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Making Free Shipping Easy

5/24/2015

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Have you ever been to a web store that offers free shipping, only to find that they're purposely landing your orders just under the free shipping amount, forcing you to over buy in order to get free shipping?

Well if you can't stand that, we're right there with you. We're actually excited when we can offer you free shipping, and we try to package our products in a way that lets you get free shipping by spending exactly $49.

For instance, buy 6 bags of sugar-free "Tru Chocolate" snacks for $49. Or multiple bottles of many of our supplements for $49. And in each case, get free shipping.

Have you ever wanted to use garcinia cambogia to try losing weight? Well from our research, you have to use quite a lot to get the kind of positive results shown by studies. Rather than just selling you one bottle and wishing you well, we prefer that you NOT buy any, or buy an amount that's been shown to work. So to make sure you're getting the amount recommended by these studies, we've even packaged 5 bottles together for $49 and free shipping. Yep, under $10/bottle and free shipping.

Our goal, after all, is to form a kind of partnership with our customers. We're not just here for profit -- we're here to learn with you and to share things we find interesting, healthy, or progressive in some way. We want to have fun here, and hope you'll have fun engaging with us.

So what kinds of products would you like to see carried by Avalon Select?
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One GreyWater System California Needs

4/20/2015

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For this week's Earth Day, we thought we'd share a solution that shouldn't just be widely used, but that could also be an important key to the drought facing California.

One of our efforts here at Avalon Select will be to increasingly raise awareness about the need for greywater systems in a number of states struggling with water shortages. Of course this especially calls California to mind right now, but their urgent drought is just an indication of how important it is that we start looking at water conservation in general.

There are a lot of greywater systems and designs available online, and we've taken a shine to the detailed website offered by Art Ludwig, author of Create an Oasis with Greywater. Among his specific designs is one for "Laundry to Landscape," which is one of the greywater sources California is currently look at.
Laundry to Landscape
Laundry to Landscape System from Art Ludwig. See link above.
EcoWasher
And why not? The average family of four does at least one load of laundry per day, and even an efficient washing machine uses at least 20 gallons of water per load.

One problem: you cannot use greywater with detergent in it to water your grass and trees. Even rinse water, which is what's typically used, contains some level of detergent because clothes come out of the wash with traces of detergent still in them. (That's why you're left with a scent from the detergent.) But even if you use the rinse water, you're still throwing out a bunch of wash water that could have been used if only it was free of detergent.

Enter the magic of EcoWasher -- the system that lets you successfully do laundry without detergent ... or hot water. (It connects to your current washing machine.) Those two points alone can save a family hundreds of dollars per year. They also support the planet and family health. But in the case of states facing drought, laundry without detergent seems like a critical way to get more greywater for the lawn and trees.

Of course a lot of the water in a home can be used as greywater, and it's important to look to additional greywater solutions. But we think that one greywater system California should look to immediately is this option of "laundry to landscape" in conjunction with EcoWasher in order to dump relatively clean water into the environment. (Just sullied by the laundry.)

See, EcoWasher uses ozone to clean -- sure, a "no no" in California when it's airborne, but a great idea in water systems. Ozone is used in hospital and hotel laundry systems, and in the food industry to clean and disinfect foods. It's very powerful, yet it converts back to oxygen in the water in 15-30 minutes. We've used it for years to clean our own laundry. Now it's California's turn so it can face this looming problem of drought.

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Corrections Facility to Use Ozone Laundry System

4/19/2015

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Here at Avalon Select, one of our favorite products continues to be an ozone laundry system that eliminates the need for detergent and hot water when doing laundry. And meanwhile is healthier and better for the planet. And meanwhile can save families hundreds of dollars a year.

I know, it's a mouthful, but one totally worth saying.

As more evidence that this kind of technology is being taken seriously by industry, this article points out that (among other green initiatives) Shelby County Corrections will implement an ozone laundry system "for cleaning and eliminating bacteria, removing the need for hot water."

So much the better if we didn't need prisons in the first place, but it's nice to see this kind of progress in more and more places, and we know that ozone laundry will continue throwing detergent out of people's homes as it has for thousands of families already.
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Sleep Awareness Week

3/6/2015

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GE Align PM
This week leading up to Daylight Savings Time is Sleep Awareness Week. (Sunday spring ahead and lose an hour of sleep ... unless you get to bed early.)

While there are stories about famous people who accomplished a lot on little sleep, keep in mind that these are just anecdotes. Study after study confirms how important it is to get adequate sleep -- and while these don't agree exactly on how much is ideal (this probably varies by person), 7-8 hours per night seems to be a pretty consistent recommendation.

In fact, since REM cycles are about 90 minutes long, getting 7.5 hours of sleep means getting in about 5 solid cycles. (Waking at the end of a REM cycle -- when you're in the lighter stages of sleep -- helps you to feel more ready to wake up, as opposed to being woken from the middle of a deep sleep.)

At the same time, the science seems to say that sleeping too much is also a problem. So it's important to rest the body, allow for all the healing that takes place when we sleep, and then get up and start being useful with the day!

Of course for many people, getting to sleep at night is easier said than done. Millions of people struggle to fall asleep easily. Well one trick is to skip the "blue lights" before bedtime. This includes TV, computer, and phone screens as well as daylight colored CFLs or LEDs. Light bulbs now sell with "color temperatures" on them, measured in degrees Kelvin, or "K." Incandescent bulbs are a warm 2700K, and new LEDs can mimic this pretty well. But watch out for those rated 3500K and above prior to bedtime. (On the other hand, blue screens can help to wake you up in the morning.)

Some bulb manufacturers are making bulbs that they claim will help you fall asleep more quickly based on this science of color temperature, and it seems GE's Align PM might be best suited for this purpose. Yes, it's an expensive bulb, but it's rated to last more than 20 years.

Meanwhile, there are plenty of supplements designed to help you fall asleep more easily, and our Sleep Tight GABA supplement is one of the most unique. GABA's been around for this purpose for ages, but it's known to barely cross the blood brain barrier and get where it's needed. Our specially fermented form of GABA is designed to address this and get you results.

However you do it, consider spending about a week getting to bed earlier and getting a healthy amount of sleep. See how you feel and maybe you'll make a habit of it. We know we feel a whole lot better about getting our day started and being productive when we've gotten in plenty of shut eye!

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Avalon Select Launches New Store

3/1/2015

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We're excited to announce that we just gave our store an overhaul that we think provides our customers with a cleaner and easier experience when shopping with us. We've also updated the look on many pages of our website and are working hard to develop more information on every product we offer.

We also look forward to adding new ways of learning about products, like this audio on our EcoWasher page. This is one way we can communicate more "one on one" directly from our founders to our visitors, our community.

Our goal is to have a 2-way conversation with you so we can all discover the best progressive products out there. When possible, we'll even try carrying your favorites and every making them more affordable when we can.

So what do you think? Let us know how the site's working for you and whether there's some exceptional product that you buy on a regular basis and that you'd like to see us carry.
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Good Housekeeping Misses the Mark on Ozone Laundry Review

2/11/2015

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EcoWasher
"Good Housekeeping" keeps people informed on a good many things. And recently, it sought to help its readers by reviewing a fairly new household technology that lets you do laundry without detergent or hot water. It does this by charging cold water with ozone and other oxidizing elements that provide the cleaning power.

Unfortunately, the review was exceptionally brief, vague, and didn't give any sense of the enormity of this technology -- for instance, not only can it save a household hundreds of dollars a year, but it supports better health and a cleaner environment to boot.

Given that it's highly rated by people who actually use it, and that we love it in our household, I felt it important to offer another viewpoint for those considering this technology. (Yes, we sell one brand of this technology. We sell it because we love it.)

In their review, Good Housekeeping applied 19 stains to various fabrics and tested against detergent. It also used sardine oil to apply a smell to determine what removed odors the best. And they tested towel softness. Their results?


  1. The devices didn't "zap stains" better than plain water. Well in my science fair experiment with my son, plain water and ozonated water both beat detergent in cleaning a dirt stain. In fact, both cleaned it perfectly well, while the detergent left subtle brown marks. So what does it mean that these didn't clean better than plain water? Does that mean the plain water cleaned well? Or that the units didn't clean well? We've heard from so many people pleased with the cleaning power of this technology, I'm betting the ozone water cleaned well.

    And unlike water, we know that ozone water is cleaning, disinfecting, and removing odors. So it is doing more than water alone. And now a pretty important point of context you don't get from this review: ozone water has been used for decades by hospitals and hotels in their laundry process because of ozone's cleaning power. Ozone water is also used in the food industry to sanitize food. It's only recently, though, that this technology was made small enough for home use. Reviews like this make it sound like someone just came up with a pie in the sky idea, but this is nothing more than technology once again making something affordable to the masses and empowering them with a better solution.

    On the same note, we do NOT claim that cleaning with ozone is designed for zapping stains. It's designed to replace detergent and hot water, which it does very well. We still recommend pre-treating for stains.


  2. This water made towels softer than water, but not as soft as detergent + softener. First this clarifies that the ozone water is doing something more than water. And while making this comparison, the review doesn't emphasize this: detergent and softener are toxic and remain in your fabrics and get dumped into the environment (in your waste water) and cost a lot of money. In our opinion, ozone cleaned fabrics come out quite fluffy. If there was some small advantage from the toxic option, it still wouldn't impress me. I don't want to breathe those toxins all day long or sleep on sheets with toxins still embedded.

    Fabrics and washing machines are also both expected to last much longer when not exposed to these gunky cleaning products, and hot water also helps to break fabrics down more quickly.


  3. They seem to say that this technology removes odors better than water (and that's our experience) but "it didn't beat detergent." I'm confused: does that mean it did as well as detergent? Similar to saying it didn't zap stains "better than" water, this is a vague statement that leaves me scratching my head.

    But the other point here is that, with detergent, it's not very possible to see how well detergent removes odors because detergent tends to cover them up. Again, with toxic elements that you breathe all day long because they're embedded in your clothes and sheets and towels.

I'm all for educating people about the pros and cons of technology, especially so they don't make bad buying decisions. But ozone laundry technology is one of the coolest things I've come across, and I think it's a shame that a vague and partial review like this one with a platform like "Good Housekeeping" has the potential to lead so many people away from something that could make a really positive difference in their lives.

But I'm so pleased with having it in my life that I'll continue to sing its praises and hope that the message is heard. Again, I think it needs to be used correctly and with realistic expectations. We still pre-treat stains, and because of the static that can build up in a dryer, we use dryer sheets from Whole Foods with a gentle smell from essential oils, and we end up with wonderfully clean and great smelling laundry free of toxins. And we end up saving a whole lot of money every year too.

Check out EcoWasher, the ozone laundry system we sell, which I feel comes with better features than any other brand. You can also explore all ozone laundry systems on Amazon if you prefer (but we'll miss you).


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Weight Loss by Electronic Implant?

1/19/2015

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We all know (to one degree or another) the importance of maintaining a healthy weight. And since so many people struggle with obesity or simply being overweight, weight loss supplements and programs are everywhere, many making unfortunately miraculous claims and suggesting that they're some sort of universal solution.

One new option includes an electronic implant in the nervous system. This has shown some success along with side effects, which is common to any drug option that likewise blocks natural signals. And interestingly, in its first trials, placebo worked almost as well. So is it really worth having a nervous system implant?

We sell weight loss supplements, and believe that each can play a unique role in helping with weight loss. They do this by providing the body with nutrients that help the body in natural processes that assist with losing weight. In some cases, this involves brain signals; in others it involves metabolism, and so on.

But we acknowledge that these are part of a larger process of making new life choices, and are supportive of those choices. This can involve some level of exercise or activity, sleep, food choices, and more. We believe that education plays its own role in making the right choices when you're ready for change.

On that note, we are working on an in-depth article that will teach the basics about several areas of weight loss. Our goal will be to provide an honest look at several elements that play roles. We will post here once we've finished this article, and hope it will support you on your own weight loss journey if you're on one.

Do you have any topics you think ought to be considered in this article? We'd love to know so we can look at including them.
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Dangers of Laundry Pods ... and Other Detergent

11/9/2014

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Did you know that thousands of children each year are exposed to laundry pods, prompting calls to poison centers across the United States? In fact, at least one child has died from ingesting a pod, underscoring the danger of surrounding ourselves with poisonous chemicals. Especially when we design them in a way that makes them look like candy!

But in our opinion, this is just the tip of the iceberg. Most people over the age of 5 aren't likely to eat laundry pods, but almost everyone uses laundry detergent, and most of these are still highly toxic.

True, we're not in the habit of drinking them, but we wash our clothes with them, and these detergents never fully wash out. That's why you can smell them after a load of laundry is done. And while some people like the smell, others recognize how unnatural they are, and don't feel well when breathing them.

The fact is, if they're toxic and you're exposing them to your skin all day and breathing them all day, you are chipping away at your health on a daily basis. We wonder why we're unwell these days, why so many immune systems are compromised. We don't think it's just about laundry detergent, but about all the chemicals we're exposed to along with inadequate nutrition. But we think that laundry detergent is part of the problem.

This is why we're such big fans of detergentless laundry systems like EcoWasher, which we use and love in our own homes and encourage our loved ones to use as well. So ... what about EcoWasher for you?
EcoWasher
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Consumer Reports Misleads on Detergent-Less Laundry Systems

10/18/2014

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EcoWasher Laundry System
I'm a fan of Consumer Reports, as I think they can do the kind of testing that helps to educate consumer buying decisions. But their tests aren't always perfect, especially when they don't understand the factors outside what they're testing. And in a recent review of detergent-less laundry systems (like the one we sell, the EcoWasher), they really missed the boat and unfortunately misled consumers.

So here we'll take a look at their comments on these systems and share what you really need to know.

Let's start with how detergent-less systems work. In short, they run cold water through a system that produces ozone and other oxidative elements in the water that are meant to not only pull dirt from laundry but also help to disinfect.

Much larger systems are used in hospitals and hotels to help with the laundry cleaning process, and ozone is used in water by the food industry and in air purification when people are not around to breathe it in heavy doses. Smaller home units have only become available in the last couple years. We retail the EcoWasher because it works on both high-flow and low-flow washing machines; has a model for those with hard water; and also offers a "nano-silver" option for those who are interested.

While other companies may make bolder claims about its cleaning power, the most accurate idea is that this ozonated or oxidated water replaces the need for detergent. And since it works better in cold water, you never need to run warm or hot loads of laundry again. Just these two points would save most families $100+ per year (and in some cases much more), and there are other reasons why it saves you more money and offers other benefits to health and the environment.

The problem with the Consumer Reports review is that they purposely stained a bunch of fabric and tried washing it with an ozone laundry system and were disappointed with the results because apparently they were expecting the ozonated water to be a miracle worker. (Well, it kind of is if you look at all the benefits. Read on.) From the article, they did not bother comparing this with the same swatches cleaned only with detergent. Detergent-less laundry doesn't claim to remove deep stains. In fact, we advise that you pre-treat as always. And yes, some stains could remain, as always.

When we talk about ozone laundry systems, we don't suggest that it will clean everything. We suggest that it successfully replaces detergent and the need for warm/hot water, which is a huge money saver. (See my demo of its cleaning power below.) We also suggest that:

  • Your washing machine will possibly never smell again.
  • Your laundry will be fluffier because it won't be matted down by chemical residue from detergent.
  • You'll no longer have your skin in contact with chemical residue all day long, and you won't be breathing that residue, which is better for your health.
  • Your laundry should last much longer, as hot water and detergent break down the fabrics.
  • Your washing machine may last longer because it doesn't build up chemical residue.
  • You will use less energy (heating water) and will stop dumping chemicals into our ground water, so it's better for the environment.

So just testing to see if a detergent-less system could remove deep stains misses so much of the point about these systems.

On a positive note, Consumer Reports did test the ambient ozone levels from these machines and confirmed what EcoWasher has told us -- that levels near the washer remain below the safety threshold set by the EPA. (Their article says "FDA," but the EPA sets these standards.) Those who are hypersensitive to ozone still won't want to use a system like this (or at least step away while it's being used), but most people shouldn't have any problem with it, and the smells (which some people enjoy) near the washer dissipate shortly after a load of laundry is done.

Of course the bottom line is whether it really cleans as well as detergent. I personally feel it cleans better. I like the non-chemical smell of my clothes afterwards. And basically we have cleaned our family laundry this water for a few years now. We would never want to go back. My son and I actually did an experiment where we rubbed top soil on three socks and washed them: one in water only; one in ozonated water; and one in water with detergent.

The water with detergent did the WORST job. Although it's hard to see in the picture below, it left some subtle stains. The water and ozonated water cleaned better, and I know from experience with our laundry for several years that -- had the socks been smelly -- the ozonated sock would have smelled fresh coming out of the laundry, and the one cleaned with water only probably wouldn't have.

Interestingly, the sock cleaned with ozone was the only one that dried wrinkled free -- a result we weren't expecting.

Dirty Socks
Clean Socks
Cleaned using (left to right): water, detergent, ozone.
So you can see why I personally feel the Consumer Reports review of detergent-less laundry systems missed the mark, and why I feel this is such important technology for saving money, promoting health, and promoting a cleaner environment.

Buy EcoWasher

Lowest Price Allowed Online


If you're an Amazon junkie and just don't want to purchase through us, then explore ozone laundry systems on Amazon. But be forewarned that when you buy below our pricing, you're probably not buying from an authorized dealer and will not get a valid warranty. Plus with us ... you can also choose a lovely little free gift, which we'll send separately. (You have to visit that link to choose your free gift and add it to your cart.)

We hope this response to the Consumer Reports article is helpful and you'll consider giving ozone laundry a try!
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More about Cacao Health Benefits

7/28/2014

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CaPow! Cacao Energy Supplement
While we've often seen information about the benefits of dark chocolate (which comes from cacao) on the heart and circulation, we just ran across a study specific to its benefits for smokers with peripheral vascular disease, where the arteries of the limbs gradually narrow because of plaque build-up. This is similar to the problem that seems to lead to heart attacks, but causes problems in the arms and legs instead.

Dark chocolate (and not milk chocolate, which has much lower levels of cacao) helped to dilate the arteries in smokers, which of course helps with blood flow. This is another example of why cacao is being looked at by companies that believe it can become a serious medical product.

This is why we recently wrote about our excitement to carry Tru Chocolate, but we're also super excited about our own cacao supplement called CaPow! This product combines 150 mg (per tablet) of cacao with several other ingredients to provide an awesome, smooth energy boost. If you love the sensation of jitters, this one isn't for you -- but if you love just having energy and feeling awake, this is a great combo.

Of course one big draw to chocolate is the taste, and if you're looking for a treat, then we recommend Tru Chocolate. But if you're looking for the benefits of cacao without the sugar or other unhealthy ingredients, then CaPow! could be a great option for you.

Since we're sharing the study's find for peripheral vascular disease, we should point out that CaPow! isn't intended to address that or any particular disease. Those in the study would have been taking more grams of cacao in their daily dark chocolate regimen than CaPow! offers, since the purpose of CaPow! is to boost energy (and assist with weight loss). We just love to share the latest on chocolate studies, and to share the great cacao-based products we have!

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