Have some pesticides you need to get rid of?  Well, you’re in luck!

• Twin Falls:  Sept 16, 2010 at the Twin Falls Canal Company (9am – 1pm)
• Burley:  Sept 15, 2010 at the Bureau of Land Management Yard (9am – 1pm)

• All pesticide users, including growers, pesticide dealers, professional applicators, homeowners, county, federal and state agencies or other local officials are welcome to use this service.
• Individuals may dispose of up to 1,000 pounds of materials free of charge.
• Pre-registration will not be required.
• Since its inception in 1993, the program has assisted growers and collected over 700,000 pounds of unusable pesticides.
• Collections are held annually in every region of the state. Schedules will be posted prior to the collection and are available at this website.
• Our disposal program is designed for agricultural and household pesticide formulations only. We cannot accept other waste such as fertilizer, paint, motor oil, solvents, pressurized gas cylinders, etc. 
  If you live in Blaine County, be sure to check out this HHW link to see where you can safely dispose of other HHW items.

Raising children is a tough job. Raising a family in an environmentally conscious manner adds an extra challenge. Here are some suggestions and resources to help in the effort to raise eco-kids.

Start with the diapers. The environmental movement has sparked change across the board. All the way to how we dispose of our baby’s waste. This company will send you a monthly order of either cloth or biodegradable diapers with no shipping fees http://www.gdiapers.com/, check out their website.

Purchase Eco toys that

• Are PVC free
• Don’t need batteries
• Last a long time
• Are made of wood

You can find some really cool eco-toys through Under the Nile, Select Solar, Branch, and 3R Living. An on-line resource that can help with dilemmas a mother might face in raising an eco-family is www.naturemoms.com

Practicing sustainable living and raising an eco-family doesn’t always have to cost a bunch of money. The best eco-toy is not a toy at all. The all time favorite, Hide-and-seek, promotes outdoor play and exercise. Living here in the valley we have some of the most amazing family friendly outdoor recreation –FREE. Another great way to help the planet, save some $$, and put clothes on your constantly growing toddler is to buy second hand clothes. Reduce, Reuse, Recycle! Finally, pass along the knowledge and desire to live in a sustainable fashion to your children. This is the greatest gift we can give to mother earth.

We have moved beyond “no animal testing” for most beauty products and risen to completely biodegradable eye shadows and lip gloss. Just like food we can look at the label and make educated decisions before we buy that just so perfect shade of lipstick. Avoid products with parabens which is a preservative linked to cancer, talc which contains a compound similar to asbestos, and fragrance which is a term used to mask hundreds of different chemical ingredients.

Many products still contain harmful ingredients. By choosing non-toxic beauty products we are speaking with our dollars. These websites can educate consumers about safe beauty products - http://www.safecosmetics.org and http://www.cosmeticsdatabase.com.

Physicians Formula offers an overall high quality, non-toxic, hypo-allergenic, eco-friendly line. They have many products in compact paper packaging with a recent bamboo packaging line.

Do it yourself beauty products are easy and effective. A wonderful herbal clay mask is sold in the bulk bins at Natural Niche. Mix it with water or for that extra bang: raw apple cider vinegar. You can make pretty much anything with five basic natural beauty ingredients in your kitchen; honey, sugar, olive oil, eggs, fruits, and vegetables.

Here is a shower body scrub recipe that you can make yourself. Make a body's worth of sugar scrub by combining ½ cup sugar, 2 tbs cream or whole milk, 5 drops of orange oil and 1 cup of olive oil. Leave on for 10-15 minutes and then rinse off.