Steam Cleaning – Green Cleaning At Its Best

by on February 28, 2011
in home & garden · 13 Comments

The following is a guest post by Cindy Sha.

When you think about green cleaning, one of the options that are slowly growing in popularity in the US, are steam cleaners. They have been widely used in the UK and European countries as well as around the globe.

A few reminders about conventional cleaning

The chemicals in your disinfectants and cleaning solutions are toxic and can be harmful to both the environment and your family. When you use these solutions to “clean,” the chemicals are absorbed into the air as well as in your floors and furniture. These cause toxic build ups in your home which can cause you or your family to develop chemical sensitivities, allergies and have sinus reactions.

Also, if you have babies, toddlers or even cherished pets in your home, they will come into contact with these substances. A child’s immune system is not completely developed and they are also more sensitive to chemical changes than adults are. When you think about it from this perspective… Do you really want these chemicals building up inside of your child?

Besides having a direct impact on the health of your family, chemical cleaners are also reintroduced to the environment when they run off into our waterways. These chemicals eventually find themselves in our rivers and oceans which poison fishes and other living organisms. They are also specifically responsible for the overgrowth of algae which smothers and kills other plant species.

So what can you do?

[Read more...]

Weekend Links

by on February 27, 2011
in links · 5 Comments

5 Reasons to Ditch Disposable Water Bottles :: Green…Your Way
The Handwritten Letter :: The Creative Mama
Getting Kids Excited About Gardening :: Nature Moms Blog
How to Shop for Eco-Friendly Clothing, Part 1 :: Big Green Purse
Do You Make Time for a Green Hour? :: Go Explore Nature

In between rainstorms we’ve had some crisp, sunny days around here (that’s my little guy pictured above enjoying an afternoon swing). I hope you’re able to get outside and enjoy some sun this week as we push through a long winter.

Have you signed up for the Simple Living Media newsletter yet? The latest edition will be hitting inboxes in just a couple of days, so if you’re not already signed up, be sure to get on the list for the latest from our community of blogs, including insider, newsletter-only content.

Lightening Hair Naturally

by on February 25, 2011
in personal care & beauty · 64 Comments

My hair’s been au naturale for almost seven years– the last time I dyed it was when I had it high-lighted for my wedding. In high school, I stuck to Sun-In and lemon juice for a blonder look, and in college, I used many a drug-store-boxed hair dye, in a variety of brown, auburn and red shades.

Since my wedding though, I’ve let it grow out to its natural color, which, it turns out, I actually like.

A few months ago, I chopped off two long braids (to donate), along with all my summer gold, and now my hair is quite dark. On the occasion that I actually wear my bangs forward, I always get asked if I recently dyed my hair darker.

I’m not sure if it’s the  pregnancy hormones, the dormant surfer girl/beach bum in me, or even the winter blues, but lately I’ve been having a strange longing for something lighter and sunnier.

The last thing I want to do, however, is fill my head of hair with chemicals to achieve a look that’s totally unnatural, so I had to get thinking about natural options for hair lightening.

A Facebook poll told me that many of you are sporting your God-given hair color happily, but several readers mentioned that they were interested in some natural hair color alternatives.

Here are a few options that I’m considering trying.

[Read more...]

15 Things I Just Don’t Clean

by on February 23, 2011
in home & garden · 93 Comments

Written by contributor Katie Kimball, of Kitchen Stewardship.

Even if you don’t spend as much time in the kitchen as I do, I’m willing to wager that you’d love to find more ways to cut down on the time you’re trapped by food prep and clean-up. I’ve learned to cut more and more corners over the years, and I’m proud to shed the self-imposed title of “lazy” and replace it with this month’s theme for the Simple Living Media network: living on or with less.

Yes, that’s exactly what I do! I’m not lazy, just working smarter, with less… fewer dishes, that is.
[Read more...]

Traditional Wet Shaving: Good for the Earth, Great for Skin!

by on February 21, 2011
in personal care & beauty · 8 Comments

Written by contributor Megan Tietz of Sorta Crunchy.

Editor’s note: As we’ve been talking about personal care products this month, I wanted to replay this great article from last year. Megan’s post here is mainly geared toward men, but after a little research, I found that it seems many women employ this shaving method as well.

We all know that less toxicity equals better health for our bodies.  When you add in the the happy by-product of better health for the earth, it’s hard to resist the appeal of eliminating toxicity from the routines of every day life.

Here at Simple Organic, we’ve discussed natural care for babies, for our skin, and even our nails, but I can’t help but to notice that we are neglecting a major demographic in the movement for more natural families.  We need to be careful not to leave men out of the discussion! So ladies, I think it’s time to talk about a topic that affects almost every one of the men in our lives: shaving. [Read more...]

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