 Well, I'm a little behind this month. I'd like to say it's because I've been enjoying beautiful spring weather, but anyone that's been living in Minnesota knows that isn't true. First up, let's do a quick update on how my March swaps are going! I swapped my dry shampoo, face wash, face moisturizer, tupperware and hair brush. The glass tupperware from Ikea are amazing and I can't believe I ever used anything different. Truly, nothing can compare to knowing my tupperware is actually clean and isn't stained by food. If you haven't swapped from plastic tupperware to glass, DO IT! The wooden brush from Target is holding up really well, plus it's super gentle for my daughter's hair. As always, I live by dry shampoo and the No Drought dry shampoo from Lush is amazing and a little goes a long away. Both of my Lush skin care swaps have been going great. The Angels on Bare Skin face wash is wonderful; I love that I'm getting a great clean and a light exfoliation with each wash. I chose the Full of Grace solid moisturizerand I'm loving it. It took a little getting use to, but the trick is to rub the bar directly onto your face and then rub the moisturizer in. Now, without further ado, here are my April Swaps!  I did away with using plastic produce bags almost a decade ago. I have never really seen the point. But, I do get weird looks from people when I have my produce rolling around in my cart. It was after I had Tess that I really realized how much... stuff... could be in my cart. Now, I always wash the hell out of my produce before using it, but I started to come around to the idea of using produce bags, though I couldn't get on board with such one-use plastic. Enter my wonderful mother-in-law. She knows I've been swapping out products to be more eco friendly, zero waste and non toxic, so she purchased these great reusable produce bags for our family, herself and my sister-in-law. I love that these bags are super sturdy, easily washable and they come in different sizes. I've been slipping these bags into my car every time I go grocery shopping, it's that simple. I'm also no longer getting weird looks when I put my peppers into my cart. Now, I'm not sure if these are the EXACT brand, but they do look similar. You can purchase these bags on Amazon here.  My husband and I have been using Dr. Bronner's Castile Soap for a long time; this soap is one of the most eco friendly and non toxic options out there! I love using this soap, but I knew I could make it a lot more zero waste. Dr. Bronner's is also available in bar form, wrapped in a paper label. Though it still has a label, paper is significantly less harmful than plastic. We can use these bars in the shower, set them by the sink to wash our hands and I can still use them as a base in different cleaners. To keep using the castile soap in cleaners, simply grate it down! You can buy Dr. Bronner's solid bar soap at Target, Whole Foods and many other stores, or online here.  I've gone back and forth over the years with cleaning products. Sometimes I'll make my own, sometimes I'll be super lazy and purchase "green" products. Until this month, I'd been using Mrs. Meyers Multi-Surface Spray. This is one of those brands that appears to be so clean and green, but it's sneaky. First, it contains artificial fragrance, which we've learned by now is a big no-no. You never know what's in that "fragrance" ingredient, and unless it's listed as essential oils, it's probably not good. Plus it contains known carcinogens. It's not rated an "F", but it's a "C" and that's not great. We're not going for average, her people. So, I purchased this great glass bottles from the Target dollar section and committed whole heartedly to my own cleaner. I'm doing things a bit differently this time, using a vinegar based cleaner infused with citrus peels. I'll detail how to make this cleaner in a future blog, but I'm already so excited about it: it works amazing! Plus I'm using portions of our food that would otherwise end up in a landfill: win/win. You can buy similar glass spray bottles online here.  Deodorant is one the most toxic and wasteful products. But also, like, who wants to be stinky? Truly though, I've been on the search for a non toxic and eco friendly deodorant for years. Nothing has really worked that great. With this challenge, I added zero waste to the check list, so obviously finding a deodorant would get easier, right? Actually, I was inspired by a client to try out Schmidt's solid deodorant. So far, I'm super impressed! The bergamot and lime scent I chose isn't overpowering and does keep me smelling fresh. Usually, I'm deodorant-free, but I need something that will work when I'm around my pregnant peeps with super sniffers. Fingers crossed I've found a winner! You can purchase Schmidt's Solid Deodorant at Whole Foods, or buy it online here.  Spices are a sneaky little waste monsters. Look at all those little plastic jars. Yeesh. Buying spices in bulk is one of the easiest ways to make that change. Places like your local co-op or Whole Foods are great places to buy bulk spices. Need more? Sam's Club offers many of their bulk spices in glass jars too! I've both purchased glass jars and repurposed smaller condiment jars to start storing bulk spices. As I get rid of my plastic container, I move on to either bulk or glass jar spices. Can't find what you want in stores? There are a lot of great online resources for bulk spices. Be prepared to be a larger quantity to make the purchase worth it and impact lower. You can find these spice jars at Ikea or buy them online here. Follow along on Instagram from more behind the scenes of the Eco Simple Challenge, including how these products are working for me. You can also share your own swaps by tagging @thesownseed and using the hashtag #ecosimplechallenge.
Let me know some of your April swaps or ask some questions below in the comments! Want to see previous months' swaps? Check them out here:
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 It's swaps time! This year I've committed to swapping five items for more eco friendly, non toxic and zero waste options each month. Rolling into March, I'm still so excited about what the rest of the year has to offer. So far, it's been pretty easy to find alternatives for some of my most-used items. Best of all, none of the items I've swapped so far have been a dud. I've really loved each item I've changed out and it hasn't impacted my life negatively in any way. So, if you're considering making some swaps, do it! This month, I focused mostly on my beauty products. Because I use these daily and on my body, it felt important to start looking for more non toxic options that are also eco friendly and zero waste. You'll notice that Lush was my brand of choice. Before we dive into my swaps, let's talk about researching brands before you buy. Lush is a zero waste angel. Many of their products are package free, which means taking your beauty routine zero waste is pretty simple. While they're champions at being zero waste and pretty eco friendly, they aren't necessarily the most non toxic. Lush does a great job at clearly outlining what's in their products, which makes it easy to spot which items have non toxic no no's like fragrance. It's super important to research what's in the products you'd like to buy so you know you're choosing options your comfortable with. While there aren't a ton of non toxic Lush options I feel comfortable with, my swaps this month include three products that fit the bill.  Honestly, you can pry dry shampoo out of my cold, dead hands. I love it so much. The classic dry shampoo options out there come in aerosol cans, filled with added fragrance and chemicals: So not eco friendly, non toxic or zero waste. I had been using Suave's Natural Refresh Dry Shampoo. Just because "natural" is in the name doesn't mean it's good for you, sweetie. Lush's No Drought shampoo falls into my comfort zone of non toxic and is more eco friendly than an aerosol can. While it's not exactly zero waste, all of Lush's packaging is made from 100% recycled, BPA-free plastic produced near their factory. That feels pretty good to me! This dry shampoo is white, so pro tip for brunettes: Use it before bed. When you massage the powder into your roots and then sleep on it, you wake up with grease-free locks, but no white residue. You can find No Drought in Lush stores, or order it online here.  It was super important to get this item swapped as soon as I could. I wash my face twice a day, so anything with toxic chemicals is getting a lot of opportunities to negatively effect me. I have been using Bliss Pore Patrol clay-to-foam cleanser. Let's just say, it did not rate well on the EWG skin deep app. Once again I turned to Lush and their Angels on Bare Skin face cleanser. This is made with all natural ingredients and super effective, plus it's great for all skin types. It's lavender scent is so amazing. This product comes in a pot, so while not zero waste, Lush has an amazing recycling system with this packaging. You can bring your pots back to a Lush store to recycle. When you recycle five pots, you get a free face mask pot. Nice! You can find Angels on Bare Skin in Lush stores, or order it online here.  This was the product where I finally hit the trifecta with Lush: Non toxic, eco friendly and zero waste! Their Full of Grace moisturizer bar is so gentle, effective and comes as a solid with zero packaging. I highly recommend getting a tin to keep the bar in, because unlike other Lush solid products, the moisturizing bar can get on everything if it isn't contained. Before using this product, I was using Bliss Drench to Quench cream to water moisturizer. While I loved this product, it was rated really poorly on Skin Deep, plus it's packaging was horrible. The product was 70% plastic package, 30% moisturizer. I'm so glad I made the swap. Using a solid moisturizer was not the learning curve I thought it would be, it so straight forward. Plus, a little bit of this product goes a long way. You can find Full of Grace in Lush stores, or order online here.  I was in serious need of a new hair brush. This is going to sound super gross, but I'd had the same hair brush for more than ten years. Yes, I cleaned it, but it had so much gross build up, I can't even think about it. Needless to say, this was a super necessary swap. This product choice really fell in my lap. Obviously, my current brush was 100% plastic. I was prepared to spend a little money on getting a wooden brush with natural bristles, hoping it would last me a while. But then, the Target dollar section provided, as it always does. Target currently has a treasure trove of cleaning and personal beauty supplies, including this wooden handled brush with wooden bristles. So far, it's been working great! Now, I don't have the thick locks I did before having Tess, but it's been really effective at getting through tangles and hasn't show any sign of wear yet. Plus, it was $3. Totally worth it. You can find this brush in stores at Target now.  My last swap took me out of the bathroom and into the kitchen. Plastic tupperware haunts my dreams. I never have the right lids, even though there are substantially more lids than bottoms, and they get so dingy. Plus, I always have to remove my leftovers from the tupperware before heating it up, because I don't want that nasty plastic leeching into my food. Finding completely zero waste tupperware was challenging, especially when I want to buy in-person to be more eco friendly. I've heard that Pyrex brand doesn't hold up that well, so I looked at my trusty fav Ikea. So far, we love these glass leftover dishes. They come in a number of sizes, we chose both rectangle and square dishes in a deep and shallower option. Now, the lids are plastic, but I feel really good about the fact that we've cut down on plastic use, plus those lids don't go into the microwave. Win! You can find these dishes in Ikea stores, or order online here. I'm so happy I tackled some of the items in my beauty routine this month, I can't wait to swap more!
Follow along on Instagram from more behind the scenes of the Eco Simple Challenge, including how these products are working for me. You can also share your own swaps by tagging @thesownseed and using the hashtag #ecosimplechallenge. Let me know some of your March swaps or ask some questions below in the comments! Want to see previous months' swaps? Check them out here:  It's the first week of February, which means it's swaps time for the Eco Simple Challenge! We've had one full month of swapping products for more eco friendly, non toxic and zero waste options, as well as simplifying our space by donating items we don't use or need. It's been amazing so far. Last month's swaps are really integrated into our daily life. I was most concerned about moving to cloth napkins and my new mascara, but both have been awesome. Using cloth napkins is actually pretty easy, especially when we commit to using a napkin per person each day (unless it's really messy, of course). I had originally purchased 12 napkins and this seems to be a good number for the rate we use them and how often they're washed. My mascara is also going strong. I was pretty nervous that using a mineral mascara would mean raccoon eyes midway through the day, flaking or difficulty removing the product. I couldn't have been more wrong. It's staying put, giving me tons of volume and easy to remove. Just a reminder, I swapped conventional mascara for Mineral Fusion's lengthening mascara, which you can get at Whole Foods or order online here. Enough with last month, this month is kind of a potpourri of different products I've transitioned to be more eco. Let's dive right in.  Garbage bags are super wasteful, it's just a fact. It's also really hard to make life work without having garbage bags, I know, because we tried one summer. I'm ashamed to say we've been super wasteful with our garbage bag choices. While we weren't using plastic garbage bags with added fragrance, which aren't eco friendly or non toxic, we were reusing paper grocery bags. While we were technically recycling, it was still eventually putting more garbage out into the world. We purchased new garbage cans and decided to go with compostable bags by the brand If You Care. They're not made with plastic, but instead potato starches, so they're completely compostable. We don't make a lot of garbage to begin with, so I knew these would stretch a long way. We're also reusing the bag that lines the recycling bin. Our local composting place also has free, large composting bags very similar to this. Honestly, I'll probably stock up on those bags for free once we're frequenting the drop off in the spring. You can find If You Care compostable garbage bags at Whole Foods, or order online here.  It really felt like now was the time to start saying goodbye to unnecessary packaging on dry goods. So many of the dry goods you use regularly - rice, grains, oatmeal, beans, nuts, flour etc. - can be purchased in bulk, which means eliminating pretty unnecessary packaging. It also meant saving some money! A portion of what you're buying when you select that bag of quinoa is the pretty packaging on the outside. When you go bulk, you remove that from the price, which can even make springing for organic less expensive. Now, it's still easy to use unnecessary packaging when buying bulk. We wanted to get away from using the plastic and paper bags offered in the bulk section. You can do this in several ways. First, you can choose to use the paper bags and then reuse them the next time you go to buy more bulk. The paper bags in the bulk section at Whole Foods are pretty hearty, we'd already been able to reuse them several times with more uses in the future. The other option is to learn how to tare your storage jars. Tare? All this means is you weigh your storage jar when it's empty, then re-weigh the jar filled with whatever bulk item you're purchasing. After that, you subtract the jar's weight from the total to know how much the bulk product weighs. It's pretty simple! So far we've transitioned packaged products for the following: beans, rice, quinoa, oatmeal, flours, sugars, other grains. We've used large mason jars, repurposed jars from our wedding (we had terrarium center pieces) and purchased some from Ikea. You can find the same storage jars at Ikea, or order online here.  I use makeup remover, toner and other products that require cotton balls. I was trying to reuse each cotton ball more than once during my beauty routine, but it was pretty hard. So many cotton balls, so much waste. There are a lot of awesome reusable products out there to replace cotton balls, from makeup removing mitts and cloths, to reusable bamboo rounds. That's when I realized, I still have a ton of reusable bamboo pads I could repurpose. Enter Bamboobies, my bamboo reusable nursing pads. Yeah, that's right, I'm reusing the pads I used while I was breastfeeding to now wipe my face. Don't worry, they've been washed, but they're also working great! One side of the pad is soft, tufted fabric, while the other side is smooth and flat. I use the smooth side to remove my makeup and the soft side for toner. I can use one pad for my entire beauty routine! Because these babies are meant to prevent liquid leakage, the moisture from removing my makeup on one side of the pad doesn't make it to the other side. It's brilliant. You can get Bamboobies at Target, or order online here.  I'll be real with you, we don't really use dryer sheets, so this is kind of a half-assed swap, but we were looking for ways to lower the amount of time we need to dry our clothes. Dryer balls fit the need for both, so I had to add this to the swap list. Now there are plastic dryer balls available, but to me that kind of felt like missing the point since I'm drying to reduce our plastic use. Wool dryer balls are much more eco friendly, plus I love that you can add essential oils to them if you are trying to swap from scented dryer sheets. They tumble around in your dryer, separating the clothes, which cuts down dry time. It took me a little time to find wool dryer balls I felt were coming from a reputable source. This was a swap I had to purchase online and Amazon can be a mine field for products that look eco friendly, but really are made with a ton of chemicals. I didn't want to get my wool dryer balls home and open the package to smell that familiar chemical smell. I chose Handy Laundrybecause they had a presence outside of Amazon and multiple other eco products. You can order Handy Laundry wool dryer balls online here.  I have a real thing against using washcloths to soap up when I'm in the shower. It's just the way they get heavy and slap against my body that really grosses me out. I've always been a loofa person and never really thought about how wasteful they were. Loofas are made predominately of plastic, so I knew I'd have to swap this out sooner than later. There are a lot of wonderful natural sponges you can purchase, but I decided to go with a bamboo handled brush with natural bristles from EcoTools. I love that it has a long reaching handle to get the middle of my back. It's also much more effective at exfoliating dry skin, which is a huge plus! I've noticed a serious improvement on how smooth my skin is since using my new brush. Currently, we're still using a washcloth for Tess, because she doesn't have the same weird dislike that I do, and my husband is a bar of soap and hands kind of guy. You can find the EcoTools brush at Target, or order online here. Another month in and more swaps made! I'm loving the progress.
Follow along on Instagram from more behind the scenes of the Eco Simple Challenge, including how these products are working for me. You can also share your own swaps by tagging @thesownseed and using the hashtag #ecosimplechallenge. Let me know some of your February swaps or ask some questions below in the comments! See you at the end of the month for the five items I'm donating and the new organization I've chosen to donate to. Want to see previous months' swaps? Check them out here:  The time has come for the first swaps of 2019! If you don't already know, each month I'll be swapping out five products to make them more eco friendly, non toxic and zero waste. Welcome to the Eco Simple Challenge. You can learn more about my goals by checking out my first blog post here. This month I started with products from all over the house, choosing a couple simple fixes and a challenge or two. Part of being eco friendly is choosing options you can buy in person, rather than online, which helps reduce your carbon footprint. That little detail made things a bit challenging, but I tried my best! I know that's not easy for everyone, so I've included where you can buy each product in person, as well as links to purchase online. Keep reading below to learn about my swaps.  Dishwasher Detergent We'd been using Seventh Generation dishwasher detergent for years. Then, we got lazy and chose the convenient option: Trader Joe's "Next to Godliness" dishwasher detergent. Sure, it came in a box, which cuts down on waste, but the Environmental Working Group rated it a "D." Ouch. It was full of hormone disruptors, chemicals that cause skin irritation and ingredients that contribute to asthma. I didn't just walk, I RAN back to Seventh Generation. Seventh Generation dishwasher detergent comes in three different forms: pods, liquid and powder. The powder option has an "A" rating from EWG and it's far less wasteful than the pods and liquid. Now, not every Seventh Generation product is rated so highly, so it always pays to use the EWG Healthy Living app to double check if the product you've chosen is rated well. I feel good knowing what's cleaning my dishes is not full of toxins, is safer for the water system and the packaging can be recycled. Seventh Generation is also much cheaper than other eco-imposters like Mrs. Meyers or Method. You can find Seventh Generation powdered dish detergent at most grocery stores, or you can buy it here.  Dishwasher Brush We're lucky enough to have a dishwasher, but I still rinse dishes before putting them in and really scrub when we've had sticky dinners. Sponges are so wasteful and can be germ traps. I'd been using the Scotch Brite natural sponges, but I didn't really feel I was doing anything less wasteful. When choosing a dish brush, I wanted to make sure I was using something that was responsibly made, with little waste and recycled materials. There are many amazing wood, bamboo and natural bristle brushes out there, but most can only be found online and I didn't want to increase my carbon footprint just to order a sustainable dish brush. Enter the Fullcircle brand dish brush. It's made from bamboo and recycled plastic, so I felt pretty good about it. Plus, I could pick it up at Target, rather than ordering online. It was only packaged with a small, recycled paper tag, so very little package waste as well! You can pick up a Fullcircle dish brush at Target, or order it here.  Plastic Wrap We don't use a ton of plastic wrap, but we did have it around and I hated that. To be honest, there aren't a lot of reasons to use it, so this swap was pretty simple and a slam dunk. Last year for Christmas, my mother-in-law got us a pack of Bee's Wrap, which we love, but didn't have enough of. These wraps are perfect for wrapping cheeses or sandwiches. I even use them to cover bowls that are going into the fridge for a couple of hours rather than swapping to a tupperware. I know I kind of crapped on Trader Joe's with the dishwasher detergent, but they were awesome enough to have packs of minimally packaged wax wraps in their stores! Again, you can't except great things from every brand, but sometimes they really pull through! I've already used these several times and am converted already. You can pick these up at Trader Joe's or order Bee's Wrap online here.  Napkins Once again, convenience comes into play. Paper napkins, in my opinion, were one of the most wasteful choices I was making. I tried to soothe my guilt by buying napkins made from recycled paper and tree pulp, but to be honest, that wasn't going to solve anything. I was still using way too many napkins and Tess goes through napkins like crazy, because she's 3. I was going to save this swap for a couple of months down the line, but once again, Target pulled through big time. There, shining like a beacon in the night in the dollar section, were the cutest cloth napkins. Whoever would have wanted this pattern is probably pretty pissed, because I bought all the packages they had. Like I said, my daughter goes through napkins like crazy, so three packages seemed like the right amount. I'm already sure these will get a little dingy, but that's what DIY stain remover is for, right? And I'll feel a lot better knowing I'm not tossing more paper into the trash. You can pick these up NOW in the Target dollar section, or order a similar print online here.  I just finished up my tube of mascara, way past the three-month recommended expiration date, and I knew it was time to start makeup case eco swaps. When I really stop to think about all the crazy things that are in mascara, the stuff that I put so close to my eyes and inevitably flakes into them, I shudder. I had been using Soap & Glory's Thick & Fast mascara, purely because it was a gift, therefore convenient. When I checked it on the EWG app, it wasn't rated too terribly, a 4, but it wasn't great. This product contained parabens, which most people know are big no-no's. And get this: it also had an ingredient rated highly to irritate your eyes. Ummm, OK? Glad I was putting that so close to my eyes. Swapping was made pretty easy using the EWG app, which shows products that are EWG verified. I decided to go with Mineral Fusion's lengthening mascara in graphite. There are literally zero harmful ingredients in this mascara. Big win! I also chose this because I knew I could pick it up at Whole Foods, again, lowering my carbon footprint. Even better, this mascara doesn't come in any unnecessary additional packaging, meaning no ridiculous cardboard container. As for cost, it's relatively inexpensive, especially compared to many brands you find at Sephora. You can pick Mineral Fusion mascara at Whole Foods, or order online here. I'm already so pumped about where this journey is going to take us over the next year!
Follow along on Instagram from more behind the scenes of the Eco Simple Challenge, including how these products are working for me. You can also share your own swaps by tagging @thesownseed and using the hashtag #ecosimplechallenge. Let me know some of your January swaps or ask some questions below in the comments! See you at the end of the month for the five items I'm donating and the new organization I've chosen to donate to. It's on the internet. People have seen my big lifestyle challenge for the New Year, now I actually have to do it! Eco Simple Challenge. Let's do this. If you're new here, I've set a lofty challenge for myself in 2019. Each month, I'll swap out five products or habits to be more eco friendly, nontoxic and zero waste. I'll try to choose products that are easily accessible and affordable. Then at the end of each month, I'll up-cycle, repurpose or donate five times, choosing a new donation location each month. It's going to be major. As I was brainstorming ideas for the eco side of my challenge, it seemed like it might be a lot harder than I thought. In that moment I thought, "But I'm already making so many eco friendly choices!" I knew I was kidding myself. Both as someone who prides myself as environmentally conscious and as a certified Eco Parenting Educator, I knew I was turning a blind eye to a lot. Sure, many of my product choices may appear eco friendly, but I knew they weren't that nontoxic and certainly weren't very zero waste. So, I swallowed my pride and did some serious reflecting. I'm really going to strip down my current choices and make the right decisions. Not only will I tell you why I've chosen certain products each month, I'll also take myself to task and describe why my previous choices were pretty terrible. Let's start by digging through my cabinets and examining some top products I'm using that will definitely be getting an overhaul in 2019!  Mrs. Meyer's Products I'm sure many of you are looking at this and going, "But Mrs. Meyer's is so green and natural." Nah, they're fooling you. According to the Environmental Working Group's Healthy Living app, few of this brand's products actually get an "A" rating. What does that mean? Well, that you're using a product that has known carcinogens, hormone disruptors and allergens. Not. Great. What's really embarrassing is that I knew this, yet I still chose those products. Why? It was convenient for me. I ignored that fact that "fragrance" was listed in each product because I also saw "made with essential oils." For eco newbies, "fragrance" is a dangerous ingredient in your products! In the US, brands don't have to list the multitude of ingredients that go into their fragrances, so even if your product is free of a bunch of other terrible ingredients, they still may be hidden in the fragrance. This year I'll be looking for products that get an "A" rating from the EWG. Not only that, I'll be trying to go as package-free as possible! Dr. Bronner's Castile Soap We've been on the Dr. Bronner's train for a long time. The product itself is super clean and nontoxic, but just take a look at that big bottle. So much plastic waste. Again, I'd been choosing the large bottle out of convenience. I'll be looking to minimize my waste with Dr. Bronner's products over the course of a couple swaps, so stay tuned! It's not as simple as ditching the bottle. Seventh Generation Laundry Detergent Much like the Dr. Bronner's, the Seventh Generation detergent is an amazing, nontoxic product, but it's the waste that bothers me. These bottles are absolutely huge. When Tess was still wearing diapers, we were going through jugs of this on a monthly basis keeping up with her cloth diapers. Now that we're diaper free, I'd like to look for a more concentrated, waste-free solution to ring in 2019.  Not everything we're doing is a complete dumpster fire, which feels pretty good! Reusable K Cups When Tess was first born and I was drinking an unhealthy amount of coffee, I used the biodegradable K Cups. I still didn't feel great about it, so I finished up my wasteful one-use cups and switched over to the refillable K Cup. Not only am I not throwing things into the garbage, I'm also able to use my coffee grounds for compost. Also, this is a lot cheaper than buying a Sam's Club box of K Cups. Could this still be better? Absolutely! I may add a bonus swap into 2019, moving from the plastic bonanza of the Keurig, to a french press or slow drip system. We shall see! Get a reusable K Cup here. Water Bottles We don't buy still water in bottles, it's just never something we've done. Now, we really need to be better about filtering out water and not losing water bottles, but nobody is perfect. We love the S'well water bottles because they keep things super cold or nice and warm. I use them for both my water and coffee. The same thing cannot be said about my sparking water addiction. Don't worry, we'll get to that this year. Get a S'well water bottle here. Dr. Bronner's Toothpaste With zero surfactants (what makes something foamy) and no added sweeteners, Dr. Bronner's is the best. We've found our niche with the cinnamon flavor and love it dearly, plus it's incredibly effective. I do know we could switch over to toothpaste tablets, but they don't fall in line with my desire to be affordable, plus, try getting a toddler to use those, not going to happen. I will try a DIY version this year as a test, but I want to feel confident I'm not whispering coffee and morning breath into a pregnant client's face. Get Dr. Bronner's toothpaste here. Plastic Produce Bags I'm going on at least 10 years of not using these bad boys. To be honest, I don't even see the point. I wash every item of produce I purchase, so sticking them in the cart or a mesh bag feels just fine to me. Somehow, I still get looks from people that think it's super weird I'm not using those pointless bags, but whatevs. I can't wait to have this adventure with you and hope you use it as a little inspiration to make some improvements in your life as well! It's going to be hard, sometimes humbling, but super fun.
You can also follow along on Instagram from more behind the scenes of the Eco Simple Challenge. You can also share your own swaps by tagging @thesownseed and using the hashtag #ecosimplechallenge. Let me know some of your planned swaps or ask some questions below in the comments! See you in 2019 with the first list of swaps!  As the end of 2018 approaches, I've been thinking of tangible ways I can make 2019 a year of both change and self-love. I've noticed I feel more connected to the world around me when I'm not drowning in excess or noise. I also feel better when I know I've made choices that are healthy for myself, my family and the planet.
So launches my two-part 2019 goal: At the beginning of each month, I'll swap out five items in my home for more eco-friendly and non-toxic products. Then, at the end of each month, I'll donate or up-cycle five things in my home that aren't used or are unnecessary. My goal is to take a big step back to really assess how I can be making longterm changes that will improve my well-being, the lives of my family members and make me a better steward of this planet. Some months it might be super easy; other months it will be a challenge. Regardless, each month, five items will be replaced and five items must go. I believe in setting goals that are attainable, but that are going to make you reach a little! But, because I want to really make myself reach (partially because I'm insane and take on way too much), I'm going to work to make my swaps be affordable options and search for new places to donate my goods. My hope is that as a family, we'll learn the importance of choosing items wisely and living a simpler life. Each month I'll also share what items I've swapped and the new things in their place. Plus I'll share a little about what things we've said "goodbye" to and the new non profit we've donated to! Have you and your family tried one of the above ideas? How did it go?  I love being environmentally-minded with the decisions I make. I also really appreciate knowing products in my home aren't full of toxic chemicals. But really, I'm super cheap and pretty lazy. That's why I make my own cleaning products. I know what's in them, they're not going to harm the planet, they save me money and I don't have to put on a bra and drive to the store. It's my dream. Here are a few of my favorite DIY cleaning products made with as few ingredients as possible, that smell good, save you money and take five minutes to prepare. Not five minutes a piece, five minutes total. Woo! Glass & Window Cleaner Combine the following ingredients in a glass spray bottle:
 Laundry Detergent I love this Borax-free alternative that works in both HE and non-HE machines! Combine the following in an air-tight container:
Add 1-2 tablespoons per load. Toilet Cleaner Combine the following:
Sprinkle into your toilet and scrub with a toilet brush. Follow with:
 All-purpose Cleaner
Combine the following in a glass spray bottle:
Spray on surfaces and wipe with a damp cloth.  Cloth diapers can be a wonderful choice for the environment, your child’s health and your budget. Using cloth diapers means less difficult-to-break-down disposables end up in the landfill, fewer chemicals and fragrances near your baby’s skin and a one-time diaper purchase that quickly pays for itself.
Even with all of those wonderful benefits, a lot of families choose not to use cloth diapers because the idea seems so complicated and frankly, a little gross! I’m here to tell you it’s not as complicated as it seems. Honestly, I wish I could say it isn’t gross at times, but it’s a diaper; cloth or not, once in a while it will be, let’s just say, shocking. The good news is folks, if your baby is breastfed, there is no need to rinse those poopy diapers! Breastmilk bowel movements are water soluble, which means the mess will rinse away completely in the wash. And don’t worry, because it’s water soluble, it effectively disappears rather than hanging around in your washer and dryer. Once your baby starts eating solids, you only need to shake the BM into the toilet and give a quick rinse. Most kitchen sprayers can be attached to your toilet so clean up is quick. Done? Just throw it into the wash! I love the Bumkins cloth diaper sprayer to get the job done. Going places while cloth diapering may seem a bit intimidating, but it doesn’t have to be. There are many wonderful resources that sell wet bags to store any dirty diapers while you’re on the go. Wet bags keep any mess inside the bag until you are ready to clean your diapers. Just bring your wet bag with you while you’re out and “disposing” of dirty diapers becomes a lot easier. There are even wet/dry bags which allow you to put dirty diapers in the wet pouch and keep unused diapers in the dry pouch. My personal favorite bags are from Planet Wise. These bags come in many different sizes and really cute patterns. |
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