The Green Behavior “World’s Best Cat Litter” giveaway is about to begin!

That’s right Green Behavior is giving you and your feline friends a chance to take home a 100% natural and safe cat litter.. It’s our first giveaway of 2012 so I hope you are all ready to enter and someone is ready to win!

The Prize

• Worlds Best Cat Litter

How to Enter

• Follow @greenbehavior (don’t worry about this part if you already follow us)
• Follow @bestcatlitter
• Tweet this exactly:

I just entered to win some World’s Best Cat Litter from @greenbehavior and @bestcatlitter #giveaway http://bit.ly/IQ7Plp

The Rules/Fine Print

One entry per person, per twitter account. Winner will be selected at random via Random.org. Winner will be announced in the morning Tuesday, May 22st 2012. They will be contacted by direct message on Twitter and will have 2 days (48 hours) to respond. If they have not responded within 48 hours they are disqualified and a new winner will be chosen.

The giveaway includes free shipping to the continental US and Canada. Currently people outside the continental US and Canada are not eligible to win. Sorry!

Contest runs from today - Friday, May, 7, 2012 - Monday, May 21, 2012 at 11:59pm EST.

Good luck to you all!

This feed comes from Green Behavior The specific article's link is: World’s Best Cat Litter Giveaway

We shouldn’t just celebrate Earth for one hour or one day, we should celebrate it every day. The community of Serenbe does just that. Located below Atlanta, Georgia this is a green community that was built on the concept of sustainability.

“Each home is certified to EarthCraft Homes “green” standards.” - From Serenbe website

What first struck me after the gorgeous land and homes was the eclectic style of the community and people. Everything from street-lamps, trash cans, and benches were made from recycled/repurposed materials. The lawns at each home have no grass (to probably save on water usage), and where there is grass it’s allowed to grow as nature intended it. It makes you wonder if this community can do it, why can’t these ideas be implemented into other communities around the nation?

Serenbe is separated into three districts: Selborne - center for arts, residential homes; Grange - organic farms, stables, and forestland;  Mado -  still in the planning stages, but should have an upscale hotel, destination spa, etc.

HGTV Dream Home 2012

Inside Serenbe is the new 2012 HGTV Dream Home. If there’s any ‘Dream Home’ to win this is the one. Not only do you get a fantastic eco-friendly home, but a community based on reusing, recycling, and repurposing.

The Organic Food

If you can only do one thing at Serenbe grab a bite to eat. With two restaurants and a bakeshop (and a vegetarian restaurant planned for the future) there is something for everyone, even gluten free options. It would make sense that the food is so fresh, real, and delicious since both the founders Steve and Marie Nygren have backgrounds with food.

“The Hil” was our choice of food for Earth Day dinner. From Crispy Calamari to a Margherita Pizza almost everything on this menu is from there organic farms.

Here’s a few menu items we tried and would recommend (some might not be available all the time):

• Organic Whole Wheat Bread with Butter
• Crab Fitters with Remoulade Sauce (this is made of almost ALL crab, highly recommend!)
• The Hil Burger with Shiitake Mushrooms, Swiss Cheese, Smoked Bacon, H1 Sauce and “Hil Made” French Fries
• Pan Seared Maine Scallops and Crispy Braised Pork with Roasted Turnips and Mustard Jus
• Warm “Hil Made” Waffle with Butterscotch Pecan Ice Cream and Bourbon Caramel Sauce (I think this was everyone’s favorite of the night.)

You can see more photographs here or learn more about this green community here.

This feed comes from Green Behavior The specific article's link is: Live Earth Day Every Day in Serenbe

I had to run some errands the other day and while I wandered around CVS I noticed I didn’t have my usual lip balm in my pocket so it was a great day to try out something new.

I grabbed the Vickery & Clarke Intensive Lip Treatment (95.75% natural) and the Intensive Moisture Lip Balm (94% natural).

Both are fabulous.  The Lip Treatment is more of a gel and comes in a refreshing mint flavor.  It’s great on chapped or split lips - it provides plenty of moisture and a great barrier from cold winds.  The Intensive lip balm is a cocoa butter flavor which is sweet and smells heavenly - like cookies or cakes or some sort of dessert.  the best part is is that it is flavor less - so your nose gets a treat without making your lips smack off all the balm.

About Vickery & Clarke

Inspired by Alice Vickery and Isabella Clarke, who broke new ground for women as pharmacists in the 1800s, Vickery & Clarke Natural Apothecary products are simple, effective remedies made with over 94% natural ingredients.

Vickery & Clarke Natural Apothecary products are made with natural ingredients:

• Paraben free
• Sodium Lauryl/Laureth Sulfate free
• Phthalate free
• Petrolatums free

UPDATE - As of December 2011 Vickery & Clarke products seem to be no longer available for purchase.

This feed comes from Green Behavior The specific article's link is: Vickery & Clarke Intensive Lip Care

I know I’ve heard it before - tea is good for you. Well why and what’s the big deal about green tea?

Both green and black tea are include a number of active ingredients, especially potent antioxidants like catechin, flavonoids, polyphenols and a type of phytochemical called EGCG. Antioxidants help prevent or slow oxidative damage to our body which happens when our bodies use oxygen which can often produce pb-products or free radicals that can cause damage. Those antioxidants act as scavengers and reduce the free radicals and repair the damaged caused.

According to the American Institute for Cancer Research, a substance in green tea has been found to halt a specific stage in the cancer process more effectively than current cancer drugs do^[1] in lab tests. Though it is also reported that in large population studies the results are less consistent. Though green tea has been cited to decrease the cardiovascular disease mortality in a population study over the course of 11 years but not the cancer mortality rate. This Japanese study: Green Tea Consumption and Mortality Due to Cardiovascular Disease, Cancer, and All Causes in Japan published by the American Journal of Medicine discusses that study in depth.

Green Tea and Weight Loss

Green tea is always rumored to be linked to weight loss, Japanese researchers have claim replacing your morning coffee with green tea can help you burn more calories through thermogenesis, the process of heat production in organisms, due to the caffeine content and possibly even the EGCG content.

Organic Green Tea

It makes perfect sense to seek out Organic teas. You’re drinking water that has had leaves steeped in it. Even if tea leaves are cleaned after being harvested wouldn’t you rather drink tea that comes from leaves that have never been touched by chemical fertilizers or pesticides? I would!

Be sure to check your local market or a local tea/coffee shop for Organic tea varieties!

Should I Drink Green Tea?

Why not? It’s tasty, and seems to have plenty of health benefits. Green tea also has anti-inflammatory properties which can be good for you inside and out!

How to Prepare Green Tea

Boil water and allow your green tea bag to steep 3 to 5 minutes to bring out the antioxidants and be sure to drink it freshly brewed to ensure you enjoy the full benefits of those antioxidants.

Add sugar, lemon, milk or honey as you see fit. I enjoy Organic honey in my teas and have a bottle of it in the cabinet at home and work.

So go on, replace you coffee that probably isn’t doing your body any good with some green tea every morning.

Tea Leaves photo by indi.ca via flickr used under the creative commons

This feed comes from Green Behavior The specific article's link is: Green Tea and It’s Health Benefits

There’s a great Dirty Jobs episode on the Discovery Channel where Mike Rowe goes to Terressentials in Maryland and makes and gets his hair washed in organic shampoo. I must divulge that I love Mike Rowe (my boyfriend is often jealous) so I hopped on their website and online store, Terressentials.com, to see what they had to offer!

The first order I made included the Fragrance-Free Facial Care Sampler. I’ve often had problems with scented products so I figure since my face doesn’t need to smell good: fragrance free would be my best route.

The samples are small but they go a long way, I used my sample package for a bit over 2 weeks, anywhere between 1 and 3 times a day. The bottles are small but the recommended amounts to use are very small as well - good things really do come in small packages.

Fragrance-free Organic Facial Cleanser & Toner

Of the four items in the sample pack these two items: the fragrance-free organic facial cleanser and fragrance-free organic facial toner, have made me a loyal Teressentials fan.

I’ve had a hard time with my skin in my early 20’s to the point where I considered using some of the prescription strength systems but the responses I read in blogs to such systems were overwhelmingly negative. So I started trying new face washes and low and behold the first organic one I tried I fell in love with.

The Terressentials fragrance-free cleanser and toner are USDA Certified Organic. They’re for all skin types and the naturally gentle cleansing power of these two are just what your face wants.

I’ve been using the face wash 2, sometimes 3 times a day and the toner at least once a day and I have never been happier with my skin. I have seen a drastic reduction in breakouts and my skin feel softer and battles the New England dry winter weather very well. I’ve noticed my skin even out a bit and I don’t ever feel the need to use harsh scrubs to “exfoliate” like I had before.

The best part - Terressentials is affordable organic. Their products might seem pricy per bottle but when you usee only the recommended amount your bottles will last a long time!

Fragrance Free Organic Facial Lotion & Moisture Cream

The other two products in the sampler fragrance-free organic facial lotion and 100% organic fragrance-free moisture cream, were a great compliment to the cleaners and toner. The Moisture cream is perfect to naturally soothe a dry nose during a cold and the facial lotion provides the moisture locking I look for in a moisturizer without a lot of weight or scent.

More USDA Organic Face Care Options by Terressentials

Terressentials also offers a flower therapy organic skin care system that I may try next order now that my skin feels more balances than my pre-teen days!

If you’ve used any of the Terressentials face care lines let me know what you thought otherwise - get to ordering! You won’t regret it.

This feed comes from Green Behavior The specific article's link is: Terressentials Face Care System