Bubble and Bee Organic offers wonderful bath and body products that contain natural and organic ingredients. We are big fans of the Pit Puddy and root beer lip balm! So we are excited to introduce Stephanie, founder of Bubble and Bee, who has some wonderful information to share with us!

Name: Stephanie Greenwood
Place you are livin’ green: The Rocky Mountains of Utah
Environmental Motto/quote/saying: No Bad Stuff!
Favorite Little Green Star design: “Bee Green” of course!

Although there are thousands of chemicals to be concerned about, there’s one group that is particularly offensive to me: parabens. Methyl- ethyl-, propyl-, benzyl- and isobutylparaben to be exact. Parabens are a group of chemicals used in water-based cosmetic items like shower gels, shampoos, and lotions as a preservative. The problem with parabens is that they act like estrogen in the body when absorbed through skin. These estrogen mimicers enter the bloodstream and can interfere with the body’s delicate hormonal balance. In fact, according to the Breast Cancer Fund, all six parabens “have been identified in biopsy samples from breast tumors.” They also “increase the expression of genes that are usually regulated by estradiol and cause human breast tumor cells (MCF-7 cells) to grow and proliferate in vitro.”

Since the year 2000, thirteen studies have been done on parabens that link the chemical to either cancer or estrogenic activity. In addition to reproductive cancer risks, this estrogenic activity can lead to reproductive disorders. According to author and hormone specialist, Dr. John R. Lee, when the body has too much estrogen compounds circulating, it leads to estrogen dominance. This dominance doesn’t allow the body’s natural progesterone to “balance” the estrogen, and can lead to disorders like like endometriosis, uterine fibroids, infertility, ovarian cysts, PCOS, and anovulation.

One of the reasons that I started my company, Bubble and Bee Organic, was because I was exhibiting the signs of estrogen dominance myself. After cleansing my body from external sources of synthetic estrogens and supporting my body with healthy foods, I was able to conquer the symptoms. In making this change I found that it was very difficult to find paraben and chemical-free personal care products in health food stores, so I started making my own. After I realized the drastic change that these pure products had made in my life, I wanted to share them with everyone. My partner Steve and I created Bubble and Bee Organic and haven’t looked back.

Thank you Stephanie for this important information! You can find more information about organic products, the ingredients they use, and more on their website and blog. So please think of Bubble and Bee this holiday season and anytime you need a gift, as they have wonderful gift baskets and special holiday scents! You should even treat yourself to something too!

I know I write a lot about packing lunches, but I just keep finding such wonderful reusable, earth-friendly, and cute products!

My latest fun find is from the wonderful site Etsy.Com on Gopita’s Dolls online store. These adorable sandwich wrap mats come in a variety of adorable prints and fold up with a little tie around the sandwich. When you open it up you have the perfect size lunch placemat! The inside is made from a washable vinyl material so it washes nicely after each use. The boys just love it and its perfect for packing school lunches or going on a picnic!

The perfect addition to your sandwich wrap is still my favorite Fabkins. Kid size reusable napkins that teach manners and reusing! My son loves to remind me to get the napkins for each meal and for his lunchbox. Fabkins even has come out with some new patterns and don’t forget their wonderful fundraising opportunities for your school!

And then to top it all off, my favorite new website is iLunchbox! A wonderful site that features recipes, lunchbox ideas, nutrition information, as well as shopping lists to make it easier when you go to the store!

Have a happy and healthy lunch!

I just ate a sundae. As in chocolate ice cream, caramel sauce, whipped cream and cherries. We went to Mitchell’s Ice Cream and anyone from SF knows that it was good I didn’t need the sundae and I feel a little ill from it to be honest, but after I finished scraping the caramel from the bottom of the cup I realized I was eating from a Greenware biodegradable cup. They look like plastic cups, but they are made from a plant derived resin vs. an oil-based plastic. They are compostable, made from renewable resources, and made in the US.

Its pretty exciting to see the new products coming out that are making a difference in the world. I imagine these are more costly to the retailer, but if more businesses used this type of product it would be really exciting to see the difference it can make. I also think people would be more likely to return to that business as well in order to support a “green” business. SO I guess that means I’ll have to get more ice cream!

But seriously, be on the lookout for Greenware products and feel a little less guilty about what is inside!

We’ve all heard a lot of talk lately about the chemical bisphenol A (BPA),which can be found in polycarbonate plastic. BPA is sadly in most things that we all use daily, especially kids products. Its in storage containers, sippy cups, baby bottles, and water bottles. Its hard not to have plastic products when you have kids, but studies have shown that when plastic heats up, BPA can leach into the liquids causing neurological, reproductive, and developmental damage to those who have been exposed.

Thats where Green To Grow fits in…. An ADORABLE line of baby bottles made from, of course, BPA free material. Green To Grow was started by a dad just wanting the best for his son. He and his wife realized that there were dangers in everyday products with little alternative. As a result, these adorable bottles were born! Available in 5oz and 10oz sizes, these bottles are made from PES plastic, which are lead, PVC, phthalates and BPA free. Their packaging is made from 100% recycled material and the bottles are top rack dishwasher safe. The bottle nipples are made from a silicone that is heat-resistant, non-toxic, and odorless. They also offer gift sets that come with an adorable tote bag!

The founders Michael and Shelley have also founded the Bottles to Babies Initiative. Where they are able to “connect families who are no longer using their baby bottles with local non-profit organizations and women’s shelters that accept used baby bottle donations”. That is a really wonderful idea and makes me love the bottles even more! You can also visit their website where they have wonderful links to educate you on the different types of plastics and how to create a safe home for your little ones.

Please visit Green to Grow to learn more!

We are excited to announce the launching of some new products here at Little Green Star! We have found the softest and cutest 100% organic cotton hats and bibs, which we are proud to say are grown and made in the USA.

We now have available a set of three adorable top knot hats and a bib available with our Peas Out design. We also have handmade knit hats! We hope to be adding more gift sets soon, so please keep checking for updates!

We hope you enjoy our new products. We strive to bring you the best available product and we hope your little one enjoys them too!

Please visit our updated SHOP page to see photos and pricing.

Have a wonderful day!

I was introduced to Diapers.Com when my first son was a baby and it seriously changed my life. At the time, having to go to the store with a little one was a job in itself. I would many many times run out of diapers and have to scramble to find whatever I could! My friend Sophie told me about it and it just made life so easy! Delivery of diapers. Brilliant….

No jump to a few years later and another boy in the house, online diaper delivery is even more important! Now, I will admit, I have been using another online store to buy diapers BUT I just noticed that diapers.com carries WAY more than diapers now and has an entire “Green” department!

In addition to the big brand of diapers, they offer Seventh Generation and Gdiapers (my two diapers of choice), Nature Babycare, Tushies, cloth diapers, wipes, Born Free cups, Earth’s Best Organic food, the list goes on and on!! I’m so excited and I promise to make the return to Diapers.Com. Especially since they sell Burt’s Bees bubble bath, which is my favorite and strangely hard to find!

One of the other great features of this site is their referral program. When you send an email from their site to your friends, every time they order you get a credit and they get $5 off their first order.

You should really check this out and I’m sure you’ll find almost everything you need for your little one. Plus you can feel good about saving some gas and having more time to play with your kids!

For me, it really is the little things in life that make me happy… a hug from my kids, brownies right out of the oven or the staple free stapler… Everytime I use it I just smile!

My staple free stapler of choice is from Made By Humans and for under $7.00 you can keep together paper without a)risking injuries to your fingers b) never having to discover you are out of staples and c) keeping one less wasteful thing out of your life! Its so fun to use and it works great. It basically punches a hole in your papers, which is a “little dramatic” as Kelley and I like to say, but its great!

It comes in lots of colors too and its easy for kids to use and it really makes you feel good that you aren’t sending out a document or filing something away that won’t completely get recycled! Because who knows what happens to those annoying little staples anyway!

“They” say it only holds together up to 5 pages, but I don’t think thats true. And really, if you have more than 5 pages to hold together, just reuse a clip thing, a big stapled report just isn’t going to look good. Hee hee!

So anyway, get your office hooked up with these cool gadgets, trust me, you’ll be finding things to hold together!

I stumbled upon a wonderful website dedicated to safe products for your home and baby called Safe Mama. You will find wonderful posts and “cheat sheets” which tell you very specific brands which are BPA and phthalate free. Anything from cups, bottles, pacifiers, and bath products are listed out for you to keep baby safe and free from the icky and dangerous chemicals that are found in plastic. The site also includes non-toxic toy guides, recall information, and car seat safety.

This website was started by Kathy after searching for safe products for her 2 year old. She realized that other parents out there must be doing the same “searching”, so she decided to compile all the information herself! And we thank her for it!!

This is such a great website that I’ve already shared it with the moms I know. Whats even better is there is an online store so you can purchase all of these wonderful products!

I can’t wait to really sit down and read through this site and I’m a little scared at how much money I’ll end up spending, but its all for a good reason!

So check out Safe Mama today and learn what you can do to keep your family safe and healthy!!

I got the cutest book for Christmas last year 1,001 Ways to Save the Planet by Joanna Yarrow. Its the cutest book ever, small and chunky with wonderful illustrations and really great tips!

There are so many tips, I haven’t even made it through the book yet, but there is something great on every page. Just a few random ones…. Wrap gifts in reusable fabric. Encourage your little ones to be “green helpers” by having kids check to make sure the lights are out or to take out the compostable materials. Instead of using harsh chemicals to clean your oven, make a paste out of baking soda and water. Leave on for one hour then rub off. Deter fleas naturally by putting finely chopped garlic in their food twice a week. The fleas won’t like their blood. eeewwww. But you can see, I can go on and on and on!

I just love the idea of having really simple things I can do around the house or with my family that actually does some good!

This book makes a great gift or check it out from your local library. Its a fun book to read and really inspiring too!

For the last few years I thought I was doing pretty well “being green”. I mean, I did my part with recycling, I turned off the lights, changed my light bulbs to energy efficient ones, I composted…. BUT I was doing something pretty bad. Not using cloth napkins! Yep, I was giving in to finding cute paper towels or cute paper napkins that the kids might find fun. Thats wear Fabkins fits in!

Fabkins are kid-sized cloth napkins, perfect for eating at home and packing up in the lunch box. Fabkins come in lots of cute colors and designs and are made from 100% cotton. Not only are they cute, but they promote good table manners and help eliminate excess waste. So much waste is created every day by using paper napkins, that this is such an easy thing to add to your daily routine.

Fabkins was started by two moms and friends, Joyce and Paige, last year who were looking for a way to have “waste-free” lunches for their kids, but couldn’t find the product they wanted. So they decided to make their own! I love it! These Marin County moms have created a great way for kids to be involved directly in protecting the environment, by reducing waste. Nice work ladies!!

In addition, Fabkins works with schools to help promote waste-free lunches by having fundraisers. You can get your schools logo put right on the napkins for a fun way to get the whole school involved in this easy, yet very important green action.

So check out their kids napkin collection today and be inspired to have waste-free lunches (breakfast and dinner too)!