Freeplay Indigo Lantern (Hand Cranked)

It's like Christmas in the summer! My mom had given me some gift cards to Gaiam last holiday, and I had horded them like a secret treasure waiting to reveal itself, until this month. As much as I resist actually liking Gaiam at times (cause their organic panties smell like a chemical dump & alot of their stuff appears to be made in china), their products came in the most minimum and eco packaging I have ever seen- the packing peanuts were the kind made of corn starch and melt in water and nothing was wrapped in extra plastic!!! I wanted to review each of the items over time (except the snake bite kit, I don't really want to know if it works or not...) and I am going to start with my most favorite thing I got...

**The Freeplay Indigo Lantern.**

This lantern is the ultimate - it comes with a charger you can plug in, and once it's charged it goes for many hours with super bright light. So bright that I turn it on next to my bed and read a book till I go to sleep. The other way to charge it back up is there is a hand crank on the side. You spin it round and round and can get different amounts of light depending on how much you charge it. A little green light shows up on the side to let you know it is in fact actually getting a charge too, so you don't have to guess whether you are cranking enough or not.
Another amazing feature it has is a spotlight/flashlight on the front- which uses way less charge but puts off a powerful beam. The amount of light coming from the flashlight is not adjustable like the lantern light itself, but just as intense. IN fact... it's so intense it came out looking like Pink Floyd's Dark Side Of The Moon! (See below)! ;)

• 60 sec. of winding powers cluster up to 2 hrs. on nightlight and 2 min. at maximum brightness; powers directional light for 12 min.
• Rechargeable NiMH battery powers light cluster up to 70 hrs. in nightlight mode and 2.5 hrs. at maximum brightness.
• Compact lantern features a cluster of 7 LEDs; dimmer switch lets you adjust from area lighting to nightlight use.
• LEDs are nearly indestructible and provide as much as 100,000 hrs. use.

XoXo

Laundry Alternatives: The Wonder Wash!

I never use a traditional washer or dryer - yes, it's true. I wash all my clothing, sheets, towels, etc by hand and hang them up outside to dry (or over a heat source in the winter). A few years ago a neighbor let me borrow a 'washer' she said was for camping, that you could stick a 5 pound load in & then spin the crank by hand- pressure cleaning your laundry. This thing was not only bad ass, easy to use, and cleaned the ba-jeezus out of my clothes - but it uses no electricity, saves water, and builds really good arm muscle! There are several levels to sustainable living, and besides wanting to wear eco friendly clothing I also want my clothes to get clean enough so they will last longer - but don't want to waste so many resources achieving this. So I got myself a new Wonder Wash of my very own...a fabulous washer that will never need to be plugged in, can travel anywhere, saves resources and costs under $50 !!!

GO here to read more about how it works!