Friday, January 20, 2012

Natural Products

I am an avid recycler. Ask anyone who has every had the pleasure of working with me. I do not hesitate to pick something at the trash that I can bring home to recycle ( frozen lean cuisine boxes, water bottle etc.). However, aside from my recycling addiction and my reusable grocery bags, I am not very "green".
Lately, I have started to become more conscientious of the products I use and the ingredients: harmful to me or the environment. Don't get my wrong, I am not by any means prepared to throw out everything I own and proclaim that I only use Natural ingredients going forward. But here are a few of the switches made around the Casa De Harrigan thus far.
1) I traded in my long time love, Dove Body Wash, for a natural soap bar. I ordered one bar of Oatmeal and Honey soap from Goat Milk Stuff and I am hooked! I would love them to make a liquid body wash but so far have been content with a bar in Soap Saver ( like this but I purchased mine at CVS).
2) We threw out the Mr. Clean and purchased a Shark Vac & Steam. LOVE, LOVE, LOVE how this cleans my tile floors with ZERO chemicals. I would highly recommend this product ( just be sure to use distilled water to prevent build up in the machine, if you have hard water).
3) We traded in a few of our cleaning products for natural versions. So far we LOVE Method Cucumber dish soap, Seventh Generation dish washing liquid, Seventh Generation Bathroom Cleaner, and Method Shower and Tile Cleaner.
4) Laundry. I am in the process of making changes to more natural products. I currently use Method laundry soap. I did buy a sample of detergent from Goat Milk Soap and am considering making my own laundry soap using a bar of Laundry Soap from a tutorial I found on Pinterest. People say it is much cheaper that way. I am all about saving money AND getting a great natural product.
5) The pups. So because I am a crazy doxie lover, my dogs use only all natural products as well. I love Earthbath products. They eat Orijen and only get all natural flea remedies.

With the switch to more natural products, I have realized that some things are hard to part with including fabric softener and my Bath and Body Works Air freshers. I also need to find a good natural body lotion and shampoo line, nothing I have tried so far really sold me! So feel free to send any suggestions my way. :)

4 comments:

  1. I use Giovanni shampoo and I like it. It has zero sulfates which irritate my scalp. you can find it at Target and Walmart so it's pretty available. It's in the natural cosmetics section, next to Burt's Bees.

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  2. Thanks Elyse!I will have to check that out!

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  3. What do you use for the dogs for fleas? We are having a hard time finding something that works for Riley & June. They are currently on Comfortis, which is working okay but is way expensive, and I'd like to try something natural!

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    1. I have used Flea Free products since 2007. I stopped Advantix around the same time and have never had a flea! Here is the website: http://fleafreeanimals.com/page2.html. I used to purchase from a local pet store but now buy on Amazon. I buy the liquid supplement and spray it on their food. Sometimes I use a Neem spray in the summer.

      Best part... They company started as a mom and pop run operation in Gainesville and now they ship all over the world!

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