Easter was one of my favorite celebrations when I was little, although I was not a huge fan of the itchy tights. Now that I am a mama, I like to look for longer-lasting, eco-friendly goodies to share along with the giant chocolate bunnies.

Whether you celebrate Easter or not, we hope you have a great start to the Spring season with your family! Enjoy!

Traditionally consumers had to choose between scratch-resistant (SR) and anti-reflective (AR) coatings for their lenses, since each has to be on the top layer to be effective. In fact some AR coatings seem to highlight even the tiniest smudges. But the newest coating on the market manages to combine both features: Sold as “Crizal Avance with Scotchgard Protector,” this is a remarkable product that combines anti-reflective, scratch-resistant, and dirt repellent properties all on the same lens.

I had the opportunity to try a pair of Essilor’s Airwear polycarbonate lenses with this new coating. They are less than half the weight of my glass lenses, and their coating really works as advertised.  Ask your eye care provider about Airwear lenses or visit LighterSaferGreener.com for more information.

One of my favorite stores is donating 25% of all Valentine’s Day purchases to Haiti. Click here to visit Rosie Hippo and to donate 25% of your purchase to Haiti use coupon code: HELPHAITI.

RosieHippo.com is the place to shop for hip, eco-friendly toys. Many of their toys are on-sale right now, so you can get a great deal and make a donation to Haiti at the same time.

We love the “new again” trend of packing school lunches in reusable containers–it is a little way even small children can push back against a society addicted to disposables. Plus, many of the containers like the ones at Kids Konserve are so eco-chic!

y little one just turned three and we’re still trying to hold the line on the birthday party escalation. Since she has a some friends, now, we had a few girls over for ice cream cake and crafts.

My daughter loves crafting and the party pack of small Calafant Toys cardboard toys from Creative Toy Shop was the perfect party activity and take-home toy favor…

There’s a member of my family who takes a little ribbing for an insistence on washing each dish thoroughly before placing it in the dishwasher–and the dishes are so immaculate no one knows if the washer has been run or not. This person insists that is the only way the dishes get clean. Add to that the time spent drying the dishes after the dishwasher is done, and there is almost no point in putting the dishes in the dishwasher.

So, I was really hoping that our new Frigidaire dishwasher would cut down on the time and effort we put into washing dishes in our household…

EarthLust bottles are fantastically chic, manufactured from a slender, tapered custom mold and coated with non-toxic paints. Each delicately rendered design evokes a love of, or a deeply respectful lust for, nature. Some of the artwork was created by mom-owner and inventor, Allison…

Looking for stainless steel water bottle alternatives for your family? Unlike aluminum, stainless steel does not require a liner. While it used to be difficult to find stylish, BPA-free options for kids and the rest of the family, there are now a whole host of products available. We’ll be reviewing a few metal bottles for kids in the upcoming months and updating this post.

With his usual thoughtful and even-handed reporting, Jeremiah at Zrecs has all of the information about how SIGG muddied the waters to benefit from concerns about BPA. While it does seem to be the case that no BPA leaches from the old SIGG linings, they do, in fact, contain BPA…