Seven Planet

My wife  let me know the other day that for being a seven planet House (a house that loyally works to purchase as many of its necessity-based products and services from seven planet in return for deep discounts) we use way too many paper towels.  She was right, we were using them to wipe the counters, dry our hands, to clean the kids’ faces and we were going through a roll every few days.  But they are so convenient and so effective…how could we not use them as much?

Well, the answer was and is SKOY Cloths.  This brand new product that two stay at home moms in Encinitas, California discovered that helps replace the highly non-renewable paper towels we all use and are much more absorbent and effective than traditional washcloths.  We kid you not when we say they are amazing.

SKOY Cloths are 100% biodegradable because they are made from a natural cotton and wood-based cellulose pulp.  They are also a chlorine-free product that uses water-based colors and inks for its cool shades and they break down completely in the environment within 5 weeks.  Each one is equal to about 15 rolls of traditional paper towels in regards to the life you will get from it (which is months by the way).  We even heard that for some people the SKOY Cloths will last upwards to 6 months or longer.

Some people even use a technique of cutting of the corners of the cloths to identify if they are for the kitchen (1 corner), garage (2 corners), bathroom (3 corners), etc. so that they don’t get them mixed up and so that they last longer as they downgrade them from the kitchen to the garage for example.

For us it was all about finding a more mindful way in which to clean up our kitchen and our kids and this product has done it.  We aren’t cutting the corners of them yet, but do feel like we are finally not cutting as many corners when comes to the planet.  Thank you SKOY Cloth for making that easier to do.

Well yes if you want help alleviate even more plastic from entering into our landfills and waterways. It is simple though I promise. Most of us have been carrying canvas, or some other type of reusable bag, into the supermarket for years now. You know the drill, you keep them in the trunk or easily accessible in the kitchen and then you take them into the store with you. In turn, you never have to bring out paper bags with weak handles or plastic bags with limited carrying capabilities and reuses.

So, this has been the status quo for some time, but if we think about our collective movement towards more healthful, local, vegetable and fruit rich diets, then we see that we are back in the game of collecting plastic bags.

Essentially every grocer and supermarket (even organically focused stores) utilize plastic bags for taking home our fruits and vegetables. In turn we naturally utilize them for carrying our greens out of the store.

Not any more… Flip & Tumble has a wonderful Product Bag Set product that includes 5 bags that when not full can easily be put into one bag and thrown in your laptop bag or purse or existing canvas grocery shopping bag. It is estimated that with regular use each set of 5 produce bags will save 1000 plastic bags from entering landfills. This is a massive positive impact for sure.

My wife starting utilizing the Flip & Tumble Product Bag Set after we received them in the seven planet Oregon store and found that not only did they help us avoid bringing home any paper or plastic bags from the grocery store, but that we were able to keep our vegetables in them in the fridge as well. So, now every time we take out the celery or the carrots they are in the Flip & Tumble bags, which gives us another reason to talk to people about how amazing they are and how well they work…which is a great way to spread the message of mindful commerce.