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6/8/2023 Shopping for Plastic-Free and Biodegradable Products and Clothing on the Internet. Products Made from Natural Materials.Read NowTrying to shop plastic-free is very challenging these days, whether on the internet or in-store. Thankfully there are getting to be more companies that are creating low-to-no plastic products that are biodegradable and clothing that is made from natural materials. I’ve even found quite a few options on Amazon. I will be sharing the products in this blog post that I’ve found and tried; most of them are on Amazon and Etsy to make shopping quick and easy for more people. I will be adding to this post as I find more products. Please note that Amazon’s packaging may contain plastic. Sometimes I get shipments from them in the brown paper envelopes and boxes with brown paper air pillows, and sometimes I still get the plastic envelopes and air pillows. I do try to recycle or reuse them. Also, depending on the company, they may put their product in plastic packaging, even if the product itself is plastic-free. But, at least it is cutting down on plastic. *This blog post contains affiliate links from Amazon, Etsy, and other companies. I may get a small commission on qualifying purchases through these links (at no additional cost to you). All company names and trademarks are the property of each respective company. I will organize the products into sections below, and continue adding more as I find and use them. Plastic-Free Products for Home and KitchenThis small business makes beautiful and non-toxic kitchen utensils, cutting boards, serving trays and more. They make their products from wood such as white oak and walnut. You can check out their store on Amazon: From another small business making wood kitchen products is this black walnut and stainless steel dough whisk. It works amazingly for mixing dough, but I also have been using it to froth milk for beverages and whisking ingredients in general. This whisk is featured in my YouTube video that you can see here: This is a nice set of 2 metal storage trunks. I love using them to store things around the house. They are plastic-free, except there was a plastic wrap around the middle of each one in the packaging.  Clothing Made From Natural MaterialsHere are garments made from cotton, wool, and other natural materials. No polyester allowed! Polyester clothing is basically like wearing plastic. I don’t include any acrylic, nylon, or spandex products either. Although I’m trying to switch over to organic cotton, I am including non-organic cotton and material below, as it takes time and money to switch over to organic. Step by step is certainly better than not at all, so sometimes a middle-of-the-road approach is helpful to make it more doable and realistic. These pants are 85% wool and 15% cashmere. I got a pair and they are so soft and comfortable. I can even wear them in the summer, because they are so breathable.  These pants are so comfortable. You can visit the company's Amazon store below: Natural and No-Plastic Products for Bath and Body CareIn this section, I will be sharing plastic-free and low-plastic products for bath and body, and makeup too. Foraged Fields makes completely plastic-free skincare and makeup. There is no plastic in the packaging or shipping either. Also, the ingredients are pure, basic, gentle, and healing. A small business run by a skilled woman with such a kind heart.  Entirely plastic-free skincare products and makeup. Even the packaging and shipping material is plastic-free! Blinking Owl Acres is another small business run by a talented and kind businesswoman. Many of the products are plastic-free. A few of my favorite items from this skincare and makeup company. Dr. Stamler’s Sensitive Skin Care products are mostly plastic-free. He makes soaps and skincare products from organic ingredients. He is a very generous businessman and donates all profits from his small business to charity.  Soap and skincare products made by a doctor. Largely plastic-free.  Radius is a family-owned business since 1983 and made in USA. Their floss, toothbrushes, and toothpaste are plant-based, biodegradable, cruelty-free, and even ADA accepted (a bonus to find in a natural brand!).
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5/16/2023 Helpful Accessories to Use with iPhone: Wireless Keyboard, Mouse, Adapters for USB Flash Drive, Digital Camera, Headphones, and MP3 Player. Using an iPhone Like a Laptop! Wireless Printing Too!Read Now Here is some of the tech I’ll be sharing about to use with an iPhone. I also use a wireless printer that I will talk about towards the end of this blog post, and some headphones. As an Amazon Associate, I may earn a small commission on qualifying purchases through links on my blog. Thank you for your support! Amazon and each company name I mention are trademarks of each respective company. I have found several useful accessories to use my iPhone (and iPad) like a laptop: two different wireless keyboards and mice and an adapter that enables me to access my USB flash drives, digital cameras, and MP3 players on my iPhone. I also print from my iPhone using a wireless printer. Below you will find photos I’ve taken of the products while using them and also links to the products on Amazon, which is where I bought them. It is mid-2023 (updated late 2023: still using iPhone 8 and these accessories). All these products are supposed to work on other models as well. All these items work great with my iPhone and iPad (and some are universal to work with Android and laptops as well), but I can make no guarantees that they will work with yours since there are so many variables with different phone models. That is why I like buying on Amazon: they have a quick and simple return policy if something doesn’t work. So, I’m only sharing from my experience: try these items if you want! I don’t make the products, I just use them.  Shown here is the power bank plugged into my phone charging it while I use it. So handy to have a small portable power bank.  This pocket sized power bank is perfect for charging my iPhone on the go. I get 2-3 charges from it. Additionally, I can still use the phone while it’s charging. I like that I can fit this power bank/charger right in my purse. I use this power bank often to charge my phone. It’s holding up great. The little plastic cap that covers the tip is connected to the power bank with a strip of plastic. The strip disconnects sometimes from the power bank when I pop the cap off, but it’s easy to poke the plastic piece back in place. It’s only there to keep the cap from getting lost; it doesn’t affect the power bank itself.  This power bank/charger comes with a USB charging cord. Have to charge up your power bank so you can charge your phone!  This keyboard is thin, has almost flat keys, and isn’t full size. It connects easily with Bluetooth to the iPhone…it’s a universal keyboard so it should also connect to Android via Bluetooth.  The keyboard comes with a USB cord to charge its battery with. The battery lasts a long time on each charge.  Notice the compact size of this slimline keyboard compared to my laptop. If you want a full-size keyboard, see the next one I talk about further down in this blog post.  This keyboard has backlighting that you can turn on and off.  By tapping a button, you can change the colors of the backlighting. It makes typing more fun!  I also use this keyboard with my iPad. Simple to connect with Bluetooth to a variety of devices.  This keyboard and mouse connect wirelessly with the included USB receiver. With an adapter (see below), I can also use them with my iPhone. This keyboard and mouse each use two AAA batteries. The keyboard has full size keys that are raised; just like an old desktop computer! It reminds me of typing on my old Gateway 2000, which was the first computer I ever had and the computer on which I learned typing with the Mavis Beacon Teaches Typing program. Good times! For people today who are used to flat, slimline keys, they may not enjoy these “old-fashioned” keys. I feel rather nostalgic about it and prefer typing on this style of keyboard. It’s much easier to type without looking at the keyboard, because the keys are defined and separate from each other, which makes it easier for the fingers to not slip over on the wrong keys.  Here is my setup for using my iPhone like a computer: a full size keyboard and mouse, mousepad, and the adapter to connect the wireless USB receiver to the phone. All products linked below. This is the laptop desk I’ve been using since August 2022. At the time of this writing, it is currently not in stock on Amazon. However, I’ve linked it anyway, as Amazon shows similar ones.  This trackball mouse connects via Bluetooth and is also supposed to be universal. I am using it with my iPhone. This is the printer that I use to print wirelessly from my iPhone. It works great for printing shipping labels and documents. It also copies and scans. *HP Deskjet Wireless Printer* TIP: When setting up the printer, HP really pushes joining their Instant Ink program. I wouldn’t recommend it, unless you leave your printer connected to WIFI all the time. They require your printer being connected to the internet literally 24/7 to stay in the program. I don’t leave my printer on all the time, so I had to leave the program. No big deal though; I just buy my ink on Amazon.  This awesome adapter made it possible to connect my USB flash drives to the phone to access the videos, photos, and documents on them to transfer to my phone—or to transfer files from my phone to the flash drive. Simply plug the USB flash drive into the “Camera” port on the adapter. Plug the adapter into the phone and open the “Files” app on the phone. Tap the “Browse” from the app and then you’ll see the USB drive in the list. Tap on it and you can view and transfer files. This adapter is probably the most versatile and handy tool I’ve found for iPhone: I can put memory cards in it from my digital cameras, put the USB receiver in it like I mentioned earlier for the keyboard and mouse, access my USB flash drives with it, and transfer MP3 music to and from my MP3 player with it. The “Camera” port on it is what I use for all USB stuff. The memory card slot is what I use for my memory cards, of course. It has two ports for them: a regular size and micro size. It also has a lightning port, so if you need to charge your phone while using the adapter you can just plug in there.  I’ve transferred music to and from several models of MP3 player to my iPhone. Some will connect with the USB cord through the “Camera” slot on the adapter. Others only connect with the memory card.  Go to “Files” app after connecting the MP3 player to the iPhone with the adapter—whether you use the USB cord or the memory card, the transfer steps are the same.  Then go to “Browse” and, in this case, the MP3 player is listed as NO NAME. Tap on that.  You can just tap the item you want if you only want to transfer one at a time, but to transfer multiple at once: tap the three dots in the corner and then tap Select. You can then select multiple items.  You can then Select, Copy, and Paste songs to a folder.  Tap the Share button (box with arrow pointing up) and then you can Save the items you selected or Copy them to Paste: depending on what devices you are using.  With some digital cameras, you can just open the Photos app after connecting the camera and tap on Import, instead of the Files app method. Here is the MP3 player on Amazon that is featured in the above photos. It is the MP3 player I’ve been using for awhile now. It has a built-in speaker or you can use ear buds/headphones. This set of two headphone adapters is handy for connecting 3.5mm jack headphones to iPhones with lightning port. I use these a lot as I have various headphones and earbuds around the house that have the 3.5mm jack. I like this set of two so that I can have an adapter in a couple difference places for quick access. Headphones work for listening to music, watching videos, and filming videos (and doing voiceovers), but I have still not found any non-Bluetooth headphones or earbuds that work with phone calls or FaceTime on iPhones! I don’t like using Bluetooth for headphones or ear pieces, as oddly enough it makes me dizzy. But, as far as I know there aren’t any non-Bluetooth wired headphones/earbuds that work on phone calls with iPhone. Even the Apple wired ear buds still require Bluetooth to be turned on! I use these headphones for listening to music and for recording sound on videos. I am pleased with them. I just plug them into the previously mentioned headphone adapters and then plug the adapter into the iPhone. That’s it, extremely easy!  Here I’ve got the headphone adapter connected to my headphones, ready to plug into my iPhone. Just plug in and it’s ready to use for listening to music/videos and recording. Not for phone calls or FaceTime though. Why is it like that with iPhones!?  This is the charging cord I’ve been using lately for my iPhone. It comes in a set of two, which is handy to have an extra. It reminds me of the old spiral phone cords, except it doesn’t tangle like those did! This is another adapter for iPhone (and iPad) that connects them to a TV via HDMI cord. It also has a lightning port, so that you can charge your device at the same time. I’ve connected both my iPhone and iPad to my TV with this and an HDMI cord to watch YouTube. Sometimes it takes a few moments to connect and other times right away, but for the price, it’s been a great deal.  An adapter to connect iPhone and iPad to TV via an HDMI cord, and has a port for charging the phone as well. That way you can still charge the phone while the adapter is plugged in. The HDMI cord I’ve been using was a great price and it’s lasting well. I use it to connect my laptop to the TV sometimes too.
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