Out with the old, in with the new...

We start the year with a new soap... more about that further down.
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The dawning of the new year is often a time for house cleaning, literally and figuratively. It amazes me how many things have bypassed earlier attempts to toss out unnecessary stuff. I can find something I haven't seen, used, or missed for a decade and immediately think I cannot live without it!??? How silly!

Discarding those things we no longer need is good for our home, our space, our spirit and, depending on what and how, often good for the someone else. There is often need for those things we no longer regard as necessary to our own lives, be it gently used but wrong size or out of fashion clothing, to that extra pillow or kitchen gadget (I am famous for keeping clothes long past a time I could even fantasize fitting in them again).

Before you purge your closet and cupboards, see what charities and resources are in your area and what they need, you may be inspired to donate even more (and get more taken care of) that you may have thought when you began. And it is important not to take a bunch of stuff that is as useless to the recipient as is it is to you. Often there are even places that are willing to reuse old cardboard boxes or packing peanuts as well as more ordinary household items and clothes.

Needless to say, you should recycle everything that can be recycled. Some things are obvious and easy: aluminum, glass, and paper. Plastics are trickier and electronic equipment, from cell phones to televisions, trickier still. These items are hard to recycle in a way that is environmentally friendly and, in some cases, it can be downright dangerous. While paints and motor oil and such have a special day or method recycle as hazardous waste, as far as I know, they have the method down. Electronics are perhaps the trickiest. Our sleek machines seem to contain a lot of deadly toxins, not least of which is the lead in the Cathode Ray Tubes of old TV's and computer monitors. Many of these get shipped abroad to countries where people are so desperate they think nothing of breathing toxic fumes and polluting their homes and children's environment (all the environment, actually) as they dismantle and melt old components to get the parts of value. Poverty eliminates concern for health and safety.
So please, ask your recycling center how they dispose of this waste and if they have knowledge of where it goes and how it is handled.

On the other hand, we enter the year with a new soap - Sweet Herb. Actually we have had it out since November 2008, but it is still the newest in our family of soaps. enriched with organic hemp seed oil and a soothing blend of essential oils.

This soap has met with rave reviews from our test crew (friends and family), as well as those customers who have tried it, for it’s fresh herbal fragrance, superb silkiness, & luxurious moisturizing qualities.

Hemp seed oil is a rich source of both Omega 6 and Omega 3 Essential Fatty Acids (EFA's), and Vitamin E. These healing enzymes can be absorbed directly into the skin to replenish missing oils, so they are ideally suited for many cosmetic & skin care products.

You can really feel the effects of the hemp seed oil in this soap. It is emollient, and has rejuvenating properties for the skin. Rich in vitamins and minerals, Hemp Seed Oil’s benefits are easily absorbed through the skin, resulting in a more vitamin and mineral enriched soap. See it featured on our web store.