What? Ben & Jerry's Isn't Super-Au-Natural?

Drip.  Drip.

Those are tears rolling off my face.  The truth is harsh.  Ben & Jerry's Ice Cream is taking the words "All Natural" off of 48 varieties of ice creams that aren't all natural.

So much for my "but one more scoop is okay 'cause it's natural" justification.

You see, Ben & Jerry's has been caught passing off ingredients as natural ingredients, like maltodextrin.  Um, excuse me Ben or Jerry or Unilever, but didn't someone teach you the old saying, if you have trouble pronouncing it, it can't be good for you?

But don't worry, the government is onto Ben & Jerry's and the company is no longer going to label ice cream with natural claims.  Oh, and Ben or Jerry or Unilever, don't worry, I was onto you long ago.

I read ingredients labels, too.  Though, especially now, there would be less guilt if I didn't.

Gotta Love the StonyField Yogurt Visitors Center

The kids and I just had a chance to visit the Stonyfield Yogurt Works Visitors Center.  If you're in the Manchester, NH area, definitely add this place to your must-visit list!  It's only a couple of minutes away from the airport (MHT).  For the majority of our visit, we were the only visitors in the colorful, clean and eco-chic Center.

The super friendly Stonyfield lady who was working in the Center invited us to sit down at a table, and she brought us over a MONSTER-SIZE tray full of different Stonyfield Yogurts to sample.  Though we are long-time fans of Stonyfield products, it was great to have the chance to sample new products, like Stonyfield's Yo Baby Peach & Sweet Potato yogurt.  Yeah, sounds kinda squirrly, but it was yummy... and Babyman loved, loved, loved it--talk about a good start for healthy eating!  After we ate way too many samples, we hit the Stonyfield theater for a fun 12 minute video about Stonyfield's Yogurt history.

If you thought Ben & Jerry's was the poster child for eco-friendly, think again.  This place, down to the yogurt sample spoons made from recycled yogurt cups, rocks--I'm convinced that even a few minutes spent in the Stonyfield Visitors Center could turn anyone into a reduce-reuse-recycle addict.

Move Over Un-Green Swiffer: I'm Back with a Rubbermaid Reveal

After a hmmm...two, maybe three, year hiatus, Suburban EcoMom is back. So, move over Swiffer, I'm back from Home Depot with something more eco-friendly: A Rubbermaid Reveal.

I've always resisted the eco-UNfriendly Swiffer. I'm not a fan of disposables. The green in me just has a hard time justifying the one-time use principle (the Swiffer pads), unless you're talking Clorox Wipes!, and chemical cleaners (the Swiffer pre-bottled sprays). Instead of the Swiffer, I owned an eco-friendly floor steamer, which had washable floor pads. But somewhere along the way we parted ways. After a relatively recent move and need to quickly clean multiple floors, I implusively--though at the same time riddled with guilt--bought a Swiffer. A friend had bragged earlier that day about her Swiffer love, remarking on its quick-kid-mess-clean-up-ability, and I caved.

Ugh.

I felt even more eco-guilt when it was time to buy pad and cleaner refills. Through the huz prepared a homemade cleaner replacement for me, I still wasn't fond of my Swiffer. Not even close to a love-hate relationship. Just looking at it causes me to cringe.

But that's now a thing of the past. Tonight I walked into Home Depot and the Rubbermaid Reveal was at the door to greet me. The Reveal is like a Swiffer EXCEPT it is eco-friendly, at least if you ignore the plastic gadgetry. Here's why:

• No disposable pads. Instead, it uses a Microfiber Mop Pad, which is washable up to 100 times.
• You can use customize your cleaning solution! Forget toxic cleaners. Use whatever crunchy, granola, health-freak, organic, au natural cleaning recipe you want or can dream up. Hey, ol' fashioned water and vinegar can work, too!
• The microfiber pad is safe on all floor surfaces, so no monkeying around with other cleaners or gadgets.
• The Reveal packaging has a no. 6 recycle label, so Rubbermaid is at least making somewhat of an effort to appeal to our inner suburban ecomom and also help save the planet.

Wanna see my Reveal? Don't drool...

In case you're wondering... that's Simple Green in the refillable bottle.