Win a HAAN HS-20 Handheld Deluxe Personal Sanitizing Steam Cleaner

Earth Day- Rethink How You Clean, Use Steam

Every year, the average American uses approximately 25 gallons of toxic chemical products in their home. Much of these dangerous chemicals come from the same agents used to keep homes “clean” and “healthy”.

HAAN® Corp is asking Americans to rethink their traditional cleaning methods by abandoning chemical cleaning agents, and turning to safe and healthy alternatives that not only protect the environment but also your home and family.

In recognition of Earth Day, HAAN® has compiled some startling statistics regarding household cleaners and their use in the home:

*Only 1% of toxins are required to be listed on labels, because companies classify their formulas as "trade secrets.” ~ Lorie Dwornick, researcher

*Within 26 seconds after exposure to chemicals such as cleaning products, traces of these chemicals can be found in every organ in the body. ~ Organic Consumers Association

*The toxic chemicals in household cleaners are three times more likely to cause cancer than air pollution. ~Environmental Protection Agency

*Women who work at home have a 54% higher death rate from cancer than those who work away from home. The 15-year study concluded it was as a direct result of the much higher exposure rate to toxic chemicals in common household products. ~Toronto Indoor Air Conference

To celebrate Earth Day

HAAN has offered to give away one

HAAN HS-20 handheld Deluxe Personal Sanitizing Steam Cleaner

Would You Like to Win It?

Just leave a comment on this post with your email contact info

US Shipping Only

Contest Closes Tuesday May 4 Midnight EST

Winner Announced on Wednesday May 5

+5 entries for being a Everything Green Weddings Follower

+5 entries for blogging about this contest

+5 entries for including a link to this contest on your blog, twitter, or Facebook

+5 for being a @everythinggreen Twitter follower

Win a Copy of Planet Wedding: A Nuptialpedia

I have a copy of Planet Wedding: A Nuptialpedia by Sandra and Harry Choran to give away to one lucky bride to be (or anyone who is a fan of wedding related info and trivia)

Product Description

A meticulously researched bouquet of more than three hundred fascinating, informative, useful, and always entertaining lists on all things nuptial. Illustrated with over 150 photographs and line drawings, PlanetWedding is a oneof-a-kind compendium for anyone who is getting married, planning a wedding, or is participating in a wedding.

Featuring:

• Ten Things the Bridal Industry Doesn’tWant You to Know

•Wedding Customs from Around theWorld

• 231 Money-Saving Tips

• How to Tell If You’re a Bridezilla

• How to Have a GreenWedding

• 12Ways to Preserve Your SanityWhen Planning aWedding

• Kids on Dating and Marriage

• The Origin of "Something Old, Something New"

Would you like to win a copy of Planet Wedding: A Nuptialpedia

Just leave a comment on this post with your email contact info

US Shipping Only

Contest Closes Tuesday May 4 Midnight EST

Winner Announced on Wednesday May 5

+5 entries for being a Everything Green Weddings Follower

+5 entries for blogging about this contest

+5 entries for including a link to this contest on your blog, twitter, or Facebook

+5 for being a @everythinggreen Twitter follower

Read my review of Planet Wedding Here

DIY Flower Girl Baskets

Flower girl baskets are one of the easiest things to make for your wedding. Almost any container can be transformed into a fabulous flower girl basket.

From second hand baskets found at thrift stores or yard sales to old tin pails or Easter baskets you can make a great green flower girl basket for your wedding. Some containers may only need minor changes to give them a makeover while others may need a complete overhaul to breathe new life into them.

Thrift Store Baskets

With the abundance of baskets available at thrift stores, second hand shops, and yard sales I don’t really see a reason to ever purchase brand new baskets: most of the time you can find great baskets for under $1. I’ve bought as many as ten for $1 at one yard sale. With a few supplies you can easily transform a second hand basket into something beautiful and unique for your wedding. And the best thing is you will have a one of a kind piece that no other bride will have.

Read more at Suite101: DIY Flower Girl Baskets: Make Easy Accessories For Your Wedding

Tin Pail Transformed Into a Flower Girl Basket

You can transform an old metal pail into a great flower girl basket with minimal effort and extraordinary results.

Increasing brides want to put their own unique stamp of style on their weddings. They want things to be different and one of a kind. One way to ensure that is to go DIY and make some of your own wedding accessories.

Ring Bearer Pillows and Flower Girl Baskets are two of the most popular items for brides to make themselves.

This cute little flower girl pail is a great way to put your personality into your wedding accessories. If you find an old pail and reclaim it, it is also a great way to add a touch of green to your wedding by saving something old and reusing it.

Read more at Suite101: Tin Pail Transformed Into a Flower Girl Basket: A Fun Green Craft for the DIY Bride

Should You Green Your Sex Life?

Everyone's doing it...going green that is. You can green everything, including your sex life.

The most natural and intimate part of your life...sex...probably isn't very natural…not if you're using conventional lubricants, oils or sex toys.

Conventional lubricants often contain harmful ingredients - many derived from petroleum based products. Propylene glycol is used in car batteries, brake fluid, antifreeze and industrial solvents...and in some personal lubricants.

What? Really?

Why would the same petroleum based product used in the automotive industry be used in something that gets put not just on...but in your most intimate areas? It is crazy and unhealthy.

Click here to continue reading.

Eco-Couture for the Environmentally Conscious Bride

Green weddings have become a hot trend that the wedding industry has embraced whole heartedly. With the growing awareness of global warming, the green movement may become much more than just a trend.

Many couples are increasingly adding eco-friendly elements to their weddings and want to learn more about their green options. Brides especially want to be green…without giving up style.
Are you one of those brides that want to have a green wedding but you hesitate when it comes to the dress? You’ve heard about wearing heirloom, pre-owned (used), or vintage (still used) gowns being great green options but do you cringe at the thought of wearing someone else’s dream?

Read more at Suite101: Eco-Couture for the Environmentally Conscious Bride: Green Wedding Gowns With Style

http://weddingfashion.suite101.com/article.cfm/ecocouture_for_the_environmentally_conscious_br#ixzz0jmegLdNE

Marriage Folklore and Superstitions

Superstitions have become part of wedding traditions. Here are some lesser known superstitions and folklore surrounding marriage and the wedding day.

Every culture has superstitions surrounding marriage and the wedding day itself. Many superstitions are so ingrained they have become a regular part of wedding traditions. The reasons why a bride wears white and a veil, why the groom carries the bride over the threshold, the placement of the best man, why there is a best man and bridesmaids, why we still decorate the getaway vehicle with noisy items and why the bride should have something old, new, borrowed and blue all come from wedding folklore and superstition.

The reason for having a best man is even part of superstition as well as where the best man is supposed to stand during the wedding or sit during the reception. Today the true meanings are often lost but the superstitions have become part of tradition.

Click here to keep reading.

Green Wedding Planning Resources

Are you considering being green while wearing white? But you are worried you'll have to sacrifice your style and your budget to be green.

Don’t worry it is possible to have an eco-friendly wedding without sacrificing your personal style and without breaking your budget. Here are several excellent eco-wedding books and fabulous web sites that can help you plan the wedding of your dreams while being green.

The Green Bride Guide: How to Create an Earth Friendly Wedding on Any Budget

While Kate Harrison was planning her own green wedding in 2006 she started putting together The Green Bride Guide [Source Books Casablanca, 2008] . A fabulous resource from one green bride to another, this book explains the ins and outs and whys and the importance of having a green wedding.

Kate has great green cred since she is an environmentalist that works in environmental law and policy and her husband is an environmental historian. They had their own green wedding on October 7, 2007 and used everything they learned from planning that event to write The Green Bride Guide.

Click here to keep reading.

Easter Baskets Get Wedding Makeovers

Transform Old Easter Containers into Flower Girl Baskets

You can easily transform old Easter baskets into pretty flower girl containers for your wedding.

Too many Easter baskets get filled with goodies then just tossed into the garbage every year. Put an old basket to good use and keep it out of the landfill. So many of them are absolutely adorable just the way they are, you might not have to do much to make them wedding worthy.

You can easily transform an old easter basket into a wedding worthy flower girl container perfect for your one of a kind wedding. With a little bit of creativity and minimal effort you can easily have a very unique flower girl basket.

Continue reading here.

Cupcake Wedding Cakes

Cupcakes are the hot new trend in wedding cakes. Forget expensive old fashioned cakes, instead offer towers of petite and sinful, single serving cupcakes in a variety of flavors and colors that will make your wedding the talk of the town.

The cupcake craze is sweeping the nation with many people opting for cupcakes at their parties and events instead of large cakes. The good news is that cupcakes can be used in place of traditional wedding cakes at a fraction of the cost.

You can save even more money if you go DIY.

That's where the eco-cupcake stand from Green Party Goods comes in. For all the crafty green brides to be out there you can have a beautiful DIY, eco-friendly wedding cupcake tower from GreenPartyGoods.com.

Click here to keep reading.

Photos courtesy of GreenPartyGoods.com who also provided a cupcake stand for review at no cost.