Things I Love Thursday- Seventh Generation

I have long documented our family’s move towards green-ness. I love finding products that help me in my endeavors, but aren’t hard to find and are affordable. Mostly I love finding companies that help me clean the way I like to clean, but to do so a little more earth friendly. Mainly I am talking about wipes.

I have a long love affair with disinfecting wipes. They make my life so very easy. But they make me feel so very guilty. The waste of the wipe, the chemicals in them, not to mention whatever is left behind on surfaces my kids are eating off of. But, darn it cleaning wipes, I just can’t quit you. So when I was sent some Seventh Generation wipes to use I did a little dance. Now I can wipe guilt free. Can I get a Hallelujah?!!

We have had an amazingly healthy stretch which I am attributing to the changes we have made in our eating and our general “greenesque” living. To call it completely green would be a stretch but we have made some really big changes. But now the kids are going back to school and I worry a bit about germs and the onset of the sickies. Seventh Generation is partnering with best-selling author and pediatrician, Dr. Alan Greene to help parents protect their child’s health during back-to-school season.

The science nerd in me found this video about germs fascinating:

Honestly, when I do reviews I try and never just cut and paste things from what the company sends me, but try and write things in my own words and my own language, but I thought these tips to keep your kids healthy as they go back to school were great.

• Reap the benefits of probiotics like those found in yogurt. A recent study showed that children who received enough probiotics daily throughout the cold and flu season had a significant reduction in the number of illnesses they had and, when they did get sick, the symptoms were both milder and didn’t last as long.
• Be sure your child is getting plenty of vitamin D from the sun, from food, or from a supplement.
• Build a strong foundation. Good food, good sleep, and good physical activity all help the immune system to flourish.
• Teach children the key times to clean their hands in the classroom. The most important times include after sneezing, coughing or using the restroom, upon leaving “high-risk” places (recess, naptime, play stations) and before meals or snacks.
• Stress the importance of not touching their eyes, nose or mouth. Germs are often spread when a person touches something that is contaminated with germs and then touches his or her eyes, nose, or mouth.
• Demonstrate to your children how to cover their mouth and nose for every cough and sneeze. This simple maneuver has spectacular results in decreasing the spread of viruses and bacteria floating about the room, waiting to be inhaled.

Awesome, easy reminders that will hopefully, combined with all the healthy food we are eating, keep our family healthy this year.

I was also excited to try out Seventh Generation’s paper towels and facial tissues made from recycled material. While I expected something that felt like scratchy cardboard, I was impressed that that was not the case at all. They also sent me some cleaner that I use on the occasion that I need a deeper cleaning than my beloved wipes.

Would you like to try out Seventh Generation products? I have a gift pack identical to the one I received up for grabs. Your “Back-to-School” kit would include a Seventh Generation backpack, two canisters of Seventh Generation disinfecting wipes, disinfecting multi-surface spray cleaner, facial tissue and paper towels. To win, simply leave a comment sharing your best tip for keeping your kids healthy and germ-free. This is mandatory for entry. For extra entries do any or all of the following and leave a SEPARATE comment letting me know you did so:

• Participate in my Things I Love Thursday carnival. Guidelines can be found here. (you must leave a comment in addition to linking up below for this entry to be counted)
• Follow Seventh Generation on Twitter
• Follow The Diaper Diaries on Twitter and tweet “Come win a Back to School kit from @SeventhGen and @DiaperDiaries: http://is.gd/eo6wn #myblogspark”
• Subscribe to The Diaper Diaries via email or RSS feed

Winner will be chosen at random on Wednesday, August 25th. Good luck!

To facilitate my review, Seventh Generation provided you with the a gift pack and giveaway gift pack for my readers through MyBlogSpark. As usual all opinions stated are mine.

Now time to link up to Things I Love Thursday!! Don’t forget to link back here and visit all the fun posts. I have been finding some great things to love lately!! Here are all the official Things I Love Thursday guidelines for your reading pleasure.