Before science was invented, going green used to mean chugging a 2-liter bottle of broccoli juice then spinning around a baseball bat for 30 seconds. Exercise a healthier expression of blue and yellow's love child with today's Groupon: for $25, you get $50 worth of green household products online from Eco Home Store. Though this Groupon is not valid toward shipping, orders of more than $75—with the exception of promotional items, bulk orders, and flooring—will be shipped for free.
Launched by two sisters who are also working moms, the Eco Home Store peddles planet-pampering household products for everyday use. BPA-free PET plastic bottles confine libations without leaching toxic chemicals into the environment. Brighten up barbecues with On The Go tableware ($25.99) or bring a 20-ounce water bottle ($9.99) on dehydrating hiking trips. Use bamboo veneer Bamdino cutlery ($10) or a recyclable baby bottle topped with a slow-flow silicon nipple to provide a constant flow of nutrients to your infant or infant dragon ($19.99/pack of four).
Nested discreetly in the ground, a plastic dog-poop composter pops open at the press of a foot pedal to receive its smelly cargo ($45.99). A mix of enzymes and bacteria digest the waste, converting it to a harmless liquid that slinks bashfully into the ground, like an underdressed mole retreating from a cocktail party. Its tank can accommodate one large dog or two small dogs. Surfing shoppers can also check out a variety of sleek kitchenware made from recycled products and grab coconut bowls ($14.50) to spiff up deserted-island retreats.
Groupon Says
The Groupon Guide to: Choosing Produce
There's no worse feeling than when you buy what you assume is perfectly ripe produce only to discover it's too hard or have it dissolve into a pile of ashes in your grocery bag. Here are some tips for filling your basket with ready-to-eat fruits and vegetables:
- Broccoli: Drag the vegetable florets-side-up across your arm. Each should be firm enough to rid your forearm of unwanted hair.
- Cherry: You'll have to tear through the tasteless, inedible outer layer to test the cherry's high-protein, peanut-like core. Once you expose the cherry nut, swallow it and rate the pain you feel as it gradually moves down your throat. If it's less than a seven, it's too ripe.
- Apple: Smell an apple. Does it smell apple?
- Cantaloupe: Knock on it to determine if it's hollow. If it is, there's a gerbil living inside subsisting on the fruit's ripe core. Hurry up! You'll have to eat quickly to beat the gerbil.
- Pumpkin: This orange, round gourd shouldn't deflate easily, so repeatedly stab it with something sharp, such as a hunting knife or the tools doctors use to open their mail.
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