I thought I would share this with everyone. My husband and I are shopping for a new bed. A friend of ours recommended this site when he was shopping for a new bed recently.

http://www.whatsthebest-mattress.com/

I would read through carefully and follow the instructions/tips. We saw every trick in the book.

Here are my recommendations in addition to “whatsthebest-mattress.com”:

1. Without a doubt, you MUST know what you are looking for in terms of the type of bed you are looking for. In the store is not the time to try to figure out if you want a pillow top, foam, plush, etc. If you wait to do this in the store, you will be pushed into buying something that is not right for you. My husband and I knew this before we walked in…we wanted queen, no pillow top, and as firm as possible (concrete would be good), and that we were not spending 2k on a bed and frame.

2. Do not waist your time in stores that DO NOT specialize in beds or mattresses. The likely hood of you speaking to someone who actually knows what he or she is talking about is slim to nil. These are also the type of stores (Sears, Raymore and Flannigan, Carolina Furniture) are where you are likely to find the most expensive beds or mattresses.


3. In the case for my husband and myself, we found that these stores (the not specialized stores) did not carry the type of mattresses we were looking for. We were looking for a coil count of 980-ish. Repeatedly we were shown counts of 500 or 600. In the land of Mattresses, the higher the count, the more firm the bed. We had one sales lady (I won’t tell you the name of store, but “two names say it all”) tell use that coil count should not dictate our comfort and that we should consider rethinking how we are approaching this. Basically telling us we were wrong.


4. Watch out for those extras (delivery fees, assembly, slip covers, warranty charges, etc). The industry standard is 10 years for a warrenty. If a store tells you anything else, leave. If they try to have you pay for a warranty, leave. Delivery is free at all stores, but if you do not ask that will give them license to charge you huge fee. The first thing out of your mouth when you are greeted is “what is your stores policy on delivery?” The other extras you do not need and can easily pick up at Bed Bath and Beyond or Target for a fraction of the price.

In exploration for ways to diminish out impact on the planet, we find out that many suggestions turn out to be sales pitches for items that are well beyond our budget. Plus, some ideas about how to green up our life are almost impractical to understand, let alone implement.

One concept that is neve touched on....the use of Chem Lawn.

If you really want to be Green, stop using something on your lawn that contributes to cancer, birth defects, leaches into the drinking water, and soil. So what if you have clover and dandy lions in your lawn. Is having a perfect lawn worth the possible damage done to the environment?

Yet, these are the same people we see shopping in Wegman’s’ or Tops buying organic products and resin free plastic bottles. These are the same people we see driving Hybrid cars and shopping with reusable bags. is it the idea of being Green what they like? Are they just following the latest fad? Or are they doing it for show for all of public to see? “look at me, I’m green”. I'm truely stunned at the number residents in my neighborhood that do this.

Think about this, pesticide application rates for farmers are 2.7 pounds per acre, while homeowners (and lawn care companies) slather on 3.2 to 9.8 pounds per acre. According to a recent Virginia Tech study, homeowners use up to 10 times as much chemicals as farmers. These chemicals get tracked into our houses on our shoes and pets. An Environmental Protection Agency study found outdoor pesticide loads build up in carpets and can remain there for years, where they do not degrade from exposure to sunlight or rain. (I found the information for this at the following Link.)

www.refusetousechemlawn.org/home

So, I've been a bit negligent over the past few years about being Green. Something happened to me in the past few weeks and it is like I woke up. I'm actively thinking about what I'm doing in my home.

Now that I'm "awake", I thought I would share with everyone else.


Shopping and Cleaning

Ecobags
Bringing your own bag when shopping saves plastic bags. Visit www.ecobags.com

Method Home
Method offers some cleaners that are dye- and perfume-free, nontoxic, biodegradable, naturally derived and never tested on animals. For more information, visit www.methodhome.com

Mrs. Meyers cleaning supplies
All of their cleaning supplies are made with natural essential oils, are biodegradable and phosphate-free. For more, visit www.mrsmeyers.com.

Seventh Generation products
Seventh Generation is one of the leading brands of nontoxic household products. For more information, visit www.seventhgeneration.com.

Shaklee
This company has been producing natural cleaning products-everything from dryer sheets to stain removers-for 50 years. Call 800-670-6251 or visit www.shaklee.com to save 33 percent on the Shaklee Healthy Home pack and 15 percent off all other items at Shaklee.

Green Home
This is just the epicenter of green products.
www.greenhome.com/


Water bottles

Nalgene water bottles
These water bottles are durable, inexpensive, can be used repeatedly and are widely recyclable. For more information visit www.nalgene-outdoor.com.

New Wave Enviro Products
Corn-resin bottle with filter ($8.99) provides pure, clean drinking water and can be reused up to 90 times, and the bottle biodegrades in just 80 days. For more information visit www.newwaveenviro.com or call 800-592-8371.

SIGG water bottles
Using a premium reusable bottle like SIGG greatly helps reduce unnecessary environmental waste caused by plastic PET water bottles. Get more information at mysigg.com.

I'm so glad hockey is starting back up. Wahoo!

I love my husband. He's totally into OLA (off leash area) park and wrote this out of control rant about the "unwritten" do's and don't at OLA.

The "unofficial" Amherst dog park is at the Amherst State Park off of Mill Street in Williamsville. On any given night you will find 20 to 30 dogs "off leash" running through the apple orchard. .

The "official" Amherst dog park is not yet open. That is located at Paradise Park at near the intersection of Casey Road and Paradise Road in Amherst. Casey Road intersects with Transit Road in Amherst.

I've been to the Buffalo Dog Park. It is not what people think. I personally had this impression that any Joe from on the street was showing up with their dog. Boy was I wrong.

It is near the Buffalo Rowing club on the water. (Buffalo's first off-leash area is in LaSalle Park next to the old Colonel F.G. Ward Pumping Station.) It is clean and quiet. The only people at the park are dog people and the occasional high school football game.

There are rules that have to be followed in order to bring your dog into the park.
1) The dog MUST be over 4 months of age.
2) Your dog MUST be spayed or neutered (when age appropriate).
3) Your dog MUST be up to date with all vaccinations (including flea and tick).
4) You, the owner, takes responsibility for your dog's actions. If your dog can not behave appropriately, you and your dog are asked to leave.
5) Pick up after your dog. If you didn't bring a "potty bag" one will be provided for you. The City of Buffalo provides generous trash receptacles.

People who go to this park with their dogs have no problem telling you to leave if you can't control your dog. There are breads of all sizes and ages there. Most of the dogs get along with each other. Those that don't... again, the dog and their owner are asked to leave.