Glass Water Bottle Dropped without a Crack

Our curiosity got the better of us today. We were told our new glass water bottles were virtually unbreakable and today we tested them for ourselves - we dropped one from waist height onto a rock hard floor.

Yes, we half shut one eye as it went down and yes, we winced with the clunk sound at contact, but guess what?

Not a crack. Watch for yourself here.



We liked this glass water bottle before today. Now we love it and it's protective yet funky-looking silicone cover. We're sure you'll love it too.

Choose from six different colours - all available online now at eco boutique Lavish & Lime. If you have any thoughts or ideas about glass water bottles or water bottles in general, please leave a comment below. We'd love to hear from you!

Living the Green Dream: is this the house of the future?

What's eco-friendly, fantastically livable and costs just about $1.50 per week in utilities? It's called the Cub House. UK designers have come up with an innovative modular steel house that's carbon neutral and looks great too.

Made of encased steel and double glass, the house is thoroughly insulated, it has solar panels on the roof and an air source heat pump so it recovers heat from the atmosphere outside to keep the interior warm and to heat hot water. Running this house won't make global warming worse and it won't break the bank either. It's all about real green living.

The Cub House is easy to install, and being modular you can choose to have just the top or the bottom or both floors. The cost? Nearly $133,000 for a one bedroom and about $390,000 for a five bedroom home.

Find out more about this house of the future here.

For ideas about how to take small steps to greener living, visit Vancouver-based Lavish & Lime. If you have any thoughts or comments about the Cub House, please leave a comment below. We'd love to hear from you.

5 Good Teacher Gifts to Show Your Appreciation

She taught our daughter to read and so much more. We'll be forever grateful to our Grade One teacher this year and so will our daughter, although she doesn't realize it just yet.

You say thanks to your kids' teachers, but we all know there's definite truth to the old adage 'actions speak louder than words'. Here are five good teacher gifts to show your appreciation for the work they did all year long.

1. Inspire Charm Necklace - a sterling silver keepsake necklace that sums it all up with three lovely charms: a rectangular charm engraved with 'inspire', a circular cutout of an apple and for a bit of bling, a clear swarovski crystal rondelle. LOVE the apple.

2. Slingsax Hands-Free Shoulder Shopper - give her - or him- something to be used like this handy messenger-style shopping bag with adjustable ties that rolls down to the size of a piece of large sushi for easy transport in a purse, pocket or glove compartment.

3. Glass Water Bottle - help make spending all day in the classroom a little bit easier with this 22 ounce funky water bottle that's made of non-leaching, tasteless, virtually unbreakable glass. The protective silicone cover comes in six different colours.

4. Garden-in-a-Bag - give the gift of life, plant life that can be enjoyed all summer and beyond. Your child can decorate and personalize with a message the outside of this leakproof bag that contains everything needed to grow pretty violas.

5. Collapsible Shopping Eco Basket - a tried and true favourite that is appreciated all year long whether for shopping, gardening, picnicking or carrying pretty much anything else. Our preschool teacher still brings hers to school every day with her lunch, papers, keys, etc.

For these and other good teacher appreciation gifts, visit online eco boutique Lavish & Lime - packed with hundreds of everday essentials and gifts with an eco twist. If you have any thoughts or comments about the perfect teacher gift, please leave a comment below. We'd love to hear from you!

What to do with Waste in Metro Vancouver

Metro Vancouver is above the Canadian average when it comes to producing waste, according to the Wilderness Committee. A bit shocking given that we pride our west coast selves on our close relationship with nature, on being progressively 'greener' than the rest of the country.

So why all the garbage? The garbage cans on the West Vancouver seawall are overflowing with disposable coffee cups every Sunday evening and the on/off ramps of our highways are often well, rampant with garbage, to the point of being embarrassing.

We all need to take steps to reduce the waste we create - from taking reusable lunch gear, reusable shopping bags, reusable produce bags to recycling all that we can. But in the meantime, what about today's trash?

There's the possibility of burning waste to create energy. The Wilderness Committee and others say this could be a dangerous move. Read more about CTV's investigation into this issue here.

For more ideas about reducing waste and using recycled products, visit online eco boutique Lavish & Lime. If you have any thoughts or comments about our level of waste production or what should be done with it, please leave a comment below. We'd love to hear from you!

The Goodbyn Lunch Box: a morning time saver

Weekday mornings are hectic for most, but for those of us with school age kids, some days they can be absolutely manic. Enter the Goodbyn. An all-in-one lunch box with an alter ego: time saver.

Kudos to those of you who are organized enough to make your lunches the night before. For the rest of us, get a Goodbyn lunch box. Reminiscent of an airline meal tray, the Goodbyn has six different compartments to keep food separate and one lid to seal them all up. That's the secret - one container, one lid.

No longer will you spend precious morning minutes hunting and low for appropriate-sized containers - and their lids - to fit the various parts of little Billy's lunch. Or even better, having a container in hand and trying to figure out what you have in the fridge that will fit into it.

Today's lunch in a Goodbyn. See the funky stickers on the lid? The Goodbyn comes

with nearly 300 stickers for your child to personalize his or her own lunch box.

Simply open up the Goodbyn, put it on the counter and start filling the various compartments with whatever little Susan loves to eat. Grab that box of crackers, cereal, cookies and throw a handful in whichever compartment you like. Put a sandwich in the big one or a wrap in the long one. A banana and granola bar in the top one and raisins in the smallest one. Put grapes in one side compartment and carrot sticks in the other. It feels like you're emptying your cupboards and fridge into this one lunch box. It's so easy - and quick! Plus you'll realize there's no need to buy all those pre-packaged snacks with all their disposable wrapping.

We highly recommend the Goodbyn lunch box. Not only is it BPA, lead, phthalate-free, made responsibly in the USA out of dishwasher-safe, recyclable material and helps cut down on waste, but it's been pivotal in ensuring we avoid getting that late slip on far more than one occasion.

Goodbyn Lunch Box Sale: Save 20% on Goodbyns this Victoria Day weekend at online eco boutique Lavish & Lime. Choose from four bright colours: pink, blue, orange and green. Offer ends midnight, May 24th - limited time only! If you have Goodbyn story, please leave a comment below and tell us about it. We'd love to hear from you!

5 Reasons to Drink from Glass Water Bottles

Have you ever re-used an empty iced tea or other glass bottle as a water bottle? We have. That's why we were so excited when we found these new glass water bottles. They're a bit of a blast from the past (aka glass milk bottles) but with a modern twist - a funky and colourful silicone sleeve.

As soon as we laid eyes on these water bottles, we knew we had to have them. Here are five reasons to drink from a glass water bottle rather than a plastic or metal one.

1. Glass is one of the greenest materials on the planet and is 100% recyclable. It has been a trusted material for centuries.

2. Glass is completely safe. You don’t have to worry about BPA, phthalates or other harmful chemicals that can leach into liquids from plastic bottles.

3. With glass, there's no after taste. Water and other beverages taste better coming out of a glass bottle because glass is taste neutral - no unpleasant plastic or metallic taste.

4. Glass is transparent so you can see all around the inside of the bottle. You can ensure that it's extra clean every time you take a sip.

5. They can look so cool - especially with a colourful, non-toxic, easy grip silicone sleeve and a contoured shape - you won't want to be without one!

And if you're concerned about breakage with glass, don't be - at least with our new water bottle. Staff from the San Francisco Chronicle dropped the bottle repeatedly onto a concrete floor without a crack, thanks to the protective silicone sleeve.

Our new glass water bottles are available in six funky colours. They're custom made in France, with the cap made in Poland. The silicone sleeve is made in the US and the entire bottle is assembled there too. The glass and top are both recyclable and the silicone sleeve can be returned to us. We'll make sure it's forwarded on to where it can be re-ground to make outdoor playground mats or mats for barn animals.

Glass water bottles are available at Vancouver-based eco boutique Lavish & Lime where you'll find these and more ideas about living life a little greener. If you have any thoughts or ideas about glass water bottles, please leave a comment below. We'd love to hear from you!