My favorite season is here - impetuous, glorious, unpredictable, long awaited SPRING! - bringing more warm days, more hours of sunshine and teeny green shoots appearing in our garden. These are all wonderful events which remind me how much I appreciate beautiful Evergreen and our amazing Earth.

As you probably know, April is Earth Month. Our family at TallGrass is celebrating by raising money for water conservation in several unique ways. Please read below and click on our newsletter's Special Events link to see how you can join the fun and make a difference at the same time.

In the meantime, you'll find me outside as much as possible, enjoying spring! Hope you'll be doing the same!

Traditional health and beauty products are loaded with chemicals that can be absorbed into your skin and nails. Just read the labels on some of the products at the cosmetic counter and then go to TheGreenGuide.com, an online magazine owned and operated by the National Geographic Society, to get product reports.

Then, read the labels on Aveda products and you'll find pure, natural, organic ingredients, sourced from indigenous populations, with packaging made from recycled products and designed to be re-used.

At TallGrass, we use Aveda's organic, pure and natural products in our treatments. The Sinfully Mocha Body Scrub (50 minutes / $95), for example, applies pure cocoa, vanilla essential oil and aqua therapy seal salt to scrub away spent skin cells and moisturize deeply. Our Caribbean Therapy Manicure and Pedicure (50 minutes / $45; 65 minutes / $75, respectively) use the healing ingredients of the Caribbean - sugar cane, coconut, avocado and passion fruit oil - to improve the condition of nails and cuticles.

Our guests consider time spent in the natural setting at TallGrass to be quiet, peaceful, healthful and relaxing. We are proud to be able to accomplish that without imposing on Mother Nature.

For Earth Month, Aveda's Light the Way limited edition candle is made with 100% organic ingredients of organic palm stearin, organic beeswax and organic soy oil and has an environmentally-safe paper core wick. The candle features the distinctive signature of Aveda's Color Conserve aroma, derived from 100% certified organic essential oils - a soothing blend of rose geranium, lavender, ylang ylang, peppermint, and grapefruit.

This April, 100% of proceeds from sales of Light the Way candles will go to organizations dedicated to saving threatened and endangered plants. It is the first of a new series of limited edition candles - each with a new aroma made with certified organic essential oils - that will be available during Earth Month every year. (Retail $10)