7 things to look for in your eco-friendly shopping:

1. Necessities First – The first place to look is at the necessity of the Product. Do you really need this? Does this product reap benefits that overcome the production footprint and the impact this causes on the environment.
2. Product Longevity – Will the product have a long or sort life span. After all if the product life span is not very long comparatively then what is the point, we are trying to reduce waste. If you can purchase another very similar product that is not labeled so but it last ten times as long as a “Eco-Friendly” product, Is it really?
3. Production Footprint – Does the production have an impact on the environment? Take the entire production cycle into consideration here. Modern production usually means many steps are involved so make sure you look at them all.
4. Paper or Plastic – The packaging sometimes is a vary direct method of making a product more eco-friendly. Is the packaging re-usable or recyclable? Some product makers today are trying to make the packaging either a part of the item or very easy to recycle.
5. Delivery Method – Is the product a direct shipment, special delivery, or bulk delivery? This can have varying impacts on the over all eco-friendliness or a product.
6. Product Impact – This may sound crazy but ask yourself, Does the product its self have an economic impact? Garage insulation, pipe lagging, and outdoor lighting (items such as solar powered lights) can have in-direct impact on the environment by cutting power consumption from non eco-friendly sources.
7. Re-purpose – In the end is it possible to re-purpose, re-use, or recycle the item? Not all products will be a good candidate, however many are. Every product on the market come to an end of life cycle at some point. It is at this time you get to choose to re-purpose, re-use, or dispose of the product.

Always remember when you’re shopping for your eco-friendly products that you keep these 7 things in mind. Whether shopping for your little ones (eco friendly toys and gifts) or for your self, the items we buy have impacts on both the environment as well as the people in it.

I promised a look into a site the we here fell to be a great resource for eco-friendly products, so here it is. Earthwhile is a UK based company specializeing in eco-friendly products at affordable prices.

Earthwhile boasts “just because you are buying green eco-friendly products, quality and reliability do not have to suffer, nor do they need to cost the earth”.

Earthwhile.co.uk was formed in 2007 to meet the demands of the growing eco-friendly community . Today, they are going strong which is  a testament to their ability to meet the demands of the community they serve. Now under new management, the commitment is growing and is stronger than every before.

All products by Earthwhile are sourced from the best suppliers in the industry and every product has carefully been chosen to ensure they:

• Do what they promise
• Save money, electricity, or water
• Promote the use of alternative sources of energy such as solar power or wind-up technology.

Check them out today.

Enjoy and Have a Good’n!

Short and sweet both the game and the directions on how to play. You will have each guest write down as many 3 letter body parts as possible on a sheet of paper.

To help you out here is the answer list.
Answers: arm, lid, leg, rib, hip, gum, jaw, lip, toe, eye and ear.

Enjoy and Have a Good’n!

This little game can possible uncover some hidden talent. The supplies for this game cheap, cheap, cheap. You probably have most if not all the supplies you need in the kitchen already except maybe for the pens or pencils. You are going to give each guest a paper plate and a pen or pencil, then have them to draw a picture of a baby on the plate you gave them using the pen or pencil. In order to make the game fun you will need to give only 30 seconds to finish the drawing. Now I know you are thinking man this want be much fun, all we are doing is drawing a picture, well here comes the twist that will make this game fun, fun, fun. The guest will only be able to draw holding the paper plate behind them.

You can let mommy be the Judge over which picture is the best and which is the funniest, with some prompting and advice from the audience in general of coarse.

Enjoy and Have a Good’n!

Before hand you will need to acquire some of that sticky putty that teachers use to hang stuff on the wall, the kind that remove the paint from the walls. Any way you don’t need a ton of it and it can be picked up at your local craft store. Also make numbers on small squares (you can use a piece of paper and cut the numbers out later) one for each guest.

When you send out your invitations ask each guest to bring a photo of themselves as a baby to the shower, also remember a day or two before the shower to remind each guest to bring that picture with them, because without it they can’t be as involved in the game. Now as each guest arrives take the picture from them. Using the sticky putty (you only need a really small piece) and the small numbers you made ahead of time stick a number to the back of each photo also make a list so you know what number goes with which guest.

To play the game itself give each guest a piece of paper and pencil, show all the guests a photograph and tell them the number then tell them to write down whose photograph they think it is.

Then do the same with the next photograph.
If there are a lot of baby shower guests it may be necessary to pass the photographs around as they may not be able to see the photograph clearly.
The guest who identifies the most photographs is the winner.

Enjoy and Have a Good’n!

Get a roll or two of ribbon from your local hobby store (the wide kind works best). As each guest arrives, or you can wait until you start playing the game to do this part, have each guest cut off a length of ribbon which they think is how large mommy’s tummy is. When you get ready to check each persons ribbon, have each guest bring their ribbon up and you let mommy wrap the ribbon around mommy’s tummy to check how close their guess is, the nearest guess wins.

As an alternative to using ribbon you can use string or wool or people can tear off a length of toilet roll.

You should always ask the mommy before hand when you are planning the shower if she will be happy playing this game.

Enjoy and Have a Good’n!

This game get a “little messy”, nah just kidding. The prep for this game is a little involved so make sur you prep it plenty of time in advance of the shower. You will need between 5 and 8 different chocolate candy bars (make sure you include a Reese’s Cup) and a diaper for each bar. You will need to soften up each bar in the micro wave ( our goal is to make them soft and unrecognisable ) , then mush them into a diaper. Make sure you use a separate diaper for each bar.

To play the game have each guest guess what candy bars they were originally!
The guest with the most right (without tasting them!) wins.

The object of the game is not to say ‘baby’.

When each guest arrives give each one a clothes pin (or possibly a diaper pin) and ask them to pin the pin to their clothing either on their shirt or hem of their skirt.

If a guest hears another guest say the word baby then they can claim their clothes pin.
The guest who collects the most clothes pins is the winner.
It may be best to set a time limit for this game so that people can relax after the games is over, something like half an hour would be good.

This game is a very good way to break the ice at a baby shower where guests do not know each other very well to chat.

To play the game, first hand out some blank pieces of paper then show all of the guests one item at a time, and ask them to write down what they think each item cost.
Repeat this process with each item. Then the guest who guesses the most items closest to the actual price wins the game.
Examples of items:
Baby food,
Baby Toy,
Rattle,
Diapers,
Baby’s bottle,
Diaper pins,
Bib,
Teether,
and so on.
It would help the guests to figure out the price if you could tell the guests which store each item was bought from.

At the shower you have to collect every bodies guess, now I have seen this done more than one way but the easiest is to prepare a sign in sheet so as your guest arrive they can sign the list and write their guess beside there name, if this is a large party then this also gets you a nice list of who showed up.

Alternate method (Works good at small showers): Ask each of your baby shower guests to take a guess at how many pieces of candy there are in the baby’s bottle and write down their answer on a piece of paper.

The guest whose guess is the nearest to the total of the correct answer wins.

Enjoy and Have a Good’n!