Thursday, January 27, 2011

Nature...

Found this quote from Johann Wolfgang von Goethe the other day and love it...
Nature understands no jesting.  She is always true, always serious, always severe:  she is always right, and the errors and faults are always those of man.
How true!  We've always been of the mindset that Mother Nature has provided the very best ingredients.  And, when you have the very best at your disposal, what's the point of adding anything else?

live mindfully, friends!
 

Thursday, January 20, 2011

Come On Baby, Light My Fire

I came across something unexpected while doing yardwork at a rental recently.  Well, okay, I was standing in the rain watching my husband do the yardwork, but that's not really the point. 

It had been raining buckets for a few days here and we had a little flooding problem going on in the yard so my dear husband was digging a shallow trench along the fence line of the property.  That doesn't sound like an activity that would necessarily bring about the unexpected, and yet it did.  There, about a foot down, was a bright red disposable lighter.  Now, it's been awhile since any smokers have lived at this place and, even so, finding this lighter a foot down means that it's been there quite awhile.  Despite that, it was perfectly intact.

Disposable lighters first hit the scene in 1972.  Over the last 39 years, they've spread across the world, are available in retail stores from Target to Safeway to your corner Quik-E Mart, and are found in nearly every home in America.  Whether you're a smoker or not, you likely have some kind of disposable lighter in your home for lighting fires, candles, or your gas grill, right?  I'll admit it, I have at least two in the house right now.  But, when I saw that bright red lighter dislodged from the mud the other day, it got me thinking... How many more of those things are laying around in landfills across the world or even buried in our yards?  The ugly truth is that somewhere around 1.5 billion of them end up there... each yearBegin doing the math and the number becomes even more startling.

Of course, this all got me thinking about how to make more mindful choices, and I came up with three that are just so easy to make a part of our lives that it's a little embarrassing to me that I haven't done any of them myself...yet!

First is the good choice.  Use a refillable lighter.  Kind of the same concept as using a reusable coffee mug or water bottle.  The downside to this option is that you're still purchasing the butane fuel that you'll be refilling it with and much of the material used to make that lighter is plastic; both petroleum based products.  The upside, though, is that you still get the advantage of having a child safety feature when it comes to dealing with fire, you still have that long handle that keeps your hand away from the flame, and you're only buying one instead of several in a year's time. 

Next is the better choice, which is, of course, matches.  When it comes to matches, I like those sturdy stick kind.  They just seem so...well, sturdy.  They come in a long variety, too, that are great to use if you're lighting a fire.  It's also a great alternative to trying to wedge your hand down into a deep glass container to light a votive!  The only "issue" is that these sturdy little guys are sturdy because they're made out of wood and generally not recycled wood at that.

Finally, the best choice is cardboard matches; you know, the ones that come in a little matchbook?  Most are made from recycled paper, they're super inexpensive, and they're environmental impact is far less than their wood counterparts.  In fact, it's been said that, if all the cigarettes smoked around the world were lit with cardboard matches instead of wood, it would save over 5 billion trees each year!
 
So, as I've said before, when you commit to making more mindful choices for your life, you don't have to make the very best choice each time if it doesn't fit your lifestyle.  Any of the options above are a step in the right direction.  Personally, I'll probably end up using a combination of wood and cardboard matches.  For you the choice might be different, and that's okay.  Just find the one that makes sense for you and your family and, of course, live mindfully.

Thursday, January 13, 2011

What is Living Mindfully?

For those of you that know us already, you know that em has always been about bringing your mindful products.  From the ingredients we use to our packaging to the products themselves, we've always sought to do right by Mother Nature.  As we embark on our new year with our new website and all, one of our goals is to reinforce that being mindful is so much more than just how we make our products.

As a country, even as a planet, we talk about doing the "right things" to create a cleaner, more sustainable world; but, really, what does that mean?  We all know that we should recycle.  We all know we shouldn't let the water run while brushing our teeth.  But, what else? 

Sometimes the options seem daunting.  Do I really have to keep small livestock in my backyard?  Does my next vehicle purchase have to be a hybrid?  The answer is no and no...unless, of course, that's really the right thing for you.  However, there are small things (and bigger things) that we can all do to create a more mindful existense, and that's what we hope to share with you through our blog posts here; bring you simple ways to make your corner of the world more mindful.  If we all made just one mindful change this year, imagine the snowball effect that might create!

So, tip #1...  do you have a favorite magazine that you buy at the newsstand or grocery store?  Consider subscribing to it instead.  Nearly 60% of magazines on the newsstand shelf aren't even sold and end up being discarded.  By subscribing, you can save a ton with a 1 year subscription (more if you subscribe for a longer length of time), plus you get the convenience of home delivery.  Go one step further and access your magazine from its website or through an e-reader.  Either way, you're saving time, money, energy, and fuel!
Making mindful choices doesn't have to be hard.  And, if you're stuck on how to make a change, ask us!  That's part of our goal; to help you live mindfully.

Friday, January 7, 2011

New Products and a Whole New Look for the New Year!

Welcome to our all new website!  It's full of new products and this, Mindful Matters, our all new blog where everything is about making mindful choices for our lives.

If you're a fan of our products already, you know that being mindful is what we're all about.  Whether it's sourcing our supplies locally or making the committment to only use natural ingredients, mindfulness matters to us. 

So, come back often to pick up tips on how you can make mindful choices in your daily life, and, as always...live mindfully!