Just a few faves...

1.  Grounds for Change.  Delicious coffee.  Fair trade.  What more could you ask for?

2.  Starfall.com  If you have preschool age kids, this is a great way to get them interested in phonics.

3.  coconut oil.  I have been loving coconut oil for a long time now.  Now, this list of 101 uses...well, some of them might be a bit of a stretch.  But if you're not using it, then you're late to the party.  Get on the bandwagon already.  I use it for healthy cooking, face moisturizer, and shaving cream (!!  This is probably my favorite use!  Thanks for the recommendation, Chrissy!)

4.  Renew lotion.  Coconut oil is all I need most of the time.  But I am a mom to three dirty, yucky, stinky boys.  I have to wash my hands a lot.  I also live in the North.  It's cold here.  Winter skin care is serious business.  Thankfully my friend Lindsay sells Melaleuca products.  If you want to order, send me an e-mail and I can hook you up.  Oh, and if you decide to go with the Renew lotion, do yourself a favor and get the 20 oz bottle.  You won't regret it.  I have never used a moisturizer that lasts so long, even with the constant hand washing.

5.  All Sons and Daughters.   For your listening pleasure:


6.  Sevenly.  Because people matter.  Get a cute new top AND help someone.  Win.Win.

7.   Do some research before you shop:
Green America  and Free2Work are great sites (and also have mobile apps!) 
I have been doing some reading about slave labor, child labor, and human trafficking.  This is scary stuff, friends.  It's easy to feel overwhelmed and helpless in the face of such big problems - especially in light of how deep the corruption is in some major companies.  But, I don't want to cop-out and say we can't do anything.  Surely, you can't be certain about every purchase you make being completely ethical, but I'm trying to change the things that I buy on a regular basis (like coffee, chocolate, make-up...that pretty much sums up all of life's needs, right?  :)).  I also feel like I could change where I make bigger purchases that I can plan out/research ahead of time.  Let's make our money talk!

8.  Along those lines, here are some some sites where you can read about slavery and find ways to be part of the solution: 
The A21 Campaign  "Human trafficking is the illegal trade of human beings, mainly for the purposes of commercial sexual exploitation and forced labor. As the world’s fastest growing criminal industry, it affects every nation across the globe. Every thirty seconds, someone is forced into this type of bondage—modern slavery"
End It Movement  "Nothing happens just because we are aware of modern–day slavery, but nothing will EVER happen until we are."

9.  National Geographic Picture of the Day  I have probably already written about this in a previous post, but I'll write again because we love it that much.  This is a much-loved part of our school day.  We like to look at a new, breathtaking picture every day.  We make observations, write stories about them, find the location on a map, do some research about that particular place/animal/thing, the list is endless of what you can do with this! 

10.  If you're not following Honest Toddler on twitter, you should be.  So so funny.