For the past few years, I’ve been on a quest to “go green” in how I clean, what I put on my face, and how I eat. I try to eat organic as often as I can and have slowly been switching my cleaners and beauty products to “clean” brands or just making them myself.
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While every year more experts are recognizing the negative effects of chemicals and hormones on our lives, I only had to look more closely at my own to see how they were affecting me. Too much sugar, processed food, or even chemicals in my cleaners and beauty products always cause me to break out. But when I stop using these things? Voila – clear healthy skin. This is not just a coincidence; the health of our skin and hair can be directly connected to our overall health, too.
I then decided I want to get back to the basics in daily life as far as my cleaners, beauty products, and food.
I’m a big proponent of making simple changes in our life rather than drastic ones because I believe we’re more likely to stick with them then. Know what I mean? (I’m looking at you New Year’s Resolutions.)
So here are 5 pretty simple ways to go green in your home today.
1. Go Green In Your Beauty Routine
Replace chemical-filled beauty products with cleaner or homemade versions. Quick trivia question: Do you know the largest organ in our body? And the answer is…our skin! Did you also know that everything we put on our skin immediately gets absorbed into our system? And there’s no digestive system here to help funnel the bad stuff out.
For me this means I am extra careful about what I put on my skin, whether it’s face wash, toner, moisturizer or makeup. Good news: many companies recognize that customers no longer want chemical-filled products and are offering many that are “sulfate, paraben, and silicone free.” Unfortunately, many are still filled with other WORSE chemicals, or just disguising the name.
The best way to feel good about what you put on your skin is to do your research – check the labels and look up the ingredients yourself. Or better yet, make your own products. That way you know exactly what goes in them.
Looking for some inspiration? Here’s my natural skincare routine.
2. Go Green in Your Cleaning Routine
Replace chemical-filled cleaners with green and/or organic products. In college, I used to clean bathrooms at a KOA campground near Niagara Falls. Not surprisingly we used a lot of chemical-filled cleaners. (Which, let’s be honest, bleach was my friend there.)
But after two years my skin had acne on top of acne because of the harsh chemicals in the cleaners. Not to mention I went home feeling like I couldn’t breathe. To save my health and my skin I’ve slowly transitioned over to green and clean household products. Oh, and it’s better for your furry friends, too!
Here are a few of my favorite green cleaning tips to get you started:
- Ditch the bleach! In full disclosure, I do keep a bottle of bleach under my kitchen sink. Why? Because I got the norovirus last year and I ain’t playing around after that. If my household gets hit with a serious virus I will pull out the bleach. OTHERWISE, it stays put because there are so many other ways we can clean and disinfect without it.
- So instead of using bleach on your clothing or household items – throw them out in the sun. The sun not only whitens but disinfects.
- Keep a Mr. Clean Magic Eraser in the shower. I’ve wasted so many hours sitting in my tub scrubbing it with chemical cleaners. No more. Now I just keep a magic eraser in my shower and while my conditioner does its thing I scrub the place down. YOU WILL BE AMAZED. It gets off absolutely everything with no noxious fumes and no need to waste another Saturday morning doing it. TRY IT.
- Microwave cleaner. Put an Angry Mama in the microwave for 7 minutes filled with vinegar, lemon, and water. This concoction breaks up stuck on food in your microwave so you just have to wipe it away when it’s done. Plus, it smells delightful.
- Stick your kitchen sponge in the microwave for two minutes to kill bacteria.
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3. Clean Up Your Laundry Routine
So I’ve read horror stories about people trying to make their own laundry detergent and it just not working. I still want clean clothes! However, the cute little packets we throw in are not only filled with chemicals but can cause itchiness or more serious problems for people with skin issues like eczema.
Years ago I switched to soap nuts. Yes, nuts. I just throw my little bag of them in every load and away they go. I won’t go into too much detail about them because I already wrote a post 5 Reasons I Wash My Clothes with Soap Nuts that you should go read if you want to learn more. If you miss the scents of traditional detergent you can always buy Mrs. Meyers Laundry Scent Boosters (like peony) to lighten things up.
And instead of buying chemical-filled dryer sheets try using wool dryer balls! You can also add essential oils to these to make any scent you want.
4. Use What You Have on Hand
I recently cut up all my husband’s old undershirts and have an almost unlimited supply. I keep washing them, but if I clean ups something particularly gross, for instance, cat puke, I can just throw it away without any guilt.
5. Go Green In Your Eating Routine
Eat real food. Better yet – grow it yourself.
Since I occasionally suffer from digestive issues I have to be very careful about what I eat to avoid a flare-up. I also know the days I eat better…I feel better! Sometimes I eat so many fruits and vegetables in a day I FEEL like a gigantic vegetable. (And sometimes I eat too much peanut butter and chocolate and feel like a giant Reese’s Peanut Butter Cup, which in theory sounds nice, but it’s not.)
When possible I buy organic, grass-fed meat (Aldi’s has great prices for organic meat and products!) I also like to limit my sugar, eat foods with natural probiotics, and beef up on those fruits and vegetables.
Oh, and here’s an updated list from the Environmental Working Group on what fruits and vegetables you need to buy organic, and which ones are okay not to.
I then take those fruits and vegetables and make awesome good-for-your-health AND skin juices, like this one I cleverly named Sarah’s Healthy Green Juice.
If you have a little plot of land you should be growing your own fruits and vegetables too. It is so rewarding to grow your own knowing where they came from and that you helped bring it about. You don’t have to have land to grow fruits and vegetables either. I use a self-watering and grow lamp system to grow all sorts of things like cherry tomatoes, lettuce, and herbs.
I hope I’ve inspired you to start to go green in your life. If you already are, what are some tips I didn’t include?
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Great ideas! My friend gave me some homemade laundry detergent that seems to be working well so far. I’ll have to check out your post on soap nuts.
I haven’t tried making my own yet but glad to hear it’s been working for you!
I use my old T-shirts to clean, too! Doesn’t feel right to throw them out. I would like to try making my own detergent sometime as well!
These are great ideas! I would like to try homemade detergent but I have really sensitive skin so that would be a toss up. I am doing things in my home to go green(er) too.
Thanks for all of this great info… just what I needed!
These are great tips! I feel so much better knowing that the products I use around the house (and on my body!) are clean and safe!
Great tips! We are slowly trying to use up our cleaners and replace them with green ones. We are also moving soon, so I hope to start a garden once we move!
Emily – both of those are very exciting. Good luck!
I love tips 4 and 5. We have a ton of rags that I don’t feel guilty chucking. Also, getting our garden bed ready has been the highlight of the month :)
Good luck with that garden!
I have been slowly transitioning our cleaning products to non-toxic. It has been great because I don’t stress over one of my kids opening the cleaning closet as much. I too keep a bottle of bleach. My husband got hit with a real nasty virus at the end of last year and bleach was the only thing that would medically clean it. Great article, love all the tips!
I don’t have kids yet but that will definitely concern me when I do, too. Glad you are making the switch as well!
Great tips ! I’ve definitely been making a switch to more natural beauty products. Cleaning with home made cleansers is such a good idea that I need to try ! :)
x Helen http://www.seaandstyle.com/blog/
Sarah! When I was doing my makeup this morning I thought “I should look into natural skincare and makeup. I bet Sarah would have some ideas.” Ha! Thanks for these ideas. One of these days I am going to make my own mascara :)
Haha I tried making my own mascara once. It didn’t turn out that great but I will definitely try again knowing what I know now (and not doing it the same way) ;)
Great ideas! I’m going to start implementing these!
My fiancé has sensitive skin to any kind of tide laundry soap and even the drier sheets! So I switched to an all natural / eco friendly liquid soap and it’s been no itchy skin since!
I think all products should just be scented with essential oils and that’s it! I keep trying to grow some vegetables every year and fail miserably, one day I will do it!
That’s great it stopped the itching, Nicole! And I unfortunately have a black thumb as well. :)
Sarah, I love this! As someone who is very sensitive to phony fragrances (neurotoxic petrochemicals) and chemicals, I’d love it if everyone would get them out of their homes and use natural products instead. And, like you (in the interests of full disclosure), I make very limited use of bleach when absolutely necessary.
Sometimes bleach is just necessary. :)
Great list! I have switched most of my beauty/skin products to clean products, and we also buy organic when possible. I love the cleaning tips, though, as that is one area I need to work on. I also am intrigued by the soap nuts. Thanks for sharing!
The soap nuts are the coolest!
Grow it yourself! I cannot wait until we buy a house in the next few months, just so that I can have space for a garden :) Great suggestions here :)
Nicole – I am so excited for you that you will be able to start a little garden! We’re currently looking to buy soon too and I can’t wait for that.
Soap nuts!? I’m interested! :)
Great ideas! Thanks for sharing.
I’ve definitely started going green about a year ago and definitely notice the difference. No headaches during or after cleaning, and making my own cleaning products are so much easier to make than I originally thought.
I haven’t been brave enough to make my own cleaners yet but that is definitely next on the list.
I was just thinking about you the other day! I am making my own lavender shea butter rub for myself and the pup! So much cleaner/safer!
Rachel – that sounds amazing! How is it working?
Thank you…this is helpful. I really want to try and incorporate more green products into my household. I REALLY want to try and make my own soap at some point. :)
You can do it, Jennifer!
Great collection of green cleaning tips. Thanks for sharing!
Great tips. I’ve started a pallet garden in which I hope to incorporate some herbs as well.
We are all about green cleaner in our house!
I love all natural products and have been using them for many years – both body products and household products. The one thing that I would love to do is start growing my own food. I have a basil and a mint plant, but that’s it.
I’d love to have land to grow my own food, too. Maybe one day!
Yes to all of this!!! I’m just starting the journey of going green and I love tips like this that show me steps that I’m still needing to take!
I recently learned how horrible dryer sheets are! I was astounded thank you for getting the word out about how harmful this product can be!
My husband and I are growing our own veggies! So excited!
Good luck!!
We’ve been using old shirt to make rags for quite sometime now, it’s such a better way to do it!
Excellent suggestions! This is definitely something I want to work on more this year!
I totally need to check into those soap nuts! They sound so fascinating! Thanks for these great tips!
I am going to try the magic eraser shower tip! I hate cleaning the shower and its the only time i use heavy chemicals and i hate hate hate it! Also, pinned for later :)
Mira – thanks for the pin. And the magic eraser tool will change your life! Or at least it seems that way. so easy to clean the shower now!
These are awesome tips! I’m definitely going to try the Mr.Clean sponge and the microwave homemade cleanser!
yes! yes! yes! great post. i love making my own cleaning products to keep the junk out and it feels so fresh to know things really are clean (:
Wanna come clean out my house and make it all green and good???? My green game is nowhere NEAR where it needs to be!
Coming Up Roses
Fantastic post! I would love to start my own garden. I truly believe that healthy eating makes such a difference in the quality of your skin and overall health, and I’m going to look into some of your suggestions (the ones I don’t do already). Thanks so much!
erin | sandsunandmessybuns.com
Wow! Such great information! I’ve been trying to go more green in my own home, but reading this post makes me realize I still have a long way to go.
Oh no, take it slow! That’s the best way to get there anyway.
So many wonderful tips here! I am a huge fan of making my own cleaners.
You’ll have to teach me then! I’m just getting started.
These are some great go-green tips. The idea of swapping out chemical filled cleaners for non-chemical cleaners is a wonderful idea. I would love to do that in our house. Thanks for sharing these!
You know what I totally use my old shirts as rags!!! I have a lot of them
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I’m a huge supporter of going green and I do use organic products on my skin. These are also awesome ideas for me as I’m buying a house soon. Will surely apply this knowledge.
I think I say this for every post, but I love it!! Your points are spot on what I am working towards in my home right now. I need to post an update, but I have found a few green products for laundry and cleaning that I love to use! I did miss the mark of getting many of my greens planted in the garden this year, but I will have a bunch of red onions, potatoes, and hopefully tomatoes very soon!
oooh Erin I want to hear what products you recommend for the home!