Environment, Organics, Fair Trade & Recycling at Big Green Purse

Ecocentric Mom Box Review

 My Ecocentric Mom Box is always full of an interesting and surprising array of product options I never knew existed. Here's what I discovered in the March/April box:

For your body:

Bach Original Flower Remedies - Bach has distilled 38 flower and plant essences into concentrated clear liquids, each of which is reputed to help deal with some kind of stress. My box contained a bottle of the essence of elm. It smells good enough to use as a perfume, though the recommended application is on the tongue.

Treefort Naturals Comfrey Salve - My hands always seem to be on the dry side. This salve soothes and softens and leaves no greasy residue.

MarieNatie All-Natural Lip Gloss - It's free of parabens, sulfates, synthetic fragrances and dyes, petro-chemicals and phthalates. I also like how moist it is on the lips. The company also makes eyeliner, eye shadow, blush, lip balm and mascara.

Oatmeal Grapefruit Face Wash Powder by Homespun Northwest - This powder consists of freshly ground organic oats, Kaolin clay and grapefruit essential oil. Put a little in your hand, add a few drops of water until it makes a paste, and scrub. Easy peasy, and safe as can be.

House Blend Organics Coconut Body Wash - I already use coconut butter as a body lotion because it is so moisturizing. This body wash both cleans and moisturizes, too.

Essio $10 Gift Card - Essio is an aromatherapy diffuser for the shower and uses 100% USDA-certified organic essential oils. Wouldn't a lovely essential oil be so much better to smell than chlorine when you take a shower?

To help you relax:

Organic Caffeine-Free Roman Provence Rooibos Tea - This tea is full of rooibos, elderberries, blueberries, rosehip pieces, lavender blossoms, and even rose petals. It is just as soothing to smell as to sip.

Powernap 2-CD Set - The lovely ambient music on these CDs will help revive you in the middle of the day with a powernap that works with your schedule. Choose from three longer naps to two five-inute programs. Each nap ends with chimes and a gentle voice to away you from a refreshing sleep.

2 Degrees Food Bar - Unlike many power bars or energy bars, this snack actually tasted like real food. It includes heritage grains like quinoa, cia and millet. Plus, they're gluten-free, vegan, GO-free and kosher. An added bonus: For every 2 Degrees bar sold, the company donates a meal to a hungry child in the US and abroad.

PLUS:

Bluapple for Produce Preservation - I've been wanting to try one of these for a while, so I'm glad to have a chance. It is a small plastic ball that resembles an apple. Inside, you add small pellets that absorb the ethylene gas that fruits and vegetables emit as they age. By absorbing the gas rather than leaving it in the fridge, the Bluapple aims to preserve food freshness and extend the life of the produce. I've just put it in my veggie drawer. I'll let you know how it works.

Sport Suds Laundry Detergent - This detergent is specially formulated to remove stubborn stains and odors. I'm not sure exactly what is in it, but happily it doesn't contain phosphates, dyes, or synthetic fragrances. It could be very effective on t-shirts, socks, shorts and sweatpants that take a beating when you or your kids are playing sports, out biking or hiking, or otherwise working up a sweat.

Acai Seed Bead Hair Barrett - All of the jewelry made by Terri Jean's adornments, including this barrett, are vegan, with a particular emphasis on organic nuts and seed beads.

Get Your Own EcoCentric Mom Box - It's easy to sign up to get your own box. You'll find all the details here.

Note: Big Green Purse earns a small commission on any boxes ordered through our site. Those fees help make it possible for us to provide you with expert content at no charge. Our editorial opinion of the products remains our own. Thanks.

 

Butter for Your Hands, Not Your Bread, Plus Much More from EcoCentric Mom

 It's that time of year when my hands are starting to feel so dry, you'd think I lived in the desert. Nope, it's just winter setting in, along with its prescription for cracking skin and painfully tight dryness. Happily, this month's EcoCentric Mom subscription box included butter - hand butter that is, made by The Seaweed Bath Co. from shea butter, neem oil and bladderwrack seaweed extract. I'm not sure what a bladderwrack is, but this balm feels great, and smells yummy, too, with a hint of citrus (or maybe that's what bladderwrack smells like...).

Not to leave lips at the mercy of winter, either, the subscription box also included both the 3 Little Girls Holistic Oange Pop Lip Gloss, and lip scrub and lip colour from Lauren Brooke cosmetiques. The organic sugar in the lip scrub helps smooth chapped lips, then moisturizes with organic lecithin and shea butter. The lip colour is infused with organic pomegranate and non-GMO vitamin E. And of course, the lip gloss is organic, too. Winter or summer, I actually put lip gloss on top of lip colour for extra moisturizing, so am glad to try out both these products.

Does Your Mascara Contain Mercury? Probably.

Mercury's not safe enough for light bulbs, batteries, thermometers and various medical devices.

 But your eyes? That's another story, at least according to the United Nations Minamata Convention, so named because thousands of people in Minamata, Japan suffered mercury poisoning from contaminated industrial wastewater.

The UN convention last week decided that companies can use mercury in mascara and other make-up until safer alternatives can be found. B why use mercury in the first place? Evidently it's an effective preservative and germ-killer. However, it's also a powerful neurotoxicant that can cause kidney damage and serious neurological effects. If you're pregnant and exposed to mercury, your baby's brain could be affected.

EcoCentric Mom Box Review: Natural Lotions, Snacks, Soaps, and More

Even though the summer can be humid, my skin seems to stay dry all year long. I'm always on the prowl for plant-based skin moisturizers that soothe dry skin without staying sticky or clammy. This month's EcoCentric Mom Box filled the bill, with samples of two different moisturizers from Pure + Remedy. Though designed to be light enough for your face, I've been slathering them on my hands and enjoying instant relief. Both the Gentle Hydrating Facial Moisturizer and the Vitamin C Concentrate Facial Moisturizer are rich in natural oils and anti oxidants.

 I'm enjoying the other personal care products EcoCentric Mom sent as well, including:

Possum Hollow Farm Soap - Made by a small family business in Pennsylvania, this non-irritating soap contains a variety of oils, including coconut, palm kernal, oilve, rice bran, soybean, and blood orange. There's shea butter and nutmeg, too, so you get nice and clean without drying out.

Suncoat Sugar Based Natural Mascara - If I use mascara, I want to avoid the nasty chemicals found in many commercial products (vinyls, acrylics, parabens, glycols, I'm talkin' to you!). This option from Suncoat relies on kaolin clay and vitamin E to build lash volume and length. Plus, it doesn't seem to smudge.

Eco-Friendly Soaps & Lotions, Plus Organic Energy Drinks & Honey

The July EcoCentric Mom Box offers lots of interesting goodies you're either going to want to put in your body or on it.

IN Your Body

 I hate to admit it, but the first thing I do when I get an EcoCentric Mom Box is to see what foods it contains. Maybe that's because it usually arrives around lunch time! In any event, I've really enjoyed this month's taste treats. They included:

Honibe Honey Lozenges and Honibe Honey Delights Candy - The lozenges are made from 100% pure dried honey - and they sure taste like it. They're also infused with menthol and eucalyptus; I can imagine using them in the fall and winter if I get a sore throat or stuffy nose. The Honibe Honey Delights are also made with 100% pure dried honey - and that's eat. They taste delicious and are just sweet enough to satisfy my sweet tooth.

Natural Mosquito Repellent to Ward Off Summer Bugs & More

My Ecocentric Mom Box has arrived just in the nick of time. Summer is in full swing, which means so are the mosquitos. There are lots of ways to reduce mosquitos around your home, but most of us still need to use some kind of repellent when we're in the garden, at a picnic, or taking a walk. This month's Mom Box included Herbal Insect Repellent from Turtle Moon that's worth giving a try. Made from essential oils like lavender, eucalyptus and wild geranium, it smells great to me (though not to bugs), sprays on so you can rub it in, but is not greasy.

I was a bit skeptical of another product in the box until I tried it. It's a lip scrub, believe it or not. This is a terrific solution if you have chapped lips that you just can't seem to keep moist.  Essence of Antiquity Pomegranate Lip Scrub works like hand or body scrubs you might have tried. Organic sugar provides the grit that gently wipes off rough skin cells, leaving lips feeling surprisingly moist.

Afterwards, I tried the Lauren Brooke Cosmetiques Lip Colour, a lip stick made with shea butter, coconut oil, jojoba oil and pomegranate oil (NOT lead, which is found is a surprising number of lip sticks). All those oils left my lips feeling soft and healthy. NOTE: this lipstick is pretty shimmery, so if that's not for you, you can use it as a base and put something more subdued on top.

Another healing product in this month's box was the Brigit True Organics Magic Healing Skin Balm Stick. This balm claims to help heal skin irritation, bug bites, and dry skin. I wasn't able to verify those claims independently, but given the ingredients - extra virgin olive oil, beeswax, calendula - I can imagine that it does a pretty good job moisturizing and soothing.

Fragrance, Fitness and Fig Bars? Only in this Month's EcoCentric Mom Box

  If you like surprises, an EcoCentric Mom Box is just the thing for you. Every month, this box full of eco-goodies shows up at my door and I have no idea what's going to be inside. I hate to admit it, but I always hope there will be some new food try, and generally there is. But I'm also likely to find new cosmetics, some new kind of soap, coupons that offer significant discounts for e-stores I didn't know existed and lately, perfume. This month's box contained all that and more. The biggest surprise was a $50 gift card to itrain.com, an online source for downloadable workout programs, music, and HD videos.

I decided to use the gift card when I would need it most: after I snarfed down the food.

Nature's Bakery Fig Bars - These are not your normal gummy Fig Newtons! The actual cookie (see photo)  is made from stone ground whole wheat flour; yes, it tastes "healthy" - but it's delicious, too. The filling is thick, hearty and flavorful. Fig filling is what you expect for a fig bar, of course. But the raspberry-filled bar was just as tasty. Other benefits: these bars are dairy free, contain zero transfats, are kosher, and are made in the USA. Definitely something I'd put in my or my kids' lunch or take to the gym with me instead of a power bar.

Go Raw Spirulina Energy Bar - I was expecting this crunchy snack to taste, well, icky. But it's light, flavorful, and the faint banana taste might make it very popular with kids. PLUS: it's free - as in gluten, wheat, nut and GMO free. Organic, too.

EBoost - Here's an alternative to the powdered sugary energy drinks you might be mixing up. EBoost is sugar-free, contains no artificial flavors, and has only 5 calories per serving. Add it to still or sparkling water for a refreshing drink.

Looking for New, Non-toxic Lotions, Cremes & Cleansers? Try the January EcoCentric Mom Box.

 This month's EcoCentric Mom box is chock full of exactly what I need in dry winter months: soothing organic skin lotions and cremes to moisturize my hands and face, gentle soaps, and cleansers and laundry "berry drops" that put the "clean" back in cleaning.

But first, the food.

I've said before that, as much as I enjoy the new non-toxic products from EcoCentric Mom that I get to try every month, I particularly like sampling the different taste treats that come in each box. This month, those treats included:

Simply 7 Snacks Lentil Chips - These flavorful snacks are made with gluten-free, non-GMO ingredients, have no preservatives, and contain nothing artificial.

Pure Matters Pea Protein Powder, in Chocolate and Vanilla - The vegan, non-GMO, plant based protein powder can be mixed with water or milk for a shake, or added to yogurt or fruit to make a smoothie.

PROBAR Meal Bar - A lot of energy bars disappoint - they seem too sweet, too airy, and way too full of processed ingredients. The PROBAR Meal Bar was surprisingly the opposite: very dense and chewy, tasty without being cloying, and so "natural" you could see some of the raw ingredients with every bite. I've got to say, I really liked it.

For my dry skin...

Candy I Don't Feel Guilty About, and a Whole Lot More in This Month's EcoCentric Mom Box

 The December EcoCentric Mom box arrived right in the middle of the holiday season, so I decided to open it in the new year instead. What better way to start off 2013 than by sampling some new organic taste treats and healthy products for my skin and hair?

Honey Stinger Organic Energy Chews - There was lots of food in this month's box, but my favorite by far were these candy-like "energy chews."  Made with USDA certified organic ingredients that are gluten- and dairy-free, they're wonderfully flavorful but not too sweet. I had intended to eat "just one," but gobbled them all right up once I tasted them.

Clandestino Milk Chocolate Banana Bar - Between the subtle banana filling and the milk chocolate covering, these bars pack a nice little energy punch.

Tisano Organic Chocolate Tea - I drink at least six cups of tea a day, and chocolate is one of my favorite foods, so you can imagine how much I liked trying out this new combo. One added benefit: though the tea is made from pure cacao beans, it's calorie-free.

Organic Nectars Chocolate Bars - Yes, more chocolate! These bars are certified organic, vegan and completely free of dairy, peanuts, soy, gluten, GMOs and refined sugar. I especially liked the one flavored witht raspberry.

September's EcoCentric Mom Box Review

This month's "Mom Box" from EcoCentric Mom contained a great assortment of cleaning products, personal care products, and even a few snacks.  

  On the laundry front, the box included two sample pouches of Ecover Natural Laundry Powder ZERO, as in fragrance-free.  I'm partial to laundy powder as opposed to liquid in a plastic bottle, so I particularly like this sample. I should get four loads of laundry out of the pouches, given how little detergent my efficient, "high e" washing machine uses.

The personal care products featured:

Lotus Wei Joy Juice Mist, a combination of blood orange, Davana (strawberry-like) and Marigold essences, plus pink daisy. It comes in a glass bottle, with just a minimum plastic spray pump attached, which I appreciate, as I'm trying to keep my bathroom plastic-free.

Beauty Without Cruelty Facial Cleanser. This is a lightly-foaming, soap-free cleanser, that is paraben free and has never been tested on animals. I like the slightly fruity scent.