I have decided that I'm going to slowly transition as many items in the house as possible to healthier, eco-friendly and/or biodegradable products. These types of products are becoming much more readily available and at very decent prices too. Wal-Mart and Target carry plenty of eco-friendly products at reasonable prices.
First I must issue a fair warning. No matter what the big print says - "Organic", "Eco-friendly", "Natural", what have you - READ YOUR LABELS! I have a couple rules of thumb... first of all, I look for limited ingredient products. Simple and safe. Second, I review each ingredient thoroughly and try my hardest to steer clear of anything I can't pronouce. Avoid parabens, sulfates, additives, and preservatives.
If you are more concerned with environmental impact, obviously just stick to things made from recycled materials and/or can be recycled, and look for biodegradable products. Do your research on certain products or ingredients you may want to avoid. One ingredient I try my hardest to avoid is PALM OIL. They destroy rainforests to grow palm trees because there is a huge demand for palm oil. It is found in a lot of cosmetics and some food items such as pudding snacks. It's just an example of something I know has a negative impact on the world so I try not to support it by purchasing products that use it.
Here is an article regarding food additives and dyes that should probably be avoided: Which Food Additives Make Children Behave Badly.
That's helpful as far as food goes but I'm looking at the big picture too, to reduce our carbon footprint. Here are the items I've switched over to in recent weeks, as my supply of the previous products has run out:
1) Carefresh Healthy Pet Cracked Pine Litter
This kitty litter clumps and is flushable and biodegradable. At $12.99 for 15lb, it's not that much more expensive than the clumping clay litter I usually buy. It's also dust free and will be softer and healthier for my cat.
2) Earth Friendly Products Dishmate (Grapefruit)
Earth Friendly is quickly becoming my favorite line of affordable biodegradable products. A 2-pack of these is $7.40 and it is readily available in many grocery stores. They are limited ingredient too - Water, Coconut oil surfactants, and Grapefruit oil (for scent in this case). Can't get any better than that!
3) Earth Friendly Products Ecos Liquid Laundry Detergent
Another resonably priced biodegradable product by Earth Friendly. I use the free-and-clear version. To save even more, I have adopted the method of using about 1/3 the amount of soap that the manufacturers usually suggest. My laundry is still as fresh and clean as it ever was.
4) Full Circle Be Good Dish Brush
Made from bamboo and recycled plastic, I bought this brush for $4 to replace my dish brush that was getting old and dingy anyhow. Full Circle products are very reasonably priced and I will be looking into them from now on when I need a new cleaning tool.
5) Dr. Bronner's Castile Soap
These castile soap products have been a favorite of mine for a while now. I use them everywhere. I have Peppermint, Orange, and Lavender. Most recently I have discovered that 1 part castile soap and 3 parts water make a great refill for my foaming soap dispensers. The lavender will also make a great baby wash once I finish my California Baby. The best thing about Dr. Bronner's is it's cheap! A large bottle of the ultra-concentrated soap will last me months. If you have a cleaning need, whether it's face wash or scrubbing pots and pans or laundry... it's likely castile soap will be of use to you. You can google huge lists of ideas on how to use it.
6) Florida Crystals Organic Cane Sugar
I switched to organic natural cane sugar for about a buck more than I'd pay for regular sugar.
Basically, if I need to restock or replace something at home, I now always explore my eco-friendly options before automatically just grabbing what I used to use. It isn't always cost effective so I can't switch everything, but I'm doing my best with what I can. I have found that it's a lot easier to replace everything slowly as my old products run out. This way I'm not being unnecessarily wasteful and I can spread the (minor) extra cost out.
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