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Father’s Day is coming up this weekend, and the race is on to secure a good, enticing, enjoyable gift for the men in our lives who grease the wheels and make life exciting. But what do you get for the man who already has every tool from Home Depot and too many ties to count? Why not go sideways this year, and reach for a practical and exciting gift that he’ll love? (That’s my plan, anyway.) Here are some ideas to get you started!

For the closet cook
Cooking has become a more acceptably enjoyable activity for men, and a good many of them show a decided flair for it. Why not invest in a few really excellent kitchen gadgets to help him out?

Men really like to grill best, and summer is the perfect time for him to get some more experience! Try the cookbook Everyday Grilling from Sur La Table. He’ll be able to make everything on the grill, appetizers to desserts!

If he already knows the grilling ropes, a great instant-read digital thermometer can help him hit just the right level of done.

A nice pizza stone is a good investment, too. When not in use for pizza parties, you can use it to bake other yummy things, like biscuits and cookies.

Gadget man-ia

But not every man likes to cook. Some of them just can’t ever own enough gadgets. For some spectacular ideas on what to get to indulge him, try looking at Skymall.com or Brookstone.

Weather stations are pretty neat little things, and the prices on the good ones are coming down. If you need to know instantly how to dress the kids today, don’t wait for the weatherman, just take a peek at this little guy!

Maybe your man is security-minded, though. If so, investing in a home security system could be a good gift to ease his anxiety. There are lots of options out there, and some even come with iPhone or smartphone apps that let you manage your security remotely, so you always have access and control.

Or if your husband is the fastidious sort, you could consider even our own Aquasana shower filter with handheld wand. Clean himself, the kids, the dog, pots and pans, whatever he wants, in clean and healthy shower water!

Being a dad is a demanding job, one that increases stress and tension. Why not get Dad a back and neck massager of some kind? (And when he’s not using it, you can hop right in there and take a whirl!)

There are lots of other ideas out there, but use these to get you started. Use a bit of thought and imagination, and forgo the tie or cufflinks this year (unless they shoot lasers or auto-clean the house or something). And remember the best gift dads can ever get, those three little words they love to hear:

“I’ll clean up!”

We all want to upgrade and beautify our homes, but the problem with making changes these days comes down to two key facts: money is scarce and tastes change. High-contrast color kitchens are trendy this year (lime green and stark white, purple and white), but may not always be. Chrome and black appliances are all the rage, as are granite counters and reclaimed wood cabinets. Some people are also really into making healthy and/or “green” changes, trying to make their spaces beautiful and functional in a way the supports long-term sustainability and health goals. You know what they say about diets: if you want to eat more healthy, stock your kitchen with healthy food, not junk. The same idea can apply to your home: if you make it easier to be good, you will be good more often. And we start the being “good” by not over-reaching our budgets. Living within your means is the hottest new fashion, and we certainly want to promote that!

This year, forgo the massive remodel, and opt to give your kitchen a face lift instead.

Repaint/stain your cabinets with VOC-free paint or stain, of course. Unless your cabinets are just falling apart at the seams, you can probably get away with simply giving them a good hard scrub and a layer of paint or re-staining them. The new look will make you see the space with fresh eyes, trust me!

Get a sink-mounted water filter. (I know, please forgive the plug.) You’ve no doubt heard the recent clarion call to abandon our national love affair with bottled water; the concerns that inform this trend are real and incredibly sobering, and we’ve covered them in other blog articles. But to get the healthiest water, you need to filter what you drink (and bathe in). And for those of you who really want the convenience of a water filter spout in your kitchen, but don’t want to sacrifice your kitchen’s feng shui, we have seven different finishes just for you!

Consider green lighting options. Some older kitchens still have overhead fluorescent bar lights. Yuck. Aren’t we a bit too old and discerning for that? We don’t all have the budget to add a new skylight (which would be the ideal green kitchen lighting) but you have options to make a few changes to the illumination in your kitchen, save some energy and update the look all in one swoop. You’ll be amazed at the difference good lighting can make.

Look into sustainable countertops. There are a number of sustainable, affordable options out there if you’re into getting new countertops. There are the reclaimed wood and recycled paper varieties like PaperStone and EcoTop. Recycled glass counters like Vetrazzo, EnviroGLAS and EnviroSLAB. Ceramic tile can be a good option if you take care when shopping (look for tiles made from recycled material) and use a low-VOC adhesive to lay the tile.

Invest in energy star appliances. You can get some really good models of fridges, microwaves, dishwashers, ovens and stoves out there that look great, don’t cost a ton, and can save you money on your house bills in the long run (and some even come with local or even national rebates for going green!). Make sure they rate well and save lots of energy (some models only barely save you enough to be considered Energy Star compliant, and I’ve avoid those), and recycle your old appliances with your local municipality (or donate them to Goodwill).

What are you doing to your kitchen this summer to improve how it looks and functions? Send us pics on Facebook and Twitter!

Up next time: redo your bathroom with a few key additions or changes and give it a whole new look and feel.

We know from our blogs and our online community conversations that our customers are fans with great love and great loyalty. People who use Aquasana products tend to talk to their friends and family (and sometimes perfect strangers) about how much Aquasana products mean to them and how much our products impact their lives for the better.

As some of you know, we have had an affiliate referral program for some time through which our customers and loyalists speak out and spread the word about Aquasana products. In fact, our program became so large that it outgrew the platform we were running it on! So at the beginning of 2011, we researched and found a new company to host our affiliate program, LinkShare.

The affiliate relationship is basically a channel marketing relationship. Our Publishers (What LinkShare calls affiliates) post links on their websites that go to www.aquassana.com, whether text links, banner images or full-blown product detail pages, and each time someone makes a purchase on Aquasana.com from that link, the Publisher earns a commission*.

There is no cost to join the Publisher program on LinkShare, and if you have a website, adding us is often just a matter of getting the link code from LinkShare and plugging it into your site. Publishers enjoy the ability to participate in site-wide promotions, like the current April 30% off promo, and earn a little something for spreading the word about Aquasana products. Our Publishers range in size from single families who refer their friends and families to substantially sized companies: we welcome all shapes and sizes.

There are several popular Publisher strategies.

The Blogger

The Blogger writes new and fresh content, either reviews or information on water in general or other interesting, semi-related topics, and posts the blogs with links or banners for Aquasana.

The Entrepreneur

Entrepreneurs populate websites with product images and details, like an e-commerce site. (Though this is fine, we do not allow online checkout.)

Coupon Clippers

Coupon Clippers aggregate coupons and coupon banners (from various companies, not just Aquasana), promoting the discounts we offer to our publishers’ customers.

So if you have a website and are interested in participating, check out our information page at www.aquasana.com/affiliates or email our Affiliate Manager at affiliates@aquasana.com.

Thank you for all your continued loyalty and support as we spread the word of healthy, clean, delicious water!

*For commissionable items. Not all products are commissionable, and not all items earn the same commission. See LinkShare site for details.

You recycle. You turn off the water while brushing your teeth. You started doing the laundry in cold water. But despite taking steps to reduce your family’s carbon footprint and save the planet, you still feel slightly guilty about not doing enough.

Green Guilt

Sound familiar? It’s called Green Guilt: the anxiety and self-doubt that we are not doing enough (or that our efforts mean nothing) to reduce our carbon footprint and preserve global resources. Green Guilt is becoming less of a problem in today’s tighter and more stressful economy, since the overriding concern is “Will I have a job in three months?” not “How can I reduce my environmental impact?”, but it still occurs and adds unnecessarily to your stress level.

Don’t beat yourself up

What can you do to avoid feeling this way? Well, for starters, understanding goes a long way. Do your part, do more when you can, and don’t beat yourself up too much if you choose paper towels over cloth for the sake of convenience once in a while. To help you along, I’ve gathered a few extra tips to help you save time and money and get a little greener at the same time:

1) Use a water filter and refillable water bottles. You know how we feel about disposable plastic water bottles. They aren’t really that much safer than tap water in a lot of instances, water leaches plastic molecules, and when we’re done with them they often as not pollute landfills and oceans. Not a lot to love there. But there is an upside to drinking filtered water: not as many of those bottles. I know it’s often a quick decision to make your life easier to just grab some water bottles to toss in the cooler when you go camping, but during the rest of your life, make a concerted effort to use refillable bottles and fill them with filtered water.

2) Walk your neighborhood, not a treadmill. Gyms are all the rage, but are they really worth it? They’re noisy, crowded at all the wrong times, expensive, and they guzzle energy. Plus, those fancy elliptical machines lie about how many calories you’re burning. Try finding a place to walk near where you live—a trail or park that has some good hills. Or just walk or jog through your neighborhood. Do some pushups and sit-ups when you get home. The world will thank you!

3) Carpool. Seriously. I know it’s hardly appealing and takes trust, coordination and sacrifice, but if you can be one fewer car on the road, even once in a while, then you’ll be responsible for cutting down pollution, fossil fuel addiction and household expenditures. Gold star for you!

4) Ask your boss about telecommuting options. Save fuel altogether and work at home a day or two a week, if your job type allows it. Not all jobs lend themselves to working at home, and I am a staunch believer in the value of a tight-knit team, but since a lot of the work that occurs in an information economy happens in your head regardless of where your bottom is, this is becoming an increasingly viable option for many companies.

March 22 every year is World Water Day. And what is World Water Day? Not another Hallmark holiday, I can assure you. World Water Day is an education and awareness program that grew out of the 1992 United Nations Environment and Development Conference. World Water Day 2005 marked the beginning of a Decade of Action, between 2005 and 2015, during which Word Water Day each year would focus on a specific problem facing global water supplies. 2010 was “clean water for a healthy world,” 2009 was “transboundary waters: sharing water, sharing opportunities,” but my personal favorite was 2001’s discussion on “water for health – taking charge.”

World Water Day 2011 is about water for cities and the many issues and challenges facing cities regarding sanitation, waste water and drinking water. According to the World Health Organization, in 2005 40% of the world’s population did not have access to even a simple pit latrine, and 20% did not have access to a source of clean drinking water. I hope advocacy and education programs like World Water Day have improved those numbers, but the situation for so many people is so grim.

There are World Water Day events going on in a lot of cities worldwide today, with the main event taking place in Cape Town, South Africa. Learn about the issues and challenges, and take part in some local events if you have the time.

Ever heard this one? “I want to drink more water, I just get so bored with it! I need taste!”

A-MEN!

Some people are happy with a slice of lemon, some just guzzle water when it is super cold to avoid having to taste it. But there are more interesting ways to liven up your water to make it taste great and still enjoy the numerous benefits to your health and well-being. Our favorite way at Aquasana is to infuse the water with various vegetables, fruits and herbs. We served our three favorite recipes at the Natural Products Expo West last week, and they were such a big hit, we wanted to share the recipes in detail here.

Cucumber Savory

Yield: 1 ½ quarts or 4 servings

Ingredients:

• 6 cups cold Aquasana filtered water, divided
• 20 thin slices cucumber
• 2 lemons, sliced thin
• 4 sprigs fresh thyme, slightly crushed
• 2 sprigs fresh rosemary, slightly crushed

Preparation:

In a 2- to 2 ½-quart pitcher, fill the bottom with about 1 cup of water. Add the thyme and rosemary and use a muddler or wooden spoon to lightly crush the herbs. Add the lemon and cucumber, then the rest of the water. Chill for at least 1 hour. Add ice cubes made from Aquasana water just before serving and enjoy!

Tangelo Dream

Yield: 1 ½ quarts or 4 servings

Ingredients:

• 6 cups cold Aquasana filtered water, divided
• 10 strawberries, sliced thin
• 2 tangelos, sliced
• 4 sprigs fresh mint, slightly crushed

Preparation:

In a 2- to 2 ½-quart pitcher, fill the bottom with about 1 cup of water. Add the mint and use a muddler or wooden spoon to lightly crush the leaves. Add the strawberry and tangelo, then the rest of the water. Chill for at least 1 hour. Add ice cubes made from Aquasana water just before serving and enjoy!

Watermelon Cooler (not served at Expo West)

Yield: 1 ½ quarts or 4 servings

Ingredients:

• 6 cups cold Aquasana filtered water, divided
• 1 ½ C watermelon slices
• 2 lemons, sliced thin
• 4 sprigs fresh mint, slightly crushed

Preparation:

In a 2- to 2 ½-quart pitcher, fill the bottom with about 1 cup of water. Add the mint and use a muddler or wooden spoon to lightly crush the herbs. Add the watermelon and lemon, then the rest of the water. Chill for at least 1 hour. Add ice cubes made from Aquasana water just before serving and enjoy!

Alternative recipes

• Plum and cinnamon (served at Expo West—tasty but subtle, and the plums sink!)
• Pineapple and mint
• Raspberry and lime
• Cilantro, lime and jalapeno
• Tarragon leaves with blueberries and raspberries
• Cucumber, honeydew and mint
• Tomato slices with fresh horseradish
• Strawberry, kiwi and mint

What are your favorite ways to dress up your water? Do you know more infused water recipes? Share your secrets with us!

The Expo was a huge hit! Preparing for the Expo was a ton of work, but our efforts were completely worth the trouble. We met so many lovely people and introduced them to Aquasana and the realities of filtered water, which is always a good thing.

Highlights

New bottle cap colors

We showed off our new bottle cap colors at the show. Everyone loved choosing their favorite color! The blue seems to be the most popular, then red and green. These will be on sale on our website soon—stay tuned!

Dr. Mao

Dr. Mao joined us on Saturday afternoon to sign books and advise people on improving their longevity and overall health. There was a line of people waiting before he even got there! We loved hosting Dr. Mao, and will continue to work with him to help spread the word about the importance of filtering water and taking care of yourself.

New booth
Amid much excitement, we debuted our new booth at Expo West. The more streamlined and softer construction brought people in on all sides, and we got a number of compliments! People especially loved the ability to fill up their free glass water bottles (that we provided) with chilled water from the twin Aquasana water chiller taps at the end.

Infused water

We supplied samples of yummy infused water concoctions for our new friends. From left to right, we served

1) Lemon, cucumber, rosemary and thyme
2) Strawberry, tangelo and mint
3) Plum and cinnamon

Women tended to like the cucumber/lemon infusion the best, and men generally preferred the orange and strawberry. The plum was tasty, but very subtle, and the plums sink, so it didn’t look as appealing as the other two.

Shout outs
And last but certainly not least, we’d like to send a big, happy shout-out to all of our new friends: Seventh Generation, Dr. Mao, True2o, Rodale News, Evolution Fresh, Bert’s Bees, Tom’s of Maine, Kor bottles, Ciao Bella Gelato and all our new friends!

Natural Products Expo West is right around the corner (next week!) in Anaheim, California, and we’ll be there! We have a new booth, some great giveaway items, delicious samples and guest appearances! There will be something for everyone, so come on by and say hi.

Aquasana Oasis, Booth 4178, Exhibit Hall D:

Come visit us at the Aquasana Oasis and refresh from the exhaustion of the Expo: enjoy a bottle of delicious water (and keep your bottle), have a seat, relax. We’ll be sharing some great infused water concoctions each day (while supplies last), so make sure to stop by early!

Featured flavors:

• Tangelo, strawberry, mint
• Lemon, cucumber, rosemary, thyme
• Plum, cinnamon

We’ll be serving the water only while supplies last each day, some come by early!

Special guest appearance by Dr. Mao!

And Saturday ONLY from 3 pm-6 pm, come by to see Dr. Maoshing Ni (Dr. Mao), author and longevity expert. He’ll be signing copies of his latest book, Secrets of Longevity: Dr. Mao’s 8-Week Planner, and talking healthy tips for a long life!

Giveaways:

We’ll also be giving away products every day: drinking filters, shower filters and bottles. If you want a bottle, just come by and tell us you’re thirsty. And to score a filter, follow @aquasana on Twitter and keep an eye out for instructions on how to enter the at-show giveaways.

We hope to see you there!

Did you see Ellen this morning? We sure did!

Spotted: Aquasana made a flash appearance on Ellen this morning with Pam Anderson, actress and spokesperson for Waves for Water. Waves for Water is a non-profit organization dedicated to getting clean water to every single person who needs it. We believe so strongly in their mission and vision to provide families the world over with healthy and clean drinking water that we donated $10,000 to the organization. Pam accepted our donation to help get clean water to people in need on behalf of Waves for Water.

Find more about Waves for Water on their website.

Detoxing your life means more than just losing that holiday weight or nixing the caffeine. It’s a good idea to examine all aspects of your life to uncover places you can cut down on the number of harmful chemicals and contaminants that affect you every day. Here are some places to get the ball rolling.

Filter your water: You know how we feel about this one! I won’t go into all the detail so well covered on the rest of our site, but suffice it to say that filtering both your drinking and bathing water can do wonders for your health and well-being (and peace of mind).

-Did you know that in 2010, one of the top five recommendations of the President’s Cancer Panel for the prevention of environmentally caused cancer is to filter the water you drink? Every water source is different, even in taps from home to home. Variability is driven by local pollutants, water treatment techniques, the age and material composition of the pipes that deliver your water, and the faucet that you use. Even if you have the purest water being delivered to you by your municipal water source, your pipes may leach unwanted contaminants into the water in transport.  Unfiltered tap water can contain harmful contaminants like chlorine, lead, pesticides, herbicides and cysts, and what’s in your water varies by your geographic location and municipal water supply.

Audit your cupboard and fridge: That’s right, I said audit. Maybe the looming advent of tax season has my brain going crazy with the term, but there are a few things you might want to take stock of.

-Sodium tri-poly-what? Anything containing an ingredient you cannot pronounce has got to go. I’m not necessarily advocating a return to the hunter/gatherer diet regimen, but it’s a safe bet that all those complex chemical formulas for extending the shelf life of food is not doing a heck of a lot of good for your body.

-Sell by 1997: Whoops! Check your sell-by dates and toss/recycle the stuff that has expired. If it’s just a bit past the date and you feel comfortable eating it, that’s all right: what I’m going for here is to get rid of items that may have been named in an FDA recall sometime in the mid-90s.

-Green/Yellow/Red: Categorize your cabinet and fridge contents into Green, Yellow, and Red categories. Green being healthy: can eat whenever I want; Yellow being okay in moderation; Red being SPECIAL OCCASION ONLY. I’m not a nutrition expert, but I strive for a mix of 50% Green category foods, 35% Yellow, and no more than 15% Red. (Hey, I never said I was perfect!)

Trash harsh chemical cleaning supplies: Some of the airborne toxins and residues of popular cleaning supplies can do more harm than good to you and your families. And my suggestion for an alternative is… vinegar. That’s right, plain and simple old white distilled vinegar, which is natural, non-toxic, and friendly to the Earth. It’s mildly acidic, which allows it to clean effectively and help keep your family healthy and safe. See www.vinegartips.com for 1001 uses for our lovely (inexpensive) friend.

Check your clothing: The word for health these days is organic, and when it comes to clothing, the story is no different.

-Holy cotton! There’s new and trending research out there that states that the pesticides used to grow that cotton that makes it into our clothing can be deadly. The manufacturing processes add in more chemicals and toxins, and some dyes and ink are also highly toxic.

-Detergent degenerates: And check what you wash your clothes in, too! Those fragrant and ultra-whitening detergents can exacerbate skin conditions like eczema and wreak havoc on people who suffer from allergies, which says nothing about the possible toxins seeping in through your pores. I know some of those organic and non-toxic detergents don’t have the same “get it whiter and brighter” promises that the Big Brands do, but I think I could buy a new blouse a little more often or be more careful if it meant remaining healthy for a few more years.