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Shop it Green: Steals & Deals Edition!

In the whirlwind of a weekend of shopping, I've been staying pretty low key. I stocked up on a few organic goodies at Drugstore.com who had a 15% off site wide sale, I picked up a few stocking stuffers and a few Mrs.Meyer's Lavender candles for our home. Anyway...

In an issue of InStyle Magazine I have discovered tons and tons of coupon codes for amazing deals including percentages off and free shippings. I thought I just must share them here! I am not sure of each codes expiration, so forgive me if they don't work. Here they are (including lots of eco-friendly options)

Castorandpolluxstore.com - code: instyle10 (20% off)

Shop.moxsie.com - code: instyle15 (15% off)
*Check out their 'Eco-Shop' full of lovely eco-friendly jewelry, makes for the perfect gift!

Bodenusa.com - code: st20 (20% off)
*Includes darling clothes for babies, kids and great picks for Men & Women!

Lulus.com - code:instyle (20% off)
*They've got the coziest looking infinity scarves in great colors

Greenwithglamour.com - code: instyle20 (20% off)
*Including the most precious handsewn stuffed animals that you must pick up for the babies in your life!

AlexandAni.com (I've blogged about them here on Urban Branches, check it out) - code: instyle (20% off)
*A must for the gals in your life, crafted of eco-friendly materials!


Ecoconsciousmarket.com - code: instyle20 (20% off)
*The one stop shop for everyone on your list, score eco-conscious radios, baby clothes, art, skincare and clothes for men & women

Tobi.com - code: tobi20style (20% off)
*Click on their eco-tobi link on the main page for eco-finds such as Alternative Apparel, Juice Beauty, Envirosax, Korres, Ren, Matt & Nat and much much more

Beautorium.com - code: instyle (20% off)
*Fill your cart with Weleda, John Masters Organics, Suki, Dr.Hauschka, Trilogy for Men and lots more


Skincarebylana.com - code: instyle (20% off)

Upurea.com - code: instyle20 (20% off plus a free gift)
*Score non-toxic nail polish!

Threepotatofourshop.com - code: instyle3p4 (free gift with purchase)
*I love this site for their flea market finds!

Pure-habitat.com - code: instyle2010 (20% off and free shipping on orders above $100)
*Check your list and pick up some organic, fair-trade and cruelty-free goodies for all those on your list)

Froghollow.com - code: instyle15 (15% off)
*Give the gift of organic fruit, what better! Includes 25 varieties including peaches, cherries and nectarines that are send directly from the farm.

Polarnopyretusa.com - code: stylepop (20% off non-sale items)
*The coolest of the cool clothes for babies and kiddos, and they've got an eco section to boot!

And don't forget to stop by PureandLittle on Monday for a 50% off site wide sale! Pick up lots of organic and natural goodies for your purest baby.

What are you waiting for, get to shopping! Oh and to keep it extra earth friendly, shop with a friend of relative, and save on shipping fuel! (and you can share the cost too, score!)

Pure & Little: Sale Alert!

Starting Monday the darling baby/kids online boutique Pure & Little is offering 50% off the entire site! I'm freaking out already, making mental lists of who I need to shop for, and what Juliette needs to stock up on!

They sell the adorable Green To Grow BPA-free baby bottles (Juliette has these!) MiYim darling organic cotton plush toys, organic newborn layette essentials and what I'll be stocking up on: California Baby skincare products!

Psst, California Baby products are great for adults too, especially their bubble bath!

Very exciting!

J'adore West Elm!

Because I simply LOVE jars! These are stunning!

What fun! Colorful tape dispenser for all of your upcoming holiday wrapping. I'm inspired.

I love how this spotlights those beautiful pinecones.
Love this organic cotton throw (and the side table!)





My Mouth is Watering

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J'adore Dwell Studio! *now even a little more!

These darling new Organic (!) cotton playsuits, onsies and sleep rompers for babies from Dwell Studio, too bad Juliette is too big for them now! I guess I'll have to stick to their other amazing items!

(Images from http://www.dwellstudio.com)

Thanksgiving can be the Greenest Time of Year

September starts the season for me, we kick it off with my daughter Juliette's birthday, then my wedding anniversary, my parents wedding anniversary onto Halloween, my Mother-in-Law's birthday then bam, Thanksgiving. My all time favorite holiday! It's about family, being cozy and most of all FOOD. It's not about consumerism, unless you count stuffing your face full of delicious that is.

Thanksgiving, while has a very different history than we are lead to believe (it wasn't all happy faces around a feast) it is taken on a very special meaning to many families in this country. Mine included. It is a time to come together, enjoy each other, eat delicious (and I mean delicious) food!

What better time of year to continue or start new eco-traditions. There are many ways to accomplish a green Thanksgiving. Here are some ways you can incorporate them into your family!

*Buy as many organic ingredients as possible, including your pantry staples (sugar & flour for example), vegetables, fruits, drinks (eco wine and small batch natural sodas like GUS!) and the bird itself

*Support local farmers by shopping at your local farmer's market, and if that's no possible ask at the grocery store what produce is locally grown, some even have them labeled

*Be creative in your decor, use items from nature, even better plants instead of cut flowers!

*If you don't already (and you really should be) use cloth napkins at Thanksgiving, they lend an elegance and personality to the table

*Make everything you can from scratch, you control the ingredients and there's less processing (less or no preservatives!)

*Eat ALL of the leftovers

*Invite friends over, share the bounty!

*If you can compost all scraps of food at the end of the night

*Skip the turkey! Much less of a headache! Cheaper too! There's so much good stuff to eat (I dare not call anything a "side"!)

*ENJOY eating in, saving gas and being with family!

Check out my favorite mouth watering foodie recipe blog Smitten Kitchen for lots of great recipes for your Thanksgiving including the delicious pictured Apple Pie!

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Fill it with Love {Gift}

It's that time again, time to bust out the wallet and scour the city for the perfect gifts. It's a perfect time to stay earth friendly and pick up items that dazzle both environmentally and in look. To start of the season I've found the most beautiful woven baskets, I would love to store just about anything in these African baskets. Traditionally these baskets are made from local grasses, but are often now made with strips of recycled plastic. Love that!

Baskets come in a varity of sizes and colors, start your collection now, click here!

50 Tons of Plastic!

Preserve's #5 collection project has reached an amazing goal, 50 tons (that's a whopping 100,000 pounds)! That's a whole lotta plastic containers that would have otherwise been doomed to the landfill. I am happy to have contributed over the past few years with all of our #5's. We drop them off every few months at Whole Foods. It's as simple as that.

Click here for more information and some amazing offers from Preserve's partners, lovely.

(Image: Preserve newsletter)



Holiday Decoration Ideas....

My Mama is planning on using these on the tree this year, lovely!!!

Urban Branches Browses

Here's a few links from my weekend browsing history...enjoy!

A delicious recipe from Smitten Kitchen for Sweet Potato with Pecans and Goat Cheese. Obviously score organic ingredients and you've got yourself a delicious and eco treat!

A great article from New York Magazine spotlighting none other than vegetables!! Love the title, Vegetables are the New Meat. A must read.

Instead of chowing down on Turkey this Thanksgiving (I mean come on it's the sides we really want anyway, and speaking of let's stop calling them "the sides" they deserve more than that!) adopt one through Farm Sanctuary! Click here for details on the Adopt-A-Turkey Project (and no, you won't have a turkey running around your house, teehee)

The House bans 'Crush Videos', ummm what took them so long. And for those who don't know this is a video catering to the sexual fantasy of a woman's heel crushing a small animal, need I say more? Click here for the article on Huffington Post

OMG moment here about BPA & Hand Sanitizers, read on...

Mrs.Meyer's holiday gift sets under $25! Done and done.

The latest from Fig&Sage blog, because, well, they're posts are always amazing! Plus they've got a ton of discount codes for some great eco-finds!

Green Woes

Uggggg, being the go to eco-gal is sometimes hard, I have spent my whole life caring about the planet (I remember going to my first Earth Day Festival with my best friend around age 8) and I still do but sometimes it's hard and I find myself faltering from my own standards.

There are certain things I do daily that are a given, like trying to always avoid plastic grocery bags and using our reusable cloth napkins, but sometimes I find myself lamenting at how long going the eco way will take, and then the guilt sets in and then I feel horrible. Take our #5 recyclables for example, we separate them from our other recyclable plastics because NYC does not accept them (and contrary to popular belief, if you hide them in with the other bottles and jugs, they will be thrown into landfills!) and tote them to our local Whole Foods for proper recycling. Lately I haven't had the energy to wash them out and store them, and while it's been tempting to simply toss I haven't (I am redeemed!). I usually leave them for when my husband is doing the dishes, shhhhh!

My husband and I do admittingly go through our fair share of plastic iced coffee cups/straws but we do recycle them at least (most of the time). It is shocking though when you see a few weeks worth stacked in our recycle bin. Not good. I must change this!

The list goes on...

We recently had a clogged drain, I had bought an eco brand of drain cleaner and felt proud to be using something natural, well....it didn't work. Day after day I followed the instructions and got no results, in fact it seemed to be getting worse! My husband cleared the drain out as best as he could (aka my hair) and still nothing, we eventually purchasing a chemical drain cleaner and poof, problem solved. I felt guilty yes, but I loved that first shower where the water went down as it should! Guilty. guilty. shame. shame. Next time we have a problem, I'll try a different brand, is that a compromise?

Also, LED light bulbs, we've always had an issue using these, we seem to pick the wrong ones over and over, and we did it again, we swung by the hardware store and picked up a few to try, we hated them all, they all produced a hospital like glow, eeeek! I need some eco-fairy to come down and help me with lightening. We are going to return the bulbs to the hardware store and seek some help in choosing the next set.

Being an earth lovin' gal is sometimes very time consuming, and you've got to be willing to put in the extra time or else it's easy to let protecting the environment fall down on your list of priorities. I won't let that happen, no matter what!

So, I've got a renewed sense of saving the planet heroism! I vow to reduce the plastic cups I use, making it a point to bring my own cups as much as I can remember! Baby steps back folks.

I recently read this article and realized it's time to step it up!

J'adore Apple Park {Review}

My daughter Juliette has a lot of toys, we've got 2 big bins full, but it is the earth-friendly ones that I'll be tucking away for my next! While I'd love for all of Juliette's toys to be made from recycled, reclaimed, organic and pure materials that isn't always the case. There aren't as many brands of toys I really love out there to choose from. Enter Apple Park to save this mama's day!

Apple Park
is a San Francisco based company who made it their mission to create products that were environmentally responsible (think organic, recycled and sustainable materials!) but also super sweet and lovable. They've totally won me over on all fronts. Their soft teething toys are made from organic cotton and have the sweetest faces ranging from lambs to monkeys. Their family of finger puppets is sure to put on a show for your little one and their super soft 100% organic cotton blankets will make Mom & Dad happy! Their line includes wrist rattles, blankets, teething toys, soft blocks and more. Perfect for your little one or that gift you've gotta give. Why not give the gift of organic! What better way to start out life than with organic materials.

Apple Park
believes that as asthma (and other major medical issues too!) are on the rise we are learning more and more that they are related to chemicals in our environment. Apple Park products are hypoallergenic and made from 100% certified organic cotton (and are of course sans chemicals and other carcinogenic materials!)

These soft toys are the sweetest, more huggable, lovable you've seen. I want the whole Apple Park Picnic Pals family! I know I'll be giving these away as holiday gifts for sure for the new little ones in my life.

Oh, and whilst I don't like excess packaging, I am a sucker for it when it's done well, and this is believe me, no wrapping paper needed! The box is made from recycled materials and printed with soy based ink, no guilt necessary!

In their own words: "It's good to be green for our health, our environment, our children and our future."

Check them out online on Twitter @appleparktoys & on their super cute website

(Images 1, 2)