Going Crunchy

(first, sidenote-Daniel has finally blogged!!)

If ya'll remember in these posts.....we started to 'go green,' about a little over a year ago when we were still living in the States. We got rid of almost all chemicals in our house by making our own cleaning products. I did make our laundry detergent, but over time wasn't the biggest fan of the recipe I used. I've found several that I want to try, but I can't get Borax or Fels Naptha (still NO clue what that is.)

I loved using Dr. Bronner's in our house and was a huge fan of the peppermint. However, we've lived here in the EA for close to 8 months (i know shocking right?!) and buying regular house cleaning products was way easy. But it's been bothering me for a few months now. Everytime I used the bathroom cleaner I had a coughing fit and felt like I had just shaved a few months off my life.

So I've been googling/pinteresting all types of homemade recipes for things from Febreze to Shout, to dishsoap, etc...and I kept coming across the term "crunchy." Maybe a lot has happened in the last 8 months but I had never heard this term before. After reading a few blogs (and checking urbandictionary), I realized I totally want to be Crunchy.

No, I'm not turning vegan, or even vegetarian (yet haha), but I do want to make as many household products as I can and in my perfect world we would figure out how to solar panel our apartment and reuse rain water. But until then, I'll just take baby steps.

We recently bought this:

It's a natural water filter that filters tap or rain water. We take the lid off, add tap water into the ceramic pot, and the ceramic filters the water removing impurities.

We were using this before.

We were going through about 2 of these bottles a week which cost about $20 a month. Ridiculous. We paid about $40 for our new filter system, and all we need to get clean water is TAP WATER! Not only is this a great way to save money and be financially responsible, but it's a great way to eliminate using plastic bottles and wasting water.

I have also been recently introduced to a HUGE website that everyone here uses, called Taobao. You can buy tons of stuff on this site. Yesterday, I found Dr. Bronner's and it will be delivered to our house this week. The plan is to eliminate storebought cleaners and use natural homemade products in the kitchen and bathroom. I did find Seventh Generation Laundry Detergent to buy online, but it is about $20 and I just couldn't bring myself to do it.

And yes, when we have children I plan to use cloth diapers and make homemade diaper cream and baby wipes.

Just call me crunchy.

love

laura

This and That

I think when i left you last i was about to cry from the holiday stress. No worries, there has been more "free" time this week than i thought there would be, and work is also slow, which helps a lot!

First-TBL....anyone?? I almost didn't make it bc it started at 8 and was a 2 hour episode. Let's remember we go to bed early. Anything past 9 is difficult.

i had my eyes closed the last 20 minutes "listening" to it, and periodically would ask Daniel if they knew who won yet. (sidenote: i've always been a sleep talker, but i'm actually waking myself up doing it a lot lately. it's confusing for me to say the least.)

anyways....yay Patrick!!! soo excited for him, he looked great. I love seeing the transformation and seeing how weight loss can completely change a persons complete physical appearance.

And by golly, there is another season starting January 4th!! and for those of you who love me...just a gentle reminder that my birthday is January 5th.  :)

SO.........

I've talked a little bit before about natural cleaning products....etc......

Here's the low-down:

I'm obsessed with Dr. Bronner's Peppermint Castille soap (i buy it at Target near the make/up and Burt's Bees products). I look forward to cleaning our toilets and bathtubs now, it smells SO good! (i'm addicted to all things peppermint really.....peppermint mocha anyone?)

I made our laundry detergent, here's the recipe:

(courtesy of Rebecca)

1 cup liquid castille soap (I use Dr. Bronner's Peppermint)


2 cups warm water

1/3 cup salt

1 cup baking soda

Directions:
Add salt and baking soda to warm water and mix. Pour the mixture into a one gallon container (old vinegar bottle or i used a half gallon drinking bottle and halfed the recipe.) Add your Dr. B's. Fill the rest of the container with water. Use between 1/4 cup and 1/2 cup per load. You can add a couple of tablespoons of vinegar to the rinse cycle.
 
Also courtesy of Rebecca:
 
Toilets:
Sprinkle Baking Soda in toilet, add a small amount of Dr. Bronner's, scrub around, add vinegar (i used a spray bottle), then flush.
 
Bathtub:
I use a sponge with Dr. Bronner's and baking soda-it makes a good paste. I scrub all over the tub, then rinse. You can use vinegar as well.
 
Drain:
I sprinkle a generous amount of baking soda in the drain. Then add vinegar (about a cup). Wait a few minutes then pour boiling/really hot water down. It fizzes and i feel quite happy knowing that i've cleaned anything down the drain that might have been 'lurking.'
 
All purpose cleaner:
Right now i just use a half/half combo of vinegar and water.
 
Floors:
Half/Half vinegar and water.
 
I also use Dr. Bronner's Peppermint for our hand soap. They have other scents, but the peppermint is to die for and takes me to my happy place.
 
Confession: I cannot stop using papertowels. I know i ranted about that  a while ago, but I cannot seem to break the habit.
 
For more ideas and recipes, go here.
 
Random:
 
- Daniel surprised me with roses yesterday!
 
- When my sister and i were little we had to have our wrists x-rayed and go to the dr every 6 months bc they were concerned about how short we were
 
- we have a chance of snow on Friday
 
- There are a lot of awkward moments i want to share on this blog, but people involved read it so i can't....
 
- I've never heard a Justin Beiber song. I know who he is, but have never heard his music.
 
- I lived in Belgium when i was a kid
 
- Choosing what to wear to a wedding stresses me out.
 
- i facebook stalk people like you wouldn't believe......
 
 
love
laura
 
 

college and cleaning

Last night, we had our international students over for brownie sundaes! We wanted to introduce them to brownies, ice cream, and toppings. I realized they liked it when they asked for seconds!!

We had SO much fun with all 4 of them. We just sat around our dining room table and talked and talked. I hope to teach them Nertz in the future :)

Here they are teaching Daniel a few phrases...(i think they gave up on me, ha!!)

I'm so looking forward to getting to know all these guys more!

Today i pounded out 8 miles. I tried eating a piece of toast beforehand and ran a little later than usual...i think it worked out well. I had energy and my stomach didn't hurt the rest of the day like it usually does. (sometimes on long runs my stomach gives me 'issues' the rest of the day)

Then i went back to bed, ha!! i was exhausted!!

Daniel went to the game with his dad, and i stayed home to clean my little heart out. And speaking of cleaning, I found a new blog this week and so glad i did!

I'm going to start making my own cleaning products and soaps-laundry, dishwasher, hand, etc.... I was practically giddy after finding Rebecca's blog! The downside is i have to use up the rest of my cleaning products before i can make my own. And I'm going to switch from papertowels to microfiber cloths, to cut down on waste. After cleaning today i looked in my trashcan and saw all the papertowels, and wondered....who ever told us that this was ok?

I mean, why have i been living under the assumption that going through thousands (millions?) of papertowels is okay and i don't even have to consider the effects of all the waste i'm putting into the world? just cos it's in the trash, doesn't mean it's done forever. (ok, i'll get off my soap box...haha)

also, when i was cleaning today, i was overwhelmed with all the chemicals i was using...toilet bowl cleaner, tub cleaner, kitchen cleaner.....yuck. just another reason to make the swtich to some purer cleaning methods. i can hardly contain my excitement about this new venture!!!!

what are ya'lls ideas or tips about going green or natural??

love

laura