I completed my third 5K race in 2011.  It's been a real eye opening experience.  I have never considered myself a runner and haven't really ran until this year and have found that running is one of the best exercise experience (second to biking).  I am now training for a half marathon in late fall and hoping to run a personal best time as well.  Running is a great stress reliever.  Instead of impulse purchases and emotional eating, just going for a run provides a nice break from daily stressors.

I noticed a healthytrend at work and during meetings, I have seen more and more colleagues bring their own refillable water bottles.  This is a simple small step to make a great conservation and eco-friendly impact.  It also serves as a reminder to drink water instead of filling up on high caloric juices or soda.  I have been converted.  Now I bring refillable water bottles to office meetings as well.

The following is a list of the top five most common eco-friendly arts and crafts supplies that most probably you already have in your home that you can leverage to use for endless fun inexpensive kids' craft activities.

1) Paper towel empty rolls / toilet empty rolls
These can easily be turned into rainmakers (add rice, rocks or dried beans; then, seal off each end with duck tape, decorate and use).

2) Paper bags
These items can be easily turned into paper puppets.

3) Cotton balls
Cotton balls can be used as decorative craft additions or dyed into any color.

4) Yogurt containers
These items can either be recycled or repurposed into gardening/flowering pots; great for young kids to decorate/paint.  They can also be converts into pails (just use a hole puncher to insert two holes on opposite ends of the container and use a heavy duty string as a handle).

5) Newspaper/magazines
These items can either be recycled or repurposed.  They can be cut and pasted and used to create collages of all types (themes may include: animals, favorite foods, sports, transportation, clothing, etc.)

I have written about my concern with the excess waste and environmental harm from using disposable sandwich wraps before and have featured product reviews on various recyclable lunch containers.  Despite the great benefits of using these recyclable lunch containers, they are sometimes a bit heavy (when you are lugging a laptop, gym clothes, kids' stuff, etc. every ounce counts!).  So, I was very excited to receive samples of the ecolunchgear sandwich wraps.  They are made from 100% organic cotton with velcro tabs.   These sandwich wraps are reasonably priced and can easily replace disposable plastic wraps.  However, you don't want to use it for tuna salads or sandwiches with a lot of mayo or dressing because it will ooze out of the wrap.  Instead, just label and leave a jar of your mayo or favorite dressing at your company's refrigerator (usually located in the employee lounge or pantry) and apply right before eating your sandwich.

In addition to the functional benefits of these reusable sandwich wraps, the design is modern and just brings a smile to my face when I use them for my sandwiches at work.  I have seen homemade wraps on etsy.com but none of these compared to the high quality and fun designs of ecolunchgear.com.  Most of the recyclable wraps you find on etsy.com have a zipper feature that makes it a bit more difficult to clean/wash compared to the velcro tabs of the ecolunchgear sandwich wraps.

For more information about their products, please visit www.ecolunchgear.com

Dirt and stains are a part of life, especially life with young children.  I've learned to accept that kids will get dirty throughout the day because that is just what kids do.  So I loved receiving samples of the madii & dyl luxe cleansing flannels.  These eco-friendly super soft cleansing wipes cleans kids' hands quickly and can be hand washed or machines washed for multiple uses.

These products are ideal for me because they are eco-friendly, reusable and makes it easy to keep my kids clean (appeals to the germ phobe in me).  They are also great for makeup removal as well.  Just wet it with water and you are good to go!

Please visit the following website for more information about their products, www.madiidylan.com

I love the summer.  Yes, there are those who complaint about the relentless sun and heat.  Despite those complaints, I love the extended days and list of outdoor activities to do.  I love bringing healthy snacks to local parks and trails for my kids and I to enjoy while we enjoy the outdoors.

We've tried Newman's Own Organic Alphabet cookies which comes in three different flavors.  We love the convenient packaging (only one layer of packaging so no need to struggle to open the package) and the lightly sweetened cookies.  My kids enjoy making words out of the cookies before eating them.  Newman's Own Organics also offer other great products as well. 

For more information about their products and where you can purchase them, please visit www.newmansownorganics.com