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How to pack a zero-waste picnic this summer

This shop has been compensated by Collective Bias, Inc. and its advertiser. All opinions are mine alone. #BlueLizardSummer #CollectiveBias

Getting outside and enjoying the summer weather every chance we get is a must for our family! We love nothing more than spending the afternoon at our local lake taking in the sights and sounds of our local nature reserve while enjoying a picnic spread. But like most every other activity that involves my family over the past year, our zero-waste lifestyle comes into play. Even while picnicking at the park!

Earlier this month, knowing picnic season was just around the corner I stopped by my local Walmart to pick up several must-haves for summer, including Blue Lizard® Australian Sunscreen Sensitive products. It gives us all the coverage we need to keep us safe from the sun and can easily be found right at Walmart. As its summer, whenever getting out in the sun sunscreen is a must.

This sunscreen for sensitive skin is a must for our family’s summer picnic basket. It has a unique zinc oxide formulation, provides broad spectrum UVA/UVB protection, is paraben-free and fragrance-free, and dermatologist-recommended for over 15 years! As a family, we love Blue Lizard® Sunscreen‘s patented Smart Bottle™ technology, which causes the bottle to change color when exposed to harmful UV sunlight. So we always know when to reapply. Here’s where you can find Blue Lizard® Sunscreen at Walmart:

What’s even better? For savvy savers like us, this month there’s a new iBotta deal for Blue Lizard® Australian Sunscreen! Currently, when you join iBotta (as well as existing members) and purchase Blue Lizard® Australian Sunscreen – Sensitive, the 5 oz.-bottle only, you can earn $4.00. Click here for more details! So with this season’s sunscreen in-hand from my local Walmart, I headed home to prep a zero-waste picnic lunch for the afternoon.

What supplies you’ll need for zero-waste picnics this summer:

As you might think, packing a zero-waste picnic is not that different from packing a regular picnic. Because when it comes to packing a zero-waste picnic you are aiming to create as little waste as possible, so you won’t be using disposable products. So you’ll need to skip the plastic disposable products in-store. Think in terms of natural elements such as glass, stainless steel, wood, cloth, fiber, or stone products. Consider purchasing utility reusables, such as Mason jars, which can be used for a myriad of picnic foods such as salads, smoothies, snacks for the kids, and even bbq.

Other useful products include glass brewery bottles and stainless steel products, such as straws, silverware, and serving ware. All items that can be affordably purchased and used for many seasons to come! You’ll also need reusable versions of picnics staples including reusable napkins, picnic blankets, picnic baskets, and wrappings to coverings to keep foods fresh, such as reusable cling wrap. And one of the easiest ways to acquire reusable cling wrap is to make your own! Here’s the why and how.

Why make Beeswax wraps:

Beeswax wraps are a naturally anti-bacterial, anti-microbial, eco-friendly alternative to plastic wrap that will actually hug bowls, cups, plates, and jars with just the right amount of cling. They’re great for wrapping snacks, fruit, veggies, cheese, bread and even bowls, making them perfect for zero-waste picnics! Wraps also cost just under $1.00 to make and will give you hundreds of uses per beeswax wrap. The best part? They’re customizable and make great hostess, teacher appreciation, or holiday gift for friends and family too! Now let’s see just how simple making DIY beeswax wraps at home this summer can be!

Ingredients & Equipment you’ll need:

Beeswax: You can buy beeswax in bars (which will need to be grated or in pellet form)
Jojoba oil
100% cotton fabric. (The thinner the better. I use fat quarters from Walmart for $1.00)
Scissors: Sheers to cut your fabric and pinking shears to prevent fraying.
Paintbrush
Grater (if buying block beeswax)
Stainless Steel Baking Sheet
Parchment paper
Ruler or Tape Measure
Oven
Binder clips
String
Tongs

Instructions:

-Preheat your oven to 225 degrees Fahrenheit. To keep my home cooler in summer, I use a convection oven to make beeswax wraps.

-Next, you’ll need to create a drying station. To do this, I cleared off one of my kitchen baker’s racks, cut and laid out a sheet of parchment paper beneath where the wraps will hang to dry. I then cut strings across the underside of one shelf. Then when ready to use, I hang the wraps by the binder clips.

-Now to prep your fabric. You do this by cutting your fabric into the size you need. For this post, I cut mine into 8×8 inch squares.

-Next, prep your baking tray by laying parchment paper over the baking sheet. Then place your fabric on top. Remember, parchment paper is reusable. So when done, just pop your sheets into the freezer and the wax will come off leaving you with a like-new sheet of parchment paper.

-Next, measure out your beeswax and then sprinkle your beeswax mixture evenly over the top of your fabric and then drizzle your jojoba oil over beeswax pellets as well.

-Place sheet in the oven and bake for 6-8 minutes or until the mixture is fully melted.

-Next, pull your sheet out of the oven. Then quickly, using the paintbrush, spread the mixture evenly over the fabric, making sure to fully saturate each area, particularly the corners and edges. If any part of the wraps needs further saturation just pop the sheet back into the oven for an additional 1-2 minutes. When the mixture is evenly melted, remove the baking sheet from the oven and lift the sheet with tongs.

-Finally, hang your sheets with your binder clips on your drying rack station. Allowing each wrap to dry 10 minutes. Keep in mind that it will feel very tacky at first but will cure and dry quickly. And now your wraps are done!

A few quick tips:

Wraps can be made in any number of sizes and it really just depends on the size and number of sheets you want to make. Here’s how much materials to use for the specific size wrap you need: 8×8 Sheet (2 teaspoons beeswax & 1/2 teaspoon jojoba oil, 11×11 Sheet (2 teaspoons beeswax & 1 teaspoon jojoba oil), & 14×14 Sheet (3 teaspoons beeswax & 2.5 teaspoons jojoba oil).
To use each wrap, just place over a bowl or container, wrap around food like cheese, or fold into a snack bag.
The warmth from your hands will mold the wrap into the desired shape.
Wraps should be washed with cold water, Castille soap, air dried, and stored standing up in cabinets.
Since they cannot be washed with hot water, wraps are not suitable for meats for high-moisture foods.
After a year, you need to re-wax them in order to keep using them.
If you prefer vegan wraps, powdered pine resin can be substituted for beeswax.

How to pack a zero-waste picnic:

When you’re ready to pack your picnic start by collecting all your jars, bottled drink, and reusable materials. I like to place anything that doesn’t need immediate refrigeration in my wicker picnic basket and everything else goes into a reusable insulated bag, along with ice packs. I then pack up my straws, napkins, Blue Lizard® Australian Sunscreen, DIY essential oil bug spray, and silverware and you’re set for a zero-waste picnic this summer!

Now, if you need a little help knowing what the essentials for zero-waste picnicking are I’ve included an infographic to help you along. Just download it to your favorite device and keep it with you as a zero-waste shopping guide the next time your in-store!

For our last picnic, I packed jarred wedges of cheese, spicy dill tuna salad, gluten-free tortilla chips, olives, frozen cantaloupe (also serves to keep picnic items cooler), baked hummus with queso fresco, and 1-minute microwave jarred chocolate cake for us all to share. I was able to easily cover the hummus with a new beeswax wrap. It was a feast for our little family of three!

We picnicked as a family at our favorite local spot overlooking our local nature reserve’s reservoir lake. It was tranquil and trash-free!

While there we remembered to apply Blue Lizard® sunscreen before heading out to the gazebo for the afternoon and then reapplied two hours later to ensure SPF protection was maintained. Blue Lizard® Australian Sunscreen’s sensitive skin formula is perfect for our whole family, even my husband, whose fair skin has seen its share of sunburns over the years. As I’ve mentioned before, it’s our go-to for summer activities, including picnicking by the lake!

Now that you’ve seen how easy prepping for a zero-waste picnic can be, I encourage you to consider making your own beeswax wraps for your perfect zero-waste picnic this summer. Then be sure to check out Blue Lizard® Australian Sunscreen’s sensitive skin formula this month at your local Walmart. Remember, this month you can earn $4.00 when you purchase Blue Lizard® Australian Sunscreen – Sensitive, 5 oz. bottle, at Walmart from the iBotta savings app!

So friends, will you be taking in a picnic as part of your adventures this summer? And how will you make these adventures more zero-waste? I’d love to hear about them below!

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9 Ways to Create Bee-Friendly Spaces at Home

While you may think of bees simply as a summertime nuisance there’s more than meets the eye with these hard-working insects. Bees actually help to ensure that many of your favorite foods to reach our dinner tables each night. From apples to almonds, we have bees to thank for any one of our favorite foods coming to fruition.

Sadly, due to environmental pollution and deforestation, many domestic bee varieties now face a greater foe than ever before, a condition known as Colony Collapse Disorder. A disorder that causes bee populations to plummet, which means that over time, many of the organic produce foods we rely on day in and day out could also be at risk of disappearing from our meal plans as we know them.

In the United States alone, more than twenty-five percent of all honey bee populations has disappeared since 1990. This is particularly scary facts as bees, one of a myriad of other animals, including birds, bats, beetles, and butterflies, called pollinators, animals that aid in the propagation of domestic food crops by way of cross-pollination, or the the transfer of pollen to a stigma, ovule, flower, or plant to allow fertilization. Bees, in particular, are vital to food production.

Cross-pollination directly helps at least thirty percent of the world’s crops and ninety percent of our wild plants to thrive. Without bees to spread seeds, many plants—including food crops—would die off. For when domestic and international bee populations die off as will human beings.

(Photo Source)

Beyond the fields, bees also help to keep our economy humming. More than $15 billion a year in U.S. crops are pollinated by bees, including apples, berries, cantaloupes, cucumbers, and various other crops. U.S. honey bees also produce about $150 million domestically in honey product revenue annually.

The monetary effects of this decline can already be seen from a global perspective. As the global economic cost of bee decline, including lower crop yields and increased production costs, has been estimated to be as high as $5.7 billion per year since 1990. Which makes maintaining bee populations crucial for keeping American tables stocked with quality organic produce.

Consider this, with every third morsel of produce you consume, you could ideally thank a bee for that tasty bite of food.

Researchers believe that Colony Collapse Disorder may be caused by a number of interwoven factors including Global warming, which has caused flowers to bloom earlier or later than usual, as well as pesticide use on farms, which caused parasites such as harmful mites, to be immune from crop dusting, while simultaneously killing pollinators, such as bees, each growing season. A deadly combination when it comes to organically grown produce.

So what can be done to protect our precious bee populations?

To begin, we can urge our policymakers to take action to protect the bees and other pollinators that help keep fresh food on our table. This means increased grant funding to aid farmers for organic farming practices that help wild bee populations thrive, such as leaving habitat for bees in their surrounding fields, crop rotation, and avoiding the use of harmful pesticides.

We can also urge policymakers to increase funding for the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) and the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), so we can invest in our farmers and farming communities by way of research on pollinators and organic Integrated Pest Management (IPM) techniques through Farm Bill conservation programs.

We can also create bee-friendly yards at home. If you are a gardener like me, your weekends may find your elbow deep in planting your summer gardens and annual landscaping. I’m reminded of years past and my struggles to grow certain crops. Despite my best efforts, cucumbers were always absent from my garden harvest. Year after year, no matter how hard I tried, I could not get any cucumbers to grow. Because what was missing from my garden were honeybees.

(Photo Source)

So with this in mind here are a few ways you can keep a more bee-friendly garden at home:

Choose plants that attract bees: Bees love native wildflowers, flowering herbs, berries and many flowering fruits and vegetables. Some honeybee favorites include – mints, basil, sage, thyme, borage, oregano, lavender, chives, berries, strawberries, blueberries, raspberries, blackberries, cucumbers, tomato, winter squash, pumpkins, melons, watermelons, broccoli, crocus, tulips, sunflowers, asters, lilacs, wisteria, cosmos, black-eyed Susans, gaillardia, cup plants, goldenrod, loosestrife, bachelor’s buttons, peony and honeysuckle.

Use spacing to your advantage: If you have space, planting any type of fruit tree is perfect and trees such as maple, willow, black locust, and sumac are also good food sources for bees.

Group similar plants together: Try to plant at least one square yard of the same plant together to make a perfect bee attractor. But if you are short on space planting just a few wildflowers or herbs in a planter or window box is all that’s needed to provide more foraging opportunities for bees.

Pick plants with long blooming cycles: Or choose plants with successive blooms. This way the bees will keep coming back again and again.

Let your plants flower: Leave the flowers on your plants and deadhead them to allow the honeybees to get the pollen and nectar they need. If you are growing herbs or vegetables such as broccoli, harvest it but leave the plant intact. When you are done let it go to flower for the pollinators and leave it in the garden until the flowers are gone.

Provide a fresh water source: A bird bath filled with pea gravel submerged in water provides bees an area to stand on while also providing needed water sources for honeybees each season.

Avoid the use of pesticides and herbicides in your garden: Or anywhere in your yard including your lawn, for that matter. A simple rule of thumbs- if little paws or hands touch those areas, pesticides don’t belong there! This ban also applies to products your lawn care company uses. When in doubt leave it out.

Appreciate the beauty of weeds: Dandelions, clovers, loosestrife, milkweed, goldenrod and other flowering weeds are very important food sources for bees. In areas filled with green sprawling lawns, dandelions and clovers are vital plants for a bees survival. Let them grow and the next time you see a dandelion going to seed, grab it, blow those seeds around and feel good knowing you are doing your part to help save the bees!

Change your mindset: At first, you may not like the idea of attracting stinging insects into the garden. Keep in mind that stinging is a defensive behavior used for defending the nest against predators. Just as humans instinctively protect our children, as do bees! Most bees as far too busy to sting. Ever watched a bee when it visits a flower and noticed that the bee often too busy to even notice you! Foraging bees are happy and curious. They are not looking for a fight. They are friends. They help provide us produce and help keep our world moving along.

So as you can see friends, you can provide bee-friendly habitats at home with very little effort or cost. You do not even have to uproot your current garden in order to attract more bees. Providing shelter for bees can be as simple as maintaining a garden full of spaces guarded against the elements, providing natural watering sources, or simply learning to appreciate bees, not as pests, but as beautiful reminders of the delicate reminder of the part we all play in keeping nature at its best.

Now I have to ask, do you provide bee-friendly spaces around your home and garden? If so, I’d love to hear about them below!

Here’s to all that bees do,

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Protect Your Gut Health with NOW Probiotics

Disclaimer: This is a sponsored post for MomsMeet.com and Now Foods. I received this free in exchange for my honest review & opinion as a MomsMeet Ambassador. To read this blogs full disclosure policy, click here. Thank you.

Do you ever wake up days not feeling your personal best and not being able to pinpoint as to why? Unfortunately, I do. And I’m sure I’m not alone. When I let my diet get out of hand, overindulge during the holidays, or during that time of the month my gut health can get super out of hand and when it does my body starts to feel super run down!

Between my constant reach for more coffee, to consuming rich deli foods, and even over-indulging in red meats can leave you feeling sluggish throughout your day. A feeling I knew I needed to do something about.

To remedy this, I started small. I regulated my sleep, making sure to go to bed at a decent time. To begin my day with warm, refreshing lemon water, and to build-up my gut health with NOW Women’s Probiotic 20 Billion product.

NOW Women’s Probiotic 20 Billion has been specially formulated using three clinically tested probiotic strains to support women’s health featuring L. rhamnosus, HN001, and L. acidophilus La- 14, all probiotic strands clinically proven to colonize, maintain proper vaginal pH, support healthy immune system function, especially for those with compromised immune systems and for pregnant and nursing women.

These specialized strains also support healthy, balanced immune system function in women of all ages as NOW is one of very few supplement companies that is using technology to genetically verify their probiotics. Using DNA- fingerprinting technology to guarantee the identity, potency, and purity, NOW Women’s Probiotic has 20 billion Colony-Forming Units (CFU) of the bacterial strains used in their probiotic products, as well as help identify potential bacterial contaminants prior to production.

I also love that NOW Women’s Probiotic 20 Billion is vegetarian, vegan, gluten-free, and has an unconditional money-back guarantee. Which is awesome for all the animal lovers out there with tummy troubles!

NOW Women’s Probiotic 20 is also been fantastic when it comes to my seasonal allergies! They seemed to have made this probiotic with the allergy-sensitive in mind. The capsules themselves contain no dairy, wheat, soy, or gluten.It’s also GMP (Good manufacturing practice) quality assured and is not manufactured with wheat, gluten, soy, milk, egg, fish, shellfish, or tree nut ingredients. I was pleasantly surprised that while I was taking this supplement; it actually gave me relief from my incessant sneezing and stuffy nose!

The suggested usage for NOW Women’s Probiotic 20 is 1-2 capsules between meals or on an empty stomach. A lot of probiotics recommend taking them with a meal, so for this particular product, this is something you want to keep in mind! I prefer to take NOW Women’s Probiotic 20 when I wake up with a glass of water, so I don’t have to worry about food interactions.

Also worth noting, Now Probiotic 20 is one of those supplements that needs to be kept refrigerated at all times. To keep the probiotics alive. Though this is in no way a deal breaker for me personally.

Let’s also consider the pricing of the NOW Women’s Probiotic 20. The price per day of using Now Probiotic 20 costs between $0.30 and $0.60, with a suggested retail price of $33.99, which is affordable for a probiotic supplement. I personally think this is a great value since you are getting a good quality multi-strain probiotic for your money!

Lastly, I wanted to mention side effects of the supplement. One of the best things about this product is that when I tried it out, I experienced no side effects! This is amazing because in the past I’ve experienced visible bloating while taking other leading probiotics. So in terms of side effects, I’m giving NOW Women’s Probiotic 20 two thumbs way up! A product without side effects is a major plus in my book.

All things considered, this is a good probiotic supplement. You get a solid 25 billion organisms, it’s allergy conscious, and you can take it as a daily or therapeutic supplement for digestion and immune health and with 25 billion live cultures, and in 10 different strains, this product can double as a daily supplement or be taken for a specific ailment.

I have tried some other probiotics – this one works best for me. I’ve also begun giving the Now Foods Berry Dophilus Kids Probiotic and Super Enzymes Men’s Health Probiotic to my family as well!

I encourage you to connect with the Now Foods Brand as followed:

Online // Facebook // Twitter // Instagram // Pinterest

So friends, now I have to ask, do you currently take probiotic supplements at home? I’d love to hear about your experiences below!

Here’s to your health,

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#StopCatLitterSmell with Litter Genie®

Disclaimer: This is a sponsored post for BrandBacker.com and Litter Genie. I received this free in exchange for my honest review & opinion. To read this blog full disclosure policy, click here. Thank you.

There are very few things worse than walking to an otherwise clean home and smelling the dreaded litter box smell. You know the smell, that dastardly scent of a port-a-potty mixed with soured laundry. It’s the worst. And as any cat owner will tell you, it’s a smell you avoid having in your home at all cost.

While keeping litter box odors at bay would be simple enough if your day wasn’t so sacrosanct with all things adulting, which is why modern litter disposal systems, like the Litter Genie®^, were developed.

The Litter Genie® gives cat owners a preferable alternative to using free plastic or paper grocery bags for collecting and disposing of cat litter box waste. More importantly, the Litter Genie® aids in overall cat health by way of preventing cystitis, a serious urinary tract condition. Cystitis is also one of the top causes for litter box avoidance in cats, as they relate the pain of urinating with the litter box, inappropriate marking, and elimination in non-litter box areas of your home.

So as a pet owner, when it comes to Boo Radley’s health, any product that I can bring into my home that helps promote his health, I’m on board!

About the system:

The Litter Genie Unit with a built-in scoop holder, a litter scoop, and the standard Litter Genie refill cartridge, containing 14 feet of the refill bag material.
The unit measures 9.5 X 8.5 X 17 Inches tall and weighs 3.3. pounds (empty, I presume).
Comes in two colors: white or silver.
The Litter Genie website claims that one refill cartridge can last up to two months for one cat.
The refill cartridge is said to be 30% longer than the standard cartridge that comes in the box with the Litter Genie.

System costs (from their website):

Litter Genie® PAIL $14.99 – $16.99 (MSRP)
Litter Genie® REFILL $5.99 – $35.99 (MSRP)
Litter Genie® Refills last up to two months for one cat.
Available in single, two and four-pack pack options.
Litter Genie® is available in Petco, Pet Smart, Target, Walmart, Amazon.com, Chewy.com, and other retailers where pet products are sold.

Reasons to try the system:

Litter Genie® has a smaller footprint than other litter box waste collecting systems on the market.
The price is right at $15 – approximately one-quarter of the going price for other systems.
Built-in carrying handles enable the user to carry the Litter Locker from room to room, as needed.
I could detect absolutely no odor with the top lid closed, even if waste was in the top holder.
The Litter Genie website refers to these odor-free properties as “five-layer refill bags with built-in odor barrier technology”
The Litter Genie® was easy to assemble, taking me less than five minutes from start to finish.
The Litter Genie® Pail holds up to two weeks of cat litter (for one cat) and with the seven-layer refill bags, it helps lock stinky germs and odors away too.

Thoughts About the Litter Genie®:

Overall, the system has worked well for my home and the product does indeed keep the whole house free of obvious cat odor. Litter Genie® brings you a hassle-free compact cat litter disposal system. I’ve been able to fit the Litter Genie® next to my existing litter box on unused kitchen cabinet cubbies. I enjoy the systems sleek design as well.

It terms of utility, the Litter Genie® Pail excels in its ability to hold up to two weeks of cat litter (for one cat) and with the seven-layer refill bags, it helps lock stinky germs and odors away too. So, you can forget about those constant trips to the trash! I love that I’m able to collect a week’s worth of litter for disposal at the end of each week.

Mind you, I do plan to make this system more zero-waste by using compostable pet waste bags and compostable litter moving forward once my cartridge is finished. This will bring further utility to this system and extend my conscionable use of the system with my zero-waste home and minimalist pet care routines.

Also worth considering are future costs of the system. As with many products today, the cost of the refill cartridge can quickly add up to many times the original cost of the entire unit. Also, I found that the “child-safe” built-in bag cutter doesn’t work well. I ended up having to use scissors to cut the end of the bag all the way through at times, though this was not a deal breaker for me but did warrant mentioning.

Whether you’re the cat owner, family member or friend, we can all appreciate how odor from soiled cat litter can take over your home. Litter Genie’s unique design and technology means these issues are locked away – providing peace of mind for you, any planned or unplanned visitors, and most importantly, your cat.

Would I encourage a friend to purchase the Litter Genie? Yes, especially for pet owners of male cats, whose urine smell tends to be more potent in odor. This system will your nose, and home, much-needed odor-blocking relief.

Now if you’re looking to find out more about the Litter Genie® system check out the following links for more detailed product information:

So friends, now I have to ask, do you use a litter box collection system at home or are you a current Litter Genie® owner already? I’d love to hear about it below!

Here’s to cleaner homes,

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What I loved in March

There’s a lot of work that goes into writing any blog. Everything from research to promotion and beyond, there’s always something going on in my little neck of the woods. There’s a lot of business that goes on behind the scenes of this blog.

But in all that business I come across some pretty cool finds every month. From brands I love, websites I’m smitten with, other awesome bloggers I admire, and even little moments in time that helped me live a life of intention. Each month there is always something to lament back on each month. So today, I’m bringing you a new category of posts – monthly favorites! All the nook and cranny cool things that I stumble on each month that I think you’ll love, want to make (or buy) and possibly even be entertained by. In other words, tons of good stuff!

So today, I’m bringing you my monthly March favorites! All the things that I stumbled upon this past month that I hope you’ll love, want to make, bake, buy, or possibly just be entertained by. In other words, the good stuff!

So without further ado, my March favorites:

My favorite new March recipe:

For the past few months, I have been obsessed with all things Harissa carrots. Those tiny, adorable, ever so yummy little sticks of vegetable magic have graced our plates of the past few months more times than I’d like to share and I just love them! I’ve also been obsessed with a new recipe I’ve found on Epicurious, Maple Glazed Roasted Harissa Carrots. They are super simple to make and even my husband always asks for seconds! This past weekend I popped into my local organic grocery to snag a few bunches and boy am I glad I did! Do your taste buds a favor and try them!

My favorite March zero-waste tip:

Need a way to visually measure how much water you are drinking throughout the day? Try using 1/2 gallon mason jars to put your daily water out on the counter, then use it to refill pint mason jar glasses until it’s gone. You’ll know for sure whether you hit your water target or not. I’ve been doing this all of March and not only has it helped me lose an additional two pounds, it’s also helped me to keep an additional 120 plastic bottles out of the landfill. It’s a small pre-Earth Day victory for me!

My favorite new book:

This month I loved reading Roadfood, 10th Edition: An Eater’s Guide to More Than 1,000 of the Best Local Hot Spots and Hidden Gems Across America, by Jane Stern and Michael Stern.

First published in 1977, the original Roadfood became an instant classic. James Beard said, “This is a book that you should carry with you, no matter where you are going in these United States. It’s a treasure house of information.”

Roadfood provides descriptions of and directions to (complete with regional maps) the best lobster shacks on the East Coast; the ultimate barbecue joints down South; the most indulgent steakhouses in the Midwest; and dozens of top-notch diners, hotdog stands, ice-cream parlors, and uniquely regional finds in between. It’s a must read!

My favorite new podcast:

We live life in the fast lane. We race to keep up with The Joneses. We are over-worked, over-connected and over-stressed. But there is also an ever-growing group of people who are saying no to a life lived in the rat race of life. People opting to slow down and savor life. This is what the Slow Your Home podcast is all about. I’ve been loving this podcast over the last month and I encourage you all to check this out as well on Stitcher and iTunes!

My favorite YouTuber this month:

My new favorite Youtuber and Blogger, Linda from Linda’s Pantry is absolutely amazing! She demonstrates video tutorials on everything from simple canning to gardening and solar preservation. Her techniques feature locally grown produce and simple to follow instructions. Forget Netflix in April, her YouTube channel is one you will want to binge, let alone subscribe to!

My favorite self-care find this month:

Over the years, I have taken numerous types of NSAIDs. Over time each product has given me some sort of adverse effects on my body. I had to find something safer to take. Something more natural. Something that can help me take on my day. Curamin® is safe, effective, homeopathic, and non-addictive. It works with the power of turmeric and that gives me peace of mind and helps me thrive in my day. I wrote a post this past week on Curamin® for those who may have missed all of my gushings over my favorite self-care find this March!

My favorite new find online:

As you may know, I am the adoptive pet parent to three wild, wonderful, loyal, caring pups. They are a source of pride and joy in my world and I couldn’t rightly say whether I truly adopted them or the reverse! And as a minimalist who is slowly adding art and more decorative pieces back into my home, when I found the Dog Rescue Pink Silhouette Watercolor Art, from the wonderfully talented Amy of Charlie’s Merchantile on ETSY I knew I needed this print in my home!

Each handmade piece from this awesome shop is a work of art and I love them all! I truly love this piece and will treasure it for some time to come. Amy’s art is not only an ETSY seller she also features pieces on her website and Instagram account as well. What’s even more awesome about Amy’s work and the shop is that she has graciously given her time and talent into offering a free copy of the above-mentioned print to one lucky reader, too!

To enter, use the provided rafflecopter giveaway box below. Please note, this giveaway is open to US and Canadian residents, aged 18 and over, through 4/6/17 at 11:59 CST. Winners will receive a media-mailed, unframed copy of this print to before the following Saturday. Good luck, everyone!

a Rafflecopter giveaway

So that’s it everyone, my favorite things from this past month. So now, I’ve got to ask, what have you been loving this month as well! I’d love to hear about your favorite finds, and if you want to enter my giveaway, that would be just plain groovy too!

Here’s to things to come,

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Why I’m a Roto-Rooter Ambassador

Disclosure: I am being compensated for sharing this information. Opinions remain my own.

We’ve all been there. Whether you own or rent your home, I’m sure that you’ve dealt with plumbing problems, including those pesky clogged, gunky drains. As a homeowner, I’ve had to deal with my share of pipe problems. Costly and high inconvenient plumbing problems. Which is why I’m excited to announce that I’ve been chosen as a Roto-Rooter ambassador!

I am by no means any sort of plumbing expert, but I’m always on the hunt to find new ways to maintain my home’s plumbing, which is why I am excited about learning ways to take care of my home through this new ambassadorship.

While I’m sure you already know Roto-Rooter’s reputation for being the #1 company for their in-home plumbing services, however, did you also know that they offer a line of consumer products that you can use at home? This means that instead of calling someone out to the house, I can do some of the jobs myself. Including unclogging drains. While I’m simply a homeowner and not a professional, I still want products that I can depend on to provide the fastest performance while remaining safer for all of my home’s pipes and plumbing.

What’s truly awesome about the Roto -Rooter’s Clog Remover products is that they are able to clear clogs 50% faster than other national brands. As they are also formulated with a patented gel formula that penetrates deeply to the clog’s source.

What’s even better? With all Roto-Rooter products, it works — or its free. You heard that right. Roto-Rooter is so confident in their products that they offer consumers a satisfaction guarantee on their entire line of consumer products. Plus, if the clog persists and you need professional help, just give the bottle to a Roto-Rooter services technician and receive 10% off of your service call. How awesome is that? Be sure to visit rotorooter-products.com/our-guarantee.html for more details on Roto-Rooter’s consumer products satisfaction guarantee.

And for these reasons and more, I am so excited to tell you that I have partnered up this year with Roto-Rooter as an ambassador! So the next time you have a clog or need to maintain your septic tank, be sure to visit your favorite grocery and mass retailer to pick up Roto-Rooter products. Products that will have your plumbing in tip-top fast!

Also worth noting, over the course of the next year, I’m excited to introduce you to even more of the products and services Roto-Rooter has to offer as well as some at-home plumbing fixes. Stay tuned for next my next post in this series where I will share with you several easy at-home plumbing fixes that you can do for yourself!

So, everyone, how do you currently deal with all your weekend warrior and DIY plumbing emergencies at home? I’d love to hear about them below!

Here’s to all things plumb,

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How to recycle your broken toys for free

Disclosure: These tips on how to reduce waste at home are part of a sponsored conversation with Tom’s of Maine. All opinions are my own.

Did you know that according to the Environmental Protection Agency, the average person in the United generates 4.3 pounds of waste per day? This is 2.6 pounds more than most produced back in 1960 and 1.5 more pounds generated than a mere decade ago.

So you may wonder, where does all of this trash go? Approximately 55% of the 220 million tons of waste generated each year in the United States ends up in one of the over 3,500 landfills. With the growing amount of trash filling up our landfills, learning how to live a more sustainable lifestyle is paramount for green living in our communities.

In my own home, we are a zero-waste family. We start the ball rolling by decluttering our home and eliminating excess purchases from our home, life, and business. We also began to phasing our plastics and single-use products for more sustainable options, including glass, metal, and bamboo products. We refuse single use items at grocery stores and when dining out as well. We also upcycle products, compost, and for all other items, we recycle, or as it’s more properly known, downcycle, just about everything else we can. Particularly through curbside recycling.

While we make every effort to recycle most items we purchase, there is always a myriad of items that my community recycling center will not accept. This is especially true for common plastic household items including used and broken toys, which as most parents can attest, always seem to accumulate before your eyes, making toys one of the harder items to declutter on an occurring basis at home.

While it’s easy to assume that toys are not a great environmental blight, consider this: Only 4% of the world’s children live in the US, but Americans buy and throw away 40% percent of the world’s toys each year. So even if you opt for more sustainable toys, purchase second-hand versions, and pass down the toys you do purchase to others there will probably still be a great deal of currently broken toys in your home that need proper recycling.

Currently, Tom’s of Maine is partnering with the recycling experts at TerraCycle, the world’s leader in the collection and repurposing of hard-to-recycle post-consumer waste, to offer the #LessWasteChallenge toy recycling program, a program which allows families to recycle toys and keep additional plastics out of landfills, all for free!

When I was asked to join the Toms of Maine to offer the #LessWasteChallenge toy recycling program, a program which allows families to recycle toys and keep additional plastics out of landfills, all for free! So when I was asked to join the Toms of Maine #LessWasteChallenge, I jumped at the chance as Tom’s of Maine is a company with more than 45 years developing natural personal care products with a focus on natural, responsible and sustainable practices, while giving 10% of its profits back to helping people and the planet. Products that I buy for my own family at home since beginning our zero-waste lifestyle.

Families can send in their broken toys directly to TerraCycle by following four simple steps:

Visit Tom’s of Maine Challenge Site.
Enter contact information to receive a free UPS shipping label via email, printed at home.
Fill an old box with up to ten pounds of broken toys.
Attach the free shipping label to the box and drop it off at any UPS location nationally.
Collected broken toys are broken down, turned into new consumer goods or donated to charity.

Beyond toys, families can also help their communities and the environment by taking the #LessWasteChallenge pledge, which asks families to reduce their household waste by one pound per week and lead healthier, more zero-waste lives at home. To date, American families have pledged to keep more than 200,000 pounds out of landfills since 2016 as over 8,590 participating locations nationwide.

Moreover, Tom’s of Maine has a goal of zero waste to landfills by 2020 at its manufacturing facility in Maine. It’s a lofty goal and I applaud their efforts! And like Tom’s of Maine, I encourage you to get involved, get your children involved, by recycling your used and broken toys at home as part of the #LessWasteChallenge, and to take the pledge as well!

Here’s to reducing our waste at home, one toy at a time,

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Disclaimer: This is a sponsored post for MomsMeet.com and Now Foods. I received this free in exchange for my honest review & opinion as a MomsMeet Ambassador. To read this blogs full disclosure policy, click here. Thank you.

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Disclaimer: This is a sponsored post for BrandBacker.com and Litter Genie. I received this free in exchange for my honest review & opinion. To read this blog full disclosure policy, click here. Thank you.

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Disclosure: These tips on how to reduce waste at home are part of a sponsored conversation with Tom’s of Maine. All opinions are my own.

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