Fabric Softener and Antiperspirant For the Eco-Friendly Home

Last time I mentioned something about not using fabric softener because it's not good for the environment. Well it just so happened that when I went shopping yesterday I noticed that there is a bio-degradable, made from natural sources fabric softener sold at Extra Foods, it by the same brand as my laundry detergent, Purex.

However, don't make the mistake of purchasing their blue bottle of laundry soap or softener, they're not meant for the eco-friendly home. It's Purex's green bottles that are the environmentally friendly products. So now you know :)

As for the antiperspirant, I have my stick of the good smelling stuff glaring at my conscious every time I go to the bathroom. Does anyone know of a brand of environmentally friendly antiperspirants that actually work as good as these other chemical monsters? I am looking for solutions, to have a truly eco friendly home and I don't want any 'little exceptions' you know? I'm going to be on the look out for such a product now.

In the meantime though, did you know the antiperspirant and deodorant containers are recyclable? I toss mine in the recycle bin now, don't forget to do yours. That feels good at least, although we've got to realize it's not enough.

Please let me know of a product if you've used one that can meet the standards of those 'chemical' kinds, I know something is out there for my eco-friendly home, those chemist guys just didn't try hard enough, that's all.

I'll keep you posted on my findings, till next time,

Ayisha

Everyday Eco-friendly Water Conservation Practices

Okay, so I haven't actually needed to purchase any new eco-friendly, biodegradable products in the past few weeks unfortunately so here's my article on Everyday Water Conservation Practices (as in stuff I do in my own home).

Water is our most prescious resource so here are some tips that I use on a daily basis to help conserve water for future generations.

- we already know not to run the water while we brush, well don't do it when you rinse either, just use a cup of water and rinse your mouth.

- when washing your produce, fill a bowl with cold water and wash and scrub it all up in the bowl of cold water instead of under a running tap

- use hot water to rinse your dishes in when you're done you can use the same water to put in a bucket with a cup of vinegar and a dash of eco-friendly soap to wash your floor with

- don't wash dishes under running water, wash the cleanest to the dirtiest dishes in one sink full of hot water and eco-friendly biodegradable dish soap and one sink full of plain hot water for rinsing your dishes off

- share the tub during bath time, if you have one or more younger children take a bath with them (this is also a great parent/child/sibling bonding technique) when your children get a little older bathe the youngest to the oldest in the same tub of water, you'll save a tonne of water that way

- wash yourself and your kids with environmentally friendly body washes/ shower gels and bar soaps and use eco-friendly shampoos and conditioners for your families hair. Not only will you be keeping your environment clean you won't be applying chemicals and carcinogenic (cancer causing) preservatives (parabens) to your children's bodies or your own

- use safely bio-degradable, eco-friendly laundry detergent to clean your clothes use Purex (this is the one I use and love)

- don't use clothing softeners unless you can find one that's evironmentally friendly (we've stopped using dryer sheets / softeners in my home because of lung problems and that's aside from it being carcenogenic and bad for the environment) I do want to get those dryer balls though and purchase a bag of soap nuts when I get a chance

- I'll let you all know how that works our when I finally order a bag of that stuff, apparently you can wash your dishes and your hair with it too for awesome results, we'll see.

When I think of some more at home water conservation techniques you'll be hearing about it from me, till then look out for my next product review, will it be bio-degradable eco-friendly dish soap or environmentally friendly shampoo? Stay tuned,

Bye for now

Natural Baby Bubble Bath and Fluoride Free Toothpaste

I was buying the regualar big bottle brand of kids mild formula bubble bath and you know how it is, they always want more bubbles right? Then I started remembering the research I did several years back on the kinds of chemicals that are in personal care items and cosmetics.

Sodium Laurel (and Laureth) Sulphate and Parabens are just to name a few things I'm not too crazy about exposing my kids to or sending down the drain into the ocean. The problem is I've never seen a natural bubble bath and since a lot of the natural shampoos I've used before didn't have too a thick a lather, I kinda thought there couldn't be many bubbles without SLSs. But luckily, I was wrong.

I went to Price Smart though and looked at their natural and environmentally friendly selection of products and found a Tree House endorsed Kids Bubble bath going under the name of Max and Ruby.

It was just $7 something so I took the chance to get it and see how it did. It was clear and smelled like strawberries. It didn't have that strong blue tint those silly spiderman bubbles had. And best of all, even though I like to fill the tub nearly to the top when I take a bath with my kids, the small amount of 2 capfuls recommended for use actually bubbled up pretty well.

I have to admit though, I decided to use double the amount lately because that way the bubbles do last longer then.

Now I don't have to worry about about exposing my kids to those SLSs, did you know that it's not only a chemical by-product (waste product) it can also be contaminated with the chemical in agent orange (that defoliant they used in Vietnam) that was linked to the soldiers high cancer rate from that time? It's interesting to note too, that these SLSs are the bubbling agent used in shampoos, soaps, cleansers, dish soaps and yes, bubble bath.

Kiss My Face Kids fluoride free "Berry Smart" Toothpaste has been another little natural and environmentally friendly product I've been able to buy at Price Smart and a health food store called the Happy Nut House.

Any way, my little three year old needed to start brushing or at least getting used to it and I didn't want to have him using fluoride because it's actually an insecticide chemical that causes cancer, apparently children can be more susceptible to it.

This Kiss My Face Product is great too because unlike the other natural toothpastes it doesn't have either that ugly taste or burn kids don't like.

There were some other options at the store that I tried, Oral B's got a fluoride free starter toothpaste/gel but it's got so much glycerin in it, it's kind of gross you know? My little guy was acting like he wanted to throw it up when he used it, so I tried it and it made me want to gag too.

I strongly suggest, when ever you get your kids something they'll be putting in their mouth try it yourself too. There was another brand of similar product, but no dice, it was the same problem with that even though the flavor was better this time.

The only problem with the Kiss My Face Kids toothpastes (it is berry flavored) is that your little kids will like to eat it, so you may want to keep it up a little higher so they can't get it.