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Have a Lovely Weekend + A Few Green Things

September 12, 2014 0

Jennie Lyon Green Market

Hello, Friends! How was your week? Are you getting into the back to school routine? Can  you believe it is already September? It’s been a good school year here so far, just chugging along. So nice!

Since summer seemed so crazy busy to me, I have a lot of fun plans sprinkled into the Lyon family schedule for fall and winter. And with Thanksgiving and winter break right around the corner, I find myself giddy thinking about it! Are you the same way? Do you find yourself craving more family time, game nights and secret road trips? Me too! Well, I better get back to work – it is Friday after all, which means there are a lot of last minute things to finish up! While I get back to work, here are a few green things to take you into the weekend:

– This adorable dog just wants to take a dip in the ocean! Me too!
– Have you seen this adopted dog lay in a dog bed for the first time?
– A mongoose takes on 4 lions! Yikes.
– Would you live in a house clinging to a cliff?
– I am so glad that the mister and I decided to embrace “our normal” a long time ago!
– Getting married this fall? I love these DIY wedding edible favors!

Have a great weekend – I will see you back here on Monday!

xo,
Sweet Greens

P.S. The above photo is from our green market that opens again in 1 month! I can’t wait!

 

The Main Differences Between Living in Costa Rica and the U.S.

September 9, 2014 1

Costa-Rica

by Beth

For those of you I haven’t bragged to yet, I live with my boyfriend, cat, and dog in Costa Rica. Yes, it’s everything you’d imagine it to be! We recently moved to a beautiful space near the Arenal Volcano, with a view of the largest man made lake, Lake Arenal. I could write for days about how wonderful Costa Rica is, so I’ll start off with the basics, and some differences between Costa Rica and the U.S.

Costa Rica is so incredibly different that the United States in many ways. For one, it only has two seasons, the dry, high, tourist season, which runs from November to May, and the wet, low season, which runs from June to October. This means of course, no snow! But that being said, there is plenty of variation between the seasons to keep things interesting, although spending Christmas in 90 degree weather will be quite a change! We moved to Costa Rica at the end of April, after a very, very harsh winter in Cleveland, so being here during the rainy season has been such a great change. We’re excited to see what the dry season brings!

With no official winters, this means that there’s exotic fruit available all year round, and there’s always something tasty in season! We head to the fería (farmer’s market) and buy pineapple, papaya, mangoes, oranges, star fruit, watermelon, cantaloupe, and the like and enjoy fruit as our snacks. It’s great! We also get raw chocolates, raw goats milk, and can buy handmade jewelry, as well.

The culture here is very hard working, but laid back at the same time. All people let the elderly and seniors get on the bus first, eat first, drink first, etc. People are all generally nice to one another, and will do what they can to help you.

And lastly, Spanish is the main language, and if you don’t know any, you can seem to get by on hand signals and pointing! We know a couple who literally know zero Spanish, and they’ve lived here for three years. How crazy! I on the other hand, prefer to know enough Spanish to get around, which makes things much, much easier.

Of course the United States is beautiful in so many ways, but Costa Rica brings a tropical beauty that is incomparable. It is one of the most bio-diverse countries in the world, aside from the Amazon rainforest, and brings with it an amazing array of plants and animals, some of which can be deadly!

All in all Costa Rica is an amazing place. I can’t wait to write more about what it offers and how we live a simple, green life here. If you have questions or would like me to cover a certain topic, let me know in the comments section above!

REVIEW: Beautiful Eco-Friendly Shoes for Your Green Journey

September 8, 2014 0

Nisolo Shoes

by Jennie

I’d like to think we each strive on a daily basis to do our best in the world. On most days I’m sure most of us do our best to make it to work on time and get the kids to school with all their homework. Oftentimes shopping is a luxury we don’t have time for with our busy lives. Not to mention shoe shopping can become a guilty pleasure for some who may have significant others who think they have too many! However, once you check out Nisolo there’s no turning back!

Living in Florida, my go-to shoes are sandals, really they are all that I wear – unless I am heading out to go paddleboarding or biking. Nisolo sent me a pair of their Delicias Sandal in Scarlet (which is more of a firey orange, and I immediately feel in love.) Not only are they super comfortable, but they look amazing with both skinny jeans and fun dresses and shorts – perfect for these last few weeks of summer and early fall!

Nisolo Shoes 2

However, all of dreamy shoes featured at Nisolo are backed by their mission statement which reads, “As consumers, we are not alone in the world. We recognize that our small choices have a big impact somewhere else. As producers, we are not alone. We have access to the global market and fair compensation for our work. We are a team of makers, doers, and storytellers working together to facilitate a healthy connection between consumers and producers in the global marketplace.” Their game changing impact is about rethinking the way fashion is done. Nisolo facilitates international market access, pays above fair trade wages, offers skills training, and provides safe working conditions. Their stated result? Consistent employment, an average income increase of 300% per producer, improved living conditions, inaugural access to education and savings, and above all, dignity and empowerment.

Mustard Flats

Aside from the overall good feelings your purchase itself has to offer wait until you check out the shoes! The Scarlet Delicias Sandal come highly recommend (you will adore them!) but I think I’ve also decided to pick up a pair of the Espresso Bolivar Wedge and the Mendez Flats in Mustard!

The point is you should do yourself a favor and take a few minutes today to do a little shoe shopping and empower the world!

 

Full Disclosure: I received a pair of Scarlet Delicias Sandals to review – however, I would have shared them with you anyway, because they are fabulous!

4 Great Eco-Friendly Ways to Green Your Home For a Better Future

September 4, 2014 1

Green-Home

NOTE: This post wasn’t written by me – thank you for supporting the companies that help keep Sweet Greens in business.
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These days we are all called upon to be as green as we can be when it comes to our everyday lives, so that means we recycle where possible and try to cut down on waste. However, we could also apply these green habits to our environment, designing our homes to be as eco-friendly as possible. There is one major advantage to going green in the home, and that is it can save you money too. In some cases, quite a lot of money. However, adopting a green way of living also provides an excellent example to our children, teaching them how to appreciate the planet they live on and to be aware of the value of money. Read on for 4 great eco-frendly ways to green your home for a better future!

1. Making a Green Start
Windows are a great place to start with in the home. If your windows are looking a little worse for wear, consider having them replaced with energy efficient windows that have special coatings designed to reflect the heat of the sun and provide insulation. This way, the rooms in your home will keep cool in the summer and retain the heat in the winter, keeping cooling and heating costs down. Make sure seals are tight and work efficiently by installing window shutters as dressings rather than curtains or blinds. Consider replacing small windows with larger ones to take advantage of as much natural daylight as possible, obviating the need to have artificial lights on during the day.

2. Paint by Numbers
Make your home healthier by using paints on the walls that have no or low volatile organic compounds (VOC’s), or opt for wallpaper instead. You can also use other eco-friendly wall coverings such as ceramic or cork tiles, or even recycled wooden panels. These will also add texture and interest to your walls – giving your home an overall unique look and feel.

3. Friendly Furniture
Turn your back on man-made, synthetic materials for your furniture and embrace natural materials instead. Wood is the prime resource for furniture, and solid wood, such as furniture made by Ercol, is not only extremely hard-wearing, making it suitable for most uses, especially those suffered by a big and busy family, but you can also find wood that is sustainably harvested. This is especially true if you ensure your wooden furniture is FSC-certified. This is a stamp that certifies the wood has been sourced from sustainable forests and is a great ethical as well as environmental choice.

4. Bring Nature Indoors
This is a simple touch, but bringing foliage into the home can add beauty and interest to rooms and also help to improve the quality of the air. Plants will remove harmful chemicals from the air by performing a natural filtration. A great plant to use in this way is the Aloe Vera plant, as it also develops brown spots on its leaves when pollution levels get too high in the home.

Turning your home into a green haven will not only help to create a healthy and peaceful environment for you and your family but will also benefit the planet, and there are not many things you can say that about these days.

REVIEW + GIVEAWAY: 4 Contigo Stainless Steel West Loop Travel Mugs

September 4, 2014 18

ContigoContigo makes the only reusable bottles and mugs that you will need, period. We use ours every single day, starting with filling our Stainless Steel West Loop travel mugs with coffee, tea and cocoa in the morning to re-hydrating all day and at the gym with our Addison bottles.

I was excited to hear that Contigo just launched their newest collection of Stainless Steel West Loop Travel Mugs. They are available in 7 fantastic new colors (my fave is the grayed jade), and even boasts a lifetime guarantee.

The West Loop travel mugs keep iced drink cold and warm drinks hot! Just press the front button to sip, and when the button is released, the lid seals once again. When it comes to cleaning, the easy clean lid makes it a snap: just twist off the lid, press a button to expose the lid mechanism, and place it in the top rack of the dishwasher, or wash by hand.

Here’s a goody for all Sweet Greens readers, receive 20% off your order of your next Contigo mug with the code WESTLOOP20 – valid through October 31, 2014.

Want to try out a Contigo Westloop mug for yourself? How about four! Jump over to Contigo and leave a comment telling me what your favorite mug color is – and one lucky winner will win a 4-pack of Contigo Westloop Mugs!

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