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.

6 tips on how to make the switch to a greener lifestyle

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If you know me well, you know that I'm one of those annoying people who uses a lot of green and organic stuff. It's something I care a lot about and sometimes I let people know about it. I get some blank stares. I get some looks that seem to say: "oh man, here we go again with the organic and green talk." My friends make fun of me because I haven't had McDonald's in years... and every once in a while I get responses like: "Oh I would love to be like that, but I just don't know where to start," or "It's too much work." Or "It's too expensive."

But I'm here to tell you that it's not really all that much work if you take it slowly. So here are six tips on how to make the switch to a greener lifestyle. I'm not an expert, but I have been doing this for a long time so I like to think that I know a little bit.

So here we go:

1. Switch slowly. I think the challenge for some people is that they get overwhelmed with all of the products they would like to change and then they just throw their hands in the air and say forgedaboudit! I can see how that would be overwhelming. There is no shortage of products on the market that claim to be green (and that aren't...).

My advice is do take one product in your house and switch it. Just one at a time. See that bright blue dish detergent by your sink? Use it up and then when it's time to get a new bottle, buy something more natural. (I'll put a list of what I use for everything in another post).

Once you've done that... you can go to the next product. It may take a year to switch over everything,  but that's ok. It took me that long too. But in no time you won't think twice about it.

2. Get a local and organic veggie box sent to your house. Nothing is easier than having food show up at your door. I've been getting a Mama Earth Organics box for about five years now and I love it. It kind of takes the guessing out of what to buy in season and what to buy organic because it's done for you. In the summer months, almost everything is local which is really nice and every week I get two or three recipes to try that come with the delivery. It's a win-win in my books.

3. Buy organic food in bulk. Buying in bulk helps a couple of ways: if you reuse your bags (or have reusable bulk bags) you can keep packaging garbage out of the landfills. Many times it's cheaper than buying one-off packages and it helps you keep your pantry cupboards stocked. Right now, my store of choice is Healthy Planet. There is a pretty decent bulk section at the back of the store where I buy things like dried chickpeas, beans, legumes, nuts and seeds.

Oh yes... I hear you cursing under your breath! You don't have time to cook chickpeas and beans from scratch, baloney! You can soak them overnight and throw them in the slow cooker while you're at work. Done.

PS: you can buy baking soda in bulk too!

4. Vinegar and baking soda are the answers to everything. Ok maybe not everything, but along with Dr. Bronner's soap, I use these two items almost exclusively for cleaning. You don't need bleach!

I bought a spray bottle from the dollar store, filled it half way with pure white vinegar (it's best to get distilled vinegar) and filled the rest with tap water. Do you know how much vinegar costs? Four litres is a buck or something. Maybe three dollars. But it takes me six months to go through four litres of vinegar, so I think that's money well spent.

I mean just look at everything you can do with vinegar and baking soda!

5. Change up what goes on your skin. Conventional shampoos, conditioners, creams and make-up can be filled with parabens, fragrance, and other chemicals that do nothing positive to your body. Do yourself a favour and slowly switch these items to more natural and organic body care. You'll breathe better and you'll feel better. Something to keep in mind is that natural fragrance doesn't mean it's better. Bonus points if products have no-GMO and vegan verifications on the bottles. Use Environmental Working Group's Skin Deep data base as your go-to resource. They know what they're talking about!

Which brings us to the last thing...

6. Be critical of ingredient labels. If you can't pronounce it, don't buy it (this can get a little tricky when it comes to floral ingredients! But you'll know what chemicals are the no-nos when you see them). I know you've likely heard that before, but it really does help when you're looking for more natural and organic ways of doing things.

The easiest way to buy better products is to steer clear of the middle aisles at the conventional grocery store. Most (and yes I mean most) of the food found in the middle aisles of the grocery store can have horrible ingredients that our bodies can do without. Think those little fishy crackers are good for your kidlets? Read the labels. There really are better alternatives. 

My rule of thumb for most things I eat and buy is that if it doesn't provide me good nutritional value, I try not to buy it. Obviously there are times when I get treats, but I do believe that even treats should have some form of nutritional value. Yes I know I'm boring! Boo me! Again... my friends make fun of me and that's ok!

Bottom line, if you want to make these types of changes, you can. Just do it slowly so you don't get overwhelmed. Look at labels and do your research to see what works best for your family. And remember: just because it's organic, doesn't mean it's good for you. Whole foods are best, but read the labels on packaged items and you will start to learn what types of things are better than others. You will eventually figure it out, even if it takes a year or more.

Up next I'll share a list of my go-to favourite products! Stay-tuned!

all things earthy

well it's earth day here on the planet and I thought I'd give a few things I do to keep things earthy around here:

say no to plastic. For those who know me well, I don't like plastic. Yes I know it's everywhere: my tooth brush, my printer, my phone: but there are things we can do to reduce how much of it we use.

• Buy glass "tupperware" instead of the plastic stuff. You can reuse it longer than the other stuff and it doesn't leech.


• Get into the tote craze: make or buy a pretty tote to bring to the store so you don't have to shove more plastic bags into your IKEA bag thingy where they sit there until they're eventually thrown out.


• Along the same lines, invest in reusable produce bags...

Buy organic when you can: buying organic food helps to keep pesticides and chemicals out of the environment. If you live in an area where you can add the local aspect even better because even buying organic food from overseas adds to emissions in the atmosphere. It has to get here somehow!

Clean green: Many people think that in order to 'clean green' they have to buy expensive cleaners, but I'm not convinced even those work well. All I use around here is vinegar and baking soda that's it. You can clean your house for about 2 months, if not longer, for less than $5.

Make you're own napkins: the argument here is that you have to use up water to wash them anyway, but if you're already doing a load, throw them in. They don't take up much space.

Related to that, wash in cold water: I try to only use warm and hot water for the whites.

Ok that's all I've got today. Just do one of those things starting today and you'll be set!

~lealou