Green Community:: Gumbo Limbo Nature Center

As you probably already know, last week my family went on a 1o day beach vacation to Palm Beach, Florida. We had a fabulous and relaxing vacation that we enjoyed very much. One of our favorite things to do when we are visiting Florida is stop by and visit our favorite nature centers. {We lived in Southern Florida for five years and visited our local nature center on a very regular basis.} It is a great way to spend an afternoon and supporting a cause that is very near and dear to our hearts is very fun and a great way to learn something new.
One of our favorite nature centers is Gumbo Limbo. Gumbo Limbo Environmental Complex is a cooperative venture between the City of Boca Raton, Palm Beach County School District, Florida Atlantic University and Gumbo Limbo Nature Center. The Environmental Complex is designed to provide marine and coastal environmental education for the community through classes, workshops, field trips and research. My favorite programs are the turtle walk and hatching release program. There is so much to see at Gumbo Limbo and it is so much fun to visit. You can donate to these fabulous Gumbo Limbo programs here.


On this trip, Jayson, Eben and I had a blast visiting Gumbo Limbo’s four large marine tanks and enjoyed watching the sea turtles, giant lobster, bonnet head sharks, stingrays and numerous fish. There is also a large outdoor area where you can observe tortoises and butterflies. We were also fortunate enough to be allowed inside the Florida Atlantic University building to observe sea turtle hatchlings that were a part of their gender studies program. {The Leatherback Sea Turtle hatchlings are tethered to keep them from running into the side of the pool, over and over again, usually causing death.} You can see the tethered Sea Leatherback Turtle hatchlings swimming here.

We love to support the local nature centers in our area and look forward to doing so in each new place that we visit on vacation.

Do you support your local nature center?
Which are your favorites?
Enjoy.

Fab Green Find: Tilvee Giveaway!

Being the rough and tumble boy that he is, Eben gets a lot of cuts, scratches and scraps. He is also prone to eczema on his face and arms. This leaves his skin looking less than fabulous and he is not a fan of having lotions or creams rubbed on his face or body and usually yells that it burns and runs away to wipe it off.

We received a package from Tilvee {Eco Ethical Skin Care} that contained a Kid’s Mandarin Remedy Balm {for Eben} and an Antioxidant Facial Bar {for myself}. I was very excited to try the Kid’s Mandarin Remedy Balm on Eben since he had recently scraped his shoulder at the pool and burned his arm on a lantern while we were camping. {Boys.} He also had a small patch of eczema on his cheek. After his bath, I rubbed the balm into all three areas, first off, no yelling…Eben actually giggled and told me I was tickling him. {Much better.} The eczema on his cheek was gone in the morning and the shoulder scrap, being the older wound of the two looked a lot better, the burn on his arm was slightly smaller and the redness was gone.

Jayson loved the Mandarin Remedy Balm as well, he gets horribly dry, cracked hands and used the balm, even after I told him it was for Eben only. {Men.} He loved it and wanted it for himself, he said his hands felt a lot better the next day and they did look clearer than they have been in weeks.

I used the Antioxidant Facial Bar for 3 weeks and love that it doesn’t have an overpowering scent and the bar lasts FOREVER. I have been using it for 2 weeks and I would say, it should last a couple more and I didn’t have any new breakouts or dryness while using it. Also, it is a steal right now at only $7.19.

Tilvee was founded by Botanist and organic chemist Kristie McNamara in Morrison, Colorado. I love Colorado Companies! With Tilvee Kristie has created a socially and environmentally responsible company that offers luxurious, safe, innovative organic products. Kristie is passionate about green business practices, consumer education and being involved in the community of Eco conscious individuals and businesses. Tilvee products are made using only ingredients that support sustainable organic and fair trade culture. Tilvee contains NO petrochemicals, synthetic fragrances, chemicals, parabens, sulfates or phthlates.

I also love that Tilvee uses only green packaging (glass jars and recycled packaging), has an Eco friendly solar powered office, uses mineral paper and environmentally friendly printing, does no animal testing and has a full ingredient disclosure list. Tilvee also has a fabulous recipe section where you can learn to make your own masques. I will definitely be doing this.

Would you like to give Tilvee a try? Kristie has been so lovely to offer ONE of my wonderful readers a Mandarin Remedy Balm to try out for yourself or on your children.
How to Enter

1. Subscribe to Sweet Greens (if you haven’t already) and click confirm in the email confirmation from Feedburner.
2. Visit Tilvee and leave me a comment telling me which product you would love to try?  

Additional Entries
Leave a comment for each of the things that you do

Rules for Entry
  • Please leave a way for me to contact you if you win
  • Contest ends August 7th @ 12am EST. Winner will be chosen at random using a random number generator and will be announced the following day. (I will announce the winner, if I do not hear from you within 72 business hours, I will pick another winner.)
  • You must leave a comment telling me which item you love in order to qualify.
Good Luck and Enjoy.

*UPDATE: WINNER: #25 Linda. Congratulations and thank you to everyone who participated.

Earth Friendly Etsy: Wood Elements Giveaway

Can you believe it is already the middle of September? Can you believe that the winter holidays are right around the corner? I myself, can not. Usually, I have finished all of my holiday shopping by now, but somehow I have simply been too busy to even start my list. I like to get the holiday shopping done early so that I don’t have to deal with the mad crowds or run into the problem of not being able to find what I need. There are some fabulous gift ideas available on Etsy and I thought that I would start to share some with you.

This week’s Earth Friendly Etsy Shop is Wood Elements. Wood Elements is a lovely shop owned and operated by Jackie and Sally Johnson in Nashville, TN. Jackie is an artist and designer who has always enjoyed “making things”. Creation has been an integral part of his being as far back as he can remember. Wood Elements is full of lovely hand-turned wooden gifts that would be perfect for the upcoming holidays. My favorites are the pepper mills, bowls and rolling pins. The designs are simple but absolutely lovely. I can think of several people on my holiday list who would love an item from Wood Elements. The best part is all of the items are heirloom quality, so they could be handed down generation after generation. Wood Elements has items that would be fab for any occassion; engagements, weddings, birthdays, baby showers and holidays.
To help you get your holiday shopping started, Wood Elements has been so sweet to offer ONE of my lovely readers a small french rolling pin. These french rolling pins are Heirloom-quality and will be in your family for years and years to come. You will have so much fun rolling out dough for your favorite biscuits or rolls with this lovely find.

How to Enter
 
1. Subscribe to Sweet Greens (if you haven’t already) and confirm the subscription in the email from FeedBurner.
2. Visit Wood Elements and leave me a comment telling me which item you would love to receive as a gift?
Additional Entries
please leave a separate comment for each that you do.
* Share Wood Elements on Twitter and follow @SweetGreens.
* Share Wood Elements on Facebook and join Sweet Greens Facebook Fan Page.
* Digg, Kirtsy or Stumble Wood Elements.
* Share Sweet Greens: Earth Friendly Etsy:: Wood Elements Giveaway! with a friend or two.
* Add Sweet Greens to your blogroll.
* Add Sweet Greens to your Technorati favorites.
Rules for Entry
* Please leave a way for me to contact you if you win. You do not need to leave your email address if don’t wish to share it. Just make sure to check back at the bottom of this post after the contest ends to see if you won.
* Contest ends September 30th@ 12am EST. Winner will be chosen at random using a random number generator and will be announced the following day. (I will announce the winner, if I do not hear from you within 72 business hours, I will pick another winner.)
* You must leave a comment telling me which item you love in order to qualify.
Good Luck and Enjoy!
*UPDATE:: WINNER:: #10 Cathy H. Congratulations and thank you to everyone who entered.

Have a Lovely Green Weekend.

I hope you enjoy your weekend and have many fun things planned. This weekend is going to be very quiet and fun for us. Tonight we are going to Eben’s school Fall Family Dance, complete with games, refreshments and a hula hoop contest. Tomorrow, Eben will be having his best friend spend the night and they will be making their own natural bubble gum. I will share all of the details next week, this is a super fun activity for the kids. Then, Saturday night, Mr. Sweet Greens and I are having a date night complete with our favorite organic cheeses and lovely organic and biodynamic wines. We are taste testing wines for our upcoming holiday feast and will let you know what we think on next Tuesday. Sunday, will be left to relax, starting with lovely fair trade coffee and conversation in our living and ending…well, I am not sure yet.

What are your lovely green weekend plans?
XO.

An Eco-Friendly Mini Advent Calendar

When I was a little girl, my grandma would always buy us little chocolate advent calendars. Do you remember these? They had a little door for each day of December that you could open to find a chocolate inside. I was horrible, I would always eat the candy in advance.

I saw this lovely and tiny advent calendar from Pinkerton Design. Isn’t it lovely? This is the perfect advent calendar for an adult, especially one like me that can’t be trusted around chocolate. Hurry and order so you can enjoy yours starting December 1st.

Did you have an advent calendar as a child?
Would you use one as an adult?