Big Green Purse - Chapter 6 (food) and Chapter 7 (cleaning)

Well, if you have read any of my blog, you will know that I am a big local, organic food person. I already eat way less meat than I used to and I am working on finding local, humanely farmed meat for my heavy meat eaters. We eat only sustainable seafood even when we are at a restaurant. Chapter 6 did not really have anything new to me. I did like the "organic purchase priorities" on page 168. I use my own cloth bags for shopping (all shopping) and I even have mesh produce bags for those strange occasional when I purchase produce at a grocery store. If I forget my cloth bags, I just carry whatever I bought (I usually have Son and Daughter with me - that makes 6 armloads!).

Chapter 7 is about cleaning stuff. I adore the book Clean and Green by Annie Bond. I refer to it regularly when we have something out of the ordinary to clean up. I keep the following cleansers in the house: vinegar, baking soda, borax, washing soda, lavender essential oil, and tea tree essential oil. I do use some commercial cleansers too. The company Ecover provides my concentrated laundry liquid, detergent for the automatic dishwasher, dishwashing soap, toilet bowl cleaner, and a soft scrub cleanser. I have a carpet cleaner, but use it pretty much all the time with plain warm water. Occasionally we have cat urine to clean up and I do use an enzyme to deal with that.

What about cleaning tools? We have a squeegee for cleaning mirrors, windows, and the shower walls. We have a large array of cloths for cleaning including those designated for greasy or otherwise dirty jobs. We have a dust mop for the wood and cork floors which has a removable and washable head. Our string mop head can be thrown in the washing machine as well.

We have a sepetic system and don't put anything down the toilet but the usual and small amounts of TP (recycled of course - Seventh Generation). When it needs help though, we have an array of plungers, plumbers snakes, and baking soda, vinegar, and boiling water to help keep it clean.

The only thing I can think of do to improve my green cleaning is to get a smaller house (more on that later)!

Big Green Purse - Chapter 5

Chapter 5 of the Big Green Purse is all about coffee, tea, cocoa, and chocolate. I did not find much I could improve on here. We don't drink coffee, but I already purchase fair trade, shade grown, organic coffee (Cafe Altura) to offer guests. When we make coffee, we use unbleached coffee filters with our little 4 cup coffee pot and have a large french press pot. All our tea is currently from Celestial Seasonings. I purchase fair trade hot cocoa mix from Equal Exchange. As for chocolate, we love Endangered Species bars (ethically traded, shade grown, and sometimes organic) and the organic Earth Balls put out by Sunspire.

So what can I do better?

I use a fair amount of green decaf tea to make kombucha and herbal teas. I can make sure to purchase fair trade tea as loose tea leaves. Also, on Page 138, the author mentions that you easily decaffeinate your own loose tea leaves - so I will try that (pour boiling water over loose leaves, let steep for 30 sec, pour water off, pour more boiling water on leaves and brew). I think that I will also experiment more with growing herbs that can be made into tea (like peppermint).

Today I got a container of Dagoba cocoa to try (fair trade, shade grown, organic). I'd love to have more local stores which sell fair trade, shade grown, organic chocolate yummies for the kids to enjoy. Which companies should I start writing to... :)

Personal Care Products

So I am reading The Big Green Purse by Diane MacEachern and decided to blog about each chapter and share my local, good to the earth resources with you. Chapter 3 is about beauty and personal care products. So what do I use you ask? Here's my list:

hair -- I mostly wash with water and occasional baking soda (instead of shampoo) and organic apple cider vinegar (as scalp conditioner).

face -- I mostly wash with water, weekly gently scrub with my bath scrubbie, daily use of moisturizer. Currently my moisturizer is Avalon Organics Vitamin C Oil-free Moisturizer. When I run out, I will be replacing with a facial moisturizer from Terressentials - a great little local company located in Frederick, MD.

lips -- I apply Burt's Bees lip balm several times a day. I have a Terressentials lip balm to try when I run out so I can support a local small business while caring for my dry winter lips.

hands -- At the DC Green Festival I bought the Terressentials fragrance free moisturizer cream for daily use after dish washing. It is yummy. Our bathrooms and kitchen are stocked with Dr. Bronner's liquid soap.

body -- Over the last year, I stopped using soap or other harsh chemicals on my skin and it is much healthier than it was during the rest of my years. I exfoliate with my bath scrubbie and that is all. The human body naturally cleans itself. Of course, dirt and other things that did not start on my skin are washed off with Dr. Bronner's liquid soap.

feet -- My feet get really dry. Son and Daughter tell me to take better care of them. I am now reminded to encourage the dry skin off using a foot care emery board and to moisturize after showers with Burt's Bees coconut foot cream.

makeup -- I don't use much. I have some Burt's Bees tinted beeswax lip balm that I use as lipstick maybe once or twice a month. I use Ecco Bella's mascara (I wear contacts) every day basically. That's it. Beauty is on the inside and in the eye of the beholder. My dear Son tells me every day that I am beautiful while he hugs me. What more could I need?

nail polish -- Occasionally, I just want to be more colorful. My nails get a dash of color (peel off or water-based polish) from Honeybee Gardens in the fantastic color of Shiny Penny. Oh, and it is a Pennsylvania company so it is pretty local too. I should try their mascara next time too.

teeth - I normally go with Preserve toothbrushes because they are made from recycled Stonyfield Farm yogurt containers and the toothbrushes are fully recyclable as well. Toothpaste I use a Tom's of Maine variety but am trying other brands as well when I have access to purchase them.

sunscreen -- We use our roof as sunscreen during the hours of strongest sun (i.e. we stay indoors). During morning and later afternoon/evening hours we go without sunscreen typically because we are busy making vitamin D with the sun on our skin. When we cannot avoid the strong sun or will be out for an extended time period, we have a supply of Nature's Gate sunscreen. Maybe by next summer, I will have come up with even better, local options for this too. Got an idea? Tell me!

menstrual products -- I almost forgot this one! I use The Keeper. I create no trash which is a good thing. At the end of my cycle, I sometimes use a panty liner made by Natracare.

Ok, that is it. If I didn't list it - I don't use it. What do you use?