Listen up Stimulistas. No matter how exhausted you are, you MUST remove your makeup before falling into bed. Your skin needs to breathe and you need to clean the oil and pigment from your pores to prevent acne issues. We know, we know…it's just seems like to much some nights which is why facial cleanser cloths are so amazing.

We like the Kaia Bamboo Cloths; they contain gentle ingredients to cleanse and remove dirt and makeup without stinging or burning. No rinsing required! Each cloth is made from 100% natural, biodegradable bamboo (great for the environment) and contains no alcohol, fragrance, parabens or sulfates. Each package contains 30 cloths so you'll have a month's supply and you can use both sides of the cloth - one side for eye makeup and lipstick and the other side for your facial makeup. 

As is the case with most items that are good for the environment and a more healthy option for our bodies, Kaia Bamboo Facial Cleanser Cloths are more pricey than the brands available at the drug stores. You can buy Kaia at Canadian online retailer goneshopping.ca for $20.99 per package.

We love discovering something new, especially when it's local and eco-friendly.

Do you remember your grandmother's collection of souvenir silver spoons? You know, the ones that hung on the wall in the wooden displays? While they were popular two or three decades ago, they don't exactly fit in with the home decor styles of today.

North Vancouver company Mum's Creations, has created Smart Spoon; a re-purposed and up-cycled version of the silver spoon that features modern phrases like "tnx" and "lol" written over top of antique paper. The wired beading is the final touch, creating a modern vintage feel that adds a touch of whimsy to tea time.

Smart Spoons are available online for $12 each from Mum's Creations.

Now that the kids have been back to school for almost a month, are you noticing that your cutlery supply is dwindling? Each day we pack a lunch and include the essential "tools" and in just a short time we realize that those utensils aren't coming back home.

Now you can save your good cutlery and send them to school or work with a Spork.  The Light My FIre Spork is a reusable, 3-in-1 utensil. It's a spoon on one end and a fork/knife on the other. The Spork is very lightweight and compact so it can fit into even the smallest lunch bag and it's dishwasher safe.

Light My Fire has also created the SporkCase; a custom made, environmentally friendly carrier that can hold two Sporks at once. Do you have a little one in your life? Then they need the Spork Little; a smaller version of the Spork without the serrated knife edge.

The Spork with SporkCase is available at House of Knives for $8.00 for the adult size and $9.00 for a set of 3 of the child-sized version. You can also order the Light My Fire Spork online from the Vancouver based, eco-friendly online retailer Lavish and Lime for $3.00 each or a 4 pack for $11.50.

It happens all the time. You go through the drive thru and are handed a steaming hot beverage that practically burns your hand. You can "double cup" it or put a sleeve on it all you want and it's still hot. Not to mention the additional waste that is generated by using more paper products than necessary.

While one option is to carry a thermal travel mug with you, sometimes you just don't have it handy. Umbra has a great little product called the Dandisleeve. It's a pretty, rubber coated handle and collapsible sleeve that will hold a variety of cup sizes. This reusable handle/sleeve combo is the perfect accessory for the die hard drive thru person.

The Dandisleeve is available at La Belle Vie at 5709 - 176th Street in Cloverdale for only $5.99.

Did you know that one bat can consumer up to 1200 mosquitoes in one hour? We didn't either, but after spending the last week in the Cariboo, also know as "mosquito heaven", we've come to appreciate how much bats contribute to controlling the mosquito population. So, how do you encourage the bats to hang around your home and do their job?

With a Bat House, of course. Typically made of wood, bat houses come in a variety of styles and sizes. Your choice depends on how many bats you want your house to accommodate as well as how you want it to look in your yard.

Successfully attracting bats to their new home depends on a few factors including where you mount the house and the amount of sunlight it receives during the day. Also, the darker the colour of your bat house, the more heat it will retain thus giving bats the warmer environment they crave. For more information on how to attract and retain bats for an eco-friendly, natural bug control option, visit Bat Conservation International.

You can purchase your own bat house from a variety of sources. Wild Birds Unlimited in Langley has a selection starting at $30 for a do-it-yourself kit and go up from there. There's also a few Canadian online resources including Canadian Bat Houses (as shown in top left photo) and For the Birds Nature Shop (bottom right picture). Prices online start at $88.