Blog Giveaway: These Are a Few of My Favorite Things


You may have noticed that I'm a supporter of companies with a conscience, sustainable business practices, and Fair Trade certified products. Now I'd like to tell you about my aim to buy as many American-made products as I can. Let me tell you friends, it's not easy. Almost every label I look at in Target shows that the item was made overseas. Although I don't have anything against the citizens of overseas nations, I do care a great deal about the people of this country I call home and would like to support the economy of the nation in which I live.

When we lived in Switzerland, I used to search high and low for the Made in Switzerland label. Now I'm looking for Made in USA. Not only do I help keep American manufacturing jobs alive, I'm also minimizing my carbon footprint. Because it's tricky to find everyday items made in America, I do a lot of my shopping at Made in the USA Forever, an online shop based out of Southern California.

With that in mind, let's move on to the giveaway. I've rounded up some items inspired by three of my favorite things:

Companies with a Conscience
Fair Trade 
Made in USA

I'm giving away a full-sized bottle of Aveda's Rosemary Mint Body Lotion, a 12 oz. bag of locally roasted Fair Trade certified coffee beans from Cafe Virtuoso and a set of dry measuring cups in berry red made from 100% recycled plastic (Made in America).

To enter for a chance to win:
Leave a comment here telling me what you do for your morning coffee or tea. Do you use a french press, drip-coffee machine or your local barista? Check out this post to read about our routine.

I will use random.org to generate the winning comment number at 6 pm PST on June 15. Good luck! (P.S. You don't have to live in the USA to enter. I can ship worldwide!)

14 comments

  1. I will have to check out that website you listed. you are right, most things we purchase are from overseas. I think that's why I enjoy etsy,there are many home made items.

    for our morning routine, we prepare turkish style coffee (boil the water on the stove, then add sugar then expresso, mix and pour in a cup) my family finds this type of coffee tooooo strong for their taste, so when they visit we use the drip coffee machine.

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  2. For me it is the regular drip coffee machine, but for my husband he drinks Greek coffee or Frappe.

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  3. I too try and buy sustainable and eco friendly items whenever possible. And recycling whenever we can.

    As for the morning cuppa -we like our tea - made the Indian way - boil tea leaves in hot water, add milk and sugar. Sometimes ginger and cinnamon too :-)

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  4. Now that's a coincidence. I was just explaining to my kids today how we should support our local commerce. By local I meant like "round the corner local". Will have to rethink that one! How on earth did you manage to buy things made in Switzerland (apart from food)?

    Anyway, I didn't realize that give-aways can work overseas. Thanks for inviting me. ;)

    I dare say we are Swiss and therefore use a Nespresso coffee machine because I am pretty sure if I go check it'll be made in China. ;)

    Have a lovely weekend.

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  5. oh gosh, i would love to be entered to this! i love aveda products but rarely spend the money on them! for morning coffee i use a french press...oh how i look forward to it right when i wake up!

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  6. My husband makes the tastiest coffee using a regular drip coffee maker.

    Elaine R
    emrosser@shaw.ca

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  7. Unlike most Italians, I drink more tea than coffee. I love my Earl Grey! I have tried sooooo many different brands, in all kinds of price ranges - and in the end, I found my absolute favorite to be Sainsbury's own brand (Sainsbury is a supermarket chain in the UK), which happens to be fair trade :-)

    But I do like the taste of coffee added to things, like desserts or coffee drinks - My cappuccino absolutely needs good espresso in it, and in summer I love an iced vanilla soya latte from Starbucks :-)

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  8. I use a francis francis espresso machine and starbucks pods for my morning cappuccino. mmm mmm good.

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  9. I tried going local for my face products, using a swiss product when we were in CH and tried a British product when we came to the UK. Have to admit I'm back on a US product now...

    Mornings, I drink Redbush tea. Not much of a coffee person but my husband still likes his nespresso which moved with us from CH!

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  10. Well, I don't drink coffee, but sometimes I have tea. Usually it's Earl Grey. I do make my husband's coffee each morning and we have a Keurig coffee maker for that.

    Great giveaway!

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  11. i make my own with my coffeemaker - and i put some delicious 1% milk in there ;)
    My morning routine includes a shower and coffee as I dash out the door - im not a huge morning person
    mermont84 at yahoo.com

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  12. I am an english breakfast tea drinker, but my wife is a coffee fiend. We have a keurig so we are both happy, but on weekends i bust out the french press for my wife b/c she says it tastes better.

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  13. My husband and I make a big pot of regular coffee!
    kimagg53@yahoo.com

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  14. Thanks everyone for entering!

    Random Sequence Generator

    Here is your sequence:
    13
    4
    9
    11
    6
    5
    3
    10
    2
    8
    12
    1
    7
    Timestamp: 2011-06-16 04:22:02 UTC

    The first number in the sequence is the winner! Congrats to Kimberly who wrote comment number 13. An e-mail is on its way to you!

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Thanks for stopping by. Words cannot express how much I appreciate your comments!

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