Stay Healthy During the Holiday Season with These Natural and Delicious Tips

It’s hard to stay healthy during the holidays with all the sweets and treats around. But one way to make more good choices is by starting your day with them. If you start your day healthy, you feel good and when you feel good, you want to do more things to keep feeling good.

One way to do this is through the power of the green smoothie. We work hard to keep our homes clean, but it’s important to be just as devoted to keeping our bodies clean and strong.

Green smoothies are surprisingly easy to make, delicious and come with tons of benefits. Don’t know the benefits? Here are just a few:

More energy.  If you start the day with a green smoothie you will notice a massive increase in the amount of energy you have.

Weight loss.  Increasing the number of fruit and vegetables you eat in a day gives you body an opportunity to shed excess fat and water weight built up from toxins stored in the body.

Reduce junk food cravings: When you increase the amount of healthy foods in your diet and decrease the unhealthy foods you will naturally stop craving junk food and crave more of the same healthy food.  You may find yourself adding more fruit during the day when you start eating more healthily.

Better skin: The increased fluids and power of natural foods in your diet will hydrate your skin and reduce your wrinkles and improve acne problems making you look younger.

Boost immune system: Incorporating green smoothies into your diet will help boost your resistance to colds, flu and other bugs and feel generally amazing. After having a cold or the flu all winter long, I didn’t have a single bug for 3 years after introducing green smoothies to my diet.

Improve your digestion: enjoy the detox and get your intestines off to a flying start today. Chronic IBS has been known to clear up after these changes in diet occur.  One thing is for sure, a green smoothie is guaranteed to get everything moving in the morning.

One of the simplest ways to make a green smoothie is by putting the following base recipe into your favorite blender:

• 8-12 oz water
• 1 cup of spinach
• ½ cup chopped kale
• ½ squeezed lemon
• 2 bananas
• Any other fruit you feel like adding! Some ideas would include 1 orange, 1 pear, 1 cup of berries and even ½ an inch of ginger if you’d like an extra kick!

As you can see, it’s easy and comes with so many benefits. Counter the sugar of the holidays with the minerals, fiber and nutrients of the green smoothie. You’ll feel great and won’t regret it for a minute.

At Bayes, we’re committed to your health. We believe and advocate for green cleaning and also green living. Join us. Care for your home, your health and for the planet.

Green Family Living: How To Get The Kids Involved!

We all want to work together to save the environment but how do we get the kids involved? Being green is a family affair and works better when everyone contributes.  But it can be overwhelming when you don't know where to start! We know all about green family living, so we'd like to give you a few ideas on how to get the kids involved! 

Reduce, reuse, recycle:  Teach your children to limit waste by getting them reusable lunch boxes and snack storage containers, how to reuse plastic bags, and show them how to separate recyclable items.  Also, bring a reusable shopping bag when you take them shopping with you and ignite their creativity by asking them for ideas about how to reuse old items. Teach kids to turn off lights when they leave the room and to turn the water off while they are brushing their teeth.

Plant a garden: It doesn’t have to be a major yard remodel; you can start small by planting veggies seeds, flowers, or herbs in pots- any of which kids will beam with pride as they watch them grow.  Let kids dig in the dirt and experience all the fun things the nature has to offer. 

Get outside: Take kids for a walk in nature and talk about everything you see, and how important it is that we take care of the environment.   Let them explore the beauty of nature with a hike by a stream, creek, or flowering trees. 

Go to the farmer’s market: This is a double bonus as you may also get kids to eat more veggies by letting them pick out what foods they’d like to try.  You can explain along the way that the vendors are local farmers, the food available is grown close to their house, and every produce item there has a particular season for growing and cultivating.  

Volunteer together: Is there a local beach or park clean up available? A  neighborhood recycling drive? It’s a fun family activity to do together while teaching children the importance of giving back. You can also check out opportunities to volunteer with Habitat For Humanity; a non-profit that helps build homes for families.
Read books together about the environment:  There are several children’s books out that talk about the environment, and are great to read together.  Some books to choose from could be:

The Trouble With Dragons by Debi Gliori
Hey! What’s That Nasty Whiff? By Julie Jarman and Garry Parsons
The Wombles to The Rescue by Elizabeth Beresford
The Lorac by Dr. Seuss

Get rid of clutter: If you’re still overwhelmed with a mess of a holiday or birthday presents, decide on a day to get rid of old toys, clothes, and other clutter lying around the house.  Take the items to a donation center together or have a garage sale.  Explain to your children the importance of only buying things you actually need.
You Be the Example: The “do as I say, not as I do” doesn’t really fly if you want your kids to pick up healthy behaviors.  They are watching you, so lead by example adhering to green habits yourself!  It will be fun when you all do it together!

Being green together is the best way to make for a better future! We are dedicated to creating a cleaner future for the world, which is why we at Bayes, created our line of organic cleaning supplies!  Please stop by and let us be apart of your green world!

5 Simple Tips to Making Your Home More Eco-Friendly!

Green living isn't as intimidating as you might think!  There are many simple ways to make your home more eco-friendly and today, we'd like to share just 5 of them with you!  Be on the lookout for more! 

• Don't heat an empty house! During the winter, turn down your thermostat to 68 degrees F when you're home and 55 degrees F at night and while you're away.

• Turn off the lights when not needed, even as you go from room to room in the course of your day (or evening) According to ENERGY STAR, as much as 20 percent of a home’s energy use comes from light bulbs. Using a compact fluorescent light bulb (CFL) requires about 75 percent less energy than incandescent, but lights that are turned off save the most energy of all.

• Wash clothes in cold water (and honestly, the new cold-water detergents do the job just fine) According to the US Department of Energy, a washing machine uses up to 90 percent of its energy to simply heat the water in a laundry load, and the higher the temperature, the greater the cost to you and the environment. Keeping your cool will save energy and make your clothes last longer, by using cold water.

• Clean the lint filter in your gas or electric clothes dryer, to realize big savings. Tests have shown that keeping the lint trap clean may provide savings of up to $34 in energy costs each year (ENERGY STAR). 

• Better yet, use a clothesline or clothes ‘tree’ and keep the dryer shut off. An outdoor clothesline costs only a few dollars. You might also want to consider buying an indoor drying rack, so you can keep up your energy efficient ways even when it’s raining. 

Start with those simple tips and you'll quickly be on your way to a more green way of living! As a bonus, even your energy bills will be lower!  We do what we can because we care for you and the environment.  This is why we at Bayes have created our quality line of organic, non-toxic cleaning supplies!  Have a look, get in touch and let us know how we can make your home a cleaner place! Have a green, clean day!

Live Better With These Green Habits for the Home and Whole Family

Living green doesn't have to mean turning you life upside down.  There are little

things you can do here and there that make a big difference on the environment, your home life and family. Try these tips out and live better with greener habits for the home and whole family.

Relax While Driving

It doesn't matter what kind of car you drive; fuel-sipping hybrid or hulking gas-guzzler, you can improve your gas mileage, save money, and reduce your impact on global warming just by changing your driving habits. Be relaxed while you drive; when we are in a hurry or irritated and react by speeding, accelerating or breaking excessively, we burn unnecessary amounts of fuel. Calm down.  You will get where you need to go.  When you relax, you'll save gas and possibly yourself from an accident. 

Eat Seasonal, Locally-Grown Food

Eating locally and eating in season are two of the most important parts of a sustainable diet, and they really go hand in hand. Eating locally allows you to minimize the number of food miles your purchases travel, and eating in season is the best way to get the most out of a local diet. Also, your best and most available organic produce will be local and, naturally, in season. Even better, if you can walk or bike to a local farmer's market, you'll really be reducing fuel usage and know that your food is the highest quality and freshest possible.

Skip the Bottled Water - Bring Your Own!

Bottled water typically costs about 10,000 times the cost of tap / filtered water, so by using your own mug instead of buying one individual, disposable plastic bottle every day, you could save $500 a year. Obvious and easy change!

Bring Your Own Bag to the Store

Paper or plastic? How about neither? The fact is both paper and plastic shopping bags impact the environment considerably. Instead, choose more durable, reusable canvas shopping bags. These green bags are popping up everywhere these days, so you’ll have no problem finding one to suit your style. 

Buy Green

Show businesses that consumers want products made responsibly and sustainably. Next time you’re shopping, take the time to look at the labels on the products you buy. Try to avoid over-packaged items, household products with toxic or non-biodegradable chemicals, and choose items made of recycled materials or are organic, fair-trade, or LEED certified. 

Bayes decided to go into business out of a desire to meet the need that so many people are asking to be filled.  Our cleaning products are organic, non-toxic and gentle on the spaces in your homes. We encourage you to make small steps to big change in your home as you make your cleaning routine more green.