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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.

Guest Post by Dr. Maoshing Ni (Dr. Mao)

It’s January, that time of year when we start to see cases of colds and the flu pop up like flowers in May. Each year, one in three Americans suffers from the common cold or the flu. In past blogs I have suggested natural ways to support the healthy functions of your immune system in raising your resistance against the common cold. Common sense practices include washing your hands frequently with soap, and wash your face at least twice a day. Refrain from touching your nose and face with your hands except with tissues. Also, protect your upper back and neck area when it’s cold or windy by using a scarf, because this is where most of the colds will attack the body leading to stiff and achy neck and head. Here are six more natural strategies to avoid the common cold and the flu.

1. Rest up to restore your immunity. Studies show that your immune system function drops by an average of 60% after just three nights of poor sleep, so be sure you are getting plenty of quality rest, at least eight hours each night. Can’t fall asleep or stay asleep? Try taking a hot bath at night before bedtime or soak your feet in Epsom salt bath for 15 minutes. It will help relax your mind and body in preparation for your sleep.

2. Eat sweet potatoes and mushrooms. These foods help optimize your body’s immunity function. Sweet potatoes contain higher amounts of vitamin C and beta-carotene than carrots, as well as being rich in plant source DHEA, a potent immunity booster. Certain types of mushrooms, like shitake, maitake and reishi, contain polysaccharides, sterols, coumarin, vitamins, minerals, and amino acids that have been found to increase immune functions and activities.

3. Garlic keeps more than vampires away. Throughout human history garlic has been loved as well as loathed. Loved by those who enjoy its intense aroma and pungent flavors and loathed by those who are repelled by its odor. The strong odor of garlic actually comes from a sulfur-compound called allicin that studies have found to be a powerful antibacterial and antiviral agent. Not only has it been shown to be effective against colds, flu, stomach virus and candida yeast, it has also been shown to be effective against antibiotic resistant strains of bacteria such as MRSA. Besides repelling microbes, apparently even vampires don’t like it either.

4. Vitamin C to your rescue. The late Nobel laureate Linus Pauling did pioneering research on the benefits of vitamin C. It is regarded as the safest and most effective nutrient. A recent look at over 100 studies on vitamin C in the last 10 years revealed many conclusive benefits of the vitamin. Not the least is its well-known property of supporting immune functions especially when the immune system is suppressed by stress. It may not prevent the common cold or the flu but it can reduce the risk of complications like pneumonia and lung infections. One can safely take up to 2,000 mg of vitamin C daily.

5. Look to nature for ammunition. Throughout Europe and Asia, pharmacies offer herbal medicine alongside drug medication. It’s indicative that people in other cultures recognize the benefits of nature’s herbal remedies. As a result these cultures are generally healthier than ours. Luckily the U.S. is catching up. It’s easier now more than ever to find herbal remedies in your local drug and health food stores. Herbs with known immune system properties include ligustri, Cherokee rose, honeysuckle, astragalus, and all heal (prunella). These and other herbs constitute a formula called Perpetual Shield that I put my entire family on during the cold-flu season.

6. Play stronger defense with acupuncture. Acupuncture is part of a complete medical system from China. By stimulating select acupoints in the body to elicit innate healing responses, acupuncture has been used for thousands of years to support the body’s defense against diseases such as the common cold. Studies of cancer patients undergoing chemotherapy have found that acupuncture increases production of white blood cells — an indicator of an active immune system. Other studies have found acupuncture to possess immune-modulating properties, which means that it can also help decrease inflammation in conditions like allergic asthma and arthritis. For a directory of licensed acupuncturists in your area, log on to acupuncture.com.

If it’s too late to prepare, and you are already suffering from the runny nose, sore throat, headache and fever of cold and flu, we often recommend to patients the Cold and Flu Formula that contains natural herbs like burdock, kudzu, forsythia, indigo, mint and others that support healthy immune function, and comfort cold and flu symptoms. I hope you use these suggestions in times of health and sickness and that they serve you well.