eco-parenting

black friday/cyber monday sales!

2011-11-23T19:26:00.001-05:00

big sales coming your way this weekend! here's a run down of the various sales and offers:

AppleCheeks
20% off all AppleCheeks products
**enter code APPLE20SALE at checkout**

Rumparooz
Buy 4 or more get 1 Free
Buy 8 or more get 2 Free
Buy 12 or more get 3 Free
(check out with your multiple of 4 and free diaper(s) will be added to your package; offer cannot be combined with any other coupon)

Lalabee Bathworks
Bottom Balm: buy one, get another for 50% off
Baby Butter: buy one, get another for 50% off
(while supplies last; refund will be applied on discounted item; offer cannot be combined with any other coupon)

BONUS: purchase more than 6 diapers (any brand) and you will receive one free tin of lalabee bathworks's bottom balm. while supplies last.

and as always, free shipping within canada for orders over $75. free shipping to the US for orders over $150.

happy shopping!!! and happy thanksgiving to our american friends!

WAHMs

2011-10-03T17:16:00.000-04:00

as a WAHM (work-at-home mom) myself, i'm all for supporting WAHM businesses. lately i've found quite a few through facebook and have probably gone a bit crazy buying things from them. i think i might have a bit of an addiction. i mentioned two of them in my previous post (randumosity and oh sew green). i'm still eagerly anticipating my orders to arrive, but as they are just one woman operations, custom orders can take a bit of time.

another one that i've purchased from in the last couple of weeks is kael & kaed. facebook pages are a great way to check out their products and often there are sales! i bought a couple of wetbags from kael & kaed and just yesterday, i purchased a set of mitten clips from her. the fun part is getting to choose the fabrics for your items. for the mitten clips, i picked a fabric with space invaders video game characters on them. too cute. i'll be sure to put up images of everything once my orders arrive. next on my list of would-like-to-haves...an UNpaper towel set!

so go and check out some WAHM businesses! if you have ones that you love, let me know about them!

mama cloth

2011-09-20T09:32:00.000-04:00

i've decided to take the leap into the next realm of eco-friendliness...mama cloth! i originally had been quite hesitant to take this next step because i wasn't quite sure how it would work or if it would be icky, but after reading some reviews and seeing how fun the fabrics are, i thought i'd take a chance. i found a couple of WAHM companies via facebook and thought i'd check it out. right now i'm awaiting my first orders from randumosity and oh sew green. i figured liners were a pretty safe place to start though i also ordered some postpartum pads to try since i'll be needing those in about 5 weeks' time. randumosity also makes reusable nursing pads so i ordered some to compare against the fuzzi bunz ones that i love. anyway, i will write a review about both the mama cloth and nursing pads once they've arrived and i've had a chance to give them a try. stay tuned! :o)

applecheeks sale!

2011-08-22T18:53:00.000-04:00

we've got another great promotion running right now. all applecheeks' products are 10% off from now until september 16th! they've got really great fitting cloth diapers in a wide array of colours. check 'em out here! if you're looking for an overnight cloth diaper option, their 3-layer inserts paired with their cover works really well. if you have an especially heavy wetter, add a booster (or two or three) to the insert for extra absorbency. enter code APPLECHEEKS at check-out for the discount.

fuzzi bunz promotion!!!

2011-08-15T16:44:00.001-04:00

there is a great fuzzi bunz promotion going on right now so if you're looking to start your cloth diapering stash or add to it, now is a fantastic time. for every 6 fuzzi bunz diapers you buy, you will receive 2 diapers for FREE!!! the 2 free diapers you will receive are one solid colour and one exclusive print that you can't get anywhere else. there's no limit to the number of free diapers you can receive so if you buy 6, you'll get 2 free; if you buy 12, you'll get 4 free; if you buy 18, you'll get 6 free. you get the picture. all you have to do to claim your free diapers is make your fuzzi bunz purchase anytime from now until september 30th, 2011. then fill in the online rebate form and print it out. clip out the UPC codes from your 6 (or more) fuzzi bunz diapers and include a copy of your invoice dated between 8/15 and 9/30 and your envelope just needs to be postmarked by october 15th, 2011. fuzzi bunz will mail your free diapers to you directly. this is valid for both US and CDN customers. so hurry up and order your fuzzi bunz today. click here to see what we have in stock. orders will go out next business day. if we are out of stock on the colours you want, just send us an email and we'll get them ordered in to you, but your receipt will still be marked with the current date so that you don't miss out on this special offer.

happy canada day!

2011-06-29T22:50:00.000-04:00

celebrate canada day with 15% off at our store. enter coupon code CANADA15 at checkout to save! we've added some great new products so come check 'em out. coupon is good from now until July 1st!

$50 giveaway

2011-03-25T13:41:00.001-04:00

it's been a while since my last post. things have been busy with the launch of the store and various other work projects. not to mention, a super active two-year-old to run after. :o)

in store news, we're hosting a giveaway on natural mommie's blog. follow this link: http://bit.ly/hOLUMy and comment in order to qualify to win a $50 gift certificate to my new shop.

also, it's the last week to get 10% off all items, so go take a look. we just got a shipment of grobags and cloth diapers.

grand opening!

2011-03-01T00:28:00.000-05:00

my latest project is now up and running! i've started an online store selling planet-friendly products for your lil ones and goodies for the rest of the family as well. you can find brands such as applecheeks, fuzzi bunz, rumparooz, itzy ritzy, dress me up teething bonbons, and credo bags just to name a few. come and visit me at www.mylilsweetpea.ca!

what's in your body?

2011-02-25T10:30:00.023-05:00

i found the above video on icareaboutcosmetics.com when looking for info about the great canadian hand cream swap that i mentioned yesterday. the video really prompts you to think about what you're putting in your body. after all, as their tag line states, "what goes on your body, goes in your body". we've been slowly making the change over to organic skincare products, but after looking up some of our old products on the cosmetic database, i feel the urge to get rid of the old even sooner than planned. lots of the standard baby products you see on the shelves are rated as high as 7 or 8 (on a scale of 10) on the hazard meter.

i recently discovered a canadian line of natural and organic skincare products that i'll be carrying in my new shop (to be launched march 1st!). if you want to get a sneak preview of them, click on this link. the company is called lalabee bathworks and all of their products rate between a 0-2 on the hazard scale. in fact, their best-selling bottom balm is rated at a zero!

freebie: great cdn hand cream swap

2011-02-24T20:30:00.000-05:00

it's the first annual great canadian hand cream swap! from feb 24 to 26, you can go to one of the listed swap locations and receive a free full-size consonant intensive therapy hand cream (organic!) just by bringing in one of your old hand creams to swap. how cool is that?! i'm going to see if i can go to one of the toronto locations tomorrow morning.

if you can't make it to one of the swap locations, you can also go to their website: www.consonantbody.com. at exactly 9AM on the 24th, 25th and 26th, they'll have their hand cream available for $0! you just have to pay the shipping. you gotta go early though because quantities are limited.

for all the details on the great canadian hand cream swap, go to:
http://www.icareaboutcosmetics.com/2011/02/great-canadian-hand-cream-swap/

chicago

2011-02-23T20:43:00.000-05:00

at the top of the john hancock tower in downtown chicago

this past weekend was a long weekend, so we drove down to visit family in chicago. being on the road for 12-13 hours with a two-year-old is just too long. for the most part, the kiddo was pretty good in the car. five hours (or shorter) would probably be the perfect length. we borrowed a portable DVD player from friends just as a last resort, but didn't end up having to use it. our lil kiddo was content enough to just listen to his "yo gabba gabba" and "bobs & lolo" music.

they say that travel by car is much more environmentally-friendly than air travel, but it just takes so long to get anywhere from toronto. however, now that we would have to pay airfare for the kiddo, road trips do seem much more economical, but i guess it's at the expense of your own sanity. :o)

mama earth organics review

2011-02-14T09:30:00.000-05:00

i meant to post this review ages ago, but of course, life got busy, kiddo got sick, and i neglected to do this. okay so after the fab find certificate went up for mama earth organics, i quickly put in my first order for the following week. the way their ordering system works is that the latest you can put in an order is before 10 a.m. the day before delivery. the day they deliver depends on where you live in the GTA.

so with my $55 fab find certificate in hand, i had to decide what i would get for my first basket. since you have to use the full amount at one time, i had to sort of mix and match between the fresh produce and their other grocery staples. i didn't think that the three of us could eat that many fruits and veggies before they'd go bad. i ended up deciding on the regular/couple basket, which was $35. the produce each week changes depending on what is in season and what they are able to get. here is what we got in our basket:

3 fuji apples
3 anjou pears
4 cara cara oranges
1.5 lb fair-trade bananas
1 avocado
2 lbs. yellow potatoes
1 pt. grape tomatoes
1 boston lettuce hydro (came with roots and soil! neat-o!)
1 broccoli
1 lb. baby bok choy

quite a lot of stuff for the money and comparably priced with organic produce at loblaws. in order to make up the extra $20, we also got:

nigari tofu
fair-trade dark hot chocolate mix
2 minneola tangerines
2 lbs. red potatoes
2 lbs. yams
1 pt. white button mushrooms

everything was either organic or fair-trade. the order arrived in a sturdy rubbermaid container and was placed inside my garage as i had requested. everything was packed nicely and they even wrapped up the tofu with a bottle of frozen water so that it would be kept cool. nice touch! one of the things i liked best was that they include some recipes using the ingredients in your basket. we didn't get a chance to try any that week, but i definitely will in the future.

i was really impressed with their selection of stuff and also with the quality of the produce. this is the first time that i've ordered groceries online and my concern was always that i might end up with produce that is not so fresh or that it would get damaged in transit. the produce we got from mama earth was all good with the exception of the avocado. after just a few days, the skin got all spotty and it was *very* soft. they emailed a few days after delivery to ask how i liked my first order. i mentioned what had happened with the avocado and they emailed back immediately saying that they had gotten a mediocre batch, but hadn't realized it when they were filling orders. as a result, they credited my account in the amount of $3. i am a very satisfied customer and will definitely be ordering from them again.

the vegan challenge

2011-02-10T13:07:00.000-05:00

last night i finally sat down to watch an oprah show that i pvr'd last week about "the vegan challenge". i forced the hubby to watch it with me and it was informative. since last year i'd been thinking about adding more vegetarian/vegan meals to our menu in an effort to be healthier and environmentally-friendly. there was one particular segment in the show that really affected me. lisa ling went to visit a cattle slaughterhouse and you essentially see the whole process of how a cow goes from farm to grocery store. call me a softie, but i really couldn't help but cry through the whole part. if i had to hunt my own food, i would most definitely be a vegetarian. food expert michael pollen was on the show as well and made a comment along the lines of "if you're not willing to know how your food gets to your plate, maybe you shouldn't be eating it." i don't know that i agree with it entirely, but i guess it holds a kernel of truth to it. with the exception of when we eat out, we now buy only antibiotic-free/hormone-free meat. i'd say the drive to make this change was for our son. i would love to be able to find a local farm to buy meat from, but being that we're in toronto, it might be a trek to get to one. if anyone knows of any, please let me know.

i'd really like to try this 7-day vegan challenge (or even possibly the 21-day challenge), but i think it would be really hard if the hubby wasn't on board with it. i tend to throw myself into things full-throttle and then quickly burn out. i guess the trick will be to slowly introduce things and see what works for our family. if eating more vegan meals would give me a ton more energy, i'd be all for that! but it's also been a particularly rough week with the kiddo being sick. :o)

here's a link to a list of vegan substitutes as recommended by "The Veganist" Kathy Freston:
http://www.oprah.com/health/Kathy-Frestons-Vegan-Alternatives

fabfind: $25 for $55 worth of organic produce

2011-01-18T10:02:00.000-05:00

today's fabfind is a deal for $55 worth of organic produce, pantry items, etc from mama earth organics and they deliver straight to your door (if you're within the GTA...see their website for details). i blogged about mama earth organics a while back, but still haven't had a chance to try them out for myself. today's fabfind is perfect for our family since we were going to try them anyway. i bought two of the certificates and will hopefully order our first basket this week.

here's a link for those interested in getting on today's fabfind:
https://www.fabfind.com///invite/Kathy8

applecheeks swim diaper WINNER!

2010-12-31T20:46:00.000-05:00

hi all,

i forgot to post the winner of the applecheeks swim diaper yesterday. sorry about that! so i thought i'd do a quick post before the hubby and i head out for new year's eve festivities.

the winner of this giveaway is ...

congratulations to beth! look for an email from me in the next little bit. please respond with your mailing address so i can forward it to the people at applecheeks. if i don't receive a response by sunday, jan. 2nd, then i will draw for a new winner.

stay tuned for a new giveaway coming next week! you won't want to miss it. :o)

happy new year!!!

review + giveaway: applecheeks swim diaper

2010-12-07T21:59:00.002-05:00

i know i've been MIA for a while. we were away for a short bit in november for a family vacation. as hard as we try to be environmentally-friendly, we just can't give up travelling...which is probably one of the most "un-green" things you can do.

since N is turning two this month, we thought we'd squeak in one last plane trip before having to pay full fare. so we went to the beautiful island of maui! it is already starting to get cold here, so we were looking forward to heading to warmer climes. since we'd be spending lots of time on the beach, it seemed like a good time to try a reusable diaper on for size. i've been wanting to try them for a while, but we're not allowed to use them at the pool where N has his swimming lessons. i approached the kind folks at applecheeks about doing a review on their new swim diaper, and they happily obliged by sending me one of their super cute corsica swim diapers.

so we took it for a test drive on ulua beach in south maui. we arrived at the beach, set ourselves up on a patch of sand, and proceeded to change N into the swim diaper. for those of you have never used a reusable swim diaper before, let me tell ya that it holds in solids (i.e. poop), but does not contain any kind of absorbent layer for liquids. i knew that going in, but what i didn't expect was for N to pee as soon as i put him in it. literally, he was in it for less than a minute when i noticed liquid trickling down his leg. :oP i then had to rinse off my straw beach mat since there was now a small puddle on it. overall, the diaper held up well and had a great fit. at the time of the trip, N was 23 months and 25 lbs. the size 2 was a great fit for him, just like the regular size 2 applecheeks pocket diaper. in fact, there is still a lot of room for him to grow into it, but the elastics were snug enough that nothing would leak out and the rows of snaps allow you to adjust to a perfect fit. i could definitely see using this as the beach instead of a disposable swimmer. unfortunately, i don't think it will work for the pool at the community centre as the ones in our neighbourhood state that diapered children have to be huggies/pampers-type swimmers.

here are some shots of N playing on the beach in his applecheeks...

* GIVEAWAY ALERT *

applecheeks is kindly offering up one of their fab swim diapers to one lucky reader! visit www.applecheeks.com and indicate which colour and size you would pick if you won. they come in two sizes and two colours (corsica, as pictured on N, and bonfire)

* EXTRA ENTRIES *

(please leave a separate comment for each additional entry)

• follow my blog via Google Friend Connect

• follow the AppleCheeks blog

• like Applecheeks on Facebook

• follow @AppleCheeksDipe on Twitter

• follow @mylilsweetpea on Twitter

this giveaway is open to residents of Canada and the U.S. until Dec. 30, 2010 at 5:00 p.m. EST. the winner will be chosen using a random number generator. please include your email address in your entry so that i can contact you if you are the winner. you can email me at ecoparentblog [at] gmail [dot] com if you prefer not to post your email address here. if the winner does not respond within 72 hours, another winner will be chosen. good luck!

some me time

2010-10-25T21:39:00.000-04:00

yesterday i got the chance to have a little "me time" and went to have a facial at a spa. a couple of friends had given me a gift card for a facial for my birthday, so i figured it was about time i used it (since it's been almost a year already!). the gift card was for a facial at pure + simple, which is a spa that uses all-natural (and mostly organic) products and its services emphasize holistic health principles. i've been experiencing bad skin since giving birth to my son almost two years ago. not sure if it's the weird hormones or if it's something else, but it's been a struggle dealing with it. the facial was very relaxing (with the exception of the extrations) and the esthetician was very good about explaining what she was doing and the products she was using. she explained that i needed to drink a lot more water since my skin was very dehydrated. i ended up getting a sampler kit to try some of their products at home. seems like quite the regimen, but if it'll give me nice skin, i'll do it! :o) if you live in the toronto area and you're looking for more natural skincare products, i highly recommend checking them out. david suzuki recently released a report about the "dirty dozen" cosmetic chemicals to avoid and all of the products at pure + simple are free of those chemicals.

mama earth organics

2010-10-11T15:30:00.000-04:00

i've been curious to try out one of these organic produce delivery services for a while, but with so many different ones out there, i couldn't decide which to try. i recently found this one company called mama earth organics and it seems to be reasonably priced. you don't have to commit to an entire season, but can just go week-to-week so the financial commitment is a lot less. for just $25 you can get a small produce basket delivered straight to your door. they also offer other organic items that you can add on to your order (such as bread, baking supplies, canned goods, cheeses, etc.). delivery is free for orders over $30 and the day of the week your basket gets delivered depends on where you live within the GTA. i think i'll give this a try some time this month. i figure at least it'll expand on the type of produce we eat and we'll also be supporting local farmers! more to come once we experience our first basket!

another applecheeks giveaway!

2010-10-09T14:00:00.012-04:00

in honour of their move to new offices, applecheeks is doing yet another giveaway! gotta love prizes, right? i still have yet to win any type of online giveaway, but that doesn't deter me from trying. ;o) check out applecheeks' newest colour...dark chocolate! i love it!

for your chance to win one of three little bundles or reusable liners, click on the following link:
http://blog.applecheeks.com/posts/2010/10/5/our-new-offices-giveaway.html

contest closes on oct 20th!

btw, i'll be doing another review of some applecheeks product next month so stay tuned for that!

applecheeks giveaway

2010-09-24T15:14:00.000-04:00

today is the last day to enter the applecheeks giveaway. you could win one of the following *awesome* prizes:

1. Two Little Bundles in the winners' choice of size and colour (1 per winner).
2. A set of wet wipes and Gentle Cleansing Solution.
3. Two zipper bags in either Cherry Tomato or Coriander (1 per winner).

i'm personally hoping to win a little bundle in the st. lucia colour. my fave!

you only have until midnight (EST) tonight to enter.

http://blog.applecheeks.com/posts/2010/9/10/our-first-official-giveaway.html

fuzzi bunz: worth their weight in gold

2010-09-16T22:07:00.000-04:00

i found this article via the fuzzi bunz facebook fan page. one mom worked out how much diapering her children in fuzzi bunz has saved her. it's a pretty interesting read. i knew that cloth diapering would save a lot of money, but i didn't know exactly how much. i love that you could basically diaper your babies for next to nothing, especially if you end up selling them afterwards. click on the link to read the article for yourself:

http://everythingbirth.wordpress.com/2010/09/15/fuzzi-bunz-worth-more-that-their-weight-in-gold-for-real/

toronto groupon: $25 for $55 green cricket GC

2010-08-30T15:00:00.000-04:00

check out today's groupon (for those folk in the toronto area:

http://www.groupon.com/toronto/?utm_campaign=UserReferral&utm_medium=affiliate_link&utm_source=uu5414077

get $55 worth of eco-friendly stuff from green cricket for just $25! free shipping within toronto for orders over $50. woo hoo!

thanks to michelle for the tip. :o)

back to school: the green way

2010-08-22T22:02:00.000-04:00

you know summer is drawing to a close when all the back to school adverts start cropping up. saw an interesting article in the globe and mail about what some families are doing for a more economical and environmentally-friendly approach to the back to school season. it's all about reusing!

http://www.theglobeandmail.com/life/family-and-relationships/back-to-school/sorry-kid-no-more-fall-shopping-sprees/article1261921/

though it'll still be a while before nate starts school, these are some good tips to keep in mind when that day comes.

reduce your forkprint!

2010-08-02T23:41:00.000-04:00

last weekend while at lilith fair, i came across this great reusable portable utensil set. it's by a company called to-go ware. the set includes a fork, spoon, knife, and a set of chopsticks all made from bamboo. the utensils are all housed in a slim case with a carabiner attached to it so that you can clip it on to another bag. each set is made from recycled plastic, saving one plastic bottle from ending up in a landfill. good for the environment, stylish, and practical too!

review: overnight cloth diapering

2010-07-28T14:51:00.002-04:00

applecheeks envelope diaper in lemon zest

many inserts = good absorbency = puffy bum syndrome :o)

we finally did it! we are now officially cloth diapering our lil guy full-time! as i had mentioned before, overnights were our last hold out. we were worried that having a wet bum would interfere with nate's sleeping and, as any parent, we did not want anything causing him to wake up in the middle of the night. but we decided to give it a go and find something that would work for his heavy overnight wetting.

ilana at applecheeks suggested their envelope cover with a three layer insert and a stay-dry booster. after doing the initial prep wash (3 x in hot water), i was ready to test it out on nate. first impressions: he looked awfully cute in his yellow applecheeks! we stuffed the cover with the three layer insert, the stay-dry booster, and the two layer bamboo booster. once it was all put together and on our boy's behind, it looked pretty bulky. it was hard to put his jammies on, but we managed to fasten all the snaps. fingers crossed that this first night would go well. we were pleasantly surprised when we woke the next morning and realized that nate didn't wake up overnight. when we went to change his diaper, there were no leaks and the bottom of his undershirt wasn't even damp. the applecheeks diaper, on the other hand, was quite heavy. eureka! looks like we've got a winner on our hands! now we just have to get at least one or two more to keep us going between washes.

in the meantime, we've started using our bamboozle fitted diapers again for overnights when the applecheeks one is dirty. we pair the bamboozle with either a bummis super whisper wrap cover or a thirsties cover. then we layer on a 4-layer hemp doubler insert and a fleece liner to keep moisture away from baby's bottom. this has also proved to be a good solution with no leaks, great absorbency, but the same bulkiness as experienced with applecheeks. looks like there is no way around the bulky factor if you want to ensure no leaks.

on a side note, one of my favourite things about applecheeks is that they are a canadian company (based in montreal) and all their products are made there as well!