One of Recycla’s daughters came home from school on Friday and Recycla was suddenly reminded that summer is fast approaching. The girl’s class had spent some time outside in the school’s amphitheater and she was a little sunburned from her time outside.
Posted in eco kids, health, personal care
Enviro Girl struggles with frizzy hair, yet she’s disinclined to buy a bunch of paraben-laden conditioners and serums and gels and sprays to solve the problem. Instead, she’s discovered a slew of natural rinses from the kitchen pantry that take the frizz out of her tresses while keeping the environment safe:
Beer. Pour flat warm beer mixed with water through your hair after you shampoo and wait a minute or two before your final rinse. Beer replenishes moisture and adds shine.
Apple cider vinegar. Use the same as a beer rinse. It’s a natural cleanser and a good conditioner.
Carbonated water. Apparently the low pH helps manage fly-away strands of hair.
Olive oil. Actually, any kind of oil. Apply through your hair BEFORE you shampoo to restore moisture and shine. You can use a few drops as a serum after you’ve dried and styled your hair, too. Enviro Girl suggests olive oil because it has the least amount of odor compared to other oils. Shea butter can also smooth styled hair.
Finally, a mash-up of mayonnaise and avocado makes a great deep conditioner. Just be sure to shampoo well afterwards or you’ll smell like a sandwich!
Even though it’s only mid-June, mosquitoes have already become quite unbearable at dusk here in Virginia. Like everyone, Recycla hates mosquitoes, but her loathing goes a bit further: Her younger daughter is actually allergic to mosquito bites, which swell into painful welts on her sensitive skin. Rather than consign the child to a life of indoor living, Recycla has researched various options to see how she can keep mosquitoes from biting her daughter — but without resorting to such pesticides as DEET.
Most people don’t give mosquitoes a second thought. They just douse themselves in a spray that has DEET as the active ingredient and go on their merry way. However, studies show that, in the short-term, DEET can cause headaches and, in the long-term, neurological and other health problems. These are not chemicals you want to put on yourself or on your children.
What can you do?
Luckily, there are plenty of natural mosquito repellents available. Look for sprays or lotions that contain plant oils such as geranium, citronella, tea tree, catnip, marigold, lemon balm, lavender, and peppermint. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recommend oil of lemon eucalyptus or picaridin, which is considered just as effective as DEET, but much safer. Recycla has heard that eating garlic will repel mosquitoes and if you are looking for a stronger variation, you can rub garlic on your skin. Bananas, on the other hand, attracts them.
Beyond spraying yourself, there are a few other things you can do to keep the blood-sucking little monsters at bay:
If you follow these guidelines, you should have some relief and hopefully won’t hear the dreaded whine of a mosquito in your ear.
Posted in eco kids, health, personal care
Bottom line: we NEED to be outside. Nature is a powerful, essential force that calibrates our bodies, our moods, our minds, our senses.
Check out what Plenty has to say on the topic. And Salon. And Psychology Today. Enviro Girl is no clinical psychologist, but she recognizes that a walk in the woods restores her mental health. She observes that her children fight less and seem less “bored” and more happy when they’re playing outside than when they’re cooped up in the house. While her family does not suffer from Nature Deficit Disorder, Enviro Girl understands how it can happen.
Somewhere in the last 30 years the natural world has become our enemy, a myth propagated by the media (in Enviro Girl’s view). Advertisers don’t have access to audiences when they’re tuned out an unplugged–it’s easy to sell a kid sugar-coated cereal and toys if they’re parked on the couch giving you their undivided attention. If people play outside, they’re not shopping, paying gym fees or racking up credit card debt by spending money of stuff. They’re not paying attention to advertising.
If you think about it, there are lots of reasons to spread the propaganda to keep people inside where they’re “safe”: air pollution, risk of sunburn, animal bites, insect bites, unfenced ponds and lakes pose drowning hazards. Stray dogs, pedophiles, playground bullies, traffic. Allergies, rusty nails and pipes, broken glass, rockslides. Frostbite, slipping on the ice, West Nile Virus, Lyme’s Disease, poison ivy. A kid could get hit by a car, fall off the jungle gym, get kidnapped, be broadsided by a baseball bat and end up in the hospital with a concussion. Parents feel safer if they keep their brood inside where they can keep an eye on them, where the outside world can’t get their kids. Inside is a controlled environment, outside poses a myriad of threats.
How to get outside and stay safe–it seems so daunting, right?
Enviro Girl and her tribe are relishing the start of summer vacation. Already there have been a little sunburn, a few flesh wounds, one small lump on the head. Yet her children have limited their screen time to 2 hours a day and the screen door bangs open and shut all day long. There are kites to fly, bikes to ride, a fort to build. They’re swimming, hosing off the deck (and consequently, one another). They’ve caught frogs, saved a baby opossum, captured bugs of all sizes in a jar. They’ve looked for patterns in the clouds and constellations in the stars. They’ve laid in the hammock, kicked balls, shot baskets, planted seeds and dug up worms.
How does Enviro Girl create a culture of kids playing outside in relative safety?
1. She’s got an open door policy. As soon as the weather permits, the doors and windows fly open, the sounds of nature and the smell of fresh air enter the house. Inside feels like outside and there’s no climate-controlled spot available, a person’s just as comfortable in the shade of a tree as in the middle of her living room.
2. She actively monitors her children’s screen time. “Turn it off, get outside” gets repeated a lot, but her kids understand how crabby a full day of nonstop gaming and TV viewing make them. They’ve learned to restrict their time to watch the shows they really want to watch and they know that eventually a little rain will fall and allow them the occasional afternoon slouched on the couch.
3. She makes it easy to be outside. Cans of sunscreen and insect repellent sit by every porch and in the garage, baseball caps and sandals are always handy. The towels and suits are in baskets on the back porch. Toys head inside and out without much interference. She brings snacks and drinks to the patio every afternoon. She keeps the days free of too much scheduling so the kids have TIME to enjoy playing outside.
4. She provides sidewalk chalk, wheels (bikes, skateboards, scooters), water hoses, a tent for back yard camping, clothes that can get grass-stained and muddy, marshmallows for roasting, a basketball hoop for pick-up games.
5. She limits the family’s “field trips” by asking them to create a summer bucket list of what they want to DO instead of where they want to GO. When she poses the question of what they’ll DO all summer, the list includes camping, fishing, building a fort.
Tell the Eco Women, how do you combat Nature Deficit Disorder at your house?
With the advent of Memorial Day weekend and the pools opening up, Recycla suddenly realized last week that she needed to stock up on sunblock for the summer.
Luckily, the Environmental Working Group has come out with their 2011 report on the best sunscreens, so everything you need to know is just one click away. Recycla was pleased to see that her favorite sunscreens by Alba Botanica, Badger Balm, and California Baby made the list of highly-rated products.
The important thing to remember is that you want to avoid certain ingredients, including oxybenzone. For more information, click here for different articles on ingredients to avoid, skin cancer, and more.
In addition to using the right sunblock, don’t forget the following tips:
For more information and tips, click here.
The Eco Women encourage you to get outside this summer, but be safe!
Posted in eco baby, eco kids, health, personal care
Every now and then — okay, more often than she likes — Recycla looks in the mirror and realizes that her skin is not looking its best. One remedy is to give it a gentle scrub. Oh sure, Recycla could buy (and has in the past) something to help her skin glow, but why do that when she already has the necessary ingredients in her pantry?
Check out this scrub recipe from Whole Living:
Honey Scrub
Ingredients:
Blend the ingredients until well mixed, then store in a jar.
The honey is a humectant, which means it rehydrates the skin, while the sugar buffs away dead cells gently (it will dissolve as it works). The citrus offers an invigorating scent.
If you’re interested in making your own lip balm and moisturizer, check out this post by the Green Mommy.
Tell the Eco Women: Do you make any of your own personal care products?
Posted in living green on a budget, personal care
Caution/Disclaimer: Although the Eco Women tend to be a thrifty bunch, the suggestion in this post is on the expensive end of the spectrum.
Enviro Girl is of hairy Germanic ancestry (plus one part Yeti she suspects) so summertime creates hair removal challenges. She gets a 5 o’clock shadow under her arms and on her shins daily, to give you some sense of her prolific ability to grow hair. Aside from going au natural (she’s just not comfortable with that look, nor with the looks people would give her) or wearing neck to toe clothing year round (bad enough to sport turtlenecks and jeans from fall to spring in Wisconsin, she enjoys exposing bare skin), her only option is to remove the hair. Enviro Girl spends her summer in a pool, too, so she needs to remove a lot of hair.
For years Enviro Girl shaved. She used a Venus razor with disposable blades, creating minimal waste in her garbage bin, but a constant expense and she had to shave daily in the shower or walk around with stubble gracing her legs, underarms and bikini area. Shaving also scrapes and burns and creates an ugly bumpy rash on occasion.
She inquired about waxing, more painful and expensive at $60 for her legs, $40 for bikini and underarms, but only required every 6 weeks (or so). For four trips each summer she could enjoy smooth skin, but create a pile of cloth strips and spent wax for the garbage bin–more waste than her Venus razor blades in a single waxing.
Then she explored laser hair removal–a procedure requiring electricity and a bit of gel, nothing disposed of (other than her hair) and boasting generally permanent results. Most hair can be permanently removed through laser treatment in 6 sessions or less. At $50 per session for underarms, $300 seemed like a steep investment for never shaving again–but was it? Enviro Girl decided to shell out the cash for underarms and bikini area. Here’s what she learned:
* Laser hair removal is fast. She’s in and out of the office in 20 minutes, the nurse zips the laser across her skin and she’s on her way just as quickly. For a total of 3 hours (she’s including driving time in her estimate), she’s eliminated shaving from her life forever.
* Laser hair removal creates NO waste. The nurse daubs gel on the area, goes over it with a laser while Enviro Girl wears special goggles used by all the patients. The nurse wipes the gel away with a terry cloth towel (laundered and used by other patients) and daubs the area with aloe vera. Nothing gets tossed in the trash.
* Laser hair removal is a little painful. Imagine getting snapped with a rubber band–each time the laser hits a hair, that’s the sensation. Happily, the sensation lasts only a second and that’s that. Afterwards the skin is red and tender like a slight sunburn. Enviro Girl’s redness disappears an hour after her appointment. She does know other risks can occur: blistering, cracking, peeling, soreness. She hasn’t experienced any of those side effects.
* Laser hair removal is effective. It takes about 2 weeks for the hair to fall out after a treatment and because hair grows all the time in cycles, she returned every 4 weeks for another treatment for a total of 6 treatments. After her first treatment she noticed a significant difference, having to shave only 4 times all month instead of daily. After her second treatment she shaved 2 times. The therapy doesn’t work on light-pigmented hair, so that blond fuzz still grows on the skin beneath her arms, but that’s not noticeable by anyone.
* Laser hair removal is not that expensive when compared to waxing. Enviro Girl figures that after 3 summers she’d have spent on laser hair removal what 4 months of waxing would cost–but she enjoys the benefits of laser hair removal year-round.
If you’re looking for a green alternative to shaving, Enviro Girl encourages you to explore this option. It’s a little expensive, but it’s waste free and liberating–Enviro Girl is ready for swimsuit season today and will be stubble-free tomorrow!
Room by room, the Eco Women will help you spring clean your house in the most environmentally friendly way possible. Today’s stop: the bathroom!
Time needed: 2 hours
Supplies needed: 1 large box, 1 old towel cut into rags, white vinegar ($1.00 for a large bottle), hot water, baking soda (.70 a box), vacuum cleaner with attachments. (Vinegar has antimicrobial properties, but if you’re super-skeevy about germs, you can brew a solution of 3 tbs. liquid soap, 2 cups water, and 20-30 drops of tea tree oil or purchase an eco-friendly brand of all-purpose cleaner to substitute for vinegar.)
Step 1: Vacuum the floor, use attachments to catch the cobwebs by the ceiling, dust down the baseboards and corners and sweep away the hair and dust on countertop surfaces.
Step 2: Scrub your sink and faucets with baking soda and a damp rag. Rinse with water.
Step 3: Fill the wastebasket with a half cup vinegar and hot water. By using the wastebasket as a scrub bucket, you’ll clean the wastebasket, too!
Step 4: Empty linen closets, medicine cabinets, cupboards and drawers. Vacuum them, then wipe them clean with a rag dampened with vinegar water. Wipe down all baseboards, light fixtures, cabinet doors, outlet covers and any mirrors with vinegar water. If you wish, use another clean rag to dry them.
Step 5: As you re-load your closets, drawers and cabinets, set aside anything you no longer use. Box up extra sets of sheets and towels, that humidifier you haven’t set up in five years, those old tub toys. Later you can donate them to the thrift shop. Toss old make up and toiletries that have expired. Rid your cabinet of those expired medications, but DO NOT FLUSH your old prescriptions and medications! Flushing medicines down the sink or toilet are a health hazard as they contaminate our water supply. You can mix your old medications with coffee grounds or kitty litter and throw them away in the trash or you can bring them to a drug disposal drop box available at many pharmacies, hospitals and sheriff’s departments. Saturday, April 30 is National Take-Back Initiative–go to their website to find a safe place to bring your old prescription drugs. Keep those nasty chemicals out of the drinking water.
Step 6: Use baking soda and a damp rag to scrub your shower or tub.
Step 7: Run your shower curtain, bath mats and towels through the wash.
Step 8: Wash your toothbrush holders and soap dishes with your next load of dishes or put them in the dishwasher.
Step 9: Scrub the toilet bowl with an environmentally friendly product like BioKleen or Green Works. If you prefer to make your own toilet bowl cleaner, use a combination of 1/4 cup baking soda and a small amount of vinegar. Let it sit a half hour before flushing. Use borax on any stains in the bowl.
Step 10: Scrub your toilet with vinegar and baking soda and a damp rag or use an environmentally friendly all-purpose cleaning product like Ecover, Mrs. Meyers Clean Day or Seventh Generation. Toss the rag in the compost pile or the wash.
Step 11: Scrub the floor with vinegar and hot water.
Step 12: Dump the vinegar/water from the wastebasket into the toilet and rinse the wastebasket before replacing it to its proper spot.
After you’ve completed this 12-step program to a sparkling clean and disinfected bathroom, you’ve earned the right to a glass of wine and a long hot bath. Of course, if you’re like Enviro Girl, you’re entirely sick of being in the bathroom after the 12-step bathroom cleaning program and you prefer a long walk followed by ice cream.
Posted in 3 Rs, health, house stuff, issues, living green on a budget, personal care
Tagged clean your medicine cabinet, deep cleaning bathrooms, Disposing of medicines and prescriptions, eco friendly bathrooms, environmentally friendly cleaning tips, green clean bathroom, green clean your bathroom, green spring cleaning bathrooms, how to dispose of old medicines, National Take-Back Initiative, spring clean bathroom
Congratulations to our Anniversary Giveaway Winners!
Little Miss Sunshine State, Shirley and Jen A. each won an Eco Women canvas shopping tote. Enjoy!
Over here at Eco Women, we’ve promoted a myriad of ways to reduce your use of plastic (and thus your exposure to harmful chemicals). Cloth shopping bags are one fabulous way to reuse and reduce. Here are 12 more:
1. BYOB–that’s Bring Your Own (water/beverage) Bottle. Quit the bottled water habit and invest in a decent stainless steel bottle. Not only will you reduce your waste and exposure to dangerous chemicals, you’ll save money. Bottled water costs more per gallon than gasoline and it’s not any safer than drinking tap water, since that’s all bottled water really is: tap water.
2. Forgo the to-go containers. Dine in on plates and silverware and glasses that don’t go straight to your local landfill after one use. Eating fast food generates a lot of waste, both paper AND plastic trash.
3. Skip buying plastic storage containers for food storage. You shouldn’t heat up any plastic in your microwave anyway, try to use only glass or metal storage containers. For other food storage–leftovers in the fridge, cereal, grapes, etc., use those plastic food containers slated for the recycling bin–empty yogurt cartons and sour cream tubs. Enviro Girl keeps several on hand for sending along leftovers after parties, too.
4. Speaking of parties,entertain without disposable plates and cups. Recycla’s an old pro at this and tells how here.
5. Skip the plastic wrap–Recycla gives lots of tips here on how to avoid buying it by using plastic-free alternatives.
6. Get real about your decorating. Start with your Christmas greens.
7. Say no to extra plastic add-ons–like Happy Meal toys and party favors. Enviro Girl brings her kids to places like Chuck E Cheese and tells them straight up: “We’re here to play games, not collect crap with the tickets.” At the end of their time, they fork over the tickets and Enviro Girl either saves them up until they have enough to cash in for a good prize OR tosses them in the recycle bin.
8. When you brown bag it for lunch, pack your food in reusable containers instead of plastic baggies.
9. Buy your soap by the bar, not by the fluid ounce.
10. Choose the paper alternative when faced with paper or plastic: shopping bags, q-tips, tampons, product packaging.
11. Buy your juice frozen and concentrated.
12. Say NO to drinking straws.
In recent years, Recycla has been looking for ways to cut back on her family’s waste. Paper waste has been a particular concern of hers because, while paper is easily recyclable, as she mentioned in a recent post on e-readers, the paper industry is one of the most toxic and damaging in the world. Anything she can do to cut back on her consumption is a good thing.
Recycla’s family has had great success in a number of areas, including using cloth napkins more often, nearly eliminating paper towels, and entirely cutting out single-use cleaning cloths (such as Clorox Wipes). And, after much testing, Recycla finally found a toilet paper with recycled paper content that she’s happy with. This was important to her since virtually all of American toilet paper comes from old-growth trees in Canada, whereas much of the rest of the world uses TP made from recycled content or reusable cloths. Recycla knows of people who use reusable cloths in the bathroom, but she’s not ready — now or possibly ever — to take that step.
Luckily, there are some other areas in which Recycla has been able to make easy, positive changes.
To begin with, she (just her, not her family) stopped using tissues and started using a handkerchief. Actually, to be more accurate, she started using rags made from old t-shirts because when she started, she wasn’t 100% certain that she’d stick it out and didn’t want to spend money that might go to waste. As it turns out, rags made from t-shirts work really well for her, as they’re soft on the nose. They also don’t fall apart on her when she’s running and her nose decides to run as well. After using them, she tosses them in the wash and they come out as good as new.
Recycla has tried buying tissues with recycled paper content, but while they were fine during times of normal usage, they failed abysmally when her children had colds. Both girls rubbed their noses beyond raw and to the point of bleeding, so the family went back to lotion-infused tissues for tender noses.
If you’d like to try handkerchiefs and want something nicer than Recycla’s cut-up t-shirts, there are lots of places to buy them. Recycla has seen men’s handkerchiefs at drug stores and big box stores, as well as all sorts of pretty hankies at Etsy.
Another way that Recycla has cut back on paper usage is to stop using one-use make-up remover pads. Even though they were compostable and came packaged in a recyclable metal container, she still felt that this was an area in which she could still eliminate some waste. She didn’t want to use washcloths, since 1) they were too rough to use around her eyes and 2) mascara would stain them. She is now using eye make-up remover (again, in a recyclable container) and cloths made from cut-up t-shirts. They’re soft on the delicate skin around her eyes and easy enough to toss in the wash when dirty.
Finally, Recycla and her daughters don’t use nail polish very often, but when they do, instead of using cotton balls to remove the polish, they’re now using — yes, you guessed it — rags made from old t-shirts. As with all the other uses mentioned, they’re free and easy to wash. If they stain, it doesn’t really matter.
So that’s the latest eco change Recycla has made in her life. It hasn’t been any extra work and hasn’t cost her a dime. In fact, it’s saved her some money.
For more information on the problems with the paper industry, see this excellent post by Enviro Girl.
Tell the Eco Women: How have you cut back on paper in your life? Are you using cloth napkins, handkerchiefs, or rags?
The Eco Women were not asked to endorse any products mentioned. Photo credit: Yahoo Images.
Posted in 3 Rs, house stuff, living green on a budget, personal care
