Green Your Party!

While many of us are busy ridding our homes of chemical-filled cleaners, taking our weekly recycling to the curb and trying to buy Organic when possible, there is another great way to go green!

This spring and summer you may be planning to host some BBQ's, birthday parties or maybe even a baby shower. Whatever the occasion, alway consider the greenest options when planning for your big event.

Here is a list of items to consider:

1. Email your Invites with Evite- Consider using http://www.evite.com/ as a way to send out free electronic invitations. They have hundreds of gorgeous invitations for every occasion and it's a quick and easy way to check your RSVP's and saves the cost of the invites, stamps and your precious time. All you need is an email address!

2. Use Reusable items instead of Throw-away Whenever Possible- This goes for plates, cutlery, gift wrap and decorations.

• Use real plates and cutlery for your event vs. plastic or paper tossables that end up in our landfills after one use. Paper plates also tend to become soggy and collapse. Yes, you will have to wash them but you can use them over and over and you already own them, so it won't cost a penny! Dishwashers are more efficient than hand washing so load it up and let it do all the work for you.

• Decorations and giftwrap can really make an event look spectacular. Be sure to use items you already own whenever possible. Decorate with small and large vases with flower bouquets or a single small bloom in each. Use tea lights (preferably soy-based) and reuse ribbon that you've received. String white lights for an outdoor party vs. premade paper banners. Wrap up gifts in reusable totes that are practical and also encourage your recipient to be green themselves. Loads of gift wrapping just wind up in the landfills. If you happen to have some reused gift bags and tissue at home, use that by try to avoid buying more!

3. Encourage your Guests to Recycle-Here's a chance to remind guests of the importance of recycling. Maybe they'll remember and take this tip home with them. Always keep an actual recycle bin or other plastic bin available with a recycle symbol on the front so that all aluminum cans, glass and plastic bottles will be recycled and not tossed. You can place it right next to a separate garbage bin. This also makes clean-up a breeze. Just bring it to the curb or your garage after the party.

4. Give Green- If you are hosting the party and gifts are welcomed, why not tell your gifts that green gifts are accepted. You can also list a few organizations of choice that the guest of honor might want to donate to in lieu of a gift such as http://www.worldwildlife.org/. Alternativley, guests could bring green items such as soy candles, organic cosmetics, restaurants vouchers, reusable totebags or something unique like a personalized Sigg bottle found at http://www.cafepress.com/designer/sigg/. If it's a baby shower, I recommend including this information on the invite and that purchased items are BPA-free, non-toxic, and organic. This might included some cloth diapers, organic & natural baby washes and products, glass bottles, BPA-free soothers, etc.

5. Better Thank You Notes- I strongly advocate thank you notes for those that have dropped off a gift or attended your event. Always be sure to send a heartfelt hand written note. Invites are more generic with the time, date and RSVP info, but thank you notes are personal and specific so I recommend writing vs. emailing these. If you already have thank you notes on hand, use those first before buying anything new. However, if you are in the market to buy, be sure to check to see if the cards are maid from 100% recycled paper, or close to it. This means virgin trees weren't cut down to make those notecards. Alternatively, you can make your own as well if you are crafty, from leftover papers, embellishments from other projects, this way you are reusing what you already own. If you absolutely must, e-cards are eco-friendly, free and can be sent instantly stamp-free!

Living Green While Getting Your Home Clean

Okay, so you've heard about global warming, the importance of recycling and a lot of talk about organic food. You get the idea that going green is the wave of the future but are not sure how you fit in. By making simple changes you will not only help the environment but you'll save your family and pets from toxic chemicals that are present in regular household cleaning products.

Whether you know it or not there are many products on the market that are extremely harmful to your health and that of your family and pets. These can cause many irritations to the skin, eyes and nose. Not to mention, these chemicals linger for days and weeks after you are finished using them. You wind up creating a little toxic mixture in your own home that you're breathing in all the time. This is in part due to cleaning products but also the paints we use on our walls, varnishes on our furniture and the formaldehydes and glues in our carpet-but there is hope!

New products are revolutionizing the way we clean and live in our home. These days you can buy an eco-friendly home and install anything from flooring to window treatments that are better for both you and the environment. Yes, these options are a bit more expensive but well worth it in the long run. You can't put a price on your own health and that of your family. There are also wide ranges of fun cleaning products that smell great, are non-toxic, biodegradable and won't hurt our precious earth. These ingredients do not include the harsh chemicals, that regular products have such as bleach nor do they contain sulfates or petroleum-based contents, rather they have plant-based ingredients. Why is this important? Well, let's not forget that petrol is a non-renewable resource that is quickly being depleted. Sulfates cause an overgrowth of algae in our waters and kill off fish everyday. We can do something about this!

All of these next generation products are also usually made from recyclable plastics and are recyclable themselves. They can also be reused for your other homemade cleaning concoctions such as vinegar, or water while using baking soda.

There are many new companies providing products at the moment, you might have seen some recently on Oprah. Such companies are Method Products, Seventh Generation, Melaleuca, Shaklee, and Mrs. Meyer's Clean Day. Of all of these products, I can personally attest to using a variety of each. Of all, my favorite is Method Products. A girlfriend got me to try her hand soap and I was hooked! I soon explored the mint window wash for glass and windows as well as their all purpose cleaner in such great scents as cucumber, lavender and pink grapefruit. Who wouldn't want to clean with these fun-smelling products?! What I started to realize was that while I was making a difference to our planet, I actually looked forward to cleaning with these great solutions because they smelled so wonderful AND they cleaned phenomenally well to boot! For those of you who prefer fragrance-free they also offer a line called "naked" that does not have any scent at all.

They sell their products conveniently online and in your local Target stores and some drug stores carry a range of their products as well as Home Depot also. Easy to find, Easy to use and Easy on your skin, eyes and nose. So safe you don't even need to use gloves to protect your hands! Their wide range of offerings include soy-based candles, oil diffusers, dish washing liquid, dishwasher tablests that work better than anything else, laundry detergent and fabric softener sheets to all purpose cleaners, tub and tile sprays, toilet bowl cleaner and they now even include body wash and hand soaps! They have a product to match every regular product on the grocery store shelves without the chemicals. I love their micro fiber cloths, which eliminate the need for paper towel waste and provide a streak-free shine! Do you have a specialty surface like granite or stainless steel? They have you covered there too!

Check out their website today to see why Method Products are top selling eco-friendly cleaning products and why everyone is talking about them!
http://www.methodhome.com/

**Note: Method does not compensate me for my articles and promotion, this is strictly personal preference based on great results. I highly enjoy promoting their products to encourage others to make the right choices for both themselves and their environment.