I have many friends who are trying their best to live greener, and I have many friends who do not. Difference makes the world go round if you ask me. I do my best to help them become greener but do not enforce it. I do get many questions from people about how I do things, where I get my idea's, and what my daily routines are. So I thought I would give a peek into my daily routine. I think its boring but maybe you might find it interesting or inspiring.
Face Wash-Dr Bronners liquid or bar. You can use this for anything you want. I use the bar to wash my face. Liquid is used for everyday cleaning, hand soap, and Ive heard you can brush your teeth with is.
Toothpaste-Toms of Maine or anything natural. Looking forward to trying this new one out called "Natures Gate Cherry Gel" bought at Whole Foods for $3.99.
Mouthwash-Hydrogen Peroxide . Cheap and it works
Toothbrush-Preserve toothbrush bought at Trader Joe's. Great curved handle makes it easier to brush your teeth. When you purchase it, remember to pick up the mailing bag that comes with it. When your done and need a new brush, simply put your old toothbrush inside the bag and its paid shipping bag brings it back to the plant to be recycled into another tooth brush. The toothbrush itself is made from recycled yogurt containers. Plus Plus! Toothbrush cost around $2-$3
Deodorant-Toms of Maine natural roll on. I buy unscented but you can get it scented too. Contains no unnatural or animal ingredients. Also their products are not tested on animals. Cost around $3. Only use deodorant when I am actually doing physical work. I avoid sweat at all possible. yuck!
Lotion-Burt Bee's Thoroughly Therapeutic honey and orange wax body lotion. Super lightweight but very silky. Paraben and phthalate free. Bottles are made of 90% post consumer recycled material. Has a very light and delicate smell that does not overpower your sense's. If I am low on money, Trader Joe's has a all natural lotion for only $2.99. Its really nice and silky too.
Make Up-I do not use it on a daily basis. I do own some Physicians Formula powdered beads, and a few random organic things. But rarely do I ever use any. Only for that once a year date with the hubby. Or if a unwanted zit comes my way. Ugg.
Feminine Products- Most are Kotex. For one reason I get amazing coupons from the products themselves, their website, or just from the web. Kotex is amazing in this way. I recycle all paper from the products that I can and also the plastic. Yes its recyclable! Applicators fully rinsed and plastic wrapped pads can be recycled. All paper tabs from pads can be recycled as well. I do buy Seventh Generation as much as I can. But only with a coupon and a sale. Fred Meyers is great for this one. I want to start using fabric handmade feminine pads but scared to try. I have them and stare at them each time I open the drawer. Maybe it will be my next project......
Perfume-again I rarely use it. But I do own a ton of Victoria Secret lotions and body sprays. These were bought before my "greener shade" came out. I just cannot see myself throwing out all the money I spent on these. So I use them when needed and they collect dust. I have my eye on some fabulous perfumes at Whole Foods and New Seasons. They are wonderful and alcohol free ones. I will try my best to get better details later. All other perfumes were bought on super 90% off sales after Christmas. Will not spend very much on them.
Nail Polish-I own some, cant remember where I bought them, which makes them super old. I rarely use it if at all. Again collecting dust. Trying to figure out how to recycle them.
Jewelry-My wedding band is my most cherished jewelry. Also a set of diamond ear rings I wear daily. These were a Christmas gift from the hubby. Otherwise all other jewelry were bought at thrift stores or made by myself. Again sit there and collect dust. I should wear them more often.
Clothing-90% bought at Goodwill outlet. I pay pennies for everything I own. I wear name brands just like every other person in the world. Abercrombie jeans because I have no butt and these are perfect for tiny hinys. American Eagle too if I can find them. Hollister shirts because they fit well for small chested women. All bought used and from Goodwill outlet. Same goes for my children. If not bought at Goodwill Outlet, then from garage sales or thrift shops. about 9 % are from there or given to me from friends and family. 1 % is undies that we buy new. Its pretty much the only thing we buy new. My girls hand down theirs to their sisters, only done in the family not to anyone else. I take care in washing my girls underpants.
Shoe's-Again bought used most the time. I find shoe's that fit them now or will soon. I take them home and wash them. Set aside to dry then they can have them to wear or I put them away for when they do fit later. If I find a amazing deal and less than $10, I will buy them new. Thinking of the years before when I bought a pair of heels for $50 makes me cringe. I cannot believe I did that. Wish I had that $50 now lol. Man I was stupid.
Hair cuts-I try to trim my girls hair myself every few months. When it gets way too long I start looking for coupons to local hair cutting shops. $7.99 is my limit on this. Great Clips is wonderful about giving coupons out every few months. My hair I get cut maybe once a year or 8 months. My hair is half way down my back right now and getting on my nerves. Getting stuck in my arm pits, stuck in my shirts, in my face, and just annoying. Looking for a coupon as we speak. I cannot cut my hair and don't trust my girls lol.
Hair dye-I buy $3 color kits from Target. Yep only $3. I do it every 2-3 months. Were talking less than $20 for a year of hair dye. Works all the same as the rest. I'm looking for a greener alternative currently and will fill you in on it when I find one. I don't even want to know whats in the kind I'm using right now. Yikes!
Vitamins and medicines-Only type of medicine I use is a Costco brand allergy medicine. Ive tried the all natural kind and they just do not work for me. Still looking for a good one so until then, this will work. Plus its super cheap. $4 for 300 pills. We do not use medicines if possible. Only fever reducer is in our home. Kids liquid and adult pills. Otherwise its all natural methods. Sore throat and cough, we use honey and tea. We drink organic unfiltered vinegar daily as a body cleanser. I look up my ailment and try out the natural herb that will work for me. This has been very helpful and much cheaper than buying a expensive medicine that will just dope us up. I don't want to even know whats in those medicines. Bad dyes, and who knows what kind of preservatives. No thanks! I do buy a daily vitamin from Trader Joe's. They come in a honey bear( like the kind honey comes in) plastic bottle and they are all natural with no fillers or preservatives. They take these when they are feeling sick only. We eat so healthy that there is no need for them each day. I also take a multivitamin only when im sick.
Garbage and recycling-My neighbors and I share a garbage service. Since we rarely fill our trash bin and the same for them, we just share one service. One trash bin and one recycling bin for paper under our kitchen sink. In our laundry room we have 2 bags for recyclable plastics. One for bags of any kind. Bread bags, garbage bags, store bags, etc. The other bag is for all other plastics. Lids, rings round new products, broken plastic toys, etc. Garbage is for anything we cannot recycle. Foam(we avoid buying), or anything else. We pay the garbage bill in our name, they give us 1/2 the money, and they recycle plastics at our local plastic recyclers once a month.
Food Waste-My best friend bought me a wonderful compost bin at Cost Plus Market. I love that store and could spend hours in it looking at all the wonderful world products. The compost bin was only $15 and is a porcelain. The lid you simply put in a coal filter to keep smells inside. Filters are only $1.99 but I have yet to replace mine. I simply wash mine with water once in a while and its new again. It has a metal handle so its easy to just bring outside and dump. I dump about once a day in the morning hours. I have a 3 system compost area in my garden. This will make lovely soil for my garden later. We try not to have food waste and use up what we can. Most our waste is potato skins, apple cores, coffee grounds, coffee biodegradable filters, and things like that.
Laundry Soap-If I can get Seventh Generation or any green product like them on sale with a coupon, I will snag a few. Otherwise I make my own. Look in my archives and you will find the recipe. I use less than 1/2 recommended amount of soap because we just do not roll around in dirt and don't work up a sweat. We are clean people so why waste the soap? Still comes out clean and smelling good. I use a HE washer which uses less water and my clothes are barely wet when they come out. I have a old dryer that I only have to put in for a few minutes to completely dry them. All thanks to my handy washer. I hang dry outside whenever possible again saving energy. No dryer sheets used or liquid softener. I use dryer balls that I found at Rite Aid for $3. No static, no smells, and pay themselves off in no time.
Air fresheners-none. Just good old candles. I don't even want to know whats in those things. I make my own spray with a bottle, water and a few drops of essential oils. Shake and spray where you want. Candles are bought on sale after the end of the season. I am burning Yankee candles right now that I bought months ago. Pumpkin spice smells so yummy! I have a whole stock pile of candles from my 10 yrs of working at Michaels. If the power ever goes out in my home, I'm good for like a year! lol. One of my twins had a allergic reaction to Glade oil burner that would spray every few minutes. She had horrible nose bleeds from them . I emailed the company and within minutes I received a phone call from them. They refunded us a check for $10. I asked about their essential oils and they said they were synthetic. I was in shock. So all glade products use synthetic oils, not natural ones. So you could imagine Ive never bought a Glade air freshener product since.
Okay guys, this is just a small dose of my daily household routines. Things we do on a daily basis seem like a lot but are just natural after a while. The thing about all of this work is that I know my house is non toxic and safe for my children. Which makes me breath a little easier.
Have any questions for me? Go ahead and ask!! I love questions!
