Going green at home

Here at Kindervibe, we love being introduced to environmentally friendly products that are practical, innovative and safe. With Earth Day quickly approaching, we’ve found some great earth-friendly products for your household.

For drinking

Reducing our consumption of plastic water bottles continues to be a big focus of environmentalists and environmentally-cautious parents. The reason, millions of empty water bottles are dumped in to our landfills each year. So, one Canadian mom has decided to step in and help reduce that waste. Calgary-based Shannon Andrukow has combined her sense of style and environmental passion to create Otterbottle, BPA-free, earth-friendly, stainless steel water bottles. We love the fabulous designs and the fact that we can get the Otterbottle in a large 900 ml size, something that’s important for heavy water drinkers like us. Water tastes like water when you drink from the Otterbottle and in our case, after the bottle sat all day in the car under the sun, the water was still cool and refreshing. More importantly, however, Andrukow gives a portion of the sale of each bottle to The David Suzuki Foundation. Available in three sizes and lots of funky design motifs, Otterbottles are available online at www.otterbottle.ca. To find a list of retailers, visit their site as well.

For eating

Some of our favourite non-toxic, stainless steel food-storage options come from Greentainer. The brainchild of two Toronto moms, the Greentainer containers are available in various sizes, all of which are lightweight, durable, and perfect for your child’s lunch bag. We especially like the split-level design, which allows for holding two lunch items separately, but in the same container. Greentainer containers are made of food-grade stainless in India, where labour regulations are strict. On a personal note, since being introduced to our Greentainer, not a school day has passed where it hasn’t been incorporated into this Kindervibe momma’s lunch-making duties! We got our Greentainer from online retailer Kai Kids where you’ll find a great assortment of eco-friendly products for the family.

For cleaning

While we really wish we had housecleaning fairies pay us a visit, we are faced with the reality that we have to do the dirty job of cleaning the house ourselves. That being said, it’s important to use natural cleaning products as housecleaning products can be loaded with toxic chemicals. We like the idea of making your own cleaning products, but some people are having a hard time parting with the heavy duty cleaning solutions that they continue to buy from the store. We suggest trying Eco Mist Solutions. The Canadian-owned and operated, all-natural, plant-based line of cleaning products are made with a variety of renewable resources such as corn, tree sap, coconut extract, sugar cane, grass and water. We recently used the all-purpose cleaner to clean nasty carpet stains and we have to say we were thrilled with the clean outcome. Eco Mist home and professional products are available at Home Depot stores across Canada.

For reading

Even though this book has been in distribution for a couple of years, we think it is one of the best guides to help you live an environmentally friendly life in Canada. Written by Adria Vasil, Ecoholic: Your Guide to the Most Environmentally Friendly Information, Products and Services in Canada is one of the best resources offering practical tips and products that are good for you and the earth. It’s full of enlightening and sometimes shocking information about the daily products and items we consume. It is definitely worth adding to your home library. Stay tuned for the next book Ecoholic Home: The Greenest, Cleanest and Most Energy-efficient Information Under One Roof, scheduled for release in the fall. Currently available at Chapters, other bookstores and your local library.

Going green at home

For drinking

For eating

For cleaning

For reading

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