Going Green: Products I use

Just a few of the more natural products I'm using these days

Last post, I mentioned I would come up with a list of the green products I use around the house. These are what I have come to like over the years, but I'm always on the look out for things that might be better in terms of ingredients and quality. Suggestions are welcome in the comments!

Here we go:

Cleaning

Hand soap and cleaning the toilets (weird combo I know): Dr. Bronners. I like this soap because when it comes to washing your hands, you only need to fill up a third of the bottle with soap and the rest can be water. Foaming soap pumps work best for this method.

Windows, mirrors, counters, sinks, toilets, floors: Vinegar & water. Easy peasy!

Dishes: Nature Clean dish soap for the dishes and PC Green Express Cycle for the dishwasher. We have found that we have to keep the dishwasher on a longer cycle for it to work properly.

Laundry: We're using Bio-Vert laundry soap right now for our laundry, but I'm not really partial yet to any product as long as it's natural and fragrance-free. I also like Nature Clean laundry soap.

Eating
We don't buy a ton of packaged goods, but we do buy a few main items (hmmm there seems to be a carb trend going here...):

Cereal: Nature's Path Kamut Krisp flakes or Millet Rice flakes; Heritage O's. Nature's Path also has puffed cereal which I love giving to the kids. There is absolutely no sugar added, it's just puffed rice, corn or kamut. The kamut puffs are great for little ones learning to eat.

Crackers: I found a new cracker that I love, love, love: Mary's Super Seed Crackers. The ingredient list is unreal and the kids love them. I also like Ryvita crisp bread.

Pasta: I used to buy a lot of Kamut Penne from Artesan Acres, but I found that the flavour of the pasta takes over the flavour of the sauce so I've using a wild rice penne from Rizopia and I really like the texture.

Bread: We have used Dimpflmeier bread for years, but it can be a little hard when toasted so we recently began using Ezekiel 4:9 and Genesis 1:29 products and really like them. It's super expensive (close to $7 a loaf) but I find that since buying it we only go through a loaf a week. Leo mainly eats it for his lunches.

Bathing & Skin Care
This is still a big learning curve for me, because it's one of the last areas I've changed over. There are so many products on the market, once you find one you like, you may find the ingredients aren't great or many times the ingredients are fantastic, but the product just doesn't work the way you want it to.

Right now this is what I'm using:

Bathing: I've been using Giovanni shampoo, but I'm always on the look out for something better, that works well. Unfortunately the EWG scores aren't fantastic on this one so I'll keep looking. We also use The Soap Works Oatmeal soap. The kids use Green Beaver body wash and shampoo. For toothpaste, we switch between Nature's Gate and Desert Essence.

Skin Care: Right now I'm using Andalou products on my face and I'm really liking them.

Deodorant: Ok this one is life changing. Life changing... Lovefresh deodorant in Lemon Verbena. Like many people, I've tried and tried and tried to find a natural deodorant that works and to be frank... most of them suck. Then I was at a party and met the owner of Lovefresh, bought her deodorant and haven't looked back. It works! I'm so excited to tell everyone.

Moisturizer: Lovefresh also makes amazing moisturizers and right now I'm using the vanilla scent and it feels so great. I doubt I'll buy anything else again!

Nail Polish: I was super excited to find a nail polish that is eco friendly doesn't contain harsh chemicals. I was sent two fantastic colours to try from Trust Fund Beauty and so far they're holding up quite well. I love that there's an option for something more natural for our nails.

That's where I'll stop. I'm currently working on changing out my make-up which is a tough one too. I've been using Physician's Formula mascara which works well (and got great reviews from Kris Carr recently!) and also a mineral press powder.

I'd love to hear suggestions for all of these things if you have them!

ps: This is not a sponsored post, but I did receive Trust Fund nail polish to use and review.
pps: I'm not an expert, I just read too much and know what I like and what I don't like when it comes to this stuff.