Going Green

It's been a year since I signed up to DoTerra and received my first bundle of Essential Oils. Since then I've been steadily learning how these oils can benefit my health and well being and they have worked wonders I can assure you! Now I've been exploring how they can be used to benefit the environment. 2019 seems to be the year that society is starting to finally take the environment seriously. Yes for 10+ years it's been gaining momentum; I remember first year of college (in 2008) designing tote bags with an eco message- a relatively new idea- but now we are starting to look at other areas of our lives that need challenging and changing to benefit the future of our planet.

Reducing our Toxic Load

This week I have been taking part in a Green Cleaning School online (part of my DoTerra membership). After trying out lots of new recipes to make my own cleaning products I decided to have a cull of my cleaning cupboard. Wowee what a colourful, overpowering smelling Aladdin's cave Mrs Hinch would jump for joy at! I don't even use most of this stuff and yet I hoard it. Do we even know what's in this stuff? No. Yet we buy it because it says that it's 'natural' and 'effective'. We blindly trust companies without thinking what these substances are doing to our skin, our insides, children and pets. Looking at the back of the bottles, most of these substances have hazard warnings and I can't begin to pronounce half the ingredients.

I've been learning how to use laundry detergent, dishwasher tabs, room spray, surface cleaner, carpet refresher etc. It's so much more wholesome and fun than trailing the cleaning aisles. The essentials to green cleaning include: silicone moulds, glass jars/ glass spray bottles, Bicarbonate of Soda (aka baking soda), citric acid, course sea salt, castile soap, white vinegar, witch hazel and Essential Oils:  Lemon and Lavender are most useful as not too expensive. They both have anti-bacterial properties so are perfect to use and smell lovely too! I get most of this (apart from the oils of course) from Amazon, Aromantic, Baldwins. If you are interested in the DoTerra oils I use send me a message! They are the best and not full of unknown fillers which your bog standard essential oils have. Amazon supposedly sell doterra oils but I wouldn't trust them- reviewers have said they don't smell the same.

From now on there is no need for me to buy anymore cleaning products- natural ingredients to make my own will be bought instead and look at how much clutter I can reduce too!

I hope to update this post with more updates on going green in my home!