Just as promised, we are letting you know of some great products this month for Earth Day.  This time, I had the opportunity to review some of the Bright Green™ cleaning products. Bright Green is a new line of home care products featuring cleaning and laundry soaps made with biodegradable and naturally derived ingredients, energy-efficient light bulbs and paper products made from 100% recycled content.  The Bright Green products are sold exclusively at Safeway stores.

I was able to review the Bright Green dishwashing liquid and all purpose cleaner.  The question that I have often asked myself is, “Is it possible to use green cleaning products and get the same results?”  My experience so far has been a positive one.  In all the environmentally friendly products I have tried, I have not found a difference in the way the product cleans from the other products. 

The Bright Green dishwashing liquid cleaned my dishes very well.  It took the grease off my dishes and had a very pleasant lavender scent.  My son especially enjoyed it.  He asked if he could wash dishes, which in our house means that I put some soap and water in a bowl and he “washes” some of the dishes in the sink.  He ended up using 1/2 of the bottle, so there were lots of suds and my kitchen smelled great for days.  lol  The Bright Green all purpose cleaner is great for the kitchen or garage and it has a refreshing lemon scent.

And now, on to the giveaway!

The giveaway includes an attractive  reusable shopping bag and $1 coupons for Bright Green cleaning products.  Safeway credits customers $.05 each time they use any reusable bag at the checkout.

There are many ways to enter this contest.  You can choose as many as you’d like.

You can earn an entry for each item you complete, but you must leave a separate comment for each one.  It just makes it easier to tally and pick a random winner.

1) Leave a comment telling me why you’d like to win this prize or why you use green cleaning products.

2) Give this post a thumbs up at Stumble Upon and leave your Stumble name.

3) Tweet this post and leave your Twitter name or status url. To retrieve your Twitter status url, simply click on the timestamp of your tweet. It will say something like, “5 seconds ago from the web”. You can earn 3 twitter entries each day for each time you tweet this giveaway. You must leave a comment for each tweet.

4) Follow @thriftymommy on Twitter. Leave a comment with your Twitter name.

5) Blog about this giveaway and leave a direct link to your post.

6) Mention this giveaway on any forums or message boards and leave me a link.

7) Add Thrifty Mommy and/or Keeping the Castle and/or to your blogroll.  You can earn a separate entry for each one.

This contest ends Sunday, April 12, 2009 and is available to those with a U.S. shipping address (no P.O. boxes please). The winner will be contacted by email and will have 72 hours to respond or another winner will be chosen. You will not be put on a mailing list, but you must include your email address in the second box under your name (not in the comment box).

Good luck everyone!

Just in time for Earth Day, we will be featuring some products and tips geared toward making your home a bit more environmentally friendly. 

All the current information about plastics, BPA, chemicals, and contaminants is enough to make a parent’s head spin.  Lunchbots helps take away the worry and confusion by offering 100% stainless steel containers.  LunchBots provide an environmentally friendly alternative to disposable containers and they go a step further to eliminate all plastics from its containers.  Finally, there is a stainless steel alternative with a lid.  The LunchBots containers are easy to clean, sturdy, and provide a great storage container for lunches and diaper bags. 

LunchBots are available in two styles, both measuring 6.25″ x 4.5″ x 1.75″.  The LunchBots Uno is perfect for packing sandwiches, sushi, burritos, or snacks. The LunchBots Duo has a handy divider for crackers and cheese, fruits and nuts, and more.  LunchBots also provide a fundraising opportunity for schools, which I certainly would prefer to overpriced candy and gift wrap. 

LunchBots is offering free shipping to our Thrifty Mommy readers (US addresses only).  Simply use the code FREESHIP09. 

Last week I wrote a review for the Clorox Green Works dishwashing liquid.  I have communicated with one of their reps and they are giving us five 22 oz bottles of the dishwashing liquid for a giveaway.  Hooray!

Entering is simple.  Just leave a comment below.  If you’d like, you can include a small bit about why you would like to try this product or what you like about it.

This contest ends on Tuesday, September 16 and is for those with a U.S. mailing address only.  The five winners will be announced next week.

Good luck!

Looking for a natural dishwashing liquid?  If so, you might want to give Clorox’s Green Works Dishwashing Liquid a try. 

I’ve been using the Clorox dishwashing liquid and personally, I’ve found that it works just as well as other dishwashing liquids at cleaning greasy and baked-on foods.  The great thing is that the liquid has been recognized by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) for using environmentally preferred chemistry.

All Green Works natural cleaners are made using plant-based ingredients derived from coconuts, as well as essential oils.  The products are formulated using biodegradable ingredients and are not tested on animals.  The Green Works line also includes seven natural cleaning products that can be used in the home, kitchen, and bathroom.

Retail price: $3.59

Scale:  I would strongly consider purchasing this product again.

For more information on this product and tips for going green, visit the Clorox Green Works site.

I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again . . . I hate those little plastic grocery bags.  I can’t stand how they accumulate in my house.  It drives me nuts that I put them in my van so that I’ll take them to the store to recycle, but forget to take them inside and then they stay in my van for a few more weeks.

Recently, I wrote about how Lowe’s Foods is allowing their customers to purchase reusable grocery bags with their green points.  And not only that, they’re giving 50 green points for each reusable bag you bring back in to use. 

Two weeks ago, I purchased one more reusable bag for 1000 green points.  I also received 250 green points because I brought in 5 bags.  Now I have 6 bags of my own!  I’m so excited!!!  I have enough bags now that I haven’t had to get any plastic!  Hooray!  Don’t worry, I still have a large enough stash of the plastic ones at the house in case I need them.

All this talk of reusable bags has been a great conversation piece at Thrifty Mommy.  We had a poll to see who was using the bags, who wanted more bags, and who wasn’t giving up their plastic bag ways.  Here are the results.

Do you have reusable bags that you take to the grocery store?

36% - Yes, I have a lot of them and they are awesome!

28% - Yes, but I’d like a few more.

26% - No, but I’d really like to try them.

10% - No way, I’m sticking with plastic.

According to the results, most of you have reusable bags or would like to use them.  Thanks for working to keep those crazy little bags out of the landfills.

What do you think of the results?

Zwaggle saves time.  It saves money.  It helps save the environment.  It is an online village of parents willing to share their things so that someone else can get some use out of them.  In return, they can receive items.

How does it work?  You simply sign up for an account at Zwaggle.  Yes, it’s FREE!  You can earn Zoints (Zwaggle points) for listing your gently used items, for signing up, and for referring others.  You can also donate Zwaggle points to charity.

It’s also pretty easy to ship items with their integrated FedEx tool which calculates shipping costs and lets you print prepaid labels. 

Check out Zwaggle and let me know what you think.

Thanks to Jody for the tip.

Until recently, I had never realized that my thrifty ways were helping the environment.  I never considered myself a tree hugger or environmental activist.  I always tried to do my part, within reason.  Now I am beginning to realize how frugalness is good for the environment. 

Here are some thrifty ways to help the environment, and possibly your wallet too:

1)  Replace light bulbs with CFLs.  Last year, I replaced several light bulbs in my home with CFLs.  They use at 2/3 less energy than standard bulbs.

2)  Don’t waste food.  When you waste food, you’re throwing out more, buying more products, and putting more packaging into the environment.

3) Shop online.  Shopping online saves gas from driving to the stores and it can be done at night when the kids are in bed.  I’ll admit that I don’t do much shopping online due to shipping costs, but thanks to this site, now you can shop with no shipping.  

4)  Make your own cleaning products.  I am amazed at the cleaning power of vinegar and baking soda.  It’s good for the environment, less expensive than cleaning products, and healthier for your home.

5)  Bring your own bags to the grocery store.  Some stores charge you for their bags and some stores will give you an incentive for bringing your own.  Bringing your own also helps keep bags out of the landfills and saves you the time of recycling them.

6)  Air dry your clothes.  Air drying your clothes can save a lot of money on your electric bill and it also keeps us from using more energy.

7)  Conserve water.  Click on the link to find 25 ways to reduce your water bill.  Simple things like checking for leaks or installing an aerator on your spout can really help out.

Read more

I was at Lowe’s Foods the other day and noticed they have Earth Saver bags for .99 or you can get them for free by spending your green points.  I think the cost of each bag (with green points) was 1200 points.

I purchased one bag with my green points and then I found out that for each bag you use, Lowe’s Foods will give you 50 points per bag each time you use it!!!! 

I was surprised with how big and sturdy the green bag was.  It wasn’t one of those cheap bags where the seams come apart after you’ve used it a few times.  I was really impressed with how large this bag was, in comparison with other bags I’ve seen.  This one stands up on it’s own and it holds 2-3 times the amount of plastic grocery bags.

The next time I went to Lowe’s, I purchased another reusable bag.  Since I used both bags, I earned another 100 points.  I think I will purchase another bag or two the next time I shop there.  I probably need 5-6 bags so that I can quit using these silly plastic bags.  Speaking of which, I have another huge load of them to recycle.  I’m so sick of these thin plastic bags.  Hopefully, I won’t have to use them much longer.

Another great thing about these bags is that you can use them for other things besides groceries.  I’m using mine this week on a trip to my parent’s house.  They’re holding dvds, snacks, toys, and other things we need.  As I said before, I like them because they stand up on their own.  No more digging through tote bags in the car that are all flopped over.  I can put these in the seat or the floor and we can see what we need.

Have you tried these bags?  What do you think of them?

For more Works-for-Me Wednesday ideas, check out Rocks in My Dryer.

Do you like buying and stocking your office with recycled paper and office products?  If so, then check out The Green Office.  With prices and selection similar to those of the big office suppy chains, there no excuse not to.  Plus, they have free shipping on orders of $49 or more.  The site also offers articles and tips.

I’ve talked to several people lately that wash their dishes by hand because they believe they’re saving energy.  Actually, doing less work can save you more money and it also helps the environment.

According to Consumer Reports, an efficient dishwasher can use less water than washing dishes by hand, no matter how frugal you are at the faucet.  

Here are some other tips to lower your bill while using your dishwasher:

1.  Only run your dishwasher when it is full.
2.  Turn it on the energy saver cycle.
3.  Don’t prerinse your load.
4.  Use an enzyme based detergent to get your dishes completely clean. See Frugal Friday #2 for more information.
5.  If your dishwasher has a booster heater, turn it down. Most booster heaters can raise the water temperature 20 F.
6.  Turn off the heated drying option. If you don’t have this option on your dishwasher, then after the cycle finishes, open the door and allow it to air dry. (I try to run my dishwasher at night after the kids are in bed. When the dishes are clean, I sometimes open the door to allow them to air dry.)
7.  Use the shortest cycle that will get your dishes clean.