I would like to welcome Ayieta of Crunchy Crate, and thank her for today’s guest post and giveaway!
IT CAN BE EASY BEING GREEN
I just received the copies of “The Complete Idiot’s Guide to Green Living” by Trish Riley, provided to me for giveaways, gifts etc. for my Crunchy Crate promotions. The book was published back in 2007, only five years ago, but nowadays attitudes, information and facts can change quite a bit in that amount of time. However, looking through it, there are some key topics that speak to the 2012 green consumer.
One of the things a person may tend to dismiss or glass over – especially once they have changed their lifestyles to be greener and have been doing it long enough for it to be second nature, is the reason – that deep personal issue that set you on the path to living a healthier, safer, better lifestyle.
I have been making natural vegan bath and body products (Shea Essentials – now Duafe Naturals) for over seven years, but honestly for most of that time, those products were the only thing vegan or natural about my lifestyle. I felt that as a modern consumer, I didn’t want to invest the time and sacrifice either quality or effectiveness or just goodness by using alternative products. It was stereotype that I had long held about wholesome products, even though my driving mission with my products was to create natural alternatives that were just as good as the commercial ones. That stereotype was solely based on outdated information about natural products.
Not even when health issues began to arise what I pushed to really exploring natural alternatives. It took me losing my hair (a struggle I document in my hair blog) for me to really put in the time and research to find high quality alternative products and by golly, I’ve found HUNDREDS that are even better than their conventional counterparts!
So, when browsing Ms. Riley’s book, a passage struck me as a wife and mother. Her passage “Going Green Can Be Good for Family Values”, She writes:
How much do we really need all that new stuff we hear about on TV and then rush out to buy on the weekend? How much money could we save if we didn’t fall for the sales pitches? How much time would that give back to us to use teaching our children the Golden Rule or working with them to build a hut in the yard for wild creatures? Remembering what’s most important to us is the first step in making choices and changes that will lead us all to a better world. Think about what you really need and want – what you value most in your life – as you make decisions about your life and about going green. (p.17, 2007)
I will not lie to you, I am a gadget girl. Love having the latest and newest personal electronic knick-knacks. But, because I know I want those, I make sure that the gadgets I’m replacing go to good use – to a friend or family member who doesn’t have one or donated to a charity. As an avid animal lover, my children and I are always doing things to help the critters – though with four cats and two guinea pigs, my small townhouse can’t house anymore. Those are small actions, but they move me toward a greener lifestyle.
The biggest lesson I have come to learn about greener, healthier living is it is not about what you are giving up, but how making a small change will extend your life, the life of those in your community or allow you to share goodwill with others. It does not have to be a dramatic grand gesture and it does not have to be for purely unselfish reasons. If you gain anything from my post today, I want it to be that no choice of a green, organic, natural, or socially conscious product or practice is too small to make an impact. Little actions add up to a huge impact. You do not have to be a sacrificial lamb to be a “good guy”.
Peace, Love & Abundance,
Ayieta
Crunchy Crate is a membership subscription service that delivers monthly “crates” of natural lifestyle products, samples, services, recipes and information to our members. ”Crunchy” defines a lifestyle of choosing products and practices that are sustainable (eco-friendly), socially aware, organic, non-toxic and healthy.
Subscriptions run from $16-$19.95 per monthly shipment, based on the length of subscription.
Crunchy Crate has offered a free crate to one lucky Living Crunchy reader! Please enter below.
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I have banned plastic bags and baggies from our house and, using cloth bags and re-usable containers only.
Thanks for sharing, Kim!
I am in love with the cloth produce bags. I take mine to the store and farmer’s market to bag up my fruits & veggies!
Looking to feature them soon in Crunchy Crate
They are the best!
We compost and recycle everything we can! Our garbage can only goes out to the curb about once a month now and it’s mostly because the trash starts to smell. It’s been pretty amazing to me!
Thanks for sharing, Christi!
AMAZING! My cats get a little too carried away with our trash if we keep it sitting for too long and our neighborhood association won’t let us have an outdoor compost bin. But I definitely work overtime to make sure we recycle everything we can to compensate
I’m supporting local farmers, cloth diaper and reduce our waste.
We use cloth diapers, washcloths instead of paper towels, and reusable grocery bags.
Great ideas. A good substitute for paper towels are cellulose cloths. They are super absorbent and reusable. With my curly hair, I love them for drying my hair without too much rubbing so I can keep as many curls intact and cut down on frizz. They also work well on cleaning up spills in the kitchen.
I make our own hand soap & laundry detergent, recycle everything, use reusable baggies & grocery bags and use earth friendly cleaning products
Awesome!
Natural hand and laundry soap? Are you using soap nuts? I’ve recently begin using them because they a will be featured in the November crate. Working with some essential oil blends to add a little fragrance and grease cutting power. They work great as a hand, dish and even laundry soap.
I’ve gone a little over the deep end with reusing glass bottles and jars from foods I’ve purchased from the grocery store. Those salad dressing bottles are perfect for making all my homemade dressings and sauces!
I’m also all about making beauty products in my kitchen rather than purchasing them (and accumulating more containers). My favorites are my daily scrub made with equal parts honey and baking soda. And I make my own mascara remover with filtered water, jojoba oil, and Dr. Bronner’s Baby Mild liquid castile. I love it!
I really wanted to love soap nuts, but I felt like they weren’t getting my clothes clean (especially my running clothes). Do any of you recommend a brand?
Sara – great ways to be Crunchy! As a bath and body product maker – I always take the extra from batches to refill the containers of stuff we use around the house. So lotion, liquid castile soap – which I use for everything from dishes, to washing our hair, all of our hair care products and liquid black soap (love it for teenage acne-prone faces) we have on hand and refill whenever I make products.
As far as soap nuts, I am in the same boat with you. I REALLY want to love them, but I’m not estatic with their results. I’ve tried tons of suggestions to help, but still not quite satisfied. So, sadly I do still use commercial laundry detergent. My sister loves castile soap, but I’m still not totally convinced with it. So to compensate for my laundry detergent, I’ve gone completely green in the dryer. I use wool dryer balls and a herbal sachets. They work great and the clothes smell good too. The November version of Crunchy Crate will delve into these laundry alternatives
Great! I use dryer balls (and sometimes vinegar in the rinse cycle) as my fabric softener. I have uber sensitive skin, so I’ve cut so many things out of my routine. My next plan was to try castile soap for detergent, but I haven’t read overwhelmingly positive things about its being effective. I’m thinking of going back to icky All Free & Clear, because it at least got my clothes clean. Sigh..