Valley.

It’s estimated the initiative at this one restaurant alone will save some 12,000 bottles each year – absolutely mindboggling! Just think what would happen if more and more restaurants took part!

For more info, check out www.greenontap.ca. or click here for info on the Bloor Street Diner.

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I am in love! It happened this morning in the shower, when I tried a sample of John Masters Blood Orange & Vanilla Body Wash that I’d recently received.

What a way to start a Monday morning in February! The delicious scent transported me to a tropical land, far far away from frigid Toronto!

Plus, the body wash, like all John Masters products, is certified organic, and is also paraben- petroleum- and sulfate-free, has no artificial colours or frgrances, and isn’t tested on animals.

Sheer heaven!

Available at: www.johnmasters.ca

Price: $25.40

I am a lip balm maniac. There! The truth is out! I have to have some with me at all times or I panic (OK, I don’t actually panic, but I can’t stand the feeling of dry lips!).

So when I heard about and tried Softlips Pure Natural Lip Balms, I was thrilled. Made with 100% all-natural, food-grade ingredients, they’re perfect for keeping your lips soft, smooth and pucker ready. Packed with things like aloe vera, beeswax, vitamin E, and shea butter oil, almond, jojoba and grape seed oils to protect, moisturize and condition, they also come in two yummy flavours, Citrus and my personal fave, Bergamot, as well as a fragrance-free version.

Available at: Wal-Mart, Loblaws, Zellers, A&P, Value Mart, London Drugs or visit www.mentholatum.ca for availability in your area.

Price: $4.75

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You might ask yourself, Why bother switching to electronic bills? Well, not only will you save yourself an overstuffed mailbox, you’ll also have to trek less crap out to the curb on recycling day.

And you’ll save tons of time. I can certainly testify to that. Almost all of my bills are paid automatically, which means I now write a total of just two checks a month (those two can’t be paid any other way, unfortunately). So the only time I spend on bills is reconciling my statements, which I would have done anyway, and zero time otherwise. Yes, that’s right, zero, nada, zip!

And, if you need even more incentive, check out www.payitgreen.org. There you’ll find a fun calculator that will tell you, if you enter the number of paper bills you receive and the number of paper payments you make, how much you’ll save on the following if you sign up for electronic bills and payments:

• pounds of paper
• gallons of water
• gallons of gas
• pounds of greenhouse gases

The calculator will also tell you what that amount of greenhouse gases is equivalent to in terms of miles not driven in a car, trees planted and grown for 10 years and the number of square feet of forest preserved.

How cool is that?!

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Senna Loveseat, Water Collection, approx. $4,650

Love the furniture designs by Vancouver-based designer Ami McKay – not only are they fabulously chic, they’re super natural to boot!

They’re built in Canada, will last you a lifetime and look so good they’re sure to make you look amazing sitting on them, too, don’t you think?

The following materials are why the pieces boast such amazing green credentials:

• biodegradable, natural latex rubber
• FSC-certified hardwood frames
• organic cotton batting
• jute and latex webbing
• certified wool fabrics that are coloured with organic dyes
• non-VOC finishes
• water-based, non-toxic glues


Cyrilla Arm Chair, Fire Collection, approx. $1,780

Available at: www.purebyamimckay.com

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A couple of posts back, I mentioned Green & Black’s Ginger bar, which I first encountered a few years ago on a trip to Ireland. I’ve been in love with the company’s organic chocolate since then. It’s the perfect blend of flavour and values – what’s not to like??

Whether or not you’re going to be celebrating Valentine’s Day this year, this fondue recipe is sheer comfort in a bowl on a cold day, so enjoy!

Green & Black’s Amaretto-Almond Fondue

1 100 gr (3.5 oz) Green & Black’s Milk Chocolate and Almond bar
1/8 cup plus 1 tbsp water
2 tbsp (1 oz) Amaretto

conventional method

Break up the chocolate and put in a saucepan with the water. Over low heat stir with a small wire whisk until ingredients are smooth and combined. Add the amaretto and stir. If the resulting sauce is too thick, add a few drops of water and whisk to blend. Serve with desired fruit and nuts. If fondue becomes cool and thick, microwave for 10 seconds and stir, repeat if necessary.

microwave

Break up the chocolate and put in a plastic bowl with the water. Give the mixture of ingredients 10-20 second bursts in the microwave, whisking in between. Do this until blended and warm.

Suggested dippables: Strawberries, peach slices, grapes and almonds.

Serves 2 to 3

Green & Black’s Chocolate Bars available at: Sobey’s, Metro, Loblaws, Shopper’s Drug Mart

Price: approx. $3.89

Recipe courtesy of Green & Black’s Organic Valentine’s Day 2009

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The last winner of a Go Green Works Starter Kit, including the following products, is Stacey Dempsey of Duncan, B.C.! (To see the original post announcing the contest, click here.)

• Green Works Dishwashing Liquid, Green Works Natural All-Purpose Cleaner, Green Works Natural Glass & Surface Cleaner, Green Works Natural Toilet Bowl Cleaner, Green Works Natural Dilutable Cleaner, Green Works Natural Bathroom Cleaner

If you’d still like to subscribe to my blog, just click this icon:

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Do you have a product you’d like to recommend for this blog? Email me at naturalchic@styleathome.com!

Who would have guessed that cut flowers were fraught with so many environmental concerns?? From the pesticides used to grow them, to the fungicides used to keep them from rotting, to the fact that they’re often shipped thousands of kilometres across the planet to get to you, they are so many factors in why asking a few simple questions of your florist before buying your bouquet make sense.

Are the flowers  organic or certified*? What is the certification? Do you use locally grown products where possible? Are your vases made of recycled glass?

In Vancouver, Amoda Flowers specializes in eco-friendly, sustainable, organic bouquets, and more (one of their lovely bouquets is pictured above). They also factor in the following to ensure that as many aspects of their business are as natural as possible.

• Cellophane used for wrapping and packaging is compostable and non-GMO
• Tissue paper is made from recycled paper
• Ribbon is biodegradable, and coloured with soy inks
• All printing is done on recycled or tree-free paper

So when you visit or call your florist, ask about eco-friendly flowers. More and more florists are offering them. The selection might be small, but the more people who ask, the bigger the selection will become!

Available at: www.amodaflowers.com

* If you want to know more about eco-certification for cut flowers, check out this post from Amy Stewart’s blog, Dirt By Amy Stewart. Amy is the author of Flower Confidential: The Good, the Bad, and the Beautiful in the Business of Flowers and really knows all there is to know about not only the environmental concerns behind the cut-flower industry, but also the gardening industry in general. Plus, her blog is just plan fun and informative! For more on Amy, check out www.amystewart.com.

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The third winner of a Go Green Works Starter Kit, including the following products, is Rebecca Vogan of Toronto! (To see the original post announcing the contest, click here.)

• Green Works Dishwashing Liquid, Green Works Natural All-Purpose Cleaner, Green Works Natural Glass & Surface Cleaner, Green Works Natural Toilet Bowl Cleaner, Green Works Natural Dilutable Cleaner, Green Works Natural Bathroom Cleaner

You still have a chance to win the fourth and final kit. All you have to do is be a subscriber to my blog. If you’re not a subscriber already, sign up to have the Natural Chic blog delivered directly to your e-mail inbox for a chance to win. To do so, just click this icon:

I’ll pick one more winner next week. Good luck!

Do you have a product you’d like to recommend for this blog? Email me at naturalchic@styleathome.com!

With Valentine’s Day coming up, here are some things that will add up to a very romantic – but still natural and green – evening! This sassy O Girl Babydoll from Eberjey is made from organic cotton and comes in spearmint (shown) or pink. Buy it from one of the Canadian retailers that sells Eberjey lingerie (see the site for details) or if you can’t find it at the shops, order it or another O Girl item online.
Available at: www.eberjey.com
Price: $57 (US)

Then light up the night with the sweet scent of Archipelago’s Jasmine scented candle. Made of cleaning-burning soy wax, it lasts an incredible 90 hours.
Available at: www.archipelago-usa.com
Price: $29.50 (US)

And savour some delicious Green & Black’s organic chocolate. My favourite is the Ginger bar, with real bits of ginger, but you can get all kinds of other yummy flavours, including Cherry, Espresso and Caramel. You won’t be able to resist them. I know I can’t!
Available at: Sobey’s, Metro, Loblaws, Shopper’s Drug Mart
Price: approx. $3.89

Do you have a product you’d like to recommend for this blog? Email me at naturalchic@styleathome.com!