Have you heard of EWG?

Have you heard of the Environmental Working Group?


Up until a few months ago I hadn't heard of them either. They are a non-profit, non-partisan organization dedicated to protecting human health and the environment.  Their mission is to empower people to live healthier lives in a healthier environment.

" EWG drives consumer choice and civic action with its game-changing investigations and research on toxics and environmental health, food and agriculture, and water and energy. For two decades, EWG’s groundbreaking research has changed the debate over environmental health. From households to Capitol Hill, EWG’s team of scientists, policy experts, lawyers, communication experts and programmers has worked tirelessly to make sure someone is standing up for public health when government or industry won’t." -EWG webiste

What I LOVE about this site is that they rate products & bust through common myths about cosmetics, produce, cleaning products & more. They also rate products on an A-F scale (like in school) so that you know how safe things are, as well as offer tips & guides to all sorts of things.

In our house we have been doing our best to remove chemicals from our home for a bunch of different reasons & this site has made it easier as a consumer to  be able to know what is safe for our family or what we can do to eliminate chemicals from our home.

Go and check them out at http://www.ewg.org/ and share your thoughts.

Alternate uses for Norwex Ultra Power Plus Laundry Detergent

Did you know that there are more uses for our Ultra Power Plus Laundry Detergent than just washing your clothes?  Take a look at what other Norwex customers use it for. 

-Mix 1 Tbsp with gallon of water and wash your garden pots at end of season.

-Mix a pinch of UPP with a few drops of dish washing liquid in small bowl of warm water.  Soak jewelry in mixture and clean using a soft toothbrush (NOT recommended for opals and other soft stones).

-My customer told me it was taking out the gray from her bras and underwear. That gray was from her previous detergent.

-I love to sprinkle a little on my wet Enviro Cloth and clean my stainless steel appliances.  I cleaned my kitchen floor tile and grout by mixing 1 tsp. of UPP with water in an old spray bottle.  Spray it on and clean with a grout brush or toothbrush. Cleaned as well as Oxyclean but safe for the earth and my kids!

-I use it to clean my HE washer on the sanitize cycle & the same with my dishwasher.

-I also put it in a spray bottle with water for my floor with extra muddy footprints before using my mop system.

-Had a client tell me she put it in her floor steamer, about 1 tsp.

-I use a teeny bit (1 tsp. in a little bit of very hot water). Dissolve it and dip in your enviro and carpet stains come right out. You will be shocked at how dirty your enviro rinses out. Pulls that dirt right out of the carpet.

-I bought a white sweater at Goodwill and it had an orange stain on the sleeve. I made up a solution like above and just stuck it in there. It was gone in the morning!! Love that stuff.

-I love to shampoo my carpets with it! They have never been cleaner and my shampooer doesn't stink!

-Teeny bit on the bottom of my shower floor! Scrub with a scrub brush.

-Soak metal/mesh filters (from hood vent over my stove) in warm water and 1 tsp. UPP. Use rubber brush to clean the mesh part so you don't snag your cloth. Wipe edges with enviro cloth. Then use the soak water and an enviro cloth to clean all of the grease/dust off of the top of the hood range and then wipe the inside to remove the grease. We have lived here for 10 years now and this is the first product that ever removed everything. Effortlessly, I might add. My cloth looked pretty bad, but I just sprinkled UPP on it and scrubbed the filthy spots with a clean portion of the cloth. The cloth doesn't look new, but my hood range does!

- I soaked my screen from under my range hood in a solution of 1Tbsp. of UPP and hot water and I didn't have to use any kind of brush on the screen. Just soaked it for a few minutes and I've never had it be so clean and no greasy residue afterwards!!!

-Puppy didn't make it outside? Sprinkle on enough UPP to cover it, allow it to completely soak up everything, allow it to dry completely & vacuum up.

-I soaked my 3 yr old’s “Toms” (shoes) in UPP today. They are washed regularly because she refuses to wear socks with them, and I could not believe the color of the water after the soak! Ewe! Hope they don't get stinky so fast now!

-Sprinkle in white porcelain sink. Put in just enough water to cover the bottom. Let sit overnight and in the morning you have the whitest, sparkling sink in town!

-I saw pictures from a lady who cleaned her microfiber couch cushions with it...

-I cleaned my stainless fridge and white plantation blinds and they look great!

-Wanted to add cleaning out your paint brush. I just did and can't believe how quick it cleaned the paint out of it plus used a lot less water because it was clean so fast.

-I made a paste out of the upp & used it to clean a stubborn stain off of my laminate floor. I let it sit for 15 minutes, scrubbed with a spirinette & the stain came right out! It had been there for months, I thought there was no hope for it! 

Meal Planning Made EASY!

OK, when I say meal planning a lot of thoughts come to mind; such as "ugh, I don't have time for that" "is she crazy?" and "This is too overwhelming!" just to name a few.

However let me assure you, once you get in the groove, it is easy!

What you will need:

-a dry erase calender

-dry erase markers

- your recipes (whatever way you have them: cards, ipad app, in your head, find them here, find them online, ect..)

-pen

-paper

optional supplies:

-thumb tacks

-clips

OK this is SUPER simple, you can plan out your meals weekly, bi-weekly, monthly, whatever works best for you.

1. Pick your favorite recipes, write them in which day you want to eat them; I generally schedule in 1-2 crock pot recipes a week, because we are a busy family. ( here is a link to some really cute recipe cards that I use! http://www.thesweetestoccasion.com/2010/12/cookie-swap-recipe-cards-download/)

2. Take the recipes that you are making, using your pen and paper, create your grocery list from there and you are ready to roll!

The total cost for our menu board was around $40, with the most expensive thing being the board itself. If you want to save money you can always print off a calender or use one you all ready have around the house.

If you are like I was, all of this was staring you in the face. Like most new things it takes a couple of weeks to get use to; but once you start it gets easier and quicker!  I usually spend about an hour on the weekend planning the weeks meals, making my shopping list & shopping for everything I need for 2 weeks.

I think the menu board, planning & with all the leftovers you will have for lunches (not to mention the occasional night you don't feel like cooking!) you will be pleasantly surprised at the money, time and chaos you will save by not always wondering "What am I going to make for dinner?"

My Norwex Story

Recently I was asked to share my Norwex story with my team. Here is an excerpt of my story & where it all began. 

Until now most people did not know the depths of my Norwex story. It was August 2013 I had just lost my job, my son had recently been diagnosed with a sensory processing disorder (on top of all ready being in speech therapy), my husband’s department was reorganizing & to top it all we were about to make a very tough decision in regards to my best friend & fur baby (my dog) & every effort I was making to start a new job was failing. To say that I was at a low point in my life was an understatement. I was having constant anxiety/panic attacks.

My husband had recently returned from a trip to Minnesota, where Emily Elg had “taught him how to properly clean a window” with the Norwex polishing cloth. He had been talking about it for weeks & wanted us to purchase the household package because he knew how much I dreaded cleaning. We did not have $48.99 to spend on ANYTHING, let alone “these cloths that MAY work to clean our house & save us money”. (6 months earlier I had heard of Norwex from my sister in law & gave the catalog back after looking at the packages & told her she was crazy & I was broke!)  I thought my husband was off his rocker & I knew he did not want me in direct sales again.

Then I got a message from Emily, (whom until August of 2014 I had NEVER met in person.) asking me not to think she was crazy, but Norwex was offering FREE sign up, just pay the shipping, in August. Would I be interested in joining her team? (I thought to myself “what is this some cruel joke?!?!) So I signed up, at least then I would have the household package for SUPER cheap, it would get my husband to stop nagging me & maybe I could convince him to let me go back to direct sales. It was a WIN all around. Little did I know at the time he was just hoping to get my mind off of all of the negative things going on in our lives.

After I reading everything the night my kit came, I stayed up late cleaning my WHOLE house to prove my husband wrong & that these cloths wouldn’t work. Holy cow was I wrong! I loved it so much I decided to “try and sell this stuff.” What did I have to lose?  My husband was skeptical that I could do it, but still on board. My argument was, you got me into this mess in the first place, so if it doesn’t work what are we out? NOTHING!|

That’s where my Norwex Journey began. With us being at a very low point in our lives. That was August 28^th, 2013. The day I started my business. Where am I now?

Now I could not imagine our lives without Norwex! It not only saves me time & money but we have eliminated almost all of the chemicals from our home. I have started a great career, we are on our way to that financial freedom we want, I get to stay home with my kids, run a successful business (to which my husband tells me he can’t believe how hard I work & how successful I am with!) & Life is GREAT! Oh, and did I mention that with Norwex my son’s sensory processing is easier to control? Turns out eliminating the chemicals has helped tremendously! ;o)

I attended National Conference for the first time this year and thought “I’m one of those cool people that goes to a conference for direct sales?!? WOW!” I learned a lot, I was moved by the generosity of our company, our leaders & our mission.  It was an AMAZING experience where I was able to grow not only as a consultant but as a person.  Plus I was able to connect with our team more since I sometimes feel all alone out in Indiana.  I set some big goals for my business this year. Goals I NEVER thought I would be setting, let alone achieving! In the back of my mind I thought that was going to work out just like the last company I was with no matter how hard I worked.

I made a goal (at conference) to be a red jacket leader (by August 2015 conference). Little did I know at the time that meant a quadruple promotion in a year!!!  I didn't (& still don't) know all the details of HOW I am going to get there, but I know my WHY. 


I want to help save people save time & money, I want to create more Safe Haven homes without chemicals & I want my team (and I)  to be able to have all they ever wanted in life & more. 

I do my "job" (I use that term loosely because Norwex has never felt like a job, it’s a family.) not only because I want to make safer homes & see others succeed but because I want my children to know that no matter what their dreams are, they can become reality. 

I encourage everyone to do the same thing. Shoot big, shoot high, visualize your dream & make them happen. One step at a time, you can do this.

That is why I made this "not so good graphic, so I can visualize where I want to be. I have set this image to be my desktop background & placed it on my vision board to be a daily reminder of my dream. Because when I see it I believe it.  I am standing with Pam Altendorf, she is not only the leader of our AMAZING Go Green Team, she & her story are an inspiration, as well as many others leaders on our team. I will be wearing that red jacket. When? I don't know but I do know that I will rock my green jacket (my favorite color & jacket!) until I can replace it with the red jacket.

Dr. Seuss once wrote "And will you succeed? Yes you will indeed. (98 & 1/4 % guaranteed) kid, you will move mountains!" That is my intention & nothing is going to stop me.

Whether you sign up to use for the discount for yourself, work part time, full time or BIG time, Norwex is a company that will change your life FOREVER. I thank God every day that I was offered this opportunity & what it has done for me, my family & my clients. Norwex is an amazing gift.