April 21, 2009
· Filed under Environmental Detox, Home and Garden, conservation, recycling · Tagged animals, diy, eco, green, homemade, how to, natural, pets, projects, safe, saving
A lot of the stuff you use on your pet, from food to flea dips, are toxic and bad not only for the furry friends but for the planet too. Here are some quick suggestions for changes you can make that will be good for you, the kids, the pets and the planet.
Natural First Aid
For smaller accidents like cuts, scrapes, minor burns, you do not need to use OTC meds. For most of these, a simple application of fresh Aloe Vera will take care of the problem. Instead of meds for vomiting, try using Activated Charcoal
. For hairballs or constipation, give organic vegetable oil. For fleas, try washing the animal with the following rinse: Pour 2 packed cups of fresh Peppermint, Rosemary or Pennyroyal into a large pot. Pour over with 1 cup of boiling water. Allow to steep like tea. As the water cools and the tea steeps, it will start to smell very strongly. Once it is dark and strong smelling, strain out the herbs. Then mix the remaining liquid with 4 full quarts of lukewarm water. Make sure this is tepid in temperature, safe to use on your pet. And then wash and rinse and do this once a week if necessary to keep the bugs off. Another flea and tick shampoo idea: Pour 2 ounces of natural liquid soap into a squeeze bottle. This can be any natural castile or glycerin soap that is non toxic and chemical free. Blend the soap with 5 drops of oil of citronella (buy the pure organic kind, not the stuff they sell in bargain bins), 5 drops of Organic Rose Geranium Essential Oil
and 5 drops of Organic Lavender Essential Oil
. Shake it up really good and then wash the pup or kitty with it. Dry off well and repeat every week.
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April 21, 2009
· Filed under Food and Drink, Health Care, Natural Remedies · Tagged cooking, eating, food, healing, health, how to, kitchen, olive oil, olives, recipes, remedies, safe
You know you’ve heard good things about Olive Oil
. You’ve heard that it is an unsaturated fat that does not lift bad cholesterol levels and is good for your heart. You’ve heard the mediterranean diets cause less weight gain than western diets and that they attribute this to the use of virgin Olive Oil. Actually, Extra Virgin Olive Oil
, also known as EVOO, is the very best oil to use.
But they are always researching these things and finding exciting new benefits from many of the good things in our diet. And they have recently found one more excellent benefit to be derived from Olive Oil. It is good for your tummy.
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April 15, 2009
· Filed under Environmental Detox, Home and Garden, diy, recycling · Tagged chemicals, cleaning, cleanser, diy, eco, garbage, green, home, how to, non toxic, projects, recycling, reuse, saving, washing, waste
It’s that time of year again! Time to crawl out of the heated house into the sunlight of the natural world and start tending the garden and cleaning up the home. I always loved spring cleaning when I lived alone because it was so easy! But now that I have a house full and I’m the “house spouse” of the crowd, it is a lot more work. So I have a method of working through it while thinking about the planet at the same time, a sort of “ritual” that makes it all happen faster. I thought I’d share that method along with some great ideas that can be modified to suit your individual situations. And hopefully this will help your spring cleaning go green.
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April 1, 2009
· Filed under Environmental Detox, Natural Beauty, Personal Care, diy · Tagged cosmetics, diy, face cream, fruits, green, homemade, how to, natural, non toxic, organic, recipes, veggies
I have been posting an awful lot of stuff about how awful commercial beauty products are and I haven’t even covered all of it yet. But I thought I would take a respite from horrible news and try to offer something useful and wonderful. I have a lot of natural ideas that will help everyone take it down a notch and I thought it was time to share some new ones. I just wasn’t sure what kind of post to create, other than I knew it shouldn’t just be herb based because I’ve already done a lot of that. And that’s when I received a great gift right out of my own TV.
I saw a great local program last month that showed us how to make natural, organic and cheap beauty products from everyday stuff. I laughed at first, watching the women painting their lips with fresh strawberries but then was pleasantly surprised to see that I liked the color and it did not just fade away. In fact, it’s kind of hard to wash off. So it got my interest and I started to think about how you can use fruits, veggies and other natural resources, to make organic beauty treatments that are cheap and safe. The trick is to make sure that the fruits, veggies and herbs you use are truly organic to begin with.
So here are some great, safe beauty product projects that you can get started on right away. Check out the recipes before you go shopping and make a list of the produce you need to get. And remember to make it organic.
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