Valerie B.'s Profile
"I'm flawed. Cows fart and so do I. - D.M."
Member since November, 2006
User stats
96 reviews
12 useful ratings
53 listings added
Location
east bay is pig latin for beast
My affiliations
my backyard & my kitchenaid mixer
Last great book or movie
Harry Potter & the Deathly Hallows
My blog or website
My Dream Product
a clean combustion engine
How we'll get around in 20 years...
flying on broomsticks
Offline, find me...
gardening
My heroes
Radish
My non-green guilty pleasure
the A4
Organic Ground Premium Flaxseed
I don't eat fish, and I recently read that people who eat enough omega 3s are less likely to be depressed. Flax seeds have omega 3s in them, so I though what the heck I'll try eating it in my buckwheat cereal in the morning.
It's important to get ground flax seeds because if they're not ground up when you eat them you can't absorb anything in them. These come pre-ground, and to be honest they don't taste like much. They're pretty nutty, but subtle. I like that this particular kind is organic, and it has lignans in it but I'm not sure what those are!
I'm not sure about the packaging here. It's a non recyclable plastic-y thing that reminds me somewhat of the containers soy milk comes in that you don't have to refrigerate until after you open it. Other than the packaging bummer, I like this product.
Are people that eat flax seeds for omega 3s less likely to be depressed? I have no idea. Stay tuned, I guess.
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it left me shrugging
It's cool this chocolate is organic. But it's not the best tasting. I don't think the mint is as pepperminty as it could be, and the chocolate is kind of waxy. I think there are better mint chocolates out there, like endangered species.
It's also good to mix mint extract in chocolate chip cookie recipes. Random I know, but tasty.
I just went and read the label for this - it says the cocoa beans are grown in the dominican republic but the chocolate is made in switzerland... como what? The program in the Dominican Rep. is some special thing, but why ship it to Switzerland? Maybe I misunderstood, I hope so.
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get the juices flowing
We have one of these in our office. I find that it helps me to go jump for a few minutes when I'm tired, stressed, or anxious. It's also good after a long meeting where you've been sitting and sitting and sitting...
I'm not sure why this is sustainable. Exercise helps a person be sustainable, so okay. But I don't know if this tramp has any recycled content, or if it is recyclable. I know that Gaiam is a "green" company so that counts for something.
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good and close by
They have a location a couple blocks from my office. So, while there are about 3 Starbucks and at least 1 Peets in the same radius, I can go to this one organic coffee shop for a treat. I don't drink coffee, ever (me + caffeine = bad) but I do love a good hot chocolate, and good muffins.
Their business invests in the communities it grows its coffee in, so that is great, and supports organic and fair trade coffee growing practices in a few different countries.
A lot of waste comes out of these places though. And, since SF has a municipal composting program they should have a compost bin in their stores for the paper napkins and pastry bags they have. They get their pastries from the students at educated pallet and they're pretty conventional, though tasty.
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i am curly!
My sister bought a tube of this for my for my birthday. Like most Aveda products, it smells pretty good, and I think it works pretty good too. More than anything, it helps to tame frizziness in my curly hair. While it's in no way crunchy, and not very sticky once it dries, you can tell that there is product in my hair when I use it, so it doesn't disappear.
Lots of Aveda products have parabens, and I don't have the ingredients list in front of me right now to check about this one, but chances are it has them. I'll check later and update!
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I'm addicted.
I've been using this face wash for about a year now, and I have no complaints. It's not sudsy at all, so it's very gently and doesn't have any foaming agents in it. It's also paraben free, because they use a method that turns the aloe into a powder that doesn't require a preservative to stay fresh in the cleanser. (Parabens are preservatives found in many personal care products. It's not 100% known that they are dangerous, but they show up in breast cancer tumors... that's reason enough for me to stay away from them.)
The Body Shop also uses community trade programs to get the aloe, which is good for the community. I only wish there was an alternative to the plastic bottles they're sold in. In my imagination, all cosmetic style stores have their product in bulk and you just go in and fill up something you already have with the product so you can reuse it over and over. I wish!!!!
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Inner Light Concealer
I've said it before in other reviews, but I am not a big makeup person (part laziness, part lack of application talent). But for special occasions, I purchased this concealer. It is one of those that is like lip gloss with the wand and the tube. It's made with natural ingredients and some are organic, like the other Inner Light products.
Honestly, I don't know what to say that's wrong about this stuff, if it's healthier for me to use I am into it, though I don't use it that often. I figure, concealer is supposed to be slightly thick and cakey, otherwise it won't cover up the blemishes we're trying to hide.
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Inner Light Loose Powder
This powder has mostly natural and some organic ingredients. I barely wear stuff like this, so I'm pretty picky that my face not feel like it's covered in stickiness or cake, and I don't feel this way when I use this powder. It's very light, and when applied with a big brush goes on evenly and stays on pretty much all day.
This is a good alternative to the makeup counter powders that contain dangerous chemical ingredients.
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sun protection & evens out skin
I'm not a big makeup wearer, but for special occasions I picked up this tinted moisturizer. It really does make a difference evening out my skin tone, and feels pretty good as it goes on. I like that there's an SPF factor as well. Some of the ingredients in the moisturizer are organic, and it comes in a 100% recycled carton. I don't find that my pores are clogged after wearing it, and I have pretty sensitive skin.
I give this product 5 stars because the packaging is recycled, and the ingredients are organic in some cases. In addition, they use the mineral titanium dioxide for the sunscreen.
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solar powered twinkly lights
I purchased these solar lights last December, and hung them on the awning in my backyard. My Dad helped me screw the small solar panel base at the top of the awning so it would catch the most sun, and it's very sturdy.
I purchased the white lights (they also come in red) and they are very pretty at night, they are the color of the moon reflecting off of snow. The best part of these, of course, is that they are powered by the sun every day. They automatically turn on when it gets dark, and on a cloudy day are pretty bright for the hours before going to bed. When I check them out early in the morning they have definitely dimmed, but they really stay bright even after a moderately sunny/overcast day for all of the hours that I watch them before going to bed.
Four stars because they're pretty expensive, about $110 for 208 lights.
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