Rain Tees is a very cool company that sells eco-friendly tee shirts handmade in the USA. Each shirt features artwork from children living in countries facing environmental destruction, poverty, and lack of access to education. And, for each tee shirt sold, Rain Tees collaborates with Trees for the Future to plant a tree in a critically endangered area of the world.
 
I recently did an interview with Rain Tees that you can read here. Today, they’re giving away two tee shirts to one lucky kind lifer! Check it out:

House on a Hill
 
Type: White Kid's Crew tee

Ever wondered what a beautiful day in the Amazon jungle looks like? Dioner Pablo Cerdo Andi of Tena, Ecuador has given us a glimpse. His words ‘I love living in the Amazon because the air is alive’ inspire us all to become part of protecting this precious and valuable eco system.

Joison
 
Type: White Women's Crew tee

Illustrated by Joison Canelos of Ecuador, we named this whimsical design after him. The Joison illustration is a bold, bright, and elegant statement from the eyes of a young child living in the Amazon.
 
To enter for a chance to win these tee shirts for yourself and your (or a friend’s) little one, tell me why the rainforest is important to you in the comments below.
 
We’ll randomly select a winner tomorrow, so get to commenting…good luck!

*UPDATE: We have chosen our winner. Congrats Laura!*

Related Stories:

My Kind Gift Guide
Where Do You Get Eco Undies and Tanks?
My Thoughts On Fur...
Guest Blog: Nola Singer's Kind Jewelry

I have not taken my nursing bra off since Bear was born…I’ve been wearing it for seven months! At first, I didn’t even know I needed nursing bras, or for what, but once Bear was born, I had some questions about what to do with the socks I was stuffing down my shirt (more on this in the future), and how to keep warm and such. Anywho, one day I opened my mailbox and my friend and neighbor Heather, whose baby is one year older than mine, had left me her nursing bras from her early nursing days.
 
They are life saves. And as my body changed over the months, and I started leaving the house a little more, I needed some nursing tanks for my slightly more put-together looks. You know, meetings and such. So, I went on a hunt for organic cotton tanks. They don’t exist! Bummer! Would you buy if they made them? I sure would.
 
Anywho, I found Glamourmom, and loved them. I’ve been wearing their tanks for a month now. They’re so great – they look good under my jackets and shirts and they feel good, while still being functional. The real reason they are essential for breastfeeding is that the little bra strap snaps off for easy boob access. They are great! My favorite one is the striped long tank pictured here, as well as the same style in black. I also love the grey nighttime tank.
 
Win a $200 Gift Certificate to Glamourmom!
 
Just in time for the holidays, Glamourmom is giving away a $200 gift certificate to one kind mama!
 
Check out their line of products here, then leave a comment below telling me what your favorites are and why you or a kind mama (or mama to be) you know needs them!
 
Good luck!

*UPDATE: We've chosen our winner. Congrats TK!*

PS – through December 31, Glamourmom will match any product purchase with a nursing bra donation to Feed the Children…so if you have a kind nursing mama or mom-to-be on your shopping list, definitely check out Glamourmom.

Related Stories:

Selma Blair's Kind Diet
Breastfeeding Basics
More Breastfeeding Info
Exercise for Pregnancy

Eco-jewelry designer Tumbleweed Bead Co. makes their jewelry from recycled materials and natural stones, and all their pieces are handcrafted. This season, Tumbleweed is giving away a set of six gold rings and a pair of large, silver rectangular earrings (pictured above) to one lucky kind lifer!
 
To enter for a chance to win the ring and earrings set pictured above, tell me where you would wear them in the comments below.
 
PS - If you’d like to do some eco-friendly gift shopping, you can get 15% off any purchase from Tumbleweed December 1-20. Just use code kindlife when you check out!

*UPDATE: We've chosen our winner. Congrats Lindsey!*

Recently, our friends at Vaute Couture gave away a winter wardrobe here on The Kind Life. Here is what our randomly selected winner Megan had to say:
 
“I have been a vegan for 15 months, and everyday I continue to learn and grow in this process. A lot of people think that veganism is an all or nothing concept, but because of your [The Kind Life’s] support and guidance I know that it is not. Veganism is about giving your best efforts to support the welfare of animals, our planet, and ourselves. I support vegan businesses by purchasing eco friendly -- 100% cruely free products and I have almost entirely eliminated plastic bags from my life. My family and friends are still not convinced that a vegan lifestyle is possible in all areas of life (namely fashion), however. Winning a Vaute Couture winter wardrobe would be wonderful. It would give me a chance to show everyone that veganism is not only possible, but it is also incredibly fashion forward and warm!”
 
Congrats, Megan! I hope you enjoy your new winter wardrobe!
 
Everybody, stay tuned for more kind giveaways this holiday season! What other giveaways would you like to see? Let me know in the comments below!

Kind designer Vaute Couture makes some of the chicest winter coats, tees, and accessories around, and best of all, everything is 100% vegan.

The Alicia Coat

Vaute Couture is giving away one “Alicia” coat (pictured above), plus a Friends sweatshirt, earmuffs, and a knit headband (pictured below) to one lucky kind lifer. This year’s collection is super stylish and fun, so be sure to check out Vaute Couture’s look book too.

The Friends Series Favorite Sweatshirt

The Vaute Couture Signature Earmuff

The VC Soy HandKnit Feather Headband

To enter for a chance to win Vaute Couture’s winter wardrobe, tell me why you need a new winter coat in the comments below.

Good luck!

PS - Today through December 5th, you can also get 30% off any purchase of a Vaute Couture coat by using code KINDLIFE at checkout.

*UPDATE: We've chosen our winner! Congrats Megan!

At some point in early December, the holiday season has a sneaky way of morphing from dreamy and cozy to stressful and over-budget—like when you’re racking your brain for gift ideas, wondering whatever happened to sleigh bells and crackling fires.

Take a deep breath. It doesn’t have to be like that. The holidays can be magical and nearly stress-free. Because starting now, you can enter for a chance to win $1,000 to spend at Target or Target.com this year on holiday shopping.

And another $1,000 next year.

Yup, you heard us right: Thanks to DailyWorth, FIVE WINNERS get $1,000 this year and $1,000 next year to spend any time at Target or online at Target.com.

Whatever you want, you can get – that’s two whole holiday shopping seasons on us. Target offers a wide selection of eco-friendly products, including Seventh Generation and Alicia’s Eco Tools line. They even have a wide selection of organic products in their health & beauty, food, and baby departments, so being kind with the $1000 won’t be a problem! If it makes your holiday merrier, your new year shinier, or just lifts the stress of holiday shopping, it’s yours.

Here’s how to enter: Visit our website and enter between now and 12/7/2011. Sign up to get one entry—then spread the word via email, Twitter or Facebook.

And the best part is, every time a friend you refer enters, too, you get an extra entry. So enter and share away!

About DailyWorth

DailyWorth is a daily money email for women. It delivers insightful tips, empowering ideas and financial news that are relevant to your life—everything you need to be financially fluent.

Today’s post is proudly sponsored by

Thank you so much to everyone who submitted suggestions for The Kind Life 2.0 (coming soon!). There were so many good ones! Our randomly selected winner made a suggestion I think you’ll all appreciate - congrats Jenna! Here’s what she had to say:

“I would love, love, love to see a companion animal section. My husband and I had been what I call 90% vegan / 10% vegetarian for years. Cheese would be the killer every time. But after reading your book, we went 100% vegan, and we moved our dogs to a vegan diet because we really want our entire home to bekind. Our four rescue dogs are our kids and we want them to live as healthy and happy of lives as we do. Even though they have always eaten super premium foods, we felt tremendous guilt for what we know goes into making their food and for feeding it to them. So we moved them to a vegan food and they love it! This site is wonderful; I applaud you and congratulate you on your two-year birthday! And if you had a kind life for ‘furkids’ tab, that would be the icing on the cake! (For instance: recipes for food and treats, recommendations for companies that are humane and eco-friendly, why spay and neuter is kind, eco-friendly, and why saving shelter animals is kind and eco-friendly...)”

Thank you Jenna - I’ll be posting a blog about the importance of animal rescue soon, so stay tuned! I hope you enjoy your kind gift basket.

Love,
Alicia

Calling all college-bound kind lifers and kind mamas with school age children! EcoTools is giving away three back to school kits from my collection. Each winner will receive the following items:

4-Piece Backstage Vanity Brush Set – Comes with a countertop brush holder stocked with a Finishing Brush, Angled Eye Shadow Brush, and Lash and Brow Groomer

Train Case – A carry-all for your beauty accessories, school supplies, or anything you need to tote around

Deluxe Pencil Case – This handy item has a removable interior case, three interior storage pockets, and enough space to hold your pencils or five of your fave EcoTools brushes

All materials used in my EcoTools collection are earth-friendly, and include tree-free paper, a natural hemp blend, recycled plastic lining, as well as non-toxic inks. The brushes are the softest brushes I have ever used, and are made with recycled aluminum, bamboo, and cruelty-free synthetic bristles. The collection is now available at Target, Walmart, and Walgreens, so check it out next time you’re at the store!
 
To enter for a chance to win an EcoTools back to school kit, leave a comment below telling me how you plan to make this school year your most eco-friendly one yet!

*UPDATE: We've chosen our winners! Congrats, Jessica, Sherry, and Julie!*

Sisters Jenny and Heather have a website called Spork Online, where members can view lots of cooking demos. They also teach live classes in LA. Anywho, I’m happy to present their guest blog about vegan travel to you. Enjoy!

Spork Sisters Abroad!
By Jenny Engel and Heather Goldberg

Whether you’re planning a road trip or an international voyage, vegan travel can be easy and fun if you know where to look. On our annual sister trip, we have traveled to many different places with vastly different cultures. In all parts of the world, from Hawaii to Costa Rica, Japan to Jamaica, and Greece to Canada, we’ve always found the most incredible vegan restaurants and communities.
 
The saving grace for most vegetarian travelers is Happycow.net, which lists vegan/vegetarian friendly restaurants and health food stores worldwide. If you can call some of the locations ahead of time, go for it – in our experience, places have often moved or closed, so it’s best to find out the deets before your trip.
 
And if you’re gonna hit this big world, hit it cute: there’s no excuse to dress like a dork just because you’re on the road. Show the world how adorable you can be without harming a creature! For some rad walking shoes, check out Saucony.com, which has women’s and men’s shoes, veg of course. Our personal fave are the Jazz Low Pro. And you’ll probably need a backpack for all the goodies you’ll buy along the way. If it were up to us, you’d get this one from Matt and Nat. It’s made from recycled bottles, and it’s adorable! 
 
In the off-chance you can’t find great eating options as soon as you arrive at your destination, be sure to pack a few snackies, like mixed nuts or vegan food bars. We aren’t huge fans of dry snacks, but a gal’s gotta do what a gal’s gotta do!
 
When we travel, although we do plan where to eat, the rest of our time is spent getting lost and venturing into a new environment without a solid game plan. One of our favorite tricks for eating well is to look for colleges and universities, because we always have luck finding vegan or vegetarian restaurants close by. In Kyoto, we found insanely delish vegan black sesame ice cream, and in Jamaica we found Ital food, which is usually vegan and super pure. And when you are sitting down to your amazing meal, start up a convo with some local peeps and you may find out about other vegan options in town.
 
If you really want to know how to order like a pro but you don’t speak the local language, Google Translate is your new best friend! It translates anything right on the spot, and you can even learn how to pronounce the words. In Japan, “Watashi-tachi wa bīgandesu” (We are vegan) really saved our little buns, and helped save a few animals. We also enjoyed the food in Buddhist temples, where vegan options abound and are made with positive energy and devotion. A loving meal while traveling makes you feel so comforted that it’s worth trekking to remote temples for the experience. 
 
Another travel secret is discovering that there are ton of subcultures or religions that have naturally vegan cuisine or promote eating vegan foods at certain points in the year. While in Greece, we learned that Greek Othodox beliefs indicate fasting on particular religious holidays – and lucky for us, Greek Orthodox “fasting” really means abstaining from eating animals and dairy, so this culture is quite familiar with vegan cuisine and knows how to prepare it well.
 
If you aren’t planning a big summer getaway, we have just the thing. Our website, Sporkonline.com, brings our cooking classes with recipes inspired by all corners of the world, right to your computer, whether you’re on an island or on your couch! In this membership-based website, we teach a different themed cooking class each month, with archived classes for you to watch whenever you want. You can download our recipes instantly, and you can ask us any kitch questions you may have. In August, we’ll bring Greece to you by teaching you to prepare Seitan Souvlaki with Tzadziki Dip, Greek Lentils with Olives and Pine Nuts, Skordalia (delish garlicky potato dip), and more!
 
And, we’re giving away a free six-month membership to a lucky winner through The Kind Life – we wish you luck! To enter to win, just leave a comment below telling us about the best vegan dish you’ve had while traveling.
 
Spork Foods is a Los Angeles-based gourmet vegan food company owned and operated by sisters Jenny Engel and Heather Goldberg. They offer live cooking classes in Los Angeles at Spork, online vegan cooking classes at www.sporkonline.com, one-on-one in-home healthy pantry makeovers, and recipe development/trainings for chefs, food companies and colleges. Their cookbook, Spork-Fed, will be released in October 2011, with a foreword by fellow fans and sisters, Emily and Zooey Deschanel.

*Update: We've chosen a winner! Congrats Beth!*