Copyright 2007 Organicpicks

Great Buys - Many at Elephant Pharmacy

We like the deals that Elephant Pharmacy has: 30% off a whole lot of stuff. If you love lotions and potions, now is a good time to stock up or try new ones. On top of the discount, you also get $10 off for a $50 purchase and $30 off for a $100 purchase. Elephant Pharmacy also provides FREE classes, ranging from beginning yoga, to nutrition, to composting. There are currently 3 locations in the bay area: Berkeley, Los Altos, and San Rafael

Reminder: When you head out to get your grocery, be sure to check out our deals of the week section for find great buys in your local stores - milk, produce, cereal and more.

Copyright 2007 Organicpicks

Fun and Eco-Friendly Mother’s Day Gifts
May 1, 2007

Moms love their families for who they are and not for the gifts they bring, but a special and unexpected gift will put an extra spring in any Mom’s steps. At Organicpicks, we believe that special gifts can be fun, beautiful and kind to the grand mother of all, our planet! Here are some items that top our pick list this Mother’s Day.

Stylish and practical tote bag from recycled materials
At first mention, who would believe that plastic bags can be recycled into something beautiful. Well, this Anjum Bag is just that – a tote stylish enough to satisfy the fashionista mom but made by fusing layers of different color plastic bags and trimmed with rexine/vinyl. Handmade by co-ops in India and fairly traded, these bags are turning environmental hazards into usable products. Don’t believe us? Check out the bags at Hip and Zen.

Some pampering of body and soul
Organic facials, reiki restorative messages and some well-deserved pampering can be just the thing for your hardworking mom! Many spas offer wellness consults and organic products to purge the stress and toxins and focus on a healthier path forward. One of our local favorites is Watercouse Way. Finish off a day of pampering with a scrumptious meal prepared with organic and locally sourced ingredients at some great Bay Area restaurants.

Pretty much anything from Organic Bouquet
In the time honor tradition of celebrating the beauty of motherhood, a fresh and beautiful bouquet grown using sustainable practice is one of our favorites. Organic Bouquet provides a wide selection of floral arrangements, living plants and even organic gift baskets and chocolates. Organic Bouquet also offers charitable bouquets where the proceeds benefit non-profits that support wild life conservation, environmental protection and fair trade practices. What can be better?

Fresh organic produce delivered straight to Mom’s door
This is nothing like your old-fashioned Fruit-of-the-Month Club. Many local or Community Sustained Agriculture (CSAs) farms now deliver organic fruits and vegetables straight from the farm to your doorstep. Not only do you get fresh and locally grown produce at lower prices than in stores, you also support local growers that practice organic and sustainable farming – good for you and the environment. See some of the CSAs recommended by our users.

Handy kitchen counter enamel compost pail
So compost pails may not be in the same category as flowers or spa treatments but this pail from www.gardeners.com looks like a winner to us. It has an enamel exterior with charcoal filter to control odors, removable liner (that is dishwasher safe) and only stands 10 inches tall. It looks like any other decorative pails and can be within reach while cooking and stay inside until there’s time to put the scraps into your compost box. Pretty and smart.

Simplify Mom’s life (and save some trees)
For moms or anyone who is tired of receiving and sorting through junk mail on a daily basis, why not gift a subscription to Green Dimes, a service that eliminates your junk mail and plants trees (as part of your subscription) to help restore the environment. Of course, you can wage a DIY junk mail war for mom but we think Green Dimes might be just a tad easier.

Last but not least, give Mom a big hug, a heartfelt thank you and help her take a load off - at least for the day!

Copyright 2007 Organicpicks

Fresh Look - Cool kids website

Is it because of the pleasant spring weather? So many of my friends have had babies lately. After giving the 5th onesie and 7th baby blanket, I decided to look for more interesting alternatives that could actually last for more than 2 weeks. My new self-imposed gift requirement is that it has to be functional for at least a year. By chance, I bumped into www.progressivekid.com and liked it right away. The website is founded by two creative women, Julie and Sarah, who seem to have strong conviction about environmental and social justice. It has quite a lot of interesting kids’ toys and some plain cool ideas. Okay, right here is a good place to declare that I have absolutely no connection to the website, other than being a happy customer.

Aside from the mandatory organic shirts and gift sets, ProgressiveKid has a good number of fun things - puzzles, games, maps & flags, growth charts, and others. Here is what I bought: 2 PK growth chart at $16.95 each (Growing like a sunflower version and Growing like a weed version). They can extend to reach 5 feet – frankly I don’t expect my friends to keep the gifts for 10 years, but these are way way better than plastic toys that will be tossed aside 2 seconds after the box is opened.

As I looked around the website, I found these incredibly adorable “surf dudes”. They are these 3-inch tall hippo, frog and ducks that ride their respective surfboards. These dudes are soft, cute, and fair-priced at $5.5. My 2 year old and 4 year old each got one and they were an instant hit! Hopefully they will last for a year or more.

Did I mention how fast I got the package? I clicked the “buy” button on Wednesday night and the little dudes went surfing in our bathtub on Saturday (did not express the shipping, just the good ‘ole postal office priority mail).

As many of you are probably familiar with packages ordered from many online stores, there is usually a lot of packaging material to dispose. So I appreciate the fact that there was not excessive amount of packing material in the box, 1 sheet of crumbled up brown paper (they can probably ditch that if you ask me). The sales receipt and the return form are only half of an 8×11 sheet. And I intend to use the US postal service priority box again.

Birthday party favor is one of my passionate pet peeves. We go to 20 birthday parties a year, and leave from at least 19 of them with plastic junk that gets strewn about in my car and our house. Now I simply reject the party bags, which unfortunately just get tossed by the hosts afterward anyway. There is a floating plastic island in the Atlantic Ocean that is made of plastic junk. Albatross chicks mistaken them for food and starve to death with bellies full of plastic toy soldiers and plastic bugs. Imagine how delighted I was to find that ProgressiveKid had educational party ideas and favors that did not involve plastic junk. I wish they had an idea section, so I could find interesting ideas more easily.

All in all, great website, cool products, and awesome ideas.

CindyW

Copyright 2007 Organicpicks