Try Out the Un-Washed Look

I have a "dirty" little secret to tell you. But before I let you know, I want to clarify that this is not dirty at all. Shampoo is a scam! (Maybe it isn't a scam, but it is a waste of money.)

This hair has not used shampoo in over four years!

On my path to a cleaner life, after ditching disposables and detoxing my cleaners, I became interested in what we put in and on our bodies. I started searching for all the products I used on a cosmetics database. I read articles about products we use and what they contained. As much as I can tell, there isn't anything deadly about the products we use, but there is a significant amount of proof that they do contain things that are dangerous in large doses, or at least not healthy. I know that injecting a chemical into small mammals in large doses would be dangerous no matter what, and of course everything causes cancer in the state of California, but there is some truth there. Most people shower or bathe daily in the US. In that shower, we slather our hair with shampoo, often rinse and put on conditioner, scrub with a soap, wash with face wash, lather with lotion, slide on deodorant, and decorate with gels, sprays, powders, and pastes. Add all of these products, many containing the same ingredients, and now multiply daily. Those tiny amounts of chemicals are now starting to add up.

Here are some steps to smart product choices.

Summer is Getting a Bit Spicy

This summer is "hot, hot, hot," as my husband would say. I read yesterday about the "heat dome" that is covering central and southern United States. As a result, I haven't had much to harvest. Severe storms have knocked over the corn, the heat has rendered the tomato plants infertile, and it is just way to hot to get outside and do regular maintenance.

After my decent green bean harvest, there hasn't been much coming from the garden. Even the herbs are looking pretty tired. I let some go to seed and others I've been pinching back to keep going. I will share some herb tips later this year.

For now, I want to know your favorite recipe for jalapenos. I harvested these four this morning and am undecided as to what to do with them. I would love your input!

Decorate with your Favorite Jewelry

Those who know me, know that I am not much for accessories. I have a few favorite necklaces and some stylish earrings. Honestly, I've worn the same hoops for about two years without removing them. I never seem to like the way earrings look now that I have to wear my glasses. (Contact lenses were expensive and wasteful, and so uncomfortable. After using them for 13 years, I had to stop.) One reason I don't like to wear jewelry is I because I hate digging through boxes to find what I want. Even if I found what I wanted, it was probably tangled. There is no justifiable reason for me to buy a giant jewelry case, and it just causes more clutter. So I found this great idea on Pinterest.

This project is super simple and lots of fun. You need:

Washable Wipies

Reusables are possibly the easiest change a person can make at home. I'm pretty sure no one ever said, "I love driving by the landfill, I can't wait until it gets bigger." The truth is, I'm not sure people really think about landfills, unless they drive by one regularly. If this is the case, I'm sure it is easy to notice just how quickly they grow. This is not even to mention the really awful smell if you forget to turn the air in your car to internal before you pass by. So what can one person do against a literal mountain of trash? Find something you throw away most, and see if you can replace it with something you can reuse.

This was very easy for me at first, as I lived only on a university stipend when I had my first apartment to myself. The first thing to go:  paper towels. Growing up at home, we always tore the paper towels in half to make a roll last. (This was before the new smaller ones existed.) While on my own, however, I decided it was pretty silly to use a paper towel to eat my pastry each morning. What on earth is wrong with using a plate and just rinsing it off? Plus, my dog was house trained and it was only her and me. There were not a lot of messes to be cleaned up.

This decision has been harder to maintain with a bigger house, bigger family, and bigger messes. But I am happy to say paper towels are still banned to this day. Messes are handled with newspaper, towels, and baking soda (which soaks up liquids like pee and turns solid so you can sweep it up and clean the surface). There are many other disposables to ditch too. Starting with plates, utensils, and napkins, and moving on to cotton balls, menstruation items, and diapers. Before you throw out the toilet paper, though, you might want to start with something a little easier to lose.