Your Questions About Green Living

The Expert answers:

I believe that Hallmark has wrapping paper made out of recycled paper that, in turn is easily recycled.

The less plastic, metal, and glitz the more eco-friendly and recyclable the paper is.

I have wrapped two different wedding gifts in brown mailing wrap; in large part because of the sizes of the gifts and the cost of adequate wedding wrap for them. The first was for a spring wedding. I used pink camalias from the yard and florist’s ribbon on the front of the gift. The second was a fall wedding and I used some super bright, orange maple leaves and cloth ribbon on the front.

The Expert answers:

Hi there!
There are SO many great products on the market that are eco friendly and also fun- perfect for gifts! I own a natural soap company, and make a huge assortment of handmade-from-scratch, vegan, all-vegetable oil soap that are made with only sustainably-sourced ingredients. I would say that half of all the soaps I sell are bought with the intention of being given as gifts. You can find LOTS of natural bar soaps on google (just search for natural bar soap)- and many will offer a discount on larger quantities if you just send them a note asking.

Some of my FAVORITE bath accessories are sold by a company called “Envirotextile.” They sell the greatest bath scrubbies and washcloths on the market- and when you buy in bulk, you can save big. Here’s a link to their site: http://www.envirotextile.com/agave-products/index.html They use agave fiber from the agave cactus to weave their products. The fibers are left over from the manufacture of tequila, and would ordinarily just be considered waste, but this company has figured out to use the fibers to make an excellent fabric- similar in texture to jute or hemp- that is biodegradable, and skin-friendly- definitely great “living green” products. I prefer their products over loofah, because loofah tends to get mildewy and moldy over time, while agave fiber is naturally mildew and mold resistant.

As far as information on the making of soap- I can definitely help you there! Soap is made by combining lye, water (or juice, tea, beer, milk, etc), and oils. The lye used is either sodium hydroxide (bar soap), or potassium hydroxide (liquid soap) and both can be bought on the internet from places such as The Lye Depot. Successful soap making is extremely dependent on proper measuring and formulating. Too much lye can create soaps that burn skin. Too little can cause soaps that never harden, or that make skin feel sticky and oily. To begin, water and lye are combined, which creates heat. Oils are melted and blended. When the lye solution and the oils have cooled to a certain temperature, they are combined and mixed. Eventually, the solution will “trace” (thicken), and resemble pancake batter. At this point, essential oils or fragrance oils can be added, along with any colorants that are wanted. The thick batter is poured into molds, and allowed to sit, generally covered with towels or a blanket, for a day or so. During that time, the soap will heat up, and cool again, and become hard. After it is unmolded, it can be cut into bars. Then, you must wait until the soap has cured to use it. This can take up to about 4 weeks or so. During this time, water will evaporate out of the bars, and the soap will get harder. There are MANY websites with great tutorials on soapmaking- You may like checking out www.soapcalc.net for some useful information. It also has a great program for formulating your own soap recipes.
Good Luck with your gift shop!!
🙂
Erin

The Expert answers:

Does she have her re-usable shopping bags yet? If not, get a few (don’t want to use the same one for food and household cleaners!). Fill one with green household cleaners and one with green and/or organic bath/skin products.

The Expert answers:

You could make the basket yourself by putting reusable plastic water bottle(s), reusable bags, and maybe some rechargeable batteries. You could even get plastic water battle(s) and reusable bags that say Reduce, Reuse, Recycle. These items might give that person the need or feel too do those things.

The Expert answers:

Lots of people choose to buy green colored items for a sex unknown baby shower…perhaps some play on words with that could work out.
“Finally! A reason to buy all green baby clothes…”
“You are invited to Jane Doe’s Eco-friendly baby shower @ 123 elm street on July 31st, 2008 @ 7:15pm. Gifts and decorations that support our environment (no plastic bottles, cloth diapers, petroleum, etc–or here you could give positive examples) are requested to celebrate the coming of baby Doe. Here are some items/store suggestions for the happy momma: (list) “