Something Different

I wouldn't normally talk to you on this blog about non-handmade stuff.  For instance, while I'll tell you about my face painting, soap, sewing, knitting, and even sometimes my face painting and baking, I don't really talk here about my law practice.

But this is about a potential free iPad or iPod for you.

And see, my law practice is really local.  If you're not in NJ, it's not going to matter to you.  This is different.  This is nationwide... and it's Eric's.  And I'm kind of really excited about it.  I don't know if I've mentioned it before, but in addition to the soap and candles, beer brewing and cooking, Eric's got a "day job" too.

He's in IT (computer stuff).

When I met him, he was running his own company in Brooklyn, and just when we started dating, he got hired out from under himself by one of his corporate clients.  They needed a good computer guy, especially one familiar with both Apple and PC products, and he fit the bill.  So he went with it.

Turns out, he much prefers to be his own boss.  So after almost 3 years there and over 12 years total in IT, he's taken the leap and struck out on his own again!  He is now Logical Lemur IT.  I love the name.  I love the concept.  And I love the theme of his branding.  I'm a big geek, and look!

Dude!   The periodic table!  And  yeah, I hated chemistry as much as the next person, but I learned the periodic table from Mr. Merics in 8th grade science and I loved Mr. Merics.  Plus, doesn't it lend itself so nicely to the categories?  That's the postcard he had made, but if you check out the site, you'll see those boxes are navigation buttons.

Why am I telling you all this?  Because you might need him.  Seriously, this is nationwide.  He can do most things remotely.  And if he needs a tech to show up in person, he can do that or get one to do so, wherever you are.

For businesses of at least 3 users, he's offering unlimited monthly support.  For residential, he's offering a monthly home protection plan.  I'm not going to repeat all the info that's on the site here, because that would be silly.  Feel free to poke around and contact him with any questions.

Yes, yes, enough.  I mentioned that Free iPad or iPod and you want to know what on earth I was talking about, right?

If you look on the site, specifically here, you can see the details on how to get one, but the basics are these:  If you refer a business client of at least 3 users and it signs up for service, you get an iPod.  If you refer a client of at least 30 users, you get an iPad.  So do yourself a favor... think about the business you work for, the businesses you used to work for, the businesses you deal with, and friends with businesses or in businesses.  Because who couldn't use a free iPad or iPod?  Am I right?

OK, nerdiness done.  For now.

Scrubs May Be Good for Your Skin... But What Are They Doing to Your World?

Good question, and one we all should be asking.  This is why we are adamant that we should all be informed consumers.  Read your labels.  Know your ingredients.  Do a little digging.

Hillary Rosner, a freelance journalist and Knight Science Journalism Fellow with a degree in Environmental Studies did a little digging back in 2008, when she wrote this article for Slate, an online daily news magazine.  Never heard of Slate?  That's OK, until recently, neither had I.  When a friend pointed me in the direction of that article, I took a look around, and it turns out that Slate is not exactly a fly-by-night operation.  It's not some wacky extremist group with faulty research and questionable results.  Oh, no.  It's a multi-award-winning publication that's existed since 1996 and is owned by The Washington Post Company.

In doing her digging, Ms. Rosner found that many big-brand companies are using polyethylene as an exfoliating ingredient in their cleansers.

So what's polyethylene?  It's plastic.  Tiny plastic microbeads that make nifty exfoliants... which then wash down the drain and into the oceans.

Plastic, as we know, does not biodegrade.  And these beads are so tiny that it's incredibly easy for them to end up in the stomachs of marine life, as Ms. Rosner says, "from otters to octopi."  It actually occupies the same size range as sand grains and plankton, so it's available for ingestion to invertebrates, which are near the bottom of the marine food chain.  In addition, polyethylene transports phenanthrene, a dangerous ocean pollutant.

Nice, huh?

And the amount of microplastic in the oceans has been increasing.  Increasing.

The answer?

Natural exfoliants, of course!  Sugar, salt, ground almonds, ground beans, seeds, and buds... the sorts of things we use in our Reef Botanicals sugar and salt scrubs, soaps, and facial scrubs.

We are committed to doing our best for the environment where we can.  That's why we don't wrap our soaps in plastic or cellophane; they are shipped nearly naked, with just enough paper to tell you what they are and list the ingredients for you, tied on with environmentally-friendly hemp twine.

That's why the only plastic we use is what's absolutely necessary, like for our salt and sugar scrubs, which contain liquid.  And that's one of the many reasons we adhere to our commitment to use all-natural ingredients in our products.  Never will plastic be an ingredient in our stuff, no matter how inexpensive or convenient it is.