The Greener Good | Review & Giveaway

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I recently had the pleasure of receiving some wonderful green products from The Greener Good. The Greener Good is the ultimate resource for going green. They provide products, services, and educational opportunities for those interested in greening their homes, lives, and families. The Greener Good product offering includes home, lawn & garden, home improvement, cleaning, apparel, body, baby and pet products. I checked several items that I thought were so unique and I am so loving the bamboo tops and skirts.

I received a Recycled Canvas Eco Tote Bag along with the matching Eco Key Fob, a container of OXY-Boost Ultra-Concentrated Destainer & Deodorizer, a bar of The Laundress Wash & Stain Bar, and a packet of The Laundress Stain Solution.

I will say that the Canvas Eco Tote Bag is so impressive if you see it in person. It is HUGE and actually has pockets inside. The quality is top notch and I really love the way it is designed. This would be great for day trips or even as an overnight bag. The key fob is perfect for having your ID card for work or school easily accessible as well as the zipper pocket to store debit cards, business cards, cash etc... Of course I have a teenagers who called dibs on these items~ We'll see what happens with that!


I was very excited to try out the OXY-Boost since the container said "earth health & pet friendly". If you are an animal owner you know how important it is to be extra cautious with what cleaning agents you use around them and on their washable items. I read up a bit on the OXY-Boost and found out that it is a safe alternative to traditional chlorine-based products. Its safe to use on most washable fabrics and is compatible with other household cleaning agents. Also, it produces no harmful by-products which negatively affect the environment. Unlike chlorine bleach, which can merely cover up a stain, Oxy-Boost attacks and breaks down organic stains to totally remove them from the garment. I decided to give it a try on my 3 year old's sneakers. They were covered in dirt, dust and grass stains. I threw them in the washing machine along with some other shoes and I was so pleased with the result!

Check out these before and after shots. His shoes look brand new again!



I am also in love with The Laundress Wash & Stain bar and how cute is that name?! I really like the scent and lather (just like a bar of soap) and the way it worked on my husband's shirts. I used it to scrub the collars and cuffs and was very happy with how clean they came out. I hate to sound like a cleaning geek but I found it really relaxing and fun using the Wash & Stain Bar!

For more information on The Greener Good products and nationwide shipping, check out www.thegreenergood.com.
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The wonderful folks over at The Greener Good sent me a container of the OXY-Boost Ultra-Concentrated Destainer & Deodorizer, a bar of The Laundress Wash & Stain Bar, and a packet of The Laundress Stain Solution (retail value of $20) to give away to one lucky Momfiles reader.

To enter (Mandatory): Check out all the neat stuff The Greener Good has to offer and come back and let us know what item/items you liked or let us know what steps you are personally taking to "green" your life.

For additional entries (leave a separate comment per entry method):
~ "like" The Greener Good and Momfiles on Facebook
~ share this giveaway on Facebook (once daily)

~ Follow The Greener Good and Momfiles on Twitter and Tweet this giveaway (once per day) Example: Enter to win some awesome #green laundry products from @thegreenergood over @momfiles http://tinyurl.com/4jspzff #giveaway

~ Follow Momfiles via Google Friend Connect
~ Sport the Momfiles button on your blog

This giveaway is open to US Residents only and will end on April 3, 2011 at 9:00 PM EST. Winner will be chose via random.org and will be contacted by email. If you do not have a Blogger profile then be sure to leave your email address. Good luck!

Disclosure: I received products to try out and all opinions are 100% mine as always.

Why I love to vacuum

About 3 months ago I was on the hunt for a vacuum cleaner that was going to perform well but not drain my bank account. I took about a month to research as well as get some input from other moms on what they recommended. Of course most people said the Dyson was the must-have and was worth every penny. I am so happy I did not go the Dyson route. Don't get me wrong, if I felt like spending $400-$500 I would have so gotten one. Instead I went with the Eureka AirSpeed. A couple of my blog moms friends helped me out since they actually got to try out both the Eureka and Dyson. I went up to Walmart and paid about $119. I noticed that they are on sale for $98.96 right now. I tell you what, this is the best vacuum I have ever used and it has exceeded my expectations in every way. The suction power is amazing and I really love the hand tools. It makes stair cleaning so much easier and the nozzle is longer than any vacuum I previously owned. I really love the super long power cord. Not having to stop every 2 minutes to plug up into another outlet is a big plus for me! It works really well on bare floors (hardwood, tile etc.) I really like the bottom release dust cup. It seems cleaner to me. I remember the first time I used my AirSpeed and I thought I would faint with all of the junk that collected in the dust cup. This vacuum is a great value and I am completely happy with this purchase. Apparently so happy I did this review on my own with no compensation at all. Dwayne is going to get me for this one!

If you are shopping around for a new vacuum I would recommend this one hands down!

I'm allergic to clutter

I spent the weekend getting rid of things. I have been pushing things around here and there and finally got sick of it. I packed up my car trunk and parted with a whole lot of stuff. My kids had a HUGE zipper bag (the kind you get a king-sized comforter set in) filled with Christmas related stuffed animals. Now don't get me wrong, so many of them were so adorable and filled with memories but realistically I'm no hoarder. I keep a few things as memories but I donate most things. When you open up a bag of things that make you sneeze then you know it is time to let it go. It feels so good to see spaces open up and it truly feels like we are moving forward. Now I did come across 3 bags of baby clothes but I still have to sort through it. I had no problem getting rid of the 1 year and older stuff. There is just something so special about the baby stuff. I still believe in the "less is more" mentality.

Momfiles fun summer giveaway

**Contest Closed**
Winner- #13 scrappykeels

I was selected to host a House Party for some of the latest Febreze products through houseparty.com. If you have never checked out House Party you are missing out! You can apply to host parties for all kinds of goodies from household items, movies, food, beauty items and more. I wanted to share some of the great stuff I got from Febreze in the form of a giveaway for one of you awesome Momfiles readers. This prize includes: 1 flameless luminary starter kit , 2 luminary refills, 1 room spray , 1 scented reed diffuser (all in pomegranate mango) and 1 of their newest items a Set and Refresh air freshener in Hawaiian Aloha (set to hit store shelves in July ). This is all valued at about $35 retail. I have personally tried these items and they are VERY powerfully scented. You would be amazed at how big of a space these items will fragrance. You really get a whole lot of bang for your buck with Febreze products.

Here's how to enter: *Mandatory Leave us a comment telling us about any Febreze products you have tried and which is your favorite. If you've never tried any then let us know what product or scent you think you might like to try.

*For additional entries you can:
~Tweet or Facebook this giveaway.

Example of Tweet: Enter @momfiles to win some nice Febreze products http://blog.momfiles.com/2010/06/momfiles-fun-summer-giveaway.html #giveaway #summer

~Follow us on Twitter @momfiles
~Follow us through Networked Blogs on Facebook
~place our button on your blog

Good luck and this giveaway is limited to US Resident only. Deadline is July 23, 2010 at 9:00 pm EST. One winner will be chosen via random.org.

The recession has hit my house

If you know me well enough then you know that I can't stand when people blame the recession for everything that has gone wrong in their life. I have dealt with the rising prices of food, gas and well EVERYTHING else in the best way I can. I use coupons, shop sales, cut back on non-essentials and even re-purpose some items. Now I am totally offended that when I do laundry (usually 4 loads at a time, twice a week) that I can't find even a nickel! Man, back about 2 years ago I always got a minimum of $5 and sometimes $10. It was nice little lunch money or pocket change. Now I feel cheated. I get empty gum wrappers and lint. Like I said, the recession has hit my house, not cool :(

And why??

Please tell me that someone else out there has a husband that likes to dress like a fool while working out in the yard... Dwayne bought this plaid shirt from a thrift store for $1. He loves this shirt. He's proud to wear it. He says he is doing good for our earth by reusing an article of clothing. Okay, I will give him the shirt.
Now this stack of pants is where I take real issue. Why does one man (a very busy one at that) need to have a minimum of 7 pairs of yard pants? You would think our yard looked like we live in the White House with how many pants and shirts he has that are supposed to be dedicated to yard work. Oh my husband...

Denial and pure randomness

Do you ever have so much housework to do that you feel like you are in complete denial about it? I have put all of this on myself by rearranging too many rooms at one time. I am also spring cleaning so I keep finding all kinds of crap everywhere. I did discover a huge box of summer clothes for William that I did not know we had. I am so happy about that since I thought I was going to have to buy everything. I love hand-me-downs! It is so humid out and the weather report claims we will get rain. I am sort of hoping it pours and gets it all over with already. My laundry is mountainous since I found all these clothes that were hidden. I can't have my boy wearing dusty clothes. I am writing this post because I am taking a break. Now off to sign onto Facebook to play a few rounds of Bejeweled Blitz ;) I hope you all are having a great weekend.

What makes me want to clean

If you know me personally or check out my status updates on Facebook you might have learned that I clean a lot. Of course my house still looks pretty much destroyed most of the time thanks to my sweet little Hurricane Willie. Some days are harder than others to get household tasks complete. One great way to get me in the mood to clean is new cleaning products. I can't explain the joy I get from that. I know, I'm insane. Just the right scent can totally get me going and I love trying new products as well. Over the course of the morning I have cleaned 2 bathrooms out of 3, swept floors and mopped, cleaned my office, folded and packed away laundry, cleaned the kitchen and have my dinner fully prepped for this evening. It all started with a new bottle of bathroom cleaner and spiraled out of control! At least I can be lazy for the rest of the day :)

What gets you in the cleaning mood?

My inbox is immaculate

I am a frequent Facebook/Twitter user and I have noticed almost daily the status updates of friends talking about their email inbox. It is astonishing to me that so many have over a thousand email. Some even in the upwards of 5,000. I get into a panic if mine even goes to 20. I have a tendency to keep an immaculate inbox. I have folders that keep email in particular categories and I do a folder cleaning every few months just to not let them build up with a bunch of useless trash. I also keep my Smart phone on my 24/7 so that my new mail never builds to more than about 10-15 unread messages. I can say that I have a very well organized email system. Now if only my office and house can be that way....

The Green moms are gonna get me!

Seriously, real talk...I have been trying to get down with the being "green" thing. While I am already a big recycler and reuser of a lot of things, there are just some things I can't get down with. First off I went and purchased one of those organic and natural kitchen sponges. I got a great price for it so I figured it was worth a shot. Um, WRONG! I could not get the darn thing to make my dish soap lather so this made me waste detergent. After the first use it felt icky and slimy. I thought maybe because it was the first use that it just had to get broken in. Nope. Stayed that way for 2 weeks and made it into the trash can in a hurry! Also I tried to use recycled aluminum foil. Seriously, you get charged more for a cheap product? I was so disappointed in the quality.

One great thing though is my paper plates and bowls. I LOVE LOVE LOVE them and will not trade them EVER. Sorry greenies, maybe one of the big brands will come out with a green version. Until then I will stick to most of my traditional methods that work!

Putting it all away

I started late last night taking all the ornament off the tree. It was supposed to be just that. Instead the lights made their way off and then eventually the tree itself completely disappeared, tucked away in enormous storage bins. All signs of Christmas have vanished. I am one of those people that just don't like keeping seasonal things up past the time. We really like getting the house cleaned up and organized for the New Year. Dwayne has gotten our bill book made for 2010 and I got a new computer and so we have no excuse to have things get out of control. I even bought a new coupon organizer to help save the family some money. If I don't have a coupon or it is not on sale I generally won't purchase that item. So now that I have completely switched subjects it is time for me to go! I will be back tomorrow :)

It's Monday and I got ....NOTHING!

**Apologies ahead of time to you good parents that are big into saving the earth. I do care about the earth, I'm just human.**

I know this is an odd subject but I was wondering this: Do you use the kind of paper towels that are regular full-sized sheets or the select-a-size type sheets? I did a little test at home to see which ones would last longer. I have found that if I use a standard size roll it lasts about 3-4 days. The select-a-size roll lasts about 7-8 days. Most people don't like the select-a-size rolls but I LOVE them in my house. If we have the full-sized sheets I make the family rip it in half to begin with so they are used to the size (I know, cheap..oh well). I mean, why waste and entire sheet on something so tiny?



Which paper towels do you prefer full-size or select-a-size?



*I told you it was Monday and I had nothing!

Being GREEN is so hard!

I am finding these days that being green is getting to be quite a challenge. We have changed almost all of our light bulbs to the curly ones (which are costly), we recycle everything, we try to reuse things in creative ways and we have even been composting. One neat thing I do is I tend to buy premium pasta sauces when they are on sale and I save the glass Mason jar and lid it came in. I use the jars when I make my homemade soups and chili to share with a sick friend, neighbor or relative. They appreciate you did something so nice and I don't get annoyed when I don't get my container back. (I have issues with when I give you food and you don't have the decency to return my container)
Okay, back to my story...

The other day I purchased some Clorox GreenWorks glass and surface cleaner. I have been very skeptical since it claims it is natural. Something about cleaning something that shows lemons, coconuts and oranges does not make me feel like I would be cleaning. I like how it works for the most part on surfaces like my range top, desk, and glass surfaces. I just don't like the fact that it does not smell clean. To me there is nothing like the strikingly fresh scent of pine that about slaps you in the face. I am sure most of you grew smelling that fragrance while mom was in the kitchen cleaning. Now I feel like things are clean when they smell clean. I am really trying to be as green as I can but I have to draw the line with my cleaning products. Please, to all the green mamas out there, don't go sending me any hate mail. I'm old school...I'm just sayin'...

If you really want to help save the environment then order one of these. =) (my shameless plug)

Spring cleaning in Fall

Do you ever feel like your life is too cluttered? You have so much going on in so many directions that it makes you lose focus. In my family, we tend to 'Spring clean' all year long. We throw everything out and try not to collect stuff. The rule is if it has not been used in the past year then it has to go (with the small exception of some keepsakes). I used to be one of those people that would save things I thought might eventually come in handy one day only to find that it would collect dust and never did get used. I accumulated a box collection. A box collection? Yes, every time I would receive a package through the mail I would save the box thinking that it was the perfect size for if I was to ship something to someone. I would end up with a corner of my storage room loaded with these boxes and I never used them. My kids have even gotten into the habit in their own rooms to get rid of outgrown clothes, shoes and other odds and ends that end up creating clutter. I don't even have to ask them to do it! I have also been putting William's outgrown things in huge zipper bags separated by give aways/donations and also things to take to consignment. This ensures that he will always have things that actually fit instead of grabbing something that is too small. I figured I need to get into that habit early on so I can keep up with his room.

On another note, I know that if Dwayne reads this he will be talking about my junky drawers. Look, I have a few junky drawers in different parts of the house and that will never change. I keep random things like paper clips, pens, batteries, screws, coins, stamps, and all kids of odd items in these drawers (some things are actually useful). Shoot, Dwayne has even found things he needed in the junky drawers.

Do you keep a lot of "STUFF" that you think you need?
Do you have a junky drawer/s in your home? If so, what can be found in it?