What a CleverBean!

Soothing Herbals Skincare, Aromatherapy, Apothecary now here!

2011-11-20T15:20:00.005-05:00

I'm so excited about a new line of products we're carrying that I don't really want to share. Because they're so great, and because the herbalist who makes them is so talented and dedicated (not to mention incredibly nice), I'll let the secret out.

Soothing Herbals, a locally-owned, independent business, provides locally produced, hand-crafted, herbal medicines and organic skin care products to die for.

My personal faves: Floral Facial Scrub followed by Divine Face Cream. It's, well, divine. Leaves your face feeling soft and clean. Not dried-out, not greasy, not chemically-treated like most commercial brands that contain who knows what.


Triple C Salve

In addition to her skin care products (of which there are many more), she has her own high-quality medicinal herbal tinctures, gentle baby products, essential oils, and a DEET-free bug spray that is the only thing that let me get back into my mosquito-infested back yard garden this year.

I'm a strong believer in knowing the products you use, most especially when they go on your skin or hair or in your body. Chin Velasquez, owner and herbalist at Soothing Herbals, uses mostly herbs grown herself in her botanical sanctuary in Goshen, Virginia.


Pocket Perfume--in 5 scents

She also had another fantastic idea--she runs an Herbal CSA, offering several sized shares of her great products. She can ship or if you're local too, you can pick it up yourself at a local farmers market.

DIY: Tons of great ideas for homemade toddler fun!

2011-11-15T00:01:00.001-05:00

I just came across a seriously great post, packed with fantastic ideas to keep toddlers busy on indoor days, car trips, plane rides, any old time. I'm so inspired I had to share it with you.

Next time you need a quick activity, or next time you need a homemade present for a pint-size friend, or if you're dedicated to keeping your holidays homemade, crafty, and inexpensive (we try), check out this post for a ton of great and easy ideas.


Matching clothespins and paint chips


Build your own felt pizza

The ultra-mom who created this blog apparently designed it as a party, to which each parent attending was in charge of bringing one easy, non-messy activity, duplicated 20 times, so each mom (or dad) left with a goody bag filled to the brim with excellent activities. Great idea. But so is making them as holiday gifts, or any old time.

Thanks, Rigneys, for the inspiration!!

DIY: The Ultimate Backyard Bubble Blower

2011-08-16T16:19:00.002-04:00

We've been a little bubble obsessed lately.

There's nothing that makes a toddler as happy as chasing bubbles around and popping them in the back yard--the enthusiasm and look of pure joy on their faces are inspiring to those of us who sometimes forget that such things are indeed important.

I've been disappointed this summer, however, with cheap store-bought bubble blowers--too much effort for what turns out to be pretty shoddy and inconsistent bubbles that a toddler has no chance of being able to produce. Not to mention the all the plastic pieces and the bubble liquid that contains who-knows-what and might not be safe for your kid or your yard.

So we got a little carried away and built the "ultimate backyard bubble blower." Far easier than one might think, you probably already have what you need for bubbles that will have your toddler--and your neighbors--squealing with delight in no time.

After looking around for ideas and finding a surprising number of people who take their bubble blowing far more seriously than I thought possible (including this guy who spends a lot of time alone in the woods with his bubbles, records it, and sets it to music), I came up with my own design that works just fine.

Here's what you need for the bubble wand:

2 dowel rods--any thickness, at least a foot long but really as long as you want them (mine are about 18 inches long).
string--I used cotton kitchen twine, but you can probably use any cotton string

Here's what you need for the bubble blowing liquid:

dish soap--everyone seems to suggest Dawn--the original blue stuff--so that's what I used. I am sure you could use whatever dish soap you have around, and experiment with the amounts. You don't need much to get started.
water -- use about 2 tbsp soap for every cup of water--start with a couple of cups to experiment
1/4 cup sugar dissolved in warm water (why? who knows!)
a pie pan or some other sort of container for the liquid that allows you to submerge the string.

Mix ingredients together without making too much foam, and that's all you really need, although you can find many recipes, some with hard-to-find ingredients, out there--apparently they'll produce bubbles that are "self-healing," meaning they don't pop as easily and you can blow little bubbles in the side of the big ones. For my purposes, dish soap, sugar and water did the trick just fine.

1. Your bubble wand is made of two braids of cotton twine. Cut 6 strands of cotton twine, 3 about 50% longer than the other three. Make 2 braids with them. Tie the shorter braid to the dowel rods at both ends, then tie the longer braid to the shorter braid. It should wind up looking like this:

2. Dip your bubble wand in your mix, holding on to the dowel rods:

With a little practice, even a 2-year old can do it!

3. Pull it out of the mixture and slowly open it:

4. Wave the wand slowly backwards, forwards, or however you need to get the bubble to your desired size, then bring the dowels back together to seal the bubble:

5. Practice makes perfect:

Hours of cheap, homemade fun for all! Enjoy!

You can see how the length of your dowels and your braids dictate the size of your bubbles. The smaller they are, the easier they are to create without popping--but really the key is to practice until you get the technique down--it doesn't take long and it's tons of fun.

Green Living Kitchen Tips

2011-01-11T23:26:00.004-05:00

If there’s one area of the home that can make green living efforts feel somewhat futile, it’s the kitchen. News reports alert you to the dangers of chemical-laden cookware and containers; and in spite of recycling and composting, you may still end up with a considerable amount of waste to haul away. Fortunately, there are eco-friendly food storage options and additional ways to reduce plastic waste.

Non-Plastic Food Storage

Reusable food containers that are made of plastic may contain bisphenol A, a chemical that could potentially disrupt hormones and heart health. You can reduce your chances of BPA exposure by keeping those hard plastic containers out of the microwave and dishwasher. But to keep exposure levels at an absolute minimum, it’s best to opt for BPA-free food storage.

2-layer sandwich box

Stainless steel food containers from Onyx, for example, are free from BPA—and stylish and sturdy to boot! Their food-grade stainless steel provides airtight food storage for the fridge, and is available in three sizes. With three clips to secure the lid, there’s no second guessing or fumbling around to close them either.

Pack a Green Lunch

Insulated Tiffin lunchbox

Carrying food to the school or office can result in a lot of wasted plastic and paper. Carry a reusable lunchbox such as the Tiffin to save those paper bags, and use a cloth napkin, regular kitchen utensils and stainless steel straws to further reduce and reuse.

The bento or sandwich box from Onyx can eliminate the need for plastic baggies in packed lunches, too, as its two-tiered stainless space keeps foods separated. By packing fruits with skins, such as oranges and bananas, you’ve got pre-packaged food that’s healthy too!

Insulated Tiffin lunchbox

Green Storage Tip: Eliminate the masking tape when marking dates and contents on containers. You can write directly on steel containers with a washable marker.

Reuse Plastic Bags

The use of plastic bags is sometimes unavoidable, but that doesn’t mean they must go straight to the trash after use. Line your wastebaskets with bags from the store, or use them for padding in shipments and storage. Smaller bags can be reused to store non-food items such as craft supplies, and freezer bags can be rinsed and reused for use in the kitchen.

A telescoping bag dryer makes it much easier than the standard dish rack. You simply hang your rinsed bags upside down from the alligator clips, which help them dry efficiently. A marble base holds it steady and makes it an attractive addition to the décor too.

While it may not be possible to totally avoid prepackaged foods, you can still reduce a lot of plastic waste in the kitchen (as well as exposure to chemical irritants) by going green with these eco-friendly food storage options.

Recycled Products for the Home

2010-12-19T11:58:00.004-05:00

The increasing interest in green living has encouraged eco-conscious companies to create more and more products made from recycled materials. But better yet, many of those products actually help us with our own efforts to reduce and reuse in everyday life. The following are only a few examples of how recycled products for the home can help you do your part for the environment—and save money, too!

Recycled Compost Bins

Recycled compost bins can be an unsightly (and smelly!) mess when we go the homemade route and reuse old wire and wood from the shed to make them. But truly recycled bins such as the Good Ideas Compost Tumbler are compact, tightly lidded, and easy to use and assemble.

Their compost tumbler is 99% recycled materials and has 7+ cubic foot capacity, with a 16-inch twist lid. Being low to the ground, it’s easily accessible but also out of sight. You can roll it from its base to take compost where it’s needed, instead of heaving it around on a pitchfork. And best of all, it’s actually more affordable than traditional compost tumblers.

Recycled Rain Barrels

Good Ideas also supplies 55-gallon plastic drums, which are recycled food-grade barrels that conveniently collect pure rainwater for reuse in the garden. Blue in color and topped with a screen, the Big Blue 55 Rain Barrel resists algae, mold, rust and rotting while fending off debris. Place the brass spigot in either of the two placement options for easy access to the varying water levels. It’s easier to use and maintain than homemade models, and continuously saves you money on the water bill.

Mad Mats Recycled Plastic Rugs

Recycled products for the home are not only functional, they can add to your décor. Handcrafted by Thai artisans (at fair wages!), eco-friendly area rugs from Mad Mats are made from recycled plastic bottles. They are durable, reversible, brightly colored, and easy to wash off with only a hose or some mild detergent. Here at CleverBean we carry the Turkish, Tall Grass, and Oriental Garland patterns, in 4 x 6’ area rugs and 2.5 x 8’ hallway runners.

Eco-Friendly Backpacks

Earth-friendly bags, such as the green canvas totes available in supermarkets, have saved loads of plastic from hitting the landfills. And now, with the help of eco-friendly backpacks like the ChicoBag Daypack, you can easily carry and store items for travel, camping and shopping—and do it in style.

Available in four colors—amethyst, meadow, smoke and sapphire—the ChicoBag is made from materials like recycled PET, which is the end product of all those #1 plastic soda bottles taken to the recycling center. And while the pack is 95% recycled, it’s also durable and machine washable. Fold it into a 6 x 7.5” pouch for easy storage, and open it into a 16 x 18” backpack to carry your items comfortably.

These recycled products for the home are both functional and stylish while helping consumers go green with everyday activities. And here at CleverBean we’re always on the lookout for more eco-friendly products and ideas!

Eco-Friendly Gifts for Kids

2010-12-04T08:24:00.002-05:00

From dolls to musical toys to play-set accessories, sharing a gift-giving celebration with kids can sometimes feel a lot like swimming in a sea of brightly colored plastic. But if you’re striving this year to reduce the holiday clutter and give green gifts instead, rest assured that you can still inspire creativity and provide endless hours of fun for children with eco-friendly toys.

One such collection comes from Kids on Roof, a Holland-based company that creates biodegradable toys from recycled materials. Not only are the toys designed to stimulate play and creativity, they come with simple instructions, require no extras for assembly, and store easily in the provided reusable boxes.

The BoBuro desk and stools from Kids on Roof are sturdy and safe, yet easy to take apart and reassemble. Printed with adorable animal shapes and complete with pre-cut holes for hiding toys, this set helps children play anything from supermarket to safari adventure. The seats hold up to 80 pounds each, so kids can also use it as a desk for drawing and writing.

Their Mini-Playhouse MobileHome is a lightweight, portable playhouse that kids can carry from a handle atop the roof. With eight inner rooms, attic space and spy holes throughout, this house is as fit for a princess as it is for an action hero. The solid white, printed and colored playhouses can all be decorated with paint, stickers and more, so kids can truly individualize this toy! If you’d like to double the fun of this gift, check out the eco-friendly art supplies here at CleverBean.

Our natural paint from Clementine is environmentally friendly and certified non-toxic. Made from Mayan mineral earth pigment, these tempera paints are washable and long lasting—but free from chemicals. With two ounces each of six colors to choose from, kids can decorate their playhouses and create other original pictures on canvas or thick paper.

The range of non-toxic art supplies from Clementine can be used with playhouses, too, as well as with other imaginative creations. Their soy crayons, natural markers and modeling dough are all eco-friendly alternatives to traditional art supply sets for kids.

And, for the little ones who enjoy a fun-filled challenge, there is the TOTEM collection of eco-friendly gifts. TOTEM puzzles from Kids on Roof are building pieces made from recycled cardboard. Puzzles such as the airplane and dragonfly can be used for decorations when complete, and they can all be taken apart and reassembled instead if desired.

TOTEM’s animal figurines serve as templates or upright models for fantasy play—and their backside is blank so that kids can decorate them, too!

Eco-friendly gifts for kids can provide the same—if not more—fun while also reducing environmental waste and clutter during the holiday season. Be sure to check back with CleverBean for additional green holiday tips and gifts!

Celebrate an Eco-Friendly Holiday with Green Gift Wrap

2010-11-27T12:36:00.003-05:00

Nothing adds to the intrigue and excitement of the holidays quite like the decorative paper and ribbons that adorn mountains of gifts beneath a tree—but then, nothing adds to the landfill quite like our gift-giving season does, either.

According to the Use Less Stuff Report, the dumps receive about one million tons of extra waste per week between Thanksgiving and Christmas, and that’s in America only. But by using reusable gift wrap and tags instead of traditional wrapping paper, we could all do our part for the environment without sacrificing holiday style.

Green gift wrap not only saves your home and the landfill from loads of paper waste, it can actually save time and money for both you and your gift recipients. The use of muslin gift bags, for example, removes any need for rolls of tape, endless feet of ribbon, and a full afternoon to cut yards of paper to various sizes. Hand stamped with holiday prints, such as goodwill greetings and images of Santa or a reindeer, decorative muslin gift bags are too effortless and charming for recipients not to reuse the following year.

Made from 100% cotton and tied with a drawstring, these green gift bags are available in an assortment of sizes to hold all types of presents. An 8 x 12 inch muslin bag is perfect for that bottle of wine, whereas a set of four 6 x 10 inch bags could provide a soft wrap for the framed family photos you’re gifting. And, here at CleverBean, we’re happy to announce that we have coal-stamped gift bags for the gag gifts!

Our muslin bags come with a hand-stamped tag as well, but if you need gift tags for other wrapped gifts, consider going the reusable route with those too. You can decorate notebook scraps to recycle the paper in your home, or try our chalk cloth reusable gift tags made from fabric. Either option surely beats the wasted sheets of cellophane and adhesive paper.

The eco-friendly gift tags here at CleverBean allow you to use chalk for addressing your gift recipient, who can then wipe it clean with a damp cloth and address it to someone else the following year. Available in triangles, rectangles, circles, diamonds and squares, these heavy vinyl 3-inch gift tags complement an array of gift wrap patterns.

A combination of green gift wrap and recycled paper products from the home is one way in which we can celebrate an eco-friendly Christmas. Please check back soon for even more green Christmas ideas from CleverBean!

Recipe: Pickled Ginger and Beets--two powerful snacks in one jar! (not for the faint of heart)

2010-07-26T09:50:00.010-04:00

Yes, half-empty! They don't last long!

Beets are one of those vegetables that tends to get a bad rap from those without positive beet memories. I've run into many people who all too clearly remember being forced to eat boiled beets as a child and have sworn off them forever.

In our household, however, beets are one of our powerhouse staples. Not only do we keep roasted beets (just roast whole beets in an inch or two of oil, vinegar, salt, pepper and fresh herbs until tender--thanks to my friend Adrina for this idea several years ago!) in the fridge at all times for use in any salad, but it's tough to keep our almost two-year-old from eating them all! Beets can be full of flavor, and matching them with other robust flavors can increase their appeal even more.

In spite of our beet-loving household, I may have overshot the ratio of beets-to-people when planting my garden this year. Being faced with an abundance of beets made me look beyond my usual repertoire of beet recipes. Loving ginger about as much as I do beets, I found an excellent Gingered Pickled Beet recipe, which you can see in its original form here. This recipe is great as is, but as usual, I decided to branch out on my own a little. I hated to toss all the good ginger, so I leave it in and do it a little differently. The end result is a jar full of gingery, beety goodness that is full of warm spicy flavor and that makes the ginger as much the star of the show as the beets. At the end of this recipe, you end up with Beet-Pickled Ginger AND Ginger-Pickled Beets. A bonus any way you look at it!

You will need:

5 or 6 medium beets of any type
About 2 inches worth of fresh ginger root
1 1/2 cups rice wine vinegar
1/4 cup sugar
1 teaspoon salt--we use Kosher salt; it has the best flavor and the perfect coarseness

Directions:

1. Give your beets a good wash, and then trim the tops off to about an inch. Leave the tails intact for now. Here's what they should look like (nevermind the other veggies in the pic):

2. Combine beets and cold water in saucepan (cover beets by a couple of inches) and bring to a boil. Lower heat and simmer until tender (about 30 minutes--you want them still firm but tender enough that a knife could cut through with ease).

3. Remove beets and plunge into ice-water bath immediately.

4. Using a mandolin if you have one (if not, use a sharp knife and watch your fingers!), slice the ginger very thin, leaving the skin on. Slice enough so you have about a half-cup in the end.

5. Heat ginger, vinegar, sugar and salt in saucepan. Stir frequently until sugar is dissolved, and maintain mixture at a slow simmer while you prepare the beets.

6. When the beets are cool, trim the tails and stems off, and use the back of a paring knife to gently "rub" the skins off. Slice them as thinly as you can on the mandolin (or with paring knife--just make you sure you get them as thin as you can). Place in large bowl.

7. Pour the hot ginger/vinegar mixture over the beets and stir gently. Cover and let stand until completely cool, transfer to jar. Refrigerate.

You now have delicious pickled ginger AND delicious pickled beets. The only catch is this: it's hard to tell them apart once the beet juice colors the ginger. This is why I've chosen to leave the skins on the ginger--you can tell the ginger apart because it will have skin, but since it's sliced so thinly, you can eat it, skin and all. The beets and ginger are great together, or fish them out separately and use them independently. Flavors will develop even further with time, if you can keep it around that long. Use on salads, as a garnish, or as a snack on its own. Works great with sushi in place of the typical pickled ginger, too. Deeeeeelicious!

This Week at CleverBean--Rain Barrels on Sale!!

2010-07-05T19:17:00.004-04:00

Here at CleverBean, we are very anxiously awaiting some honest-to-goodness precipitation. It’s been weeks since our last substantial rainfall, and our garden is beginning to look more like a stretch of desert than the lush green vegetable-producing oasis I envisioned when I planted it. Our grass has more or less lost any shade of green it once had and it crunches underfoot, but it’s the garden that I tend to lose sleep over. Grass, not so much.

In the meantime, however, we have been lucky enough to have a little foresight and have made good use of our rain barrel. Just the tenth of an inch of rain we had a week ago amazingly filled it to the brim. We have attached a hose to the rain barrel and have it on a simple wooden stand about 3 feet off the ground to help with water pressure. I use the hose to water nearby plants, and fill a watering can from it to water the gardens on the other side of the yard.

Using the rain barrel during these dry spells is an excellent way to use water that otherwise just goes down your downspouts and back into the earth, or if you live on a city water system, often into the sewers. Why not make use of it? We did nothing to redirect water from our roof, and having the barrel attached to just one of our 3 downspouts guarantees we will nearly fill the barrel even with just a sprinkling of rain. It’s really astounding the first time you go out and look in the barrel after a rainfall. Imagine the water we could save with a barrel on each downspout...if this dry spell lasts any longer, we may get to that sooner rather than later!

For the ultimate in water-saving efficiency, I’m told a soaker hose attached to a rain barrel is the way to go. I have yet to try this, as my barrel is a bit far from the spot I would like to use a soaker hose, but I can certainly see how this could provide your plants with a nice long soak.

We have found our rain barrel to be so useful, we want to encourage others to jump on the rain barrel bandwagon. So, until July 15, CleverBean is offering a 15% discount on all rain barrels and rain barrel accessories. This includes all of our barrels (and we have a great selection), as well as our connectors (should you decide to connect more than one barrel together) and matching stands for our Rain Wizard 50. Use promotional code “saverain” at checkout to take advantage of this offer, and remember: shipping is always free on orders over $75 at CleverBean!

Happy watering!!

Coconut Coir--a sustainable garden product with many uses!

2010-04-30T21:55:00.006-04:00

Building raised beds for a garden is one of those jobs that's a lot of hard work to start off in exchange for pretty smooth sailing down the road. You have complete control over what type of soil you put in there, and your back will thank you profusely when it is hunched over pulling weeds a fraction of the time it would be in a traditional garden bed. However, you have to put in the work upfront--removing grass, digging into existing soil a little, buying materials and building the beds, and then filling it with the right stuff.

We recently built a couple of new raised beds and when it came time to fill them, I was excited to use all the good compost we'd had piling up for the last year. That, coupled with some manure and a little topsoil went a long way, but there was still some space to fill in the new beds.

I decided to try coconut coir, something I'd been hearing a lot about. It's a totally organic product made entirely from coconut husks, compressed into a dense brick. It's pH neutral and doesn't contain nutrients of its own, so it doesn't mess with the pH of the soil you add it to, but when combined with some super soil like what I had in my beds, it acts as a soil amendment, improves drainage, and holds moisture (something you'll be very happy about when those long dry spells come in a few months).
It also helps develop more elaborate, stronger root systems and holds nutrients and gradually releases them to the roots. It's disease resistant and doesn't contain weed seeds.

Coconut coir is made from the coarse fibers extracted from the fibrous outer shell of a coconut. Perhaps best of all, it's a 100% natural and renewable resource (which makes it right up CleverBean's alley).

I started with a couple of 5kg bricks, which is light considering how surprisingly far they go, and soaked them in water for 20 minutes or so. The directions say to use warm water, but I used the cold water from the hose, and broke up the bricks with a trowel a little, and it worked fine.

It was amazing to see that the bricks had soaked up all the water and expanded to each fill up nearly a whole tub! It holds 8 to 10 times its volume in water, which is a plus when planting but also when watering later on. The end result is a thick rich-looking medium that is ready to be mixed with soil. We used the coir in our raised beds and turned it in with the rest of the compost, dirt, and manure we had in there already, and then planted right away. I feel like there's not much I could do to make this soil any better now!

The next day we decided to use some of the leftover coir as mulch in one of already planted beds. We just laid the coir in a thick blanket right on top of the soil and nestled it in around the plants--just like with a bark mulch. The result was really nice looking and a bonus to this method is that we can just turn it under with the soil at the end of the season and increase the quality of what is there even more.

Having a little coir left over still, I used it as "brown material" for my compost, for which it is apparently also ideal, and just mixed it in with the food scraps and lawn clippings I had recently added.

Apparently coir can be used for up to 40% of your potting mix, and is ideal for indoor planting as well. It takes the place of peat moss, which takes 5 to 10 years to renew itself, whereas coir is sustainably produced and very renewable. It is also sold as a bedding for worm composters, and as a soil treatment to help clay or sandy soil become an effective growing medium.

Personally, I'm hooked. I think it's an excellent addition to my garden, and has so many uses, a ton of benefits, and no drawbacks that I can see thus far.

Coconut coir comes in many sizes, the 5kg bricks I used are best for trying to fill a large space, whereas the smaller bricks are perfect for use in indoor plants or composters or other smaller-scale needs. The coir will keep indefinitely, so I'll update with future uses as I come across them!

Make a real difference--compost!!

2010-04-17T22:24:00.002-04:00

Growing up in the country, we always had a compost heap somewhere back behind a shed or over the fence. My brother and I would always argue that it was the other's turn to take out the compost crock and then wash it out and bring it back to the kitchen. We knew what went in the compost pail and what went in the trash before we even knew what compost was for.

While for us it may have come easily, composting kitchen waste is not something everyone grew up with, and many think it's too complicated, too stinky, or too much of a pain to bother with. The reality is that it is none of those things, and that it is one of the biggest things you can do to drastically cut down on your household waste. With very little effort, you can also use your compost to feed your garden and houseplants, giving valuable nutrients back to the soil and helping the process of life and growth begin yet again.

Food scraps that are well mixed with "brown" matter, like leaves and yard waste, should never stink. Just don't procrastinate on taking the compost pail out to the pile like my brother and I did, and don't compost meat scraps. A compost pile can be made in nearly any sized space, and there are even new machines that will compost your scraps inside, under your kitchen counter. CleverBean now carries a large selection of outdoor compost bins and tumblers of all shapes and sizes.

Composting is an easy way to cut down household waste by a third or more, just by keeping your food scraps out of the trash -- that is a huge way to make a big difference!

For more info on what goes in the compost and what doesn't, see here. To check out our great selection of compost systems, see here. And to check out our countertop compost pails, see here.

Thinkbaby Bpa-Free Feeding Sets are here, and they are great!

2010-03-06T21:03:00.002-05:00

A recent addition to CleverBean is the 'Think' feeding set from Thinkbaby. Made with a stainless steel inside and a safe polypropylene outer layer, this set is useful on many levels. Included is:

*A mug that is the perfect size for little hands, and as a bonus, the handle has the ability to clip onto a bag or stroller strap to make for easy travel.

*Two bowls, one small and perfect for snacks, the other a little bigger and great for a full meal. Both come with tight-fitting lids so you can store leftovers easily.

*A sandwich-sized Bento box--maybe the coolest part of the whole set. Also with a watertight lid--so no soggy sandwiches!

*A child sized spoon and fork, curved nicely to fit in little hands.

My daughter, 17 months, is an enthusiastic eater and was just as enthusiastic about being the tester for this set. She loves, loves, loves, having a mug that looks just like mom's and dad's mugs, only smaller, and she is able to eat really well and surprisingly un-messy out of the bowls. The bento box is fun because it fits a sandwich perfectly and she is able to snap and unsnap the closures on the lid (ok, with a little help). The only thing I can say that is even remotely negative about this set is that the spoon and fork could be a little bigger to accommodate growing toddlers, since the rest of the set could be used for years...honestly I'd use the set myself. Plus, each piece says "Think" on the side (used to say "Thinkbaby" but the company quips that calls from 5 year-olds saying they aren't babies anymore prompted the change).

I'd been looking for some good baby dishes that were durable and safe. This set really covers all the bases. It's dishwasher-safe but because of the stainless steel linings, it's not microwave-safe. Not a problem in our household, but could be for others. Also, all pieces are free of BPA, phthalates, lead, pvc, and Melamine. This is a quick seller, so check it out here today. The soup/cereal bowl, mug, and bento box are also available separately in orange or blue.

10% of all purchases at www.cleverbean.com will be donated to Haitian relief/rebuild efforts

2010-01-17T11:04:00.000-05:00

Help Earthquake Recovery in Haiti

Recovery extends beyond relief: Donate now to Lambi Fund of Haiti to help Haitian communities recover today and thrive tomorrow

Help Haiti recover and rebuild by supporting The Lambi Fund of Haiti. Support one of the few organizations run by Haitians for Haitians. Lambi Fund has been recommended by Google, major news outlets, and philanthropies for donations to help in earthquake recovery. Endorsed by Better Business Bureau Wise Giving Alliance and Charity Navigator.

As a second responder, here are our plans for helping communities recover, today and tomorrow:

A tremendous outmigration from Port au Prince back to the rural villages has already begun. Lambi is gearing up to help members of peasant groups get food and essentials for their families to re-establish their lives.
Provide seeds, tools and equipment for peasant groups to plant more crops to feed rural communities.
Rebuild grain mills, sugar cane mills, and other economic development community enterprises lost in the earthquake. These buildings are the centers of communities’ economic livelihoods.
Recapitalize micro–credit funds run by peasant organizations so that people can replenish and continue their small businesses.
Repair rainwater cisterns so people will have a supply of safe drinking water.

Here is how you can help:

Donate online with a credit card or PayPal at www.lambifund.org and click on donate now.

Donate via mobile phone by texting: ‘Send $(whatever amount) to give@lambifund.org’ to 729725 (PAYPAL)). Any $ amount is accepted.

To give via PayPal online, just log into your PayPal account at paypal.com, click on the 'send money' tab, then enter 'give@lambifund.org' for the email box and the amount you would like to donate

Send a check to: Lambi Fund of Haiti, PO Box 18955, Washington DC 20036

Follow Lambi Fund online for updates on recovery efforts in Haiti:

Facebook- http://www.facebook.com/#/LambiFund

Twitter- http://twitter.com/LambiFund

Questions? Email karen@lambifund.org

Until January 31, 10% of all purchases made at www.cleverbean.com will be donated to the Lambi Fund of Haiti.

10 "Re-use Solutions" for 2010

2010-01-01T22:22:00.001-05:00

Chances are if you're reading this, you're already doing some things to cut down on your energy use and waste. But it's that time of year again, and we could all use a little extra inspiration where we can get it. So here are 10 incredibly simple "Re-use Solutions" to help inspire us all to re-use, save money and energy, and cut down on our waste. You may be doing some of them, and some may doing them all, so please let us know if you have another great "re-use solution" we should know about.

Reduce the amount of packaging that you buy. Bring your own bags, buy more things in bulk, don't be fooled by fancy packaging; look at what's really inside.

Use cloth napkins and rags instead of paper towels and napkins. What sounds like it could be a royal pain is actually one if the easiest changes to make. You will love not spending money on these paper items and not having to remember to get them! Tips: Be sure to have a good supply of rags on hand and keep a tiny hamper somewhere in your kitchen (next to the trash can? under the sink?) so they can go straight into the wash when it gets full.

Use the "Print Preview" function to see how a document will print before printing it. If you do print mistakes, save all that for scrap paper. Cut it into quarters + staple bunches together = household notepads

Forget about bottled water once and for all!! It's not better, it's not cleaner, it's incredibly wasteful, and it's a lot more expensive. Get a good reusable water bottle and keep it nearby. If you still don't know the facts about bottled water vs. tap water, visit www.takebackthetap.org

Wash your clothes in COLD water. Unless something really needs to be washed in warm or hot water, cold will usually do, and most detergents work just fine in cold. Your water heater gets a big break and so do you when you get your next electric or gas bill.

Hang your clothes to dry. If you don't want to look at a clothesline, invest in a cheap wooden standing rack to keep next to your dryer. Things dry a lot quicker than you think when hung out, plus it saves a ton in energy, and your clothes will last a lot longer!

Cook and eat fresh foods when you can. Think of how much it costs in time, energy, and materials to package a frozen food, freeze it, ship it frozen, stock it in a storeroom frozen, display it frozen, and keep it frozen once it gets to your house. Not to mention the nutrients lost in the process. If you can get your fresh food locally, even better.

Many dishwashers have an energy-saving mode. Most dishwashers these days use less energy than it does to wash those dishes by hand. Take advantage of this and run your dishwasher when you have a full load.

Stop buying things you don't need, and stop throwing away things you can re-use or re-purpose. Just because it says it's disposable doesn't mean it must be disposed of.

Pay attention to the water you use in the bathroom. Do you really need to run the tap while you brush your teeth or wash your face? Does the shower really need to run for 10 minutes before you get in? And save a flush when you can - yeah, you know what I mean. It makes a big difference.

Happy New Year from CleverBean!

Cleverbean's Bamboo Kitchen Composter featured in Flavor Magazine!

2009-12-05T21:04:00.000-05:00

Our Bamboo Kitchen Compost Pail is featured in the Holiday Gift Guide in the new issue of Flavor Magazine, which hit the streets this weekend. A magazine devoted to local food and wine and sustainable farming in Virginia, Flavor is one of those magazines you keep around and refer to again and again. It's always packed with useful info and links. Thanks, Flavor, for including us!

These Bamboo Kitchen Composters hold about a gallon of your kitchen waste and certainly look a lot better than that old plastic container you've been throwing your scraps in! Plus, it holds a set of charcoal filters that help neutralize any odors, and has a plastic dishwasher-safe liner to help with cleanup.

CleverBean also carries the Endurance Stainless Steel 1 Gallon Compost Pail, and will soon be carrying a selection of outdoor composting equipment. Take a look, and sign up for our mailing list while you're there!

BioKleen Bac-out: it's the trick to getting that smell or stain out!

2009-11-22T20:45:00.000-05:00

I have been using BioKleen Bac-out Stain and Odor Remover for a while, mostly by adding a little to my laundry when washing my daughter's stinky cloth diapers, and occasionally when my cat decided to use my bathtub or closet as a litterbox. For these purposes alone, it's worth having it around.

But recently I have found a few more uses for Bac-out, and it has met and surpassed my expectations yet again...

A few weeks ago, I bought a new pair of slacks that fit just perfectly. Unfortunately, as I am known to do, I spilled some of my greasy sandwich on the leg, leaving a big greasy spot. I presoaked the stain in some Bac-out, and I then proceeded to stick them in the wash with some other clothes and, unbeknownst to me, a red pen. Out came my new slacks with no grease stain (yay Bac-out) but covered in red pen marks. Thinking there was no hope left for these beloved slacks, I gave 'em one more chance and soaked the whole pair in a Bac-out solution for about 10 minutes and threw them back in the washer (with some good old Charlie's Soap).

They came out good as new! I was shocked. Mark another one down for Bac-out.

Then my sister-in-law ran out of steam cleaning solution for her steam vac, and she decided to give Bac-out a shot. This family has wall-to-wall carpet in the basement, and with four messy boys and one messy husband (sorry bro, but you are), many moms would just vow to never set foot down there again. But she's a tough gal, and so armed with Bac-out and her trusty steamer, she attacked the carpet, and...well you guessed it, Bac-out won again!

Turns out BioKleen Bac-out is actually used by many commercial carpet cleaning companies. Works amazingly well and it's natural, non-toxic and biodegradable. Made from Live Enzyme Cultures and Lime Peel Extract, it is very concentrated and a little goes a very long way. There are a ton of uses for this product. Can be used to safely clean children's toys, and also for general cleaning, pet, laundry and carpet stains and odors. I find new uses all the time.

For more info on Bac-out, read more at CleverBean. We have it by the 32 oz. bottle and will soon be selling it by the case.

Antibacterial Hand Soap - No No No.

2009-11-21T22:49:00.001-05:00

With public health scares such big news these days, it's as important as ever that we all take a look at the information we get with a little perspective.

I've always been a believer in NON-anti-bacterial hand soap, and never an obsessive user of that antibacterial gel you find everywhere these days. Nothing beats a good old proper hand-washing with some hot water and soap, but thinking of all the super-germs out there that are becoming super-resistant to these gels, it makes me wonder what we'll be told we need to wash our hands with next...

The Ecologist published an article earlier this year that I feel is relevant and worth sharing. For all those who work hard to kill bacteria whenever you have a chance, give the following excerpt some careful thought. They actually make the case that we're being less hygienic and lazier by using the anti-bacterial stuff, and when you think about it, they make some sense.

Hand washing is the single most effective way to prevent the spread of infections. Nevertheless, in the hygiene stakes, antibacterial soaps are a ridiculous form of ‘overkill’.

Some soaps, which contain powerful antibacterial chemicals like Triclosan, benzalkonium chloride or chlorohexidine, work in the same way as antibiotics and can contribute to the problem of bacterial resistance at home and in the wider community.

In addition, the chemical Triclosan is an ecological disaster that is toxic to aquatic life and breaks down into a carcinogenic dioxin compound in our rivers and streams.

As if that weren’t enough, strong antibacterials simply don’t work. Or rather, they work in a different way. Washing with soap and water does not actually kill ‘germs’ – instead it creates a slippery surface that allows them to ‘slide off’. Antibacterial hand washes and soaps do kill bacteria and viruses and these are then washed away in rinse water.

But while antibacterial products may initially remove more organisms than soap and water, within 90 minutes or so there is generally no difference in the number of bacteria and viruses that have repopulated your hands. Given that we each touch around 300 surfaces every half hour, this is hardly surprising.

In 2000, the American Medical Association (AMA) went public with the opinion that antibacterial soaps were no more effective against germs than common soap and recommended that people stopped using them.

And further on:

There is also the problematical message that special cleansers like this send out. Antibacterial handwashes like this are the bodycare equivalent of fast food. We use them to get something done quickly, rather than doing it properly ourselves. In the world of hand-washing, ‘properly’ means covering the hands thoroughly with soap and rubbing them vigorously together for 15 seconds before rinsing thoroughly. Slopping on some antibacterial cleanser for a five second wash, ironically, makes us less attentive to good hygiene, rather than more.

And finally:

Do yourself a favour: invest in a good bar of soap, and return hand washing to the simple, dependable, non-invasive basic it is meant to be.

From "Antibacterial Handwash: Behind the Label" by Pat Thomas. First published in The Ecologist, 29 January, 2009.

To read the full article, visit The Ecologist here.

Free Charlie's Soap Laundry Powder Samples!!

2009-11-19T21:18:00.001-05:00

As if CleverBean didn't have enough good things to say about Charlie's Soap (see earlier post), this great company has just sent us some samples of their excellent Laundry Powder to give away to those of you who are not on the Charlie's bandwagon just yet. Each sample does 5 loads of laundry--however, in order for Charlie's to work its magic, you need to run a load or two in an empty washer (or with a few old rags). This cleans out all the residue all those other detergents have left in there (yes, fellow greenies, even those other "free and clear" and "eco-friendly" detergents leave residue--why else would you need to use such a large scoop of it?). Charlie's only needs a tablespoon because it has no fillers. There's enough left to do 3 full loads.

To get your free sample of Charlie's Soap Laundry Powder, be one of the first 15 folks to send an email to info@cleverbean.com with your address, and I'll get it out to you asap.

CleverBean's new site is here!! Hooray!

2009-11-19T11:36:00.001-05:00

We are pleased to announce the launch of our new website!!!

It's been a long time coming, and we have worked very hard on it. Thanks to Fieldstone Software, we have a whole new look and feel, not to mention a lot of New Products!

Take a look and let us know what you think by commenting on the blog. To celebrate, CleverBean is offering a pre-Thanksgiving day sale to our loyal fans. Enter the promo code TDayLaunch (it's case sensitive) to save 10% on every order between now and Thanksgiving Day! Place your order on CleverBean today! Gift wrap is now available when you choose a different shipping address than your billing address. And, check out our CleverGifts category for great gift ideas.

Thanks, everyone, for supporting CleverBean!

Charlie's Soap--no excuses!

2009-11-13T10:41:00.000-05:00

Since it's taken a while for Cleverbean to get this blog going, I thought we'd start out by going back to the beginning. Cleverbean began with just a few hand-selected products, and one of them remains to this day my personal favorite.

Charlie's Soap is a fantastic product from a fantastic company. Their laundry powder is the only laundry soap you'll find in our house, and I can't say enough good stuff about it. I can't come up with a single reason NOT to use this soap. It is completely non-toxic and biodegradable, it works amazingly well, its packaging is a neat (and earth-friendly) unbleached cloth bag, and, perhaps best of all, it costs less per load than any name brand detergent. The little 80 load bag really does 80 loads--nobody believes this until they try it--everyone wants to use more than will fit in the little scoop but it's true, you only need one tablespoon for a full load of laundry. I have a child in cloth diapers and a chef partner with a constant stream of dirty chef's clothes. Charlie's does the trick on both, every time. Not to mention, it's HE compatible, residue-free, and perfect for people with allergies. Other detergents come with huge scoops; a lot of what is in this is filler--filler leaves residue in your clothes, which means that you then need a fabric softener in order to "soften" what the filler has left there, then the so-called softener leaves its own residue, and so on and so forth. Charlie's leaves no residue in the first place, so no softener needed--your clothes are just plain clean.

A family owned company, Charlie's lives up to all its promises, and provides excellent customer service as well. If you have hard water or other water issues, they'll work with you to help you find the best way to use their product.

People have a lot of excuses for not using earth-friendly products. Charlie's Soap really cuts through them all. Did I mention it's also Made in the good ole USA?

More info on Charlie's Soap Laundry Powder at Cleverbean

Also available (and equally awesome) Charlie's Soap All Purpose Cleaner and Charlie's Soap Laundry Liquid

Charlie's Soap website--for product testing results and more company info