Tree Hugging Family » green-holiday-gift

This Year Give Reusable Bags for the Holidays!

Jennifer — Wed, 17 Dec 2008 02:00:17 +0000

Reusable bags make awesome holiday gifts. You can stuff them with candy treats or cookies, and this is a gift that can be, and actually will be used for years and years. You can help your friends and family stay green or go green with a great bag.

I found some really nice reusable bag options – pretty ones that would make great gifts this year…

Wild Flowers Organic Cotton Eco Lunch Bag from Art And Philanthropy

Eco-friendly Hemp Bag with Queen Anne’s Lace (Pistachio) from Uzura.

Set of 3 Waterproof Eco-Friendly Snack and Sandwich bags from LMarcacci.

Peace Paisley Tote from Blue Monday.

Super cute Eco-Friendly Tote Bags from Mountains of the Moon which I first saw at The Greenset.

If none of these is quite your bag (pardon the pun) check out the Tree Hugging Family Green Holiday Gift Guide or read the following posts for more options.

Why yes, Tree Hugging Family DOES have a thing for reusable bags. Did you notice?

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Green Beauty Review & Gift Idea: Verikira Naturals Cinnamon & Clove Shower Steamer

Jennifer — Sun, 07 Dec 2008 22:20:18 +0000

Hey folks, I recently reviewed this product at Green Beauty & Style Slices, but think this would make a great holiday green gift, so I’m re-posting the review for readers here.

Product: Cinnamon & Clove Comfort Natural Aroma Shower Steamer from Verikira Naturals

Ingredients: Sodium Bicarbonate, Citric Acid, Calcium Sulfate, Sodium Borate, Witch Hazel, and Essential Oils

Basics: This product is a shower steamer, which means you unwrap the steamer, place it in the far corner of your shower (away from the water), and as the heat and moisture activates the steamer, the essential oils are released into your shower, creating an aromatherapy shower experience.

Company information: Verikira Naturals creates specially formulated products for home and body, using natural and organic ingredients, essential oils, vitamins, minerals, and extracts from flowers, herbs, fruits, leaves, and roots. Verikira Naturals products are certified by the Vegan Cosmetics Organization and they follow the Natural Ingredient Resource Center (NIRC) criteria for labeling natural ingredients and products.

Two nice company perks include their handy consumer Education Center and their Pink Grapefruit Pink Ribbon Collection which supports breast cancer research. They also won a 2007-2008 American Package Design Awards Certificate of Excellence.

[Steamers also come in Peppermint Awakening and Eucalyptus Revival]

What I think:

I really liked these shower steamers. I tested two of them. One when I was healthy and one after I caught this flu I’m dealing with. Both times the steamer was a nice shower addition, but when you’re sick, it’s REALLY nice. I’ve felt terrible for a week, and this made my shower nice and relaxing, even though I’m tired and coughing. Cinnamon is a natural flu and cold fighter, and while of course, the shower steamer didn’t cure my flu, it did relax my senses and thus help ease up the body aches.

Other pros:

Subtle scent: Because they’re made with essential oils vs. chemical fragrance, the scent is subtle, calming, and lingering, without being overpowering. I like heavy scents, actually, and while this was scented enough for my taste, it would also be chill enough for someone not into heavy scents.

Easy to use – no mixing oils, no whipping up anything, just unwrap, and place.

Beautiful packaging – perfect as is for gift giving – no wrap required, thus saving paper resources. The steamers especially are nice, because they come in a long box, that would fit nicely into a stocking OR you could place individual steamers in many stockings or gift baskets.

Bonus – it left my bathroom smelling delicious for a couple of days after I used it. Too bad they don’t make home cleaning products!

No stain – my first steamer didn’t get all the way used up, but it didn’t sit and stain my shower either, it washed away with plain water.

Product cons:

I’m not sure about the recyclable of the box. There’s no recycling label on it. The label, foil, and paper decoration inside the box are for sure recyclable, but the box is an odd material. I couldn’t find info on it, but I’ll still try to recycle it. UPDATE: After posting this I heard back from the company who notes, “The shower steamer frosted box is made with 100% virgin polypropylene which is recyclable and Verikira Naturals tries extremely hard to use recyclable packaging at all times. Also, the crinkle paper inside is also recyclable.“ Nice. So, now we know, and this con becomes a full on pro.

I think that if you’re really into green living, one whole shower steamer is too much. I take semi-quick showers to save water and the first steamer I used was only half gone by the time I was ready to jump out. My suggestion is to cut them in half. Which is a con, considering they don’t tell you this, but a pro, in that the product lasts longer. The only way you’ll get through one of these per shower is if you take REALLY long showers.

Safety note: These look like brightly wrapped candies. My seven year old son thought they were little chocolate oranges. Because my son is well-past the eat anything stage, I’m not concerned. If you have little ones though, this is a product to keep tucked away.

Cinnamon & Clove Shower Steamer score:

Five out of five pretty trees! I liked these a lot. They wouldn’t be on my list of products to buy right away, for myself, just because I have a basket full of essential oils. However, I would absolutely give these as a gift to someone. Great for birthdays and holidays. I also think that out of the box, they’d make cute wedding, or baby shower favors, along with other treats.

$24 – Cinnamon & Clove Comfort Natural Aroma Shower Steamer

+ Verikira Naturals

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Organic Holiday Cookies!

Jennifer — Sun, 09 Nov 2008 21:13:55 +0000

Hey tree huggers! I’m a wee bit behind here because on Thursday, I thought it was Wednesday – Peggy set me straight (see what happens when she takes off). In any case I’ll be back with some fresh posts tomorrow.

But to entertain you, how about a super cool link? I posted 10 Amazing Organic Holiday Cookies at another blog of mine, and it’s a great post. You will not believe all the beautiful eco-friendly holiday cookies I found.

Perfect post for gift ideas or you holiday organic party. Here’s a sample taste… (you know you want to visit – click that picture).

Via Beautiful Sweets

November current events at Tree Hugging Family – themes, reviews, news, and more…

[image via Buy Nothing Day]

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Green Gift Guide: Gift for the Eco-Newbie

Jennifer — Wed, 14 Nov 2007 02:02:25 +0000

It’s not bad to be a newbie when it comes to green. All green newbies have one outstanding trait in common — they recently made a decision that their actions do matter to the planet and to the well-being of other humans. It’s a good thing to be new at this. There’s lots of fun surrounding this learning curve.

If you know someone who want to incorporate more green and doesn’t know where to start or if you just want to spread the word to family and friends who haven’t ever given green a thought than Greensender boxes can help.

This is by no means an all inclusive green gift; in that there’s so much more to going green than what comes in a Greensender box. However, if you’d like someone to start using actions to promote green this is a gift that steps in the right direction.

The Greensender Box is a box you can send to anyone that includes:

An eco-friendly aluminum SIGG water bottle.
A reusable grocery bag.
An energy-efficient cfl light bulb.
An organic cotton t-shirt.

It puts green into context more so than just talking about it. When someone gets this box they realize that these are some tools that can get them on a greener path. Visit Greensender to learn more.

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