Green | Sophistishe: Finding Zen in Being Human

May 28, 2010 2 Comments

Last month, I sent off 8 bottles of my old nail polish to the Zoya Nail Polish Exchange. Within 7 days of shipping my old polish, Zoya sent me 8 new bottles of polish of my choice at 50% off!

I’ve used three of the colors so far; Creamy, Tosca, and Robyn. The Creamy color was a bit too bright to use on my entire nail. I will probably use it to stencil my nails my nails from now on. Tosca and Robyn both went on smoothly and all I really needed was ONE coat! The Tosca lasted a week before it started to show significant signs of wear. I painted my nails in Robyn last Wednesday. It’s still fresh. I’m so glad I decided to take advantage of the Zoya Nail Polish Exchange, I am very happy with the quality of Zoya so far and I’m actually itching to do another exchange.

How The Zoya Nail Polish Exchange Works

There’s still time to green you nail polish collection! Zoya will be accepting exchanges through June 30, 2010.

1. Sign up for an account wit Zoya and select the number of bottles you will be exchanging.
2. Choose your favorite colors.
3. Pay for your polish at a 50% discount ($3.50 per bottle).
4. Print receipt and ship with your unwanted nail color. Shipping is your responsibility.
5. Since USPS considers nail polish a hazardous item, check with your local post office for instructions on how to ship nail polish. Alternatively, you can ship UPS Ground. I shipped mine UPS Ground in a small box for $7.67.
6. In a week or so after shipping off your unwanted nail color, you’ll have your new polish!

Filed Under: Beauty, Project Hippie, Reviews disclosure 2 Comments

May 19, 2010 7 Comments

A cardboard one; with a Scooby wizard on top.

To preserve space, we left the wings off of the shuttle.

Jayden, like any other curious kid, loves hanging out and hiding in corners, closets, and boxes. When KidsCraft offered to send us the Shuttle Imagination, I knew this playhouse would be a hit in our household.

KidsCraft playhouses encourage creative play with their blank white slate and fun cutout design. KidsCraft playhouses are easy to assemble. Each piece of recycled cardboard is pre-cut with flaps and slots, so there’s no need for cutting or taping. The cardboard walls are sturdy, perfect for drawing on. While I love the fact that KidsCraft playhouses are meant to be doodled on, we decided not to draw on ours just yet. Jayden has enjoyed using the box that it came in as a little art easel. See, we recycle too .

The Shuttle Imagination playhouse is a place where Jayden can hang out with mommy’s old stuffed animals. We do most of our “living” in our living and play rooms, so Jayden doesn’t play in his shuttle as often as he would if it was in his play room. I can imagine that constant play would decrease the lifespan of any cardboard product. So to better justify the price of these pimped out cardboard homes, I’d suggest they come as a full package with crayons, stickers, paints, and other art supplies. Kidscraft does offer to mail a free 8-pack of recycled crayons to customers who shop at specialty retailers and redeem their sales receipt at kidscraftusa.com.

Each purchase supports a charitable cause. KidsCraft Playhouses will donate 5% of sales to charities like the Ronald McDonald House, Boys & Girls Club of America, and after-school programs. Donations will also go to Shriners Hospitals for Children, a network of 22 non-profit pediatric hospitals across in the US, Canada and Mexico. So while the cost of this product may be a little pricey, it does support a good cause.

Shuttle Imagination Playhouse: $69.95
Green Stats: KidsCraft playhouses are made of 100% recycled cardboard. KidsCraft and the Trees for the Future Foundation will plant one tree for every product sold.

Theres a space shuttle in his room. Sophistishe Digital Mom

KidsCraft Playhouses was founded with a few basic goals in mind, to provide a high quality outlet for play to children that will stimulate their imagination and foster creativity while maintaining a strict, eco-friendly awareness.

During a move to a new office they were left with an abundance of empty, broken down cardboard boxes. Kids being kids, they were naturally drawn to the boxes and wanted to rebuild and play in them. They also took out markers and crayons, drawing on them for what seemed to be hours on end. KidsCraft instantly knew their kids were onto something BIG and were inspired to share it with others.

KidsCraft on Twitter | KidsCraft on Facebook

Filed Under: Project Hippie, Reviews disclosure 7 Comments

April 29, 2010 6 Comments

Zoya Polish

A few months ago, I went through my nail polish collection and tossed the bottles I’ve had for years and years. This is before I knew how to properly dispose of them. I still have 35 bottles that I know I will be disposing of for sure and 7 in question. For now, I am sending in 8 bottles of polish to the Zoya Nail Polish Exchange. They will send me 8 new bottles of Zoya polish of my choice at 50% off! I am so excited because I’ve been wanting to purchase a few Zoya polishes, but at $7 a bottle? Yea right. I paid $3.50 per bottle and $7.67 to mail my old polishes via UPS. It sucks that I can’t use USPS because they are hazardous liquids.

For this reason, I don’t think I will be sending in another batch of polish in the future. I can’t keep paying $7.67 each time I want to exchange polish. I’ll probably send my remaining polish to a hazardous waste collection. I’ll then, pick up some cheaper eco-friendly polish from diamond cosmetics or my local beauty supply. By June 30th, I hope to have a large collection of DBP, toluene, and formaldehyde free nail polish!

April 22 – June 30, 2010

Filed Under: Beauty, Project Hippie disclosure 6 Comments

April 4, 2010 6 Comments

I’ve gotten quite a few questions about gDiapers, so I’ve decided to share my experience with them.

I had been infatuated with gDiapers for quite some time, but I couldn’t justify the price of buying cloth diaper covers and disposable inserts that may not even flush properly down our toilets. I didn’t understand combining both disposable and cloth. It’s one or the other. I thought I may as well continue using cloth diapers with cloth inserts and Seventh Generation disposables. The disposables weren’t biodegradable or flushable, but they were easy on my little guy’s bum and the price was right.

A friend of mine had mentioned using cloth inserts with her gDiapers, so I figured I’d give them a try with cloth inserts if I could get a good deal on the little gPants. I wandered onto the gDiapers Facebook Fan page. Low and behold, they were having a competition where participants were issued a personalized $30 off discount code. Participants who generated the most sales won products from gDiapers; there was also a grand prize trip thrown in the mix.

By using one of the participant’s codes, I was able to purchase the large everyday g’s six-pack, which was on sale for $70 (still is), for $40 excluding shipping! What a deal, what a deal. Since gDiapers were all out of cloth inserts, I purchased a 6 pack of med/lg cloth inserts from Cottonwood Baby‘s Ebay store. I chose to purchase from her Ebay Store because shipping was $2.50 cheaper.

So I’ve been using gDiapers with cloth inserts on and off since last July. Not because there’s anything wrong with them, but because disposables keep making their way into our house and Greg prefers them over cloth.

So lets take a look at one of our ~~gDiapers~~ gPants and a cloth insert.

GPants are like little cotton under pants with plenty of room for baby to breathe and little room for blowouts to escape. There’s a removable snap-in nylon liner that attaches to the gPant which keeps the gPant from getting soiled. If you’re lucky, you can swap the liners and inserts each change and continue using the gPant. If we end up with a soiled liner, I just toss it in the wash with the gPant and insert.

The cloth inserts that I purchased from Cottonwood Baby consists of three absorbent layers of organic hemp/cotton fabric topped with a layer of “stay dry” fleece. I fold them 1/3 down, then I insert the insert into the liner, blue stitching facing up.

Since the cloth inserts are part hemp, they were a bit stiff when they arrived. After boiling for 15 minutes and washing numerous times (it can take a total of 8), they softened up and started to absorb better. We mainly gDiaper during the day, but we have used them overnight a few times. I’d advise doubling up on the inserts for overnight use.

Strapping the gPants on is a little awkward, but the design works well for babies who like to rip their diapers off. Unlike traditional cloth and disposable diapers, you strap around to the baby’s backside, so the side with the letter “g” sits on the bum.

So there you have it, my experience with gPants and cloth inserts. I think they are cool, literally. They are a less bulky alternative to cloth diapers. And you can reuse the gPants instead of having to toss the entire diaper after a pee or poop.

If you’ve collected all of the current gPants or if you’re looking for a more unique pattern choice, there’s an Etsy seller who makes mock gDiapers; there’s even a tutorial on Baby Center so that you can make your own!

Have any questions or commentary? Leave them in the comments .

References

gDiapers everyday g’s 6-pack: Retails for $101.94, now on sale for $70. I bought mine for $40 using $30 discount code. Shipping to my location was $9.66 via Fedex.

6pk med/lg cloth inserts @ Cottonwood Baby’s Ebay Store: $27.50 + $6.45 USPS shipping

6pk med/lg cloth inserts @ Cottonwood Baby’s Ecommerce Store: $27.50 + $8.95 USPS shipping