Tomorrow is St Joseph’s Day!! To celebrate this occasion, we are running a 20% off STORE-WIDE Sale!

Just use the coupon code HAPPYBDAY2013 when you check out. Hurry! Sale ends this Sunday!!!

Here is a little more background on the celebration, courtesy of calendar-updates.com

The feast day of St. Joseph is celebrated on March 19 every year.

St. Joseph’s Day is a Roman Catholic feast day commemorating the life of St. Joseph, the step-father of Jesus and husband of the Blessed Virgin Mary. People with very strong religious association, often those of southern Italian descent, typically celebrate St. Joseph’s Day. March 19 is said to be St. Joseph’s birthday.

During a famine in Sicily, when food was scarce and many people were starving, the poor people had only their faith to rely on. St. Joseph was known as the protector of the Holy Family and Italians had strong family relationships, so they prayed for St. Joseph to intercede for them so they could have successful crops. Their prayers were answered, and the famine came to an end. In gratitude, people promised to make annual offerings of their most precious possession – food – in St. Joseph’s honor.

Today, the faithful erect “St. Joseph Tables,” which are set to honor St. Joseph. They are filled with beautiful and often elaborate foods, including meatless dishes such as stuffed artichokes, pasta and fish, as well as breads, cookies, pastries, cakes and other delicacies. Each table is blessed by a priest and presided over by a statue of St. Joseph. A stalk of lily blossoms, votive candles and a lace tablecloth are other typical items used to decorate the feast table.

When you visit a St. Joseph’s table, you often receive gifts of fava beans and breads. Fava beans play an integral part of the celebration because this was the food that saved the Sicilians from starvation. The bean is said to bring good luck, and it is believed that if the St. Joseph’s bread is kept in the home, the family will never starve.

If you see any glitches on the website, we will reward you with a 10% off coupon on your next order!

HAPPY NEW YEAR!

Cheers,

Team EcoJoe

Photo by The Style PA

The shirt is unisex sizing.

Together, let’s BEAT IT!

Here are our favorite green living tips that can keep useful items out of landfills and save money by reusing these items in creative ways:

Olive Oil soothes snoring. Say what?  Apparently taking a sip of olive oil before heading to bed can help lubricate your throat muscles, cutting down on snoring.  Wow.

Ketchup can save you pennies by cleaning your pennies.  Thanks to the acid in ketchup, you can make yourself an easy recipe to dissolve tarnish in your copper cookware and other items.

Vinegar fights hiccups and cramps.  A teaspoon can fight off cramps according to Roman legend.

In addition to curing poison ivy, vodka can help keep your flowers fresh a little longer.

Here’s our favorite:  Oatmeal into modeling clay.  The Playdough-like clay stays moist for hours, but hardens overnight, making it good for sculpting figurines, bowls, beads and other goodies you can think of.  Another “wow” use — oatmeal sculptures? Good-green-clean family fun. : )

Thanks to The Daily Green for awesome green living ideas to share with EcoJoe fans!

Lord, make me an instrument of your peace.
Where there is hatred, let me sow love;
where there is injury,pardon;
where there is doubt, faith;
where there is despair, hope;
where there is darkness, light;
and where there is sadness, joy.

But did you know that he is also the patron saint of animals and the environment?  (We did not!)

Francis was the son of a wealthy in Assisi.  He lived the typical life of a wealthy young man, then fought as a soldier for Assisi.  When he went to war in 1204, he had a vision that brought him back home, where he no longer wanted to live the life of privilege.  While in Rome, he spent time with the beggars at St. Peter’s, and joined them as a beggar himself.  When he returned home, he began preaching in the streets.  Soon he had many followers.

He did many things, including founding the Order of Poor Clares and the Third Order of Brothers and Sisters of Penance. Soon his following, the Franciscan Order had grown large enough to be endorsed by the Pope.

In 1224, he received the stigmata,making him the first person to bear the wounds of Christ’s Passion.  He died in 1226.

On July 16, 1228, he was pronounced a saint by Pope Gregory IX. He is known as the patron saint of animals and the environment.  He is one of the two patron saints of Italy.  October 4 is his feast day — and it is customary for Catholic churches to hold ceremonies blessing pets and other animals on this day.

Image Source:  Heal With Grace

This statue can be found along the Singapore River in Singapore.  How did they do this???

Just one of those days!! This statue in front of the Ernst & Young building in Los Angeles, California.  Hate days like this but isn’t this perfect?!

You might have to take a second look if you run into this tourist with a video camera in Shanghai, China.

Thumbs up to a visit to this statue in Paris, France.  Funny and slightly creepy.

Who knew you could find so much amusement in these inanimate objects?? We did! (Well, we do now!)

I can honestly say that I was surprised that I had never heard of this particular St. Christopher and his story.  Enjoy : )

St Christopher belonged to a tribe in North Africa known as the Marmaritae. That area of the world was then largely unknown and considered inhabited by all sorts of strange creatures, including dog-headed men.

Some conflicting legends surround Christopher. In one he is a dog-head captured by the Romans and forced to serve them. He becomes a Christian convert and thus a unique figure amongst his kind. Another legend has St Christopher carrying an infant across a river, only to find him growing unbelievably heavy as they progress. The child then reveals himself to be the Christ child and his heaviness due to the weight of the world on his shoulders.

Still other legends exist about St Christopher actually being granted the face of a dog by God, to ward off unwanted female attention. He is often depicted as a richly robed dog-headed man – a cynocephalus.

Very unique.

Image & Info Source:  Listverse

Plastic kills, and it kills a lot! Plastic kills 1.5 MILLION marine animals each year.

Well…I guess there *could* be a few more things.  This little guy caught my eye on a friends Facebook page — and I started wondering about what other unique little figures are hiding USB secrets. 

Here is a collection of our finds:

For when that idea lightbulb goes off. : )

UK Inspired.

For when you want to run with an idea. Really? YES!

The award for least favorite but most unique goes to this one. Ewwwwe.

If it’s good enough for Gaga, then it’s good enough for EcoJoe, right? Hmmm. 

Will EJ be making his USB debut any time soon? : ) Probably not…but in the meantime these guys should do the trick.

Image sources:  GadgetsSin, IndyGizmo, ThePirata,

There are many ways the Catholic church is beginning to utilize new technologies.  Recently the Church has strongly encouraged the use of social media to connect with more people and spread the Gospel of Jesus Christ throughout the whole world.  

One example — is that the Vatican has announced the launch of a social media-integrated official news website, news.va, that will make heavy use of Facebook and Twitter. 

Another example — a few weeks ago — the Holy Father, Pope Benedict XVI made his first tweet from his iPad: 

“Dear Friends, I just launched http://t.co/fVHpS9y Praised be our Lord Jesus Christ! With my prayers and blessings, Benedictus XVI”

EcoJoe’s favorite is the Saint of the Day iPhone app: 

Download this app and you have the option to listen to or read  each daily entry.  It gives you a brief biography and a commentary about how the saint can be relevant to your daily life.  This is a great way to have a saint in your pocket all the time. 

If you don’t have an iPhone, then we recommend buying an EcoJoe.  Our pint size St. Joseph doesn’t give you any saint updates (but our blog does), but he fits nicely in your pocket and can offer you some extra inspiration whenever you need it. : )

Image Source:  Fast Company, Catholic.Org, AmericanCatholic.org