“Thanks-for-Giving” Me More Time

“Thanks-for-Giving” Me More Time

With Thanksgiving right around the corner, I thought I would share a few things I am thankful for. My husband who has been one of the driving forces for me behind this business, and my beautiful girls who inspire me to make this earth cleaner, for their future.  I am so blessed to have such a wonderful family who is as passionate about changing our world as I am.

That being said, when entertaining in our home this Monday, I hope to spend as much time possible with my family, NOT cleaning up dishes. This, of course, means less time doing the dinner clean-up. Daily we use the Norwex Kitchen Towels for drying our dishes and hands. I have never had a towel dry faster, and absorb spills more easily than this one.  The towels are sold individually or in sets with a matching cloth.

At a Customer Appreciation Event in Smithers, B.C. a testimony was shared about these towels:  It was Easter and her entire family of thirty guests were joining her family for dinner.  The food was prepared, wine was poured and the table was set.  But unfortunately the dishwasher was broken.  With the recent purchase of two Norwex Kitchen Towels they dried all of the dishes; from the wine glasses and utensils to the once greasy turkey roasting pan.  She was delighted with her new towels and told all who were there that they should also try them.  Old dish towels that sort of did the job are a thing of the past, Norwex has come out with an absorbent solution!

Safe On:

  • Stainless Steel
  • Enamel / Stone / China
  • Ceramic / Glass / Crystal
  • Chrome / Wood / Plastic
  • Granite / Marble / Slate / Quartz / Tile

The unique weave allows the Kitchen Cloth to tackle all your kitchen surfaces; they are super absorbent, quick-drying and non-abrasive.  In addition, BacLock™ in the cloth – a micro silver antibacterial agent – goes to work to inhibit odors from bacteria, mold and mildew growth within the cloth. Best news? No more smelly cloths or towels! If that’s not something to be thankful for, I don’t know what is.

This fall the kitchen towels are available in new colors, including orchid, butter-cream, and my favorite, a rich and festive pomegranate red.

The towel and cloths set are available now in eight different color options.  Mix and match to hang in your kitchen as dish towels and hand drying towels.

Did You Know?

Many products incorporate silver because of it’s antibacterial properties.  There are silver antibacterial socks, silver soap, silver-lined curtains in hospitals, silver-lined bandages for treating burns and even silver toothbrushes.

Key Benefits:

  • Norwex Microfiber uses a combination of static electricity and capillary action to pull dirt and grease up into the fibers and away from the surface.
  • Dries kitchen counter and dishes quickly.
  • Saves time, money and the environment with chemical-free cleaning and no use of paper towel.
  • BacLock™, the micro silver agent goes to work with self-purification properties.
  • Exceptionally fast-drying.

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Delores VandenBoogaard is an Independent Norwex Sales Consultant from Edmonton, Alberta Canada with customers and consultants throughout Canada and the United States including; New Brunswick, Nova Scotia, Quebec, British Columbia, Manitoba, Saskatchewan, Prince Edward Island, North West Territories and Ontario. She also has customers and team members in; Michigan, Texas, California, Massachusetts, Florida, Arizona, Missouri, Colorado, North Carolina, South Carolina, Idaho, Washington, New Hampshire, Iowa and Maine.

 

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Stubborn Suckers – Plastic Straws

Stubborn Suckers – Plastic Straws

On average, each person in the U.S. uses 1.6 plastic straws every day!!! Between the ages of 5-65, this means that about 38,000 straws are used per person. And that’s not counting the paper wrappers!!  By now you may be tempted to order your next drink without a straw.  But lets face it, those suckers are handy.

The environmental impact is disturbing.  Plastic straws are one of the top 10 debris ingested by sea life.

Although many disposable drinking straws are produced with the intention of being recycled (#2 and #5 plastics), they are not. As they are not biodegradable , but photo-degradable, it can take these flimsy straws centuries to break down. In other words, “disposable straws” are not really “disposable”. The majority of them join other plastic products that saturate landfills, or are strewn along roads and beaches, harming wildlife, and ultimately harming us. Many of these straws contain BPA, a known endocrine disruptor. As animals ingest bits of plastic, the BPA accumulates through the food chain ending up on OUR dinner plates and ultimately in our bodies.

http://www.killthecup.com/blog/dining-out-without-the-plastic-guilt

http://www.killthecup.com/blog/dining-out-without-the-plastic-guilt

Read this article: Degradable Plastics: Photo-degradable and Biodegradable

straws collegeThankfully, Norwex has come up with a solution. The Stainless Steel Drinking Straws are people- and wildlife-friendly, a long-lasting alternative to plastic straws. Their sleek and curved design fits most cups and bottles for easy drinking at home or on the go. The pack of 4 will allow you to keep some at home, work and in your car for those impulsive drive-thru days!  This is an easy way to keep your family healthier our beaches/ landfills cleaner.

Want to keep your straws nice and clean?  Norwex has a new Straw Cleaning Brush.

Would you like to learn more?

Watch this:

Did You Know?

    • Straws were originally made from hollow stalks of rye grass.
    • The first straws used commercially were made from paper (which are still available).
    • Most plastic straws are also individually wrapped in paper, which equals more trash.

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Delores VandenBoogaard is an Independent Norwex Sales Consultant from Edmonton, Alberta Canada with customers and consultants throughout Canada and the United States including; New Brunswick, Nova Scotia, Quebec, British Columbia, Manitoba, Saskatchewan, Prince Edward Island, North West Territories and Ontario. She also has customers and team members in; Michigan, Texas, California, Massachusetts, Florida, Arizona, Missouri, Colorado, North Carolina, South Carolina, Idaho, Washington, New Hampshire, Iowa and Maine.

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Why Reduce Your Use of Plastic?

Why Reduce Your Use of Plastic?

Every piece of plastic ever used since its inception is still in existence, most of it is in our landfills.  Here are three reason to cut down on your plastic consumption:

  1. The average photo-degrading lifespan of a plastic item is 200 years. That means that your great-grandchildren’s grandchildren will be around to see the plastic WE consumed. Furthermore, these bits of plastic are easily ingested by animals, and later digested by humans. Not so comforting a thought!
  2. We all know that oil is being consumed en masse.  Twelve million barrels of oil are being used annually to produce plastic bags, in the US alone!
  3. Harmful chemicals such as BPA are often found in water bottles and plastic containers that many of us send our children’s lunches in everyday. BPA is an industrial chemical which is harmful to the brain as well as to the behavior of children.

Read More: Everything is Connected

Plastic and foil food wraps have a bad rap!  They can be a struggle to use, they leach into our food and they end up in the landfills.  Check out this for 25 more reasons to go re-usable!

What percentage of plastic globally would you guess we recycle? 

Sadly only 5%

Unlike many plastic and foil food wraps you may be tempted to stick in the microwave, silicone rubber does not react with food, liquids, and most chemicals. Why does that matter? Plastic and foil food wraps actually leach harmful chemicals such as BPA, into your food.

Norwex’s New Silicone Lids are BPA free, and will not off-gas hazardous fumes over its lifetime, or while in use. Furthermore, they are perfect for keeping hot foods hot while you wait for the kids to come home or food fresh in the fridge for a longer period of time. Not only will you be preventing more waste from ending up in our landfills (the lids can be used over and over!), but you’ll also be reducing your exposure to chemicals harmful to your body!  Sounds like a win-win if you ask me!

Key Benefits:

  • Keeps food fresh longer
  • Helps save on environmental waste
  • Won’t leach chemicals into your food
  • Reusable, so they save you money
  • Safe to use in refrigerators
  • Safe in microwaves and ovens up to 230°C / 425° F
  • Won’t hold food odours
  • Dishwasher Safe

*Note: Highly acidic foods such as tomato based pastas sauce may stain the lids.

My favorite personal use for these lids is covering the pan when frying eggs.  I like my girls to start the day with an egg, we fry them in a bit of coconut oil and the oil always spattered all over the stove top.  These lids work AMAZING for containing the mess.

Loving the lids? Norwex is also offering terrific new packages, including a Pitch the Plastic Pack!

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Delores VandenBoogaard is an Independent Norwex Sales Consultant from Edmonton, Alberta Canada with customers and consultants throughout Canada and the United States including; New Brunswick, Nova Scotia, Quebec, British Columbia, Manitoba, Saskatchewan, Prince Edward Island, North West Territories and Ontario. She also has customers and team members in; Michigan, Texas, California, Massachusetts, Florida, Arizona, Missouri, Colorado, North Carolina, South Carolina, Idaho, Washington, New Hampshire, Iowa and Maine.

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Code Red: Mess in the Kitchen!

Code Red: Mess in the Kitchen!

Do you like systems and organization?  I do! I encourage my customers to color-code the microfiber cloths in their home.  When Norwex lovers are asked what is their favorite product,  it is predominantly the EnviroCloth!  This cloth literally cleans up everything and it works amazing… with only water, so there’s no harmful chemical residue left behind– just the real clean.

Since the cloths come in four colors, I have always color-coded our home and have taught my customers to do the same.  It’s a simple system:

Red is our go-to kitchen-cloth.  It’s used for 2-3 days to wipe down the: counters, stove, microwave, exterior of the fridge and interior plexiglass shelving, the table after each meal, finger prints on the dishwasher and watermarks on the facet and in the sink!  This hard-working cloth absorbs spilled tomato sauce, burnt on food, spilled milk or grape juice.  Because you cannot bleach your Norwex cloths, red is a great color to camouflage any accidental staining from your daily kitchen activities!

Blue is the designated color for any heavy cleaning project.  It lives under the kitchen sink and is pulled out for, wiping the floor when unexpected spills happen, cleaning the very dirty patio furniture, wiping the  BBQ or oven, detailing the car, or washing outdoor windows. This way, one cloth does all the extra dirty work, instead of potentially staining every cloth you own!

Green cloths are used to maintain our bathrooms.  Years ago we would squeegee our shower, but inevitably the doors and walls still got very grungy.  Now, after each shower we quickly wipe down the shower stall to prevent soap scum and mineral deposits.  In 10 years since our family was first introduced to Norwex, we have not sprayed any toxic cleaning chemical in our shower.  That said, I don’t expect my family to deep clean after each shower.  So we do use DeScaler for maintaining the tub and floor weekly.  One green EnviroCloth wipes up the shower walls, bathroom counter and mirror for a week. Take a cleaning moment and you won’t need a cleaning day!

Yellow cloths are used for cleaning the toilets. Norwex has an excellent cleaner for inside the toilets, but this cloth is used for detailing the porcelain and seat.  It hangs on the plumbing under each bathroom sink.  It’s always handy if needed.

Friday is Norwex laundry day at our home and with this cloth system it is very simple.  After the cloths come out of the dryer, each cloth is put back where it belongs.  Only the Red cloths are folded and returned to the kitchen drawer, the rest are all returned to be used as intended in their designated areas for another week… until they are laundered again.

At my shows everyone laughs when I ask, “Now what would you be thinking if you found a yellow cloth on my counter when you come over for coffee?”  : )  See…  the system works!  Everything stays where it belongs!  Simplicity my friends!

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Delores VandenBoogaard is an Independent Norwex Sales Consultant from Edmonton, Alberta Canada with customers and consultants throughout Canada and the United States including; New Brunswick, Nova Scotia, Quebec, British Columbia, Manitoba, Saskatchewan, Prince Edward Island, North West Territories and Ontario. She also has customers and team members in; Michigan, Texas, California, Massachusetts, Florida, Arizona, Missouri, Colorado, North Carolina, South Carolina, Idaho, Washington, New Hampshire, Iowa and Maine.

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Is Your Home a Chemical Free Zone?

Is Your Home a Chemical Free Zone?

When I was pregnant with my eldest daughter, my awareness of the dangerous chemicals that could be in our home and environment was heightened. My desire was to give my young daughters a healthy environment to grow and play in. Not only was I unaware of the magnitude of dangers typical cleaning products held, but I liked how they had made my home smell and feel. The scent had made it feel CLEAN, and eventually, I began to realize that I had affiliated the smell of chemicals with cleanliness. I suppose this makes perfect sense,  as the only way I had been taught to clean was with chemicals. As well as our smell being our strongest of our senses gave me the false sense of, “If it smells clean, then it must be clean!”

Like many, I assumed if these common household products were sold in stores they must have been approved safe to use. However, the skull and crossbones plastered across thousands of cleaning products indicate something different. After doing extensive research on the effects of chemicals in household cleaners, I decided I NEEDED an alternative. That’s when I  discovered Norwex! The CHEMICAL-FREE way to clean. I was thrilled and to further my delight, I discovered hospitals were using them too!  I instantly fell in love with the products and what they were all about. I could not wait to share the fantastic news of a chemical-free-future with others. Read more about my story:  “Why Norwex?”.

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Delores VandenBoogaard is an Independent Norwex Sales Consultant from Edmonton, Alberta Canada with customers and consultants throughout Canada and the United States including; New Brunswick, Nova Scotia, Quebec, British Columbia, Manitoba, Saskatchewan, Prince Edward Island, North West Territories and Ontario. She also has customers and team members in; Michigan, Texas, California, Massachusetts, Florida, Arizona, Missouri, Colorado, North Carolina, South Carolina, Idaho, Washington, New Hampshire, Iowa and Maine.

 

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