Ecominded Mama

Buy replacement parts

I was in a baby store shopping for a gift for my friend the other day, and I happened to notice that they sold replacement valves for the sippy cups my daughters use. They didn't have what I needed -- replacement tops for those same sippy cups, which our dog chewed on -- so I looked online, and voila! Playtex sells sippy cup tops individually. It would never have occurred to me to look online for replacement parts for things like sippy cups, but buying just the part I was missing instead of a whole new cup saved me money and saved the three lidless sippy cups I had from going in the garbage (they aren't labeled for recycling). I'm going to remember this in the future when just a part of something breaks -- why buy a whole new one when I can replace the broken part?

Eco-focused coupon and discount sites

I heard about three sites that may be of interest to ecominded shoppers who love a bargain:

• GoGreenDeals.com is a daily blog that highlights sales and special discounts on a wide variety of products and services.

• Ecobunga.com focuses on "winning green" (highlighting giveaways of ecofriendly products) and "saving green" (coupons and discounts). 

• PristinePlanet.com bills itself as an ecofriendly comparison shopping site, but it also has some great offers in the Coupons section.

Please write if you know of other sites I should include here!

Worldofgood.com

I read about worldofgood.com in Lucky magazine, and it has some truly cool stuff at amazing prices... and you can feel good about your purchases, too, because they help small business owners around the world to prosper. The site is affiliated with eBay, but it's driven by the philosophies of World of Good, Inc.:

World of Good is a convenient, trusted place for consumers to shop for thousands of products that positively impact people and the planet. Through our network of retail, wholesale, and online partners, we connect artisans in developing communities around the world with mainstream retail markets.

The site is vast, but I especially like the jewelry, housewares (like these handmade African baskets and this super cool recycled plastic clock), and art, and many of the items are made from recycled materials. Happy browsing!