If you have the cutest eco-tot on the whole planet you should enter – I know some of our readers here have super cute tots so this means you. Plus the prize is really great…

The winning Eco-Cutey will be featured on Inhabitots and Inhabitat, and will receive an Inhabitat shirt and a $50 gift certificate to the Inhabitat Shop! The Inhabitat shop has all sorts of amazing eco-gear, clothing, and decor items for adults and little ones, so winning means you could kick off summer with some new eco-friendly items.

To enter all you have to do is sign up for the Inhabitots newsletter and upload your eco-cutey’s photo in the comment section of the contest post. If you enter and win let me know – that would rock.

Enter the contest – good luck!

[image via Inhabitots]

Post from: Tree Hugging Family

Because the Moonpads Reusable Menstrual Pads Giveaway was extremely successful, and because we had so many amazing comments, Annie Rose, maker of Moonpads, wanted to offer up a little something extra for all the contestants who didn’t win.

———————————————————————————————————–

The deal:

FREE SHIPPING on Moonpads now through March 15th, 2009.

How to snag this deal:

Type in code “thf” in the notes section when you place your order and Annie Rose will send you a refund for shipping via PayPal.

———————————————————————————————————–

VERY cool! This makes right now an extra great time for you to try Moonpads.

Head over to Annie Rose’s official Moonpad shop and grab some Moonpads with free shipping. Plenty of cute designs are available.

[image via Moonpads]

Post from: Tree Hugging Family

The bad news - there can only be two winners. Bummer. However, If you’re not a winner, I urge you to check out Moonpads anyhow – they’re a great deal in the long run, and Annie Rose (creator of Moonpads) even has seconds offered up at times.

Now, just as a recap here’s what our two winners will receive: a great starter gift pack from Moonpads Reusable Menstrual Pads. Each of our winners will get to choose her choice of 3 reusable pads in any style or color available.

And our two randomly drawn winners are…

Samantha Pruitt who said, “i think this a pretty interesting idea, ever since i heard about it i’ve been wanting to try it out. The materials of usual pads sometimes irritate my skin, so i think this would really help with that.”

AND

Melissa D who said, “I have to admit the idea of reusable Menstrual Pads is something I’ve never imagined! And now you have me thinking about all the waste involved in disposable pads. What a fabulous green idea!”

Congratulations to Samantha and Melissa! I’ll be emailing you with further details by tomorrow. I’ll need to hear back from you within a week or I’ll have to choose an alternate winner.

Again thanks to everyone who participated and many hugs to Annie Rose of Moonpads for sponsoring such a successful green giveaway here at Tree Hugging Family.

Post from: Tree Hugging Family

• They don’t carry the cons of conventional products.
• In your life you’ll go through just how many pads and tampons. Tossing all those in the trash is such a huge shock to the planet. in your life.
• Reusable pads save you time. No running to the store at the last minute – or even each month.
• Need a $ shock about non-reusable pads: Disposable Pad or Tampon Cost Pad Calculator. You’ll save BIG bucks going with reusable pads.
  
• Good reusable pads last forever. As I’ve noted here before, in eight some odd years I’ve bought new exactly twice, and only twice because I bought two different kinds. That’s a huge monetary savings.

Here are some non-disposable options:

• Moonpads
• Glad Rags
• The Keeper
• Luna Pads
• The Diva Cup
• Make-It-Yourself Menstrual Pads
• Pleasure Puss Menstrual Pads – Singles
  
• Sckoon Organic Cotton Cloth Reusable Menstrual / Postpartum Pads

You can also find plenty of other reusable options on Etsy – just do a search for reusable pads.

If you’ve got any other pros of reusable pads, let me know in the comments. Next up winners of the Moonpads Reusable Menstrual Pads Giveaway.

Post from: Tree Hugging Family

Hey there folks – today I’ve got a review of Moonpads for you. In case you missed it, there’s an excellent Moonpads giveaway going on right now. After the review make sure you enter.

Product: Moonpads Reusable Menstrual Pads. I took a look at the following Moonpads – panty liner, regular absorbancy, and extra absorbent.

Basics: I posted all the basic product stats in a previous post. To learn more about these pads read: Moonpads Reusable Menstrual Pads – Product Profile.

What I think:

Product pros:

Thin and work! I hate reusable pads that are bulky (my major issue with many brands). These are thin, comfortable, and in spite of that work well. They don’t get sticky or icky. Now in the TMI arena, I do have lighter periods so I can’t say they’ll work as well for someone with a heavy cycle, BUT my guess is that they will. I played around with the extra absorbent pad – I poured some nice h2O on it just to see how much it holds without getting too soggy, and it held quite a lot considering how thin it is. The panty liner was awesome too – very thin.

Wash well. I ran these through every load of wash I’ve done over the last few weeks – just to push them to their limit, (I followed the included directions) and they held up great. No fraying, no buttons popping off, no major color fading. These are very well made pads. While I can’t offer a long term opinion, being that I haven’t had them for years, you can tell that these will last a long time.

Non-mobile: Some reusable (and some non-reusable pads) move around. These stay put. The snaps work well. These won’t work as well with your tiniest undies, but who wears those during their period anyhow?

Great instructions included: This is a key point that many reusable pad brands miss. Not all of us know how to care for pads. These pads came with an easy to read, well thought out care and use manual. I really like that extra touch.

Best ever designs – seriously where else are you gonna find sock monkey pads, cute cherry pads, and all these other styles. I like that some designs are serious and some are playful. I also like all the color options. It’s easy for your period to get a little ho-hum, so these pads add a little perk to that time of the month.

Cost-effective: You can buy pads over and over and over. OR you can buy Moonpads that will last a good long while. Hmmm? Not too hard a choice. These pads are extremely well-priced for reusable pads plus are guaranteed for five years.

Example: One full collection of Moonpads will set you back about $80. However. If you factor in a five year life, that’s about one -two packs of non-reusable pads a month. If you get disposable chlorine-free pads that’s an overall cost of $200-$400 over five years. That’s if you buy bulk. You can save $100-$300 plus with Moonpads.

Some other random eco-perks I liked about these pads:

• Made with organic cotton.
• Minimal packaging used for shipping.
• Non-toxic which is healthier for your body.
• Save the landfills!
• No major production toxins produced.

Product cons:

Well, to be honest, I’m not sure I found any cons. Thus far, in life, Glad Rags have been my fave reusable pads hands down, and like Glad Rags, the only con I can think of is when you machine dry Moonpads they can get a little un-flat. Not bunchy, they just don’t lay flat. You can solve this by taking them out of the dryer right away or hanging them to dry.

Overall score:

Five out of five happy little trees. They work, they’re cute, and they’re good for the planet. I’d rate these along side my old favorite reusable pads Glad Rags. FYI: Moonpads have better design features though. They’re way more fun.

If you’re interested in trying Moonpads, enter the giveaway.

Post from: Tree Hugging Family

WHAT IT IS:

ParentsDigest is the perfect service for parents who feel totally overwhelmed by the sheer amount of baby and parenting books out there. Their motto is, “We read the books so you don’t have to.” Nice for a busy parent. Like speedy parent Cliff-Notes.

HOW PARENTSDIGEST WORKS:

ParentsDigest is a an online subscription service offering book summaries of popular parenting books. The experts at ParentsDigest “Read the best and most popular books about parenting and family health, summarize them and deliver them over the Internet to subscribers.”

If you’re a subscriber you get to view summaries of the books you choose. Each summary is a professionally written, concise synopsis of all key concepts of each book. ParentsDigest extracts the most important facts and points found in each parenting or family health book and write them up into brief, but comprehensive, abstracts of approximately 3,500 words (about eight letter-size pages). Since this is obviously much smaller than the actually book you can read a summary in about 30 minutes vs. days. You can create a sample account to view free summaries. You’ll need an email address.

The company adds new parenting book summaries frequently, and has books suitable to fit all parent lifestyles and needs. Categories of parenting books range from babies to teens, to organic and green parenting issues, to pregnancy, to child health plus well-being, and more.

WHAT SUBSCRIBERS GET:

As an annual subscriber, you get two summaries delivered to your e-mail monthly. After signing up, you can cancel within 60 days for a full refund – read the Money Back Guarantee.

WHAT THE SERVICE COSTS:

The service is a surprisingly good deal (under $6 a month for the year) – you get two book summaries a month and there’s no way 24 books a year will cost you less than $6 a month. If you’re not sure this is a perfect service for you, I’d check out their special three month subscription option. For under $20, you get an introductory subscription, so that you can make sure this is for you.

A GOOD DEAL FOR TREE HUGGERS:

The nice folks at ParentsDigest gathered up some books they carry, that will be especially interesting to Tree Hugging Family readers…

• Organic Baby – Simple steps for healthy living…guiding parents through the many, sometimes vexing decisions involved in creating a healthy environment for baby. Lots of detailed suggestions on non-toxic furnishings and decorating to navigate the overwhelming and toxic world of baby gear…
• Growing Up Green – In her second installment of the Green This! series, author Imus shares her tips on how to raise healthy kids. She reveals the growing number of toxins and pollutants in our environment and how they may be damaging our children’s health. There is detailed info to help us avoid many toxins
• Healthy Child/Healthy World -This important book reveals the detrimental impact many consumer products > have upon people – especially children – animals, and our environment. This merchandise includes a wide range of items such as shampoo, carpeting, toys, > vegetables, and electronics, among others…
• Last Child In The Woods – It is critically important that we recognize and never forget that nature is > all around us. It can be found in the back yard, the local park, the school yard, as well as in the woods, the desert or on the mountain side. Children need the connection with trees, and we must cultivate a love…

Visit ParentsDigest to learn more. OR enter the ParentsDigest Subscription Giveaway to win free access to this service.

[header image via ParentsDigest - baby+book image via stock.xchng]

Post from: Tree Hugging Family

Moonpads is an Etsy shop run by Annie Rose Shapero. Annie has been making her Moonpads since 2003 and they’re carried both at her own web shop and in stores across the country.

Facts about Moonpads:

Moonpads come in four sizes – a pantyliner, a regular absorbency, extra absorbent, and a long pad.

AN ORGANIC DEAL: The pads come in 100% organic cotton but just because they’re organic, you won’t pay more. Annie notes,

“All the pads in my Etsy shop are currently organic. I have made conventional cotton pads before, and I do sell conventional cotton ones to a few retail stores, but most stores choose to go with the all organic because a) why not? it’s better for the planet! and b) I don’t “upsell” organic- i charge what it literally costs me to buy organic cotton and dye it. When you factor in the percentage that stores mark up, this makes them about $0.70 more than conventional. To me, it’s utterly immoral to charge a “luxury upsell” just because a product is organic.

HOW THEY’RE MADE: Moonpads are made with organic cotton that is grown in the USA and milled in the USA by union workers. Annie hand dyes the fabric herself, and notes, “I use procion dyes. this is the safest dye i could find- it’s recommended for baby clothing and for the chemically sensitive. It creates a chemical bond with the fabric, so there are no chemical residues to get into your body. This also makes it very colorfast.”

My review will be later this week, but just to note, these pads are super thin, which is a nice design characteristic. As I’ve noted before, some reusable pads are so thick they seem like a diaper, and none of us want that (well, unless just postpartum). These pads stay closed with a snap – some are basic snaps and some are very pretty little colored snaps (see below).

PRICE: Moonpads vary in price from about $6.50 to $7.75 and whole sets are available as well. Additionally, Annie offers seconds (when available) which is a great way to score a deal.

STYLE & DESIGN: The best thing about Moonpads are all the many styles they come in. Many styles are offered in all sorts of cool designs. Visit Moonpads to see them all.

HOW THEY WORK: Moonpads can be used like any other menstrual pads. You simply wrap them round your undies, snap, and go. There are two washing options; rinse, dry, and wash OR soak and wash. Instructions for both washing methods are easy and are included on a brochure that arrives with your pads.

Here’s a visual tour:

Top view…

Bottom view…

Later I’ll post a review of these pads, and some reasons why you might want to switch to reusable pads vs. disposables. If you want to learn more asap, visit the Moonpads Reusable Menstrual Pads website.

If you’d like to win your own Moonpads enter the Moonpads Reusable Menstrual Pads Giveaway.

Post from: Tree Hugging Family

If like many parents, you never have time to sit down and read all those books you keep meaning to read, well, then I have a great giveaway for you.

What you can win:

Two lucky Tree Hugging Family readers will each win a 90 day free subscription to ParentsDigest. Which to sum up is like six free parenting books. ParentsDigest (in the shortest of explanations) offers speedy parenting book cliff notes. Their motto is, “We read the books so you don’t have to.”

A little more info: The experts at ParentsDigest “Read the best and most popular books about parenting and family health, summarize them and deliver them over the Internet to subscribers.” You choose the books (from TONS of choices) and summaries (brief, but comprehensive, abstracts of approximately 3,500 words) are delivered to your e-mail. Later this week I’ll post a big review about this company – but I’ll tell you this now, ParentsDigest is perfect for busy parents, and a very cool service.

Contest duration:

Now through February 15th 2009, midnight, my time (west coast time).

Who can enter:

If you’re not me, aka Jennifer who writes this blog, you can enter.

HOW TO ENTER:

1. Please visit our sponsor’s website: ParentsDigest – take a peek and see what kind of books ParentsDigest offers. And yup – they even have green parenting book choices.
2. Come back here.
3. Leave a comment in this post’s comment area – TELL ME: One cool book you saw at ParentsDigest, a book that you’d love to know more about. Any book at all.

DO NOT: Leave a comment like this, “HEY I want to win.” I’ll delete it. I want to know at least one book you’re interested in.

Rules if you win:

On Feb 16th I’ll post two winners. I’ll email you for your e-mail information. If you don’t email me back within five days, I’ll award the prize to an alternate winner. Why? Well, I’ve had some issue with people emailing me back for contests. If you don’t want anyone to have your email info please don’t waste my time by entering.

Good luck!

Stay tuned because I’ll be doing a company review of ParentsDigest later this week and we’ll be looking at some of the nice eco-parenting book choices available there.

[all images via ParentsDigest]

Post from: Tree Hugging Family

Don’t you think it’s time you tried something new? Like reusable menstrual pads? It’s a bright new year, and that means a new chance to make a positive impact on the planet. Reusable menstrual pads are one major option you can choose that help to create a more sustainable earth. BUT I get that it’s a big leap for some of you. That’s why I was thrilled when Annie Rose of Moonpads Reusable Menstrual Pads got in touch with me, chatted, and agreed to a nice little giveaway here at Tree Hugging Family.

What you can win:

Two lucky winners will receive a wonderful starter gift pack from Moonpads Reusable Menstrual Pads. Each of our winners will get to choose her choice of 3 reusable pads in any style or color available. Owner Annie makes the following pads to choose from – a pantyliner, a regular absorbency, extra absorbent, and a long pad. The pads come in 100% organic cotton and are super pretty.

Why enter:

1. Reusable pads are a huge step and since we’ve talked about this here before I know that some of you are totally icked out at the thought of reusable pads. Here’s the deal. You can think one thing, but until you try it, why knock it. There are amazing benefits to reusable pads and this company in particular is very eco-cool.
2. If you’re that girl considering reusable pads, but you’re just not sure if you want to take that leap, now is your chance to test drive some reusable pads – risk free.

Contest duration:

Now through February 15th 2009, midnight, my time (west coast time).

Who can enter:

If you’re not me, aka Jennifer who writes this blog, you can enter.

How to enter:

1. Please visit our sponsor’s website: Moonpads Reusable Menstrual Pads – take a peek and see what Moonpads offers.
2. Come back here.
3. Leave a comment in this post’s comment area – TELL ME: Why you are interested in trying reusable Moonpads.

That’s it. The rules are simple. I just want to know why reusable pads are something you’re considering or how they already fit into your life. A comment like this, “HEY I want to win.” tells me nothing, frankly is pretty lame, and I’ll delete it.

Rules if you win:

On Feb 16th I’ll post two winners. I’ll email you for your mailing information. If you don’t email me with your information within five days, I’ll award this super cool prize to an alternate winner. Why? Well, I’ve had some issue with people emailing me back for contests. If you don’t want to give me your address please don’t waste my time by entering. I do need an address or we can’t get a prize to you, it’s that simple.

Good luck!

Stay tuned because I’ll be doing a company and product review of Moonpads later this week and we’ll be looking at the benefits of reusable pads over disposables.

[all images via Moonpads Reusable Menstrual Pads]

Post from: Tree Hugging Family

First of all, the bad news: due to technical issues (behind the blog), there’s not going to be a giveaway this month as I said.

The good news: Barring tech issues that just keep on going (doubtful), there will be two giveaways to kick off the month of February here. I’ve got two different and interesting prizes lined up for a total of four readers, so stay tuned.

Mainly, I just wanted to give you a heads up, but not to waste a post, I thought I’d share three cool links too.

Yesterday, we looked at how to reuse toilet paper tubes, and so I thought I should mention that another way to green your toilet paper use is to put the roll on the toilet paper holder correctly. According to TreeHugger, there IS a right way and a wrong way (someone actually did a study about it).

Junk Creation has a clever Prescription Bottle Reuse idea – it’s a sort of ah ha moment.

Mother Earth’s Garden has a homemade recipe for Horehound Drops. You could easily make these completely organic and natural. Plus, there’s no packaging like typical throat drops, so this is a very green remedy choice.

Post from: Tree Hugging Family