Air freshener obsessions

The increasing popularity of air fresheners seems never-ending. People's homes, shops and even cars. Is it safe to leave the sanctity of your own odour-free home? At the weekend, I was in a small local shop when I overheard the owner exclaim to a customer that she had this wonderful smelling air freshener that squirted every 36 minutes but it had broken. She was busy fixing it, when it had caught her unawares and she got chemical nasties squirted her in the face.
That's it , I thought, I have less than 36 minutes to get out and made a hasty retreat!

What ever happened to fresh flowers, pure essential oils and natural lavender spray. Has the world gone mad?

Organic Wave gaining momentum

The latest news from Reuters via the Environment Society of Australia:
"Organic food sales grow by as much as 20 percent a year and were forecast for $16 billion during 2006, or nearly 3 percent of all U.S. food spending, the Organic Trade Association said at a pair of congressional hearings". Read more:

Composting for disposable Nappies

The Nappy Store in Rangiora, have set up the first NZ commercial trial of turning disposable nappies into good quality compost.
R5, an international company have supplied the HotRot composting unit for the trial.
The Nappy Store are composting ALL types of disposable nappies.

The concept of composting disposable nappies was originally researched by an enterprising 14 year old, who won international recognition and awards for her science project in 2003.

After all, there's no point in even using eco-disposables if you don't dispose of them in an eco-friendly way.
Read more about how it works.
Read more about getting your nappies collected and composted.
For those of you living outside Canterbury, here are some links to composting tips.

Where to recycle cellphones & printer cartridges

Just heard about this business who recycle your cellphones and printer cartridges (in The U.S.A). Great service, good for the earth and a percentage is donated to charity. http://www.charitablerecycling.com/.

For our NZ bloggers, you can order return old ink cartridges to Warehouse Stationery. I use Ink Post who also can refill and recycle your cartridges.

Old cellphones can apparently be returned to Telecom or Vodaphone.

Eco Places to stay and eat in NZ

Today I discovered a fabulous new site - Organic Explorer - eco places to stay, eat and explore in NZ. I've been waiting for this a long time. I'll certainly be refering to this for our next holiday. Yay, dodgy, smelly motel days are OVER!!!

Web site review

USA bloggers, check out our review on Focoloco organic tees.

Here's my toddler modelling one.

How to dispose of your old cellphone etc

Did you know that cellphone batteries contain nickel and cadmium, so should not be disposed of via the landfill?
We have just updated our recycling page with information on how to dispose of old cellphones, as well as other batteries and smoke alarms.

ecostore on shorty street

has anyone else noticed (or is it just me) that whenever actors on Shortland Street are wiping down the kitchen or cafe tables - they are using ecostore products. (oops.. I confess, I'm a watcher, sometimes the brain just needs to blob by 7.30). Whilst I think it's fantastic that none of the actors on Shortland St are exposed to chemical chemical sprays, I can't help wishing deeply that this was the case in REAL LIFE! How many times have you sat down in a cafe to have your table (or one nearby) sprayed with some noxious orange or blue stuff (containing who knows what? ), the waiter sparing no thought for spray drift. Try not to even think about the fact your food has been prepared and handled on surfaces sprayed with this stuff (yuk!)