The last swap of the month!
Today we are talking natural deodorants and even better the plastic free kind 🙌🏻🙌🏻🙌🏻. Why do we even need to change our deodorant to start with?
Well apart from the plastic, they are full of all kind of nasties! ✖️ Some of the chemicals found in deodorants and antiperspirants are known endocrine disruptors – such as a class of substances called parabens (listed under the names butylparaben, ethylparaben, isobutylparaben, methylparaben, and propylparaben).
These preservatives prevent the growth of bacteria, mold and yeast, but research shows they negatively impact the body’s endocrine system and produce adverse developmental, reproductive, neurological, and immune effects.
✖️ Aluminum compounds (like aluminum chlorohydrate) are used in deodorants to block the sweat ducts. They have been found to mimic estrogen, which promotes growth of breast cancer cells.
✖️ They Stain Your Clothes
Whether its white marks on a black dress, or yellow stains on a white shirt, deodorant is one of the worst offenders for staining clothing.
The good news is though, there are a lot of brilliant natural deodorants on the market that effective and much more healthier for our bodies.
Again it’s a personal choice as we are each made differently, so if one doesn’t work for you, don’t give up try another!
I had the honour to be a tester for @conchuslife new deo cream and i can confirm that it is amazing!
The deo is vegan, cruelty free, free from nasties, smells amazing and WORKS!
Camilla has kindly sent me one to give away to one of you guys, so if you’d like to win one simply:
Follow us both,
Like the pic (you know the drill),
and drop me a comment below and tag a chum! *giveaway not endorsed by instagram*
I’ll choose a winner tomorrow 1st June!
#aswapadaymay #loveyourpits #naturaldeodorant #naturalbeauty #ditchthosetoxins #vegan #ecobeauty #plasticfreebeauty #crueltyfree
Teabags!! Now anytime i share anything tea related my instagram blows up... we really are a fussy lot when it come to our tea 🤣. Not surprising as 100 million cups are drunk a day, 36 billion a year and 96% still uses a tea bag!
But did you know your teabag contains plastic?? I know up until a year ago i didn’t.
So this was another win for the bin for me and another sustainable swap.
Now a lot of tea companies are stepping up and changes are being made (i’ll link an interesting report sharing lots of the big brands position on stories) but the simplest swap you can make is to loose tea!
Every time i post my glass teapot on stories, my inbox goes bananas (i got it from amazon btw).
Lots of great teas are available loose and maybe you’ll have fun finding a new one you love! Even experimenting with Ice tea over the summer.
Today though i want to highlight @arata.leaf organic teas.
Produced locally in Northern Ireland this tea is an organic loose tea and registered with the soil association.
Even better the packaging is GMO free, compostable and biodegradable 🌱.
Apart from that the tea is delicious, well worth a purchase!
You also can’t have a good cuppa without a good cup!
Cue @cloverhillceramicsni, one of our total favs in NI. I adore Lisa’s work and any brew you make def needs to be in one of her cups (i broke mine 😭). So today i’m teaming up with both of these fab businesses and we have a giveaway of two packs of loose tea (herbal infusion and Lapis Earl) and one of Lisa’s handmade mugs!
Simply:
Follow myself @arata.leaf and @cloverhillceramicsni.
Like this post.
Share with three of your tea loving friends!
Winner will be announced Tuesday 1st June!
#aswapadaymay #loosetea #shopsmall #ditchthatplastic #cupoftea #anothercupofteafather
Swap 20!
Ditching your cupboard of cleaning sprays and wipes!
I’ll hands up admit i loved my different spray and wipes, and thought there was no way i could ditch them...but it actually it was painless enough!
So what’s your choices to use?
Vinegar is effective in removing microbial contamination, it’s hailed as a natural disinfectant but some believe that’s in its neat/pure state and not watered down by water. It’s good for cutting through grease and grime in the kitchen, and for lots of other uses.
Personally i don’t use it, I hate the smell and we have granite worktops. But others love it and who am i to judge haha.
(i’ll share a recipe). Another option is a soap based spray and the one I would tend to use more.
Soapy, warm water is enough to kill bacteria in your home.
(i’ll post recipe on stories). Third option is a plant based natural cleaner and you know for me that’s YL Thieves Cleaner.
I use this for everything.
Counter tops, loos, sinks, floors, hob... everything!
(I’ll pop up more details on stories as i’m running out of space). For showers (my most asked question), i use Tea Tree oil and castile soap for mood, and for cutting through the soap sticky scum on shower doors (and sinks) i use citric acid mixed with lemon essential oil, (i’ll post recipes up on stories) or look through my posts from Jan!
The singleuse wipes are all gone and i have have just replaces them with a few different microfibre cloths (one for bathrooms, kitchen, loo and windows). My cleaning cupboard is virtually empty and i haven’t visited the cleaning aisle in the supermarket for nearly two years, the actual smell of it makes me sick!
#naturalcleaning #cleancleaning #safehaven #aswapadaymay
Swap 19... a BIGGIE....Bleach!
I knew i wanted to ditch bleach as one of my major swaps, but i knew i needed to find an alternative before i could.
So a little research and Sodium Percarbonate kept popping up.
What is it and why have we not heard of it more?
Sodium percarbonate is a micro bead powder made up from hydrogen peroxide and sodium carbonate.
When dissolved in water, it breaks down to oxygen, water and sodium carbonate (soda ash). Hydrogen Peroxide is a great antiseptic and disinfectant and is seen as an environmentally friendly alternative to chlorine bleaches.
Although sodium percarbonate is best known as a bleaching agent, sodium percarbonate is not a chlorine bleach. The two work very differently. It is all to do with the molecules and electrons and how their structure is changed.
So this is your BEST alternative to hard chlorine bleach. There is simply the two components and no perfumes or other toxins making it a potent cleaning agent.
Sodium percarbonate is a effective killer of bacteria, fungi, and mildew, therefore can be used as a very effective exterior Algae removal agent and moss killer.
I clean my Loos with it (i’m VERY proud of my white loos and sinks 🥳), my time grout with it, my cups/teapots with it. My decking or green door steps. I use it for laundry whitening (it’s the main ingredient in the vanish products).
It is my hero product along with Thieves essential oil in keeping my home healthy and safe🌱
You can purchase directly from my website and at @woodviewgc
I’ll link a IGTV in how i use it shortly! #aswapadaymay #safehaven #oxygenbleach #ditchthosetoxins
Day 18.
I’m going to talk ditching those toxins today.
Cleaning products was actually the area that got me started on my journey to living a bit more sustainably and Eco friendly.
I remember coming home from holiday nearly two years ago and a big cleaning frenzy had just hot social media.
TBH it blew my mind as all i could see was terrible terrible waste and mountains of products.
So i started investigating what would stripping it all back to basics look like.. and could i actually do it?
My eyes then got open to the amount of toxins I WAS CHOOSING to bring into our home.
I felt sick after watching @stinkmovie with Rik and we both decided that big changes were going to be made in our home.
I love my home and I work hard to keep it tidy and clean, so I knew i needed to find good products but most importantly safe products.
So i’ve researched and researched and it’s what I keep telling you all to do... you are the gatekeepers of YOUR own home.
What are the key ingredients to look out for that you want to avoid, avoid avoid in your cleaning products: * Phthalates.
* Triclosan.
* 2-Butoxyethanol.
* Ammonia.
* Chlorine.
* Sodium Hydroxide.
* Dyes.
* Fillers.
* Perfume.
* Phosphates.
This list is not exhaustive, but just to help you start looking out for when you are buying products.
I encourage you to start looking at what you are using in your homes.
The above ingredients can cause skin allergies, affect your respiratory system, affect your endocrine system.
Research has soon that over 200 chemicals have been found in a new born babies umbilical cord... that info is just frightening time me im afraid.
I am crazily passionate about this now as you know.
I still want my house clean, my loos white and my grout white.. but i am here telling you.. you DO NOT need the supermarket cleaning aisle to achieve this!
Sometimes yes it’s a little more elbow grease, but your families health, your children’s health is surely worth that?
I’ll be sharing some swaps i’ve made over the next few days and showers was high up on your list for me to recap, so it will be one, and another will be bleach!
I’ll finish with this... do what i did.
Research, Read and Read again!
Day 15 #aswapadaymay and we’re talking Toilet paper.
So many trees are cut down every year, just so we have the privilege of wiping our backsides.
Now you could go extremes here and use cloths to do the business, but i’m sorry that ain’t for me🤢. There are other options though and believe me YES it’s just as soft as normal loo roll, my backside hasn’t noticed the difference and no complaints from the men in the house either!
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We’ve been using @whogivesacraptp now for over a year and a half now and won’t switch back.
It’s made from recycled paper (there is also a premium bamboo one, which we tried and it’s lovely but we just use the standard now) ink, dye and filler free and no plastic used in the packaging!
It comes in a bulk box of 48 and a box lasts us (family of 4) just over 4.5 months. The rolls last longer than supermarket ones - we could have easily went through 2 supermarket 9 packs a month.
🌱
The other great thing is that @whogivesacraptp gives 50% of their profits to charities building toilets and other sanitary schemes (check out their page for the lastest ones), so for me this is a win win!
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I’ve more details on how to hook into bulk buying deals with @doyourbit.ni
I’ve also tried @thecheekypanda_uk which is great too and know there is another company @bumboo_uk but haven’t tried them yet!
A would you swap your andrex?? #whogivesacraptp #loveyourbum #savethetrees #loveyourplanet #savingtheworldonewipeatatime #greenwarrior #sustainablehome #smallsustainableswaps #looroll
