Giveaway: Seventh Generation Back To School Kit

In the interest of full disclosure, I received a Seventh Generation Back to School kit with the items described via MyBlogSpark. I received no compensation, and all opinions expressed are my own.

I try to do good in my home - both in what I teach the wee ones, how I act towards others, and how we eat in our house. That extends, also, to how we clean. I remember years ago seeing information about how harmful the fumes from chemical cleaners were and how that aggravates so many underlying issues. While I haven't quite gotten to the stage of making homemade cleaners, I do try to find things that are less harmful to my family and to the earth.

Enter Seventh Generation.

Their disinfecting wipes use a component of thyme oil to kill 99.99% of germs - the same claim many other, harsher wipes make. It's amazing to me sometimes how nature has given us such effective ingredients. And better? It actually smells pretty good, too. It took me a bit of getting used to, but I'm really enjoying them.

The disinfecting multi-purpose spray uses the same thyme oil to disinfect in a spray bottle. The lemongrass and thyme smell they exude when used are fairly refreshing, and again - this makes me feel so much better about using them where the wee ones eat and play, not to mention where I do food prep!

We've been using the Seventh Generation unbleached 100% recycled paper towels. Those took a bit more getting used to. For one thing, they're brown. I am not used to seeing brown and thinking high quality and clean. We tried them out, and they're surprisingly strong and absorbent. They're rougher than the paper towels I usually buy, but they aren't tissues where softness is the most important factor. I try to avoid using paper towels as much as possible, but not everyone in my family is quite there yet, so we go through more paper towels than I'd like. Now that I'm used to these, I really like them - and Seventh Generation makes white paper towels that are whitened without chemicals for those who prefer the more traditional look.

And then there is the facial tissue. Since it's still summer, I was expecting that I wasn't going to have much of a chance to test these out. Lucky for me, a friend passed along her nasty cold last weekend, so I got quite familiar with my new tissues. I love that they're recycled and whitened without chemicals containing chlorine. No scents are also a huge plus, as I'm highly sensitive to them, and our box was super cute. But for a heavy duty cold? I need the tissues with aloe or lotion of some sort. My nose is now a little dry from the multitude of tissues I had to use over the past few days.

This a great back to school pack, as I'm doing my best to keep the wee ones healthy (and in school) this year. I used a lot of these products over the past week to try to avoid spreading my germs and - knock on wood - so far no one else has gotten sick.

This school year, Seventh Generation is sharing tips from best-selling author and pediatrician, Dr. Alan Greene, to help parents protect their child´s health during back-to-school season. Dr. Greene suggests taking the following precautions:

Optimize the immune system

• Reap the benefits of probiotics like those found in yogurt. A recent study showed that children who received enough probiotics daily throughout the cold and flu season had a significant reduction in the number of illnesses they had and, when they did get sick, the symptoms were both milder and didn't last as long.

• Be sure your child is getting plenty of vitamin D from the sun, from food, or from a supplement.

• Build a strong foundation. Good food, good sleep, and good physical activity all help the immune system to flourish.

Be wise about reducing unnecessary exposure to harmful germs

• Teach children the key times to clean their hands in the classroom. The most important times include after sneezing, coughing or using the restroom, upon leaving "high-risk" places (recess, naptime, play stations) and before meals or snacks.

• Sixty percent of teachers surveyed said that they request that parents donate disinfecting wipes to the classroom. Seventh Generation´s disinfecting wipes kill 99.99% of germs* naturally using the active ingredient thyme, a component of thyme oil which is derived from the herb thyme.

• Stress the importance of not touching their eyes, nose or mouth. Germs are often spread when a person touches something that is contaminated with germs and then touches his or her eyes, nose, or mouth.

• Demonstrate to your children how to cover their mouth and nose for every cough and sneeze. This simple maneuver has spectacular results in decreasing the spread of viruses and bacteria floating about the room, waiting to be inhaled.

*Refer to disinfecting product labels for full details

You can also find Seventh Generation on Facebook and Twitter for more information and to keep up with the latest news from Seventh Generation.

Do you want your own chance to try out the Seventh Generation products? I have a Back to School pack that is a duplicate of what I received to give away. This includes a Seventh Generation backpack, two canisters of Seventh Generation disinfecting wipes (one for home and one to donate to your child´s classroom), disinfecting multi-surface spray cleaner, facial tissue and paper towels.

So what do you have to do?

First of all, let me stress that you must follow all the rules. If you do not follow the rules, your entry will not count!

This contest is open until Wednesday September 8 at 7pm CST. I must have a valid way to reach you, so leave me your email address in your comment or be sure your profile has your email address visible. No duplicate comments will count. This giveaway is open to US residents age 18 and older. Winners will be selected via random.org and must respond within 24 hours of being notified by me or I will select a new winner.

Mandatory Entry: Tell me your best tips to keep your kids (or yourself) healthy and germ free.

Bonus Entries (leave a comment for each entry - if you put it all in one comment, I'll count it as one entry):

1) Earn one additional entry for following me on Twitter and tweeting this contest (leave a link to your tweet as your comment).
2) Earn one additional entry by following this review blog publicly via Google Friend Connect.
3) Earn one additional entry by following my “regular” blog Honest & Truly! publicly via Google Friend Connect.

Good luck!