Soap and Lotions Company reduces Carbon Footprint

Eclectic Lady, a one-woman home-based company that makes yummy soaps, sachets, lotions, room sprays and smelly jellies, announced recently their commitment to environmental packaging and principles.

From their press release:

Reducing Our Carbon Footprint:

The envelopes on our sachets are made from recycled paper.

Most of our packing materials are reused from shipments we receive and from other local businesses.

When we buy packing materials, we made sure they are made from recycled materials and are materials that can be easily recycled.

The packing peanuts we purchase are 100% biodegradable and water soluble. They are made from corn, wheat or potato starch. You can wet them a little bit, make them stick together, and build stuff with them. It’s like a free toy with your purchase! They also happen to be static free, too!

Your invoice is printed on recycled paper.

As a long-time fan of Eclectic Lady’s products, I was thrilled to see that not only am I supporting a work at home mom company, but I am making sure the products I use are not hugely contributing to the planet’s waste stream.

I recommend the perfume oils, the room sprays and the smelly jellies for making your world smell great. The fair-trade African products are also unrivaled.

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Camp Verde New Thrift Store Finds

Today I went to my wonderful nearby thrift store, called, strangely, New Thrift Store (in Camp Verde, AZ, along Highway 260). This is honestly the coolest thrift shop I’ve ever been to outside of those Savers stores and this one HUGE Goodwill in Seattle. Nice people, funky wares, fun background music, interestingly personable displays. Tons of stuff packed into a few rooms.

I found myself some lovely, inexpensive goodies:

• Warm fuzzy jammies $2.50
• Fabric to make my meditation cushion $1.50
• Fabric to make into a bedroom curtain $1.50
• Warm microfiber sweats to wear around the house $2.50
• 3 comfortable long sleeved shirts that actually look good on (always a bonus) $2 each
• A tree branch lopper (these scrubby, thorny bushes around the house need work)$1
• Homeopathic Foot Massager/Heater (so I can keep my feet warm and enjoy a massage while at the computer in my cold kitchen) $4.50
• A nice REI sunhat $1.50
• AND a ’skiing’ workout machine thing I can use while on the computer or watching DVDs $12 (I’ve been looking for something like this)
• A large-slice ‘bagel’ toaster $2.50

I felt so happy while shopping. All the employees are friendly and helpful; they seem to like their jobs. I love that the thrift store has a “happy hour” from 3-6pm each day, where everything is half off. There are interesting specials going on all year, like an extra 15% off on your birthday, and a White Elephant Gift Exchange after the holidays (bring in something you got that you don’t like and exchange it for something from the store worth up to $5).

There is a large and comfortable dressing room for trying on clothes, a “Guy Stuff” section with electronics and sports, tons of inexpensive furniture, neat craft supplies in zip locks, and a large salvage type area outside where one can hunt around for all sorts of bizarre, possibly useful items (like my workout machine). Everything is extremely well labeled, often humorously so. Great store!

I like buying used, bottom line. I like knowing that these are things that won’t be in the trash stream and can continue to be enjoyed. I got good things for super cheap prices, and I can feel completely unguilty about my spending.

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New Thrift Store, 1575 S. Roadrunner Lane, Camp Verde, AZ 928-567-5759. 9-6 daily, closed Saturday.

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What kind of drinking water do you get?

I know there are people who drink water from their tap, and I love living places where I can do that.

I had great water in Seattle, for example. In San Diego, tap water is virtually undrinkable. I have used Brita pitchers in the past, but at this point I live somewhere that the water is so mineralized that the Brita can’t handle it. I didn’t want to spend a lot of money on gallons of bottled water (which also makes a lot of waste and isn’t eco-friendly), so Dan and I got 10 containers of a gallon each to fill with reverse osmosis water for 25 cents. We are pretty happy with this solution.

As a bonus, the water is so tasty we drink lots more of it than normally. Water is very very good for you.

One solution I have done in the past, which is my favorite, is to find a spring in the national forests to fill my water jugs for free. I don’t have one nearby right now, but I remember really enjoying doing that.

What do other people do? Do you drink tap water, visit springs, refill containers from machines, buy bottled water, use a Brita-like pitcher, or what? What would be your favorite solution? Do you care about the ecological impact of buying tons of water bottles?

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