Green Manufacturing

Every day I hear of another wonderful green product being produced. A Rochester Hills company has developed a line of environmentally friendly anti-microbal surface treatments. The technology continuously cleans the air of harmful greenhouse gas and volatile organic compounds after being applied. For more information, please visit the story online from the Ann Arbor Business Review - http://www.mlive.com/businessreview/annarbor/index.ssf/2008/09/rochester_hills_company_to_man.html

What my clients are talking about

Green Restaurants -- My clients are all a-buzz about a new "green" restaurant which will be opening soon in town. I'm sure there's one similar to where you live -- or if not, there's probably one coming soon! Here in Rochester, "Mind, Body and Spirits" is the first of its kind to be opened in this area and possibly in Michigan. What is a "green" restaurant, you might ask? Well, owner Mike Plesz says his new business is an organic restaurant that specializes in local and organic products. His goal is to make it a fully sustainable restaurant -- meaning that they want to reduce the carbon footprint of the place. They are taking a historic building here in town, built in 1890, and are renovating it and will employ many green features such as geothermal wells to cool and heat the building, "photovoltaic" solar panels on the roof, an "aerobic biodigester" to convert food scraps into nutrient-rich fertilizer for their greenhouse (off site). If you're not close enough to Rochester to experience "Mind, Body and Spirts" when it debuts, you can find a green restaurant in your area by visiting http://www.dinegreen.com/

Organic Baby Merchandise - A couple people now have mentioned that they enjoy shopping at Sage Baby ( http://www.sagebabynyc.com/ ), the self-proclaimed eco-friendly baby store - "everything you need to create a green and stylish nursery." I checked them out and it's a cute store! Sage Baby has tons of unique "green" items - everything from clothing to toys to bath items. I really appreciate how they have gone to great lengths to stock their store with only the greenest, safest products. I know I'll be going on a Sage Baby shopping spree soon for my granddaughter!

Whole Foods Market - Can you believe that they just opened a beautiful, flagship store right by my house? Everyone is talking about the wonderful new store and I've been asked by a dozen people already, "have you been to the new Whole Foods???" Yes, I have and it's truly an experience. I have been a fan of the store for years and now it's even better! Whole Foods Market is a full service natural foods grocery store. They have an in-house bakery, deli and tons of certified organic produce, bulk food and grocery items. Their meats are naturally raised and cruelty-free. Oh and there's also a huge wine section, and specialty cheeses from around the globe. Don't forget to check out their vitamin and herbal supplement section. You can find a store near you by going to their website at http;//www.wholefoods.com.

Organic Lotion for Baby

If you're a fan of natural and organic skincare, why not treat baby to natural? You can with Lilyrose organic baby lotion. This is a nice, rich lotion that is unscented so it won't irritate. It has chamomile and plenty of other natural and organic ingredients. Plus it's paraben-free to boot. You may even want to use it on your own skin. It's a terrific moisturizer even for mom, so you might be keeping it in your purse instead of in the diaper bag! Plus, $1 from each bottle purchased will go to the Trisomy 18 Foundation. Available online at http://www.lilyrosebaby.com/

Beautiful Nails

Here are a couple of our favorite "safe" nail products. You don't have to reak of a chemical factory whenever you do your nails! Not only are these products safer to work with, they're easier on the enivronment too!

Ulta's Salon Formula Crème Nail Lacquer is both formaldehyde-free and toluene-free. The rich, quick-drying formula proves that you can have great looking nails without the chemicals. Plus, it's high-gloss and chip-resistant to boot. Available in Ulta stores or online http://www.ulta.com

SunCoat (http://www.suncoatproducts.com/) has a Natural Nail Polish Remover that is made from farm crops and contains no petroleum ingredients. Imagine...no fumes, no chemcials, no problems! The non-toxic formula is also non-carcinogenic and is biodegradable. It works on both water-based nail polish and conventional, "normal" polishes. Get rid of your acetone-based polish removers -- and your acetate based removers (a.k.a. acetone-free remover)!

While we're on the subject of nailcare, here's a quick tip - to stop the top of the nail polish bottle from sticking...dip a small paintbrush in nail polish remover and use it to clean off the rim of the bottle. This will help prevent the top from sticking next time you use it. It's the enamel left on the rim of the bottle that bonds the top to the top, making the top always so hard to get off. Oh, and forget using a cotton ball to do this -- the cotton fibers will stick to the enamel, no matter how hard you try to be careful.