Over a period of about 7 years now, we have been slowly changing the way we live our lives in order to be healthier and kinder to our environment. It started with listening to a radio broadcast featuring Linda Chae. "We are being poisoned, does anybody care?" she asked. The things she revealed in that interview were terribly shocking to me at the time. Like many, I actually thought I was buying quality cosmetics and personal care products. What a joke. Seven years later, after extensive research of my own, I can say that there almost is no such thing as safe cosmetics or personal care products. I think I know of 2 or 3 in all that i would buy at this point, although I no longer bother. There are simply too many chemicals and combinations of chemicals to avoid, it is easier to make my own products (and much cheaper!) however if you do buy, the principle ones to avoid would be: methylene chloride, ethylene glycol, acetone, ammonia, toluene, dioxins and borates, formaldehyde (normally not listed), diethanolamine (DEA), triethanolamine (TEA), sodium lauryl (and laureth) sulfate, propylene glycol, polyethylene glycol (PEG), triclosan, quaterniums, EDTA, sodium hydroxide, imidazolidinyl urea, parabens (methyl, propyl, butyl), FD&C colours, and fragrance.
Linda Chae started the Toxic Free Foundation to educate the public on the poisons we are exposed to on a daily basis. EWG tries to do the same. So does the well known David Suzuki. Still trying to save us after all these years. So began my journey down this, so far, still sparsely populated road. I threw out all of my personal care products that day. Quite literally. I did find some safe products to use now and then, but they often were expensive and/or went out of business after a few years. I learned to make soap (the homemade soaps for sale in stores all had toxic additives in them!) I learned to like not being doused in scent. I learned to wash my hair without shampoo. I learned to love coconut oil and so did my skin! I learned to make bug spray with essential oils (works better too!). I learned to make hair gel and hairspray. I learned alternatives to feminine hygiene products on the market (like the Diva Cup). I learned to be a very discriminating shopper. This is the tip of the iceberg. So what do you do when you no longer can trust your toothpaste, your shampoo, your favourite skin lotion? You begin researching what your grandmother's used before the cosmetic industry took over our lives. You rediscover baking soda (a million and one uses!), vinegar, organic oils, essential oils. The list goes on and on. In the beginning it was hard to give up conveniences. However, now we don't even miss any of them. Really. The boys do not use anything other than water to wash their hair...both of them agree that their hair has never been easier to manage. We girls use baking soda to wash our hair, with an occasional vinegar rinse. Our hair is light, soft, and mine hasn't been so curly since I was a teen! Baking soda is also a great tooth powder. Mixed with salt it also helps keep your mouth very healthy. Baking soda and salt will also shine your silver, clean your oven, remove stains from laundry, etc. Vinegar (5%) is a great disinfectant. In fact, in one study, the only thing to out perform vinegar in sterilizing meat cutting boards was, ...wait for it....running water. That is right. Running water clears more bacteria off of a surface than any industrial cleaner there is. Spraying the surface with vinegar afterwards takes care of the stragglers. Not even bleach was so effective! Using it to wash your floor means no more worries about bare footed children or pets walking in chemicals afterwards! Vinegar cleans windows too. Apple Cider Vinegar cures a sore throat within hours. Yes, even strep. Just ask the husband, who finally got desperate and gargled with the dread ACV (multiple times). Presto, Strep throat gone by bedtime. Coconut oil is the healthiest oil to cook with; the healthiest oil to care for your skin. It is the only oil to be made up of medium chain fatty acids. I could write an entire book on coconut oil and it's benefits, but others already have. Coconut oil was a key ingredient in curing my eczema. It works quite well as a sunscreen (not quite as well as sesame oil however), and it smells fantastic. Don't overlook honey, from our friends the bees. Honey releases hydrogen peroxide (low levels) when mixed with fluids. Use it to lighten your blonde hair, or put it on a boo-boo under a bandaid. Don't forget to eat it, too. It has been used to cure ulcers. If I could only have two personal care ingredients, they would be baking soda and coconut oil. Cleaning up my personal care regimen was just the beginning. Once on the path to a toxin free existence, one starts to look around. Plastic had to go. (including clothing made from plastics!) Glass and stainless steel and pottery moved in. The microwave? Out. We don't miss it at all. Food tastes soooo much better reheated in stoneware in the oven! Toothbrushes, hairbrushes, kitchen brushes, even toilet brushes all made of wood and natural bristles. We made our own wooden combs as well. Wood and natural bristles are very friendly to your hair. Ask any beautician. Drinking straws of glass and stainless steel. Yup. They make those. Stainless steel water bottles. Kleen Kanteen now makes one with no plastic at all, the cap constructed of silicone and bamboo! Toilet paper? well, we haven't completely got rid of that yet. However, we have greatly reduced consumption using Family Cloth. What? Yes, smallish squares of soft cloth (usually old T-shirts or towels). What the heck do you think they used before paper became so common we started to wipe our behinds with it? The daughter and I really prefer it. The boys don't use as much TP as we girls do anyways (and those men are so picky.) Hang up your laundry instead of using the dryer. Seems obvious, and yet many don't take advantage of this. We have an indoor clothesline for winter use as well. Of course, we also have wood heat, which helps. Replace half of your (all natural ingredient) laundry soap with baking soda. If the clothes are not too soiled you can replace all the soap with baking soda. The laundry grey water can be redirected to water your lawn and shrubs in summer. Especially nice if you are not using soaps. Replace that toxic mattress you sleep on with an all natural wool mattress. No more breathing in the off gasses all night! Remember that you spend about half your life with your head on a pillow....make sure it is a good one! Cotton, especially bedding, is heavily doused with toxic chemicals to make it "safe" for us to use. Avoid the stuff altogether! Growing cotton uses about half of all pesticides used in the world. Then they treat it with 3 to 5 chemicals from relaxants to prevent wrinkles, to flame retardants. Wool is naturally flame retardant. It also resists wrinkles. It is easy to wash (most can be washed on gentle cycle in your machine) and dries very fast on the line. And wool is wonderful to wear as well. Especially merino wool. On that note, it is actually extremely rare for someone to be "allergic" to wool. Coarse wool can be scratchy against the skin, making one itch. Some folks are sensitive to the lanolin (natural oil) in raw wool. I am also now on the organic food kick. Yes, organic costs more. Buying food in glass containers sometimes costs more. However, I would prefer to give my money in support of something I believe in. I do not want to promote plastic packaging. I do not want to promote pesticide use. I do not support genetically altered foods. We bought three beautiful motley hens who are laying an egg each every morning for breakfasts and baking. Because of the wonderful chicken tractor we made for them, they are able to graze on grass and bugs all day to supplement their organic feed. They are also very entertaining and clean up the kitchen scraps that the dog and cats do not care for. (The cats supplement their diets with mice, bugs, squirrels, etc. The dog is raw fed. Pet food kills millions of pets every year, but that is another topic.) I am putting together some pages of homemade recipes you can try for yourself to be added at a later date. Some might take getting used to. Others will outperform what you buy in the store. All are safe, however. In fact you can probably eat all of my personal care products. Well, I don't recommend eating the soap.... We need to get rid of one of our cars. Save on gas (and reduce support for those people...I will say no more), and of course reduce pollution. In order to do this however, one of us needs to make some money from a source other than a work-a-day job in town. So this week I have begun another journey. The journey to financial freedom making money online. I have a lot to learn regarding this, but hope to quit my regular job this summer. Wish me luck! |
