New life for your foam soap pump!

Got this awesomeness at the Poteet Strawberry Festival today!

Just pout the liquid soap concentrate into a rinsed foam soap bottle. Fill the rest of the bottle with distilled water and shake to dissolve. Just leave enough room for the foam pump doo-hickey that takes up some room at the top of the bottle. Clear as mud? Well wash your hands with some good smelling soap! South Texas Goat Milk Soap, check 'em out!

You say you can't afford it?

You say you can't afford to buy sustainable or organic products, but I think that the garbage islands that are bigger than Texas should convey the message to all of us: WE CAN'T AFFORD NOT TO BUY SUSTAINABLE AND ORGANIC! Check out this poor soul in Manila.

Here is my current favorite company, Preserve. Preserve products are made in the USA from recycled plastic. Here's my favorite part, though. They start off as recycled yogurt cups, and when you are done, they will RE-RECYCLE some of the items! Woohoo! You can learn a little more about the process here. I already have some of the kitchen items, but my current purchase is for the mail-back toothbrushes and the razors. My total purchase price was $73, which is pricey, but all these items will carry me through the year, which makes it worth my while, plus, I can RE-RECYCLE them, which is one solution to our growing trash problem.

Pots & Pans!

I just bought a beautiful set of pots & pans from American Kitchen, made in Wisconsin by Regal Ware. They are heavy and sturdy and quite grown up. I purchased my set at Amazon as they don't sell the American Kitchen line directly. The line is also available at Bed Bath & Beyond and at Sears, as well as some other locations.

Visco-elastic (memory) foam mattress toppers

Most visco-elastic (memory) foam mattress toppers are made in the U.S. I just purchased one for my mom from Healthy Foundations, a company out of Colorado, with facilities in California and Kentucky. It does feel good to keep my money in the U.S. when I can. Of course, there are specialty items from other countries, but when I can buy U.S., I do buy U.S.

Glassware cooking needs: buy Pyrex or Anchor Hocking

From the Pyrex website: Pyrex bakeware sold in North America has always been made in America and our packaging proudly displays the American flag and the “made in the USA” label.

From the Anchor Hocking website: Since 1905, Anchor Hocking has produced quality glassware in the United States of America. The majority of the products are manufactured at the original site in Lancaster, Ohio. A second manufacturing facility is located in Monaca, Pennsylvania. The company employs over 1,500 associates nationwide.

Anchor Hocking is proud to be a leading glass manufacturer here in America. We strive to maintain high standards to provide the finest quality products in the marketplace today. Our "Made in the U.S.A." logo is featured on our packaging and our website to bring awareness to the consumer of the products manufactured in the U.S. Currently Anchor Home Collection™, Anchor Signature™ and Stölzle products are sourced worldwide.

Clothes Made From Scrap (dot com)

The last step in the recycling process is to use up the recycled materials. And we all know that plastic is the most plentiful waste product in our landfills.

ClothesMadeFromScrap.com manufactures and markets a line of clothing and accessories made from recycled plastic soda bottles and reclaimed cotton, and they ask,

"Can you imagine a T-shirt with minimal shrinkage that keeps you cool in the Summer and warm in the Winter and is incredibly durable? Imagine that this T-shirt is made of 100% recycled fabric. Imagine a baseball cap with these same qualities. Better yet, the next time you go to the store and are conscientious enough to forego plastic bags for a canvas tote, imagine if that tote was made of 100% recycled plastic! Value priced, quality products that look great and make you feel great about becoming part of the solution!

For Earth Day, 2011, why not purchase 100% recycled T-shirts Made in America screen printed with your logo or one of ours? To see them and all of our other designs, please click here. And, don't forget that everything we make and sell is 100% manufactured in the U.S."

The clothes themselves are meant to be bought at wholesale for screen printing and customizing, so if you have the need for large quantities, perhaps for work or for your band t-shirts, please check out ClothesMadeFromScraps.com.

Custom Poster Frames made in the US

So you need a frame for your awesome movie or art or concert poster? Well, you could go to Target. You could go to WallyWorld. You could go to Hobby Lobby or Michaels or any other craft store and pick up whatever they have.

However, at WholesalePosterFrames.com, you could customize the frame style (6 styles), the finish (shiny, satin, black, silver, gold, white, red, blue, green), the lens cover (non-glare or regular), and the backing (white or black foamcore, corrugated plastic, or none).

I have used them to order custom frames for my concert posters, and each cost about $44. I had them oversized so that the black foamcore that I chose would look like a mat. Please to admire:


It makes me happy to know that somewhere in this great USA, there's a hard-working dude or lady packing up my custom frames and shipping them domestically. What a concept!