Back to the Beginning...

Ok, so I realize that two of my blogs have been way too long - and I will make a bigger effort to keep my blogs more manageable, at least size wise!
Back to when I started this blog - if you still remember (I know it was only 10 days ago)- or if you can still find it(just joking). I made 5 major commitments about how and what to buy.

#1 - Buy local food & product as much as possible.
#2 - Buy proven organic/fare-trade items
#3 - Buy things that have 5 ingredients or less.
#4 - Only buy things I cannot reasonably make myself.
#5 - Only buy things that are toxin-free or harmless.

#1 - This one I fully anticipated would be harder in the winter - and it is, but I do my best and if I can't find Utah product I look for California and so on. Probably the hardest one for me is, to not buy food products etc from IKEA, since Sweden is home to me and I love most things Swedish. Oh, the sacrifices that one makes - Just Joking!!!


#2 - This is pretty self-explanatory, other than maybe there are times when proven organic may not be around or when labels aren't what they claim to be; like the Coffee/Tea issue. A group of Swedish researchers started traveling and visiting the different Coffee/Tea plantations around the world - they found that the Coffee that was labeled fare-trade/organic really was organic/fare-trade coffee. On the other hand when they went around to the tea plantations most teas that were labeled organic/fare-trade really was not, in fact in most instances there was not a difference between the "normally" grown tea or "organically" grown.
I do take this into account when I purchase things, is this really certified and/or under what standards is it certified? And then I make my best decision from there.

#3 - Is actually only meant to include food-items. And I do this from a nutritious stand-point only.

#4 - This is probably the most subjective of all of my commitments in that; What is reasonable for me may not be reasonable for somebody else, or even, What is reasonable for me today may not be tomorrow. IE Right now it is reasonable for me to make my own laundry detergent, but it is not reasonable for me to make my own clothes. It is really fun to use my own oatmeal face wash at home, but when I travel I buy both that and Shampoo.

#5 - Read the Label, read the label and read the label in other words this is all about knowing the ingredients and also if possible how it was produced so that it didn't produce toxic by-products for the environment or the workers.

Anyway these are my own personal guidelines in a nutshell. If they inspire or help somebody else, Great, if they don't - I have really had fun myself and an amazing adventure along the way and a reason to write more - which is what I love to do!

Hejdå,

The New Shampoo...

Ok, so today I tried the "no-poo" baking soda shampoo and apple cider vinegar rinse - it worked great! I have very thick hair that tends to get really tangled sometimes, and hard to brush out after I wash it.
While in the shower I had my doubts because my hair felt kind of fuzzy and dry, but once I got out it was actually very soft and easier to brush, than it had been with my Redken "all-soft" shampoo and conditioner and an additional leave in product that I use to make it less fuzzy. My only complaint is that for the first 1/2 hour I felt like a salad bowl(the apple cider vinegar) because of the smell, but then the smell evaporated and now I'm fine.
I love the feeling of washing with the oatmeal bag, it exfoliates and cleans very gently and leaves your skins ph-level where it is supposed to be. My skin loves the coconut oil and so does one of our cats! So no leaving it out...
A word about coconut oil; It is usually solid at room temperature so put a small amount in your hands and let it melt before you put it on your skin. It also goes rancid relatively fast -so I usually buy a large can -put it in the fridge and take out a small amount that I put in a smaller recycled glass jar, such as a baby food one, and keep it in the bathroom so that it isn't as hard, that way it seems to last better and if it goes rancid I don't have to throw the whole big jar out but just the small one in the bathroom. It is very easy to tell if it is rancid - just smell it - and if it smells kind of sour or bad -it is. Also watch the date on the jar when you buy it - it is often a year out or more, which is what you want, and not the coconut jar that has the due date yesterday or tomorrow.

Later today I am going to make my own laundry soap and wash my clothes in it - I will let you know how it goes!

Hejdå till imorgon.

Green, Green, Green

Aloha again,

yes I realize it has been a few days - mostly because my adventure is taking me in a more radical direction than I had planned and partly because life got busier than I had anticipated(doesn't it always though?).

When I started looking into the "natural" health care items I found that most of them contained almost as many chemicals as the "regular" stuff. As evidenced by a website called skin deep(www.cosmeticsdatabase.com/index) where you can look up almost any cosmetics company in the health care industry and their products, besides looking at the ingredient list yourself.
The same thing happened when I looked into what's in our laundry detergents, except it is much harder to find out what is in our laundry soap and detergents, because most laundry detergents do not list their ingredients on the box/container, neither do the containers of dish washer detergents or dish soaps etc. 

As I was looking for healthy, reasonable and local alternatives I found that most companies/products were not really what they were promoting themselves to be, and it started to almost get depressing esp. as I have studied what some of these toxins and chemicals can do to our bodies, systems and nature. 

I started noticing that there were homemade recipes out there of shampoos, lotions, detergents etc. that were simpler, more nature friendly and definitely more sustainable for our planet.

 I must confess that some of these I had already tried in the past with more or less success and I have kept up on some, and given up on others. 

I decided to give it a go again, on a bigger scale this time - all of it at once - and writing a report of it here on this blog and telling you not just if it works but if it is sustainable in our 20ieth century society.

Here is my new regimen that I have decided on;

Laundry -                                                                     I have made my own stuff with natural soap,        mixed with washing soda and Borax. Once I                                                                                             figure it out and if it is any good I will give you                                                                                       the exact recipe.

All-Purpose, anti-bacterial cleaner -       I've made my own with baking soda, vinegar, pure castile soap & essential oils.

Floor Cleaner - Same as above but I've added a small amount of washing soda.

Window/Mirror Cleaner - I mix white vinegar, water & lemon juice.

When it comes to personal health care I have always been more of a "wash & wear" kind of a person than a "have-to-have-make-up-on-every-second" kind of a person, but I still wear make up, do my hair and, shave my legs.

As far as deodorants/anti-perspirants go, I have found that it matters much more what I eat and if I work out regularly if I smell bad or not or perspire more or less, than what kind I wear - I have tried everything from Secret to Mitchum to Old Spice(yes I know it's a man's deodorant - but when you are desperate you try anything) to most brands that you find in the health food store including but not limited to the crystals. What seems to work better for me than anything else is  - ESSENTIAL OILS - plain(neat), (just make sure it is a high quality grade like "young living"). Geranium seems to work as well or better than most and it doesn't sting or hurt when you put it on and is very effective - smells a little bit more flowery than I prefer - but that still is much preferable to stinking.

For a face wash -                     I use oatmeal in a re-usable teabag with a little bit of witch hazel  and water and then I rinse with warm water.

   

For my hair -   I am starting what I have seen labeled "the no-poo" way(not as bad as it sounds), no shampoo, only 1T of baking soda mixed                                                        into a paste with water and a drop of  essential oil of my choosing, rubbing it into my scalp letting it sit for 1 minute rinsing with water and a final rinse of 1T of  organic apple cider vinegar in 1 C of water.

For the rest of my body -     either a natural, organic bar soap or castile soap - like "Dr    Bronners".

For shaving -     coconut oil.

For Lotion -    coconut oil, for face and body and even hair if it is really dry.    Or for my skin sometimes a natural lotion without    alcohol/ethanol in it. The alcohol/ethanol is added not only as a    preservative but mostly  to build in a dependence on the lotion - it   actually dries your skin out faster and makes it so you want to use   more lotion sooner than if it  wasn't added.

For Make Up Remover -   Coconut oil or I use a more liquid oil like almond oil and dip a

   q-tip in it and remove my eye-make-up.

I started this today and I have committed to stay with it for at least one month - not only to see the real benefits but also because sometimes it  takes 1 to 2 months to get over any residual effects from the much more  toxic substances we are used to using.

I will be reporting every couple of days to let you know how things are going. If it works - if my laundry stays clean, if I smell like a pig (-believe me my family will let me know if I stink or if their clothes stink or look ugly.) If it is a working option or just too complicated in today's society.

It got kind of long today - but I figure you will probably only read it if you want to anyway - but I promise it will be shorter next time!

Hejdå,

Green Links

Some of you might have noticed that I posted a new link(besides the Michael Pollan PBS interview). The new link takes you to a page full of fun and amazing green blogs. The ones that I have visited so far have been informative and/or entertaining and I highly recommend checking some of them out. 

Since I started writing this blog(I know it's been ONLY 3 days ago - but still), information and inspiration seem to come from everywhere and I am finding a lot more about how to go "green" both on the web and locally just chatting with friends and strangers. In the spirit of this sharing, learning and growing and helping our planet I will share any links that I come across that have information that would be helpful.

Yesterday was the first time that I have watched the whole inauguration ceremony, rather than just a small part. How very cool it was to see Obama become the new President of the United States of America! I think he is amazing. I don't think he is the solution to everything, but I think he is a giant step in the right direction, and such a breath of fresh air compared to most politicians.

Because I spent most my time on Politics yesterday, I have to make up for it today and get back to my "real" job, but I will return tomorrow with more on my green, sustainable adventures.

Until tomorrow - Hejdå

My very first blog

Aloha,

this is like some of you might suspect my very first blog. It has taken me way too long to get here. For some reason I was under the impression that it would be difficult, but so far, not to bad at all. Quite fun and easy actually!

This blog will follow most of my own and others research and findings for sustainable living and sustainable products. To Assist me with accomplishing this I have set some new goals.

Some of my resolutions for the new year are:

#1 - Buy local food & product as much as possible.
#2 - Buy proven organic/fare-trade items
#3 - Buy things that have 5 ingredients or less.
#4 - Only buy things I cannot reasonably make myself.
#5 - Only buy things that are toxin-free or harmless.

My foray into a more sustainable life promises to be an exciting and fun adventure.

 I found some of my determination to start this by listening to Michael Pollan on public radio as well as some of his YouTube speeches to the google company. Pretty much the rest of my inspiration came from watching my children and wanting to teach them and myself a better way to live and a cleaner planet for them to inhabit. 

I will write about our attempts at a sustainable lifestyle, the products I come across, do they work, do they not, are they truly green, do they have hidden problems or toxins, and our struggles and victories as far as this is concerned.

I am posting a link to a PBS Michael Pollan interview on "Bill Moyers Journal" for those of you that are interested. You can also look up his Google speach on You Tube.

Hejdå tills nästa gång/bye 'til next time (Swedish)