How often do you buy hair products at the supermarket or drugstore? Do you even check the labels to see how these products impact the environment? The average person rarely does that – usually, the most important thing is for the products to “do the trick,” right?
Well think again. You may not be aware of it but the chemicals in some hair products can be awfully harmful to the environment. Would you really want excellent looking hair at the expense of the environment?
Here’s an alternative – using natural products that work just as well, maybe even better. I found a formula to make your hair look fuller and to get rid of the effects of the sun and wind.
Big Body Hair Rinse
2-4 tablespoons dried nettles
1 cup purified or distilled water
3-5 drops lavender essential oil (optional)
1. Combine herbs and water in a stainless steel or glass pan. Bring to a boil, reduce the heat, and simmer, covered, for half an hour. Remove from heat and let cool, then strain out the liquid and discard the spent herbs.
2. After shampooing, gently towel-blot your hair, then wrap a towel around your neck. Leaning over a sink or basin, apply the rinse with a spout bottle. For extra potency, pour over a basin so the rinse won’t drain away, then pour the collected liquid through the hair to use every drop. Do not rinse out. Blot hair dry with a towel.
I think that you can buy nettle tincture from the drugstore to make things easier for you. I mean, who would have the time and means to go walking around looking for nettles?
Have you been to the market lately? I just went earlier and the prices drove me up the wall! Even though I bought a lot of vegetables, which are supposed to be cheaper than meat products, I still ended up spending more than I wanted to. This got me to thinking that maybe I should go build my own little vegetable garden.
This is not as impossible as you may think, even if you live in the city. If you have a plot of ground in the backyard, you’re good. If you don’t, then get yourself some plastic containers which you can use as your “garden.” . If you are using a container, make sure that you punch holes at the bottom. This will allow the excess water to drain.
An important thing is that you place your garden in a location which has full access to the sun. Make sure that you garden has access to at least 6 hours of sunshine everyday. You also have to make sure that you have enough rich soil to plant your vegetables in. You can go to your local gardening center to get some.
When you have your plot ready, you can go ahead and plant your vegetables. Of course, before you do this, you have to know which vegetables you are going to plant. Some ideas for this summer are peppers, corn, squash, cucumbers, onions, potatoes, and all sorts of different beans.
With a vegetable garden of your own – whatever its size – you can save some money and lessen your carbon footprint as well!
I’m lucky enough to have hardwood floors in my home but between the kids’ spills and pet mess (we have an elderly dog and a new puppy), cleaning our wooden floors is a challenge. At a loss with what to use, I have simply been using plain water in a bucket with a couple of cap-fulls of citronella. For more severe mess, I keep a spray bottle of water with Citrus Magic all purpose cleaner and use that to mop as well once a week.
Yes, there are lots of products around you can buy, one of the best ones is the one pictured above by Method, who I must say make some really sweet-smelling stuff albeit a bit pricey. My next project is to spend a weekend concocting my own brews to care for wood. Here are some of the recipes I found online that I’ll be trying out:
The Daily Green
Vinegar: Whip up a solution of 1/4 cup white vinegar and 30 ounces of warm water. Put in a recycled spray bottle, then spray on a cotton rag or towel until lightly damp. Then mop your floors, scrubbing away any grime.
Green Living Ideas Furniture Polish: Mix 1 cup lemon juice with 1 tbsp olive oil and 1 tbsp water; lightly apply to furniture using a soft cloth. Let sit for a couple of minutes, then buff.
Eartheasy Wood Floors: apply a thin coat of 1:1 vegetable oil and vinegar and rub in well. Furniture Polish: For varnished wood, add a few drops of lemon oil into a 1/2 cup warm water. Mix well and spray onto a soft cotton cloth. Cloth should only be slightly damp. Wipe furniture with the cloth, and finish by wiping once more using a dry soft cotton cloth. For unvarnished wood: mix two tsps each of olive oil and lemon juice and apply a small amount to a soft cotton cloth. Wring the cloth to spread the mixture further into the material and apply to the furniture using wide strokes. This helps distribute the oil evenly.
I bet that shopaholics never thought that they would ever hear this, but yes, shopping online is something that is GOOD. I am talking about something more than saving money and being able to shop at great convenience. Have you ever thought about the fact that shopping online can actually be good for the environment as well?
The fact is that online shopping involves so much less energy than normal shopping. For example, if you look at the operations that are involved in merchandising, traditional retail stores use up a lot of resources; more storage space, more overhead expenses, more manpower. As compared to this, e-commerce businesses use up about 1/16th of the energy and resources. Add up the number of e-commerce businesses in existence and you will realize just how much better for the earth this is!
Now how about the fuel that you use going to the mall? You might be thinking that the shipping involved in online shopping would use up a lot of fuel as well. The thing is that you actually use up more fuel driving to the mall than ground shipping or overnight air shipping. This drive to the mall does not even include driving around looking for a parking space or moving from one mall to the next. Now I bet you didn’t really know that, did you?
In any case, there are also more online shops that offer various options that will help you lessen your carbon footprint. That’s the good news. Go ahead, shop online all you want.
Have you ever thought about your pet living a green life as well? Green living is not only for humans, you know. You can actually show love to your pet while helping the earth at the same time! Here are some ideas which are easy to implement.
Be a responsible dog owner – scoop up that poop!
Signs to this effect are scattered all over the place. After all, who likes stepping on dog excrement? More than that, though, waste left around can spread bacteria and even leak to the ground water, especially if you walk your dog in the park. Be extra diligent in cleaning up after your mutt!
Consider biodegradable cat litter.
The clay-based dumping litters that are popular nowadays can be convenient BUT the material used in them is usually from strip mines: HARMFUL to the environment. More so, the clay does not decompose easily. Not convinced yet? Well, the average cat litter box contains silica dust which is carcinogenic. Would you want this dust to be inhaled by your precious feline pet?
Be more discriminatory when buying pet food.
Choose the healthy kind, the kind which makes use of natural meat. Read the labels and try to purchase pet food that was produced in a sustainable manner. Even better, why not consider making your own pet food? If you think that this route is more expensive, consider the fact that healthier pet food translates to a healthier pet, which in turns means fewer visits to the vet –fewer expenses!
I know, “greenify” is not really a word, but I liked the sound of it so I decided to use it today. Anyhow, how often do you do your laundry? If you have children, the chances are that you do tons of laundry. Even single people and couples do tend to accumulate a considerable amount of dirty clothes. I sometimes surprise myself when laundry time comes around!
Have you every considered the impact of your clothes washing on the environment? The electrical power that you consume, the water that you use, and the chemicals found in your laundry detergent and fabric softener have negative effects on the earth! There are ways by which you can soften this impact though.
Let’s start with the laundry detergent and the fabric softener. What should you look for? Go beyond the tags “natural,” “environment-friendly,” and the like. They are convenient labels but sometimes, they are mere interpretations of the manufacturer – they may not be a guarantee that the product is indeed environment-friendly. Instead, look for ingredients – or the lack thereof – such as phosphate. Go for products without phosphate as they stimulate algal growth and mess with the biology of aquatic life.
Now on to the machines. Unless you have the time and patience to do your laundry manually, you will have to rely on electric washing machines. The key is in making sure your machine is efficient, both in terms of electricity and water. If you bought your machine before 1994, you might want to get a new one – it will save you more in the long run. Another tip: if you can do away with using the dryer for certain articles of clothing, then do so. Next to refrigerators, dryers consumer the most power.
The year is almost over, and it is time to make your travel plans for the holidays yet again. At this time of the year, a lot of people pack their bags and hit the road (or the skies) to visit friends and family or to simply discover new places. If you are traveling in the next month or so, why not take the time to re-think your plans and see if you are contributing towards the welfare of the environment? Here are some things that you can consider.
Fly economy instead of first class. The latter may be more comfortable but since there are fewer people in first class (more space is given per person), it technically uses up more fuel. More than this, however, you should also consider taking the most direct route. It is common sense, as it will get you to your destination faster, but flying directly also lessens your carbon emissions contribution.
Better yet, take the bus. Yeah I know, the bus is not your first choice. If you have time to spare, however, and you do not have that much luggage on you, why not take the bus instead of driving or flying? You will save a LOT on fares and your carbon footprint will benefit from it as well.
Avoid holiday traffic jams. We all want this, but probably for a different reason – who likes getting stuck in traffic anyway? Another reason for avoiding traffic jams, however, is the fact that your car uses up much more fuel when sitting idly. This means higher emissions. As such, plan your trip so that you won’t have to battle it out on the roads with other travelers.
Happy Thanksgiving, everyone! Every year, all of America goes crazy to celebrate what is arguably the biggest holiday of the year; and on the day after, people go even crazier with all the sales associated Black Friday. With the scale of activities involved, we cannot but ignore the impact on the environment as well. If every single shopper were to make an effort to make things greener, the negative impact will be much less. How to do this?
Bring your own bag
Reusable shopping bags are the rave these days, and I think they are one of those trends that should just never end. Instead of relying on plastic or paper bags that shops give out with your purchases, why don’t you lug along a reusable bag or two?
Share transportation
Carpooling is such an old idea, but it has never been more relevant than it is today. Plan your shopping activities so that you can share a ride with family members and friends instead of everyone taking separate cars. Use the money you save on gas to buy more stuff!
Don’t go too far
Yeah, some deals might better in places farther from your home, but do you really have to go that far? For sure, you will also find great Black Friday deals closer to home. More so, you might even have a grand time shopping online. This will save on time and fuel consumption!
Skip shopping!
Sure, Black Friday is fun. Shopping is fun. However, no one is obliged to actually go out and do Black Friday. If you can, why not choose other ways to spend your Black Friday? It doesn’t have to be shopping, doesn’t it?
How often do you use your iPhone? The chances are that you are rarely seen without it, and you really can’t be blamed for that. With the plethora of things that you can do with the iPhone, users can play around with the device all day and still have other apps left untouched.
If you want to have something more meaningful aside from Angry Birds on your iPhone though, I suggest checking out these three iPhone apps. Yes, they are free, and even better, they are dubbed “green.”
This app will be your guide to businesses that are green and sustainable. You can find more than 56,000 establishments via this app. In order to help the green movement become even bigger, support these businesses!
Don’t laugh it off just yet. Tissue paper is something that we all take for granted, and yet, we cannot live without it. The impact of tissue paper consumption on the environment is pretty serious, though, and with this app, you can determine which products have a lesser negative impact. With more than 100 brands to choose from, this guide will point the way to saving trees.
How sure are you that the labels on products live up to their claims? You can either spend time scouring the labels thoroughly or you can download this iPhone app. It can tell you all the pertinent details about products – how green and how safe they are and so on. Just point the camera at the barcode, and the app will scan it. You will then have access to the information stored in the database!
Don’t fill your phone up with mere exciting games. Put it to good use as well!
You might already have gone to a couple of Halloween parties, but today is THE day. If you’re still scrambling about thinking of what to wear tonight, and wanting to tear your hair out because the only things you have in your closet are costumes that you’ve already worn in the past, here’s a quick tip for you: go raid your friend’s closet. For that matter, go raid your siblings’, parents’, or partner’s Halloween costume stash.
For sure, you will be able to find a get up that will suit you, and you do not have to spend a single dime. Swapping costumes for Halloween may not be the first thing that comes to mind, especially if you are all gung ho about coming as the most unique, most stunning creature to a party. Then again, costume swapping brings another benefit on top of saving money: you get to conserve other resources (read: raw materials being used to create those costumes!).
There is actually a “holiday” dubbed Costume Swap Day, which is celebrated on the 9th of October every year. This gives you pretty much a whole month to figure out who/what you are going to go as for so and so number of Halloween parties. Take a look at this video for more information.
The Day might be over now, but it doesn’t mean you can’t do your own swap several hours before that last Halloween party you are going to attend. And, if you are tearing your hair out and beating yourself up for leaving things to the last minute – remember to start your swap early next year!
How often do you buy hair products at the supermarket or drugstore? Do you even check the labels to see how these products impact the environment? The average person rarely does that – usually, the most important thing is for the products to “do the trick,” right?
Have you been to the market lately? I just went earlier and the prices drove me up the wall! Even though I bought a lot of 
I bet that shopaholics never thought that they would ever hear this, but yes, shopping online is something that is GOOD. I am talking about something more than saving money and being able to shop at great convenience. Have you ever thought about the fact that shopping online can actually be good for the environment as well?
Have you ever thought about your pet living a green life as well? Green living is not only for humans, you know. You can actually show love to your pet while helping the earth at the same time! Here are some ideas which are easy to implement.
I know, “greenify” is not really a word, but I liked the sound of it so I decided to use it today. Anyhow, how often do you do your laundry? If you have children, the chances are that you do tons of laundry. Even single people and couples do tend to accumulate a considerable amount of dirty clothes. I sometimes surprise myself when laundry time comes around!
The year is almost over, and it is time to make your travel plans for the holidays yet again. At this time of the year, a lot of people pack their bags and hit the road (or the skies) to visit friends and family or to simply discover new places. If you are traveling in the next month or so, why not take the time to re-think your plans and see if you are contributing towards the welfare of the environment? Here are some things that you can consider.
