Making Life Better

Since ozville began, I've been trying to figure out exactly what to put on it, how to tie things together. I mean, I've got the petition page, the epilepsy page, the main search page, and this eco-blog. Or, it started out as an eco-blog. But really, the main purpose was to introduce you to things that will make your life better. Things that help the environment you live in, things that will keep you healthier. But I'm expanding now. I'm going to include information and suggestions for things that will help you out spiritually, financially, emotionally... I want to hit it all! This blog will be a well-rounded blog! As I move forward and learn new things, I will share them with you here. Here are a few tips for today...
In health and environment!
I had a craving for some SourPatch kids today, but I'm trying to stick to my goal of eating organic. So I picked up some candy at Pharmaca. I picked up some gummy worms, fruity bears, and gummy swirls. None of them (no, I didn't expect the gummy worms to be sour) ended up quenching my SourPatch Kid craving, but they're darn good candy! They're made by Surf Sweets. I also picked up some organic M&M's. So good. They're called SunDrops, by Sunspire. Mmmmm. I actually really like the almond ones, but the peanut was on sale. You have to get these. They make M&M's taste stale.

In financial news...
Right now, I'm looking into a new way of making an income online. I don't really want to say much about it at the moment, I want to see if it works first, but I will give you a progress report later.

In epilepsy news...
I've ordered more bracelets, and should have them by the end of the month. I would appreciate purchases! The more I buy, the better the bulk price is, and the more of your $5 I can put towards more bracelets to hand out at Epilepsy Foundation walks. So I have 300 on the way. But the goal is to have 1000 bought and paid for and ready for the October/November walk (I'm too lazy to look it up right now). I love giving out these bracelets, and if I had a ton of extra cash lying around I would gladly just buy them without having to sell any, but for now... that's how it goes. Thank you everyone who HAS purchased bracelets! You're awesome.

You know you want one....

So this past weekend, I participated in Sharon's Ride.Run.Walk. and distributed about 70 'epilepsy isn't waterproof' bracelets. They were quite a hit! I left most of them at the info table, on top of a photo of Marieke with the dates of her birth and death, and they went SOFAST! I still have 15 to sell through the website, since that is to help me cover the costs of buying more. Which I will have to do very soon! But if you would like one of your own, to support our mission, please click here.

In other news, I've moved into my new place, and am preparing to green it. I will document this process, but first I have to unpack stuff so it's not such a mess!

Happy Earth Day!

So, how green were you?? I admit, I didn't do anything especially green today. I threw a couple things into the recycle bin, checked out some green goods at Crate & Barrel. I've actually been trying to get a BIG green project going. I'm buying a mobile home! And GREENING it. :-D Everything I'm buying, everything I'm doing to it, will be green. If it's possible, and in my budget, of course. Which means recycled, second-hand, sustainable, handmade or eco-friendly products. I've already got a few, and when I get settled, I'll be photographing and reporting on it. I'm thinking about a video blog, how would you like that?

In other news, there is a new article online about ozville! It's at two different sites, check them out:

Remembering Marieke & educating about epilepsy

Remembering Marieke: Actress Kendal Brenneman Welcomes You to Ozville to Educate about Epilepsy & Water Safety

I've also sold 9 epilepsy bracelets this month, yay! And this sunday will be the big give-out at Sharon's Ride.Run.Walk.

Stay green.

Green Chic

I was looking through my notebook, where I've been keeping track of various websites and ideas, and realized how many of them came from this book I just finished. It's definitely a keeper, and I'm sure will be a very useful resource to me in the following months and years. I thought I'd just go ahead and recommend it, because it's a good book, and I'm being lazy today. :-D Honestly, I've just been focusing so much on preparing for my new place and how I'm going to 'green' it that I haven't had time to think of a good blog post! When some of my items arrive, and I see how fabulous they are, I'll be posting about them, of course. I'm actually considering doing some video blogs, but I'm not sure how I want to go about it. I'll keep pondering that. In the meantime, check out this book: Green Chic, Saving the Earth in Style, by Christie Matheson. Christie shares all sorts of easy things anyone can do to make their life more green, without sacrificing their sense of style. It's filled with some great ideas and even more great websites to help you find the perfect bedroom, kitchen or bath supplies. Plus tips on traveling, and food, and what materials you should avoid contact with. Let me know what you think!

Bayer

Ohhhh this will make you mad. Bayer Gives Kids AIDS

CURE Epilepsy

As you probably know, one of this site's main focuses is epilepsy awareness and safety. Today, while I was searching the net for some epilepsy-related news articles, I came across a website that I had somehow missed before. CureEpilepsy.org was started in 1998 by Susan Axelrod, whose daughter Lauren suffers from epilepsy. Citizens United for Research in Epilepsy (CURE) is a nonprofit organization dedicated to finding a cure for epilepsy by raising funds for research and by increasing awareness of the prevalence and devastation of this disease. On their website they state that "Since 1998, the budget for epilepsy-related research has increased 25% at the National Institutes of Health (NIH)." Isn't that great?! They accept donations, which you can give by clicking HERE. I recommend watching a few of the videos they have on their video page. The 2006 video features Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama. I have to say, I like the video I made better, but these are informative, and not terribly long (about 7 minutes each).

Just thought I'd put it out there. I'd like to do a fundraiser for them, but I have to come up with a brilliant idea first... suggestions?

Green Skin

Girls, this one is for you.

Cosmetics.

Now, I must admit, I don’t own many natural cosmetics, mainly because of that darn price tag. But I’m easing my way into it, one piece at a time. But I’ve found a very useful website called cosmeticdatabase.org. You can type in the brand name of your cosmetic and see where their products rate on a hazard scale of 1 to 10. Genius! Make use of it! I was hoping they might have something like a ‘Top 10’ list, but I don’t see anything like that. But as long as you know what brand or product you are researching, you should find some answers. I’m seeing Estée Lauder and L’Oréal products with some pretty high hazard ratings here… Revlon, Avon, CoverGirl. Yeah, all the big ones are getting pretty red scores. What are some safer ones? Jane Iredale has low scores, as does Burt’s Bees. I’m not seeing many 0’s or 1’s in these scores though. A company called Miessence has scores all in the green! (Green good, yellow OK, red bad) as does Organic Essance, although these products seem to be mostly moisturizers and exfoliants. Avalon has good scores (green or yellow) on all but about 20 of their products (out of 388) and Jason cosmetics have decent ratings on all but a few products. I could be here all day. Go type in your make-up and see how you’re doing!