Eliminating Plastics: Shower Edition

Things covered in this issue: Shampoo, Conditioner, Body Wash/soap, Shampoo/conditioner containers, Shower Curtains

Just a quick glance around the bathroom probably results in you seeing numerous types of plastic. Shampoo bottles, body wash bottles, soap bottles, and many other things are made of plastic. In this issue I will look at alternatives to all the plastic bottles as well as products that prevent the use of bottles for some things all together.

Shampoo
Shampoo is next to impossible to find in a liquid form in anything but plastic bottles. If you insist on using liquid shampoo, putting it into a stainless steal dispenser and buying it in gallon bottles is one way to save on the plastic waste (but still doesn’t keep you from having some contact with plastic). Another alternative is to use bar shampoo. Below I have put links for stainless steel dispenser bottles (glass could break in the shower and be no fun at all), healthier options of liquid shampoo, and bar shampoo options.

Stainless Steel Dispensers (same links as kitchen dish soap dispenser in previous issue):

• Soap Dispenser 1
• Soap Dispenser 2 with Sponge Holder
• Soap Dispenser 3
• Soap Dispenser 4

Liquid Shampoo with minimal chemical additives (and in large bottles):

• Bulk Shampoo and Conditioner you can add your own scent to
• 1 gallon grapefruit scented shampoo that benefits breast cancer
• 1 gallon unscented shampoo
• 1 gallon tea tree and lemon shampoo

Shampoo Bars
I have used shampoo bars before with medium-long hair and had no problem with them. Bar shampoo is also great for traveling as you don’t have to worry about it leaking in your luggage (or being confiscated by air security). They are relatively light weight for hiking/camping as well. There are all sorts of chemicals in typical liquid shampoo that aren’t present in most bar shampoos. Also, bar shampoo typically comes in a paper or cardboard package (eliminating the plastics!).

• Herbal Bar Note from website: those of you who are new to shampoo bars may find that your hair feels slightly sticky or gummy at first; your hair will take some time to get used to a chemical-free cleanser. Using a vinegar rinse for the first week will help to make the transition. Simply mix 2 Tablespoons vinegar (cider vinegar works best) into one cup of water and apply to your hair after using the shampoo bar. Leave in your hair (the smell will dissipate), or rinse out if you prefer. After time, you will not need the rinse and will not even need a conditioner.
• Burt’s Bees Rosemary Mint Shampoo Bar (Google Shopping Search Result)
• Burt’s Bees Baby Bee Shampoo Bar
• Vegan Shampoo Bars
• Jojoba Shampoo Bar
• Handmade goat’s milk shampoo bar
• Handmade Beer Shampoo bar
• Handmade Pet Shampoo Bar
• Handmade Dandruff Helper Shampoo Bar
• Handmade Men’s Shampoo Bar with Case
  

How to make your own shampoo bars here: http://www.ehow.com/how_2012740_make-shampoo-bars.html

Conditioner
The best all natural conditioner I have found was mentioned in the note above. I spray my hair with a mixture of 1/3 apple cider vinegar and 2/3 water every day after I shower. The vinegar loses its scent once your hair dries and also naturally fights the bacteria that makes people’s scalps itch. It leaves your hair shiny and healthy. You can also apply the vinegar in the shower and rinse it out after several minutes as you would conditioner. If you insist on using conditioner, however, I have several links below for buying it in bulk.

• 1 gallon Nature’s Gate Herbal Conditioner
• 1 gallon unscented conditioner
• 1 gallon tea tree and lemon conditioner
• 1 gallon green tea conditioner

Soap/Body Wash
When it comes to cleansing your body using bar soap is best for avoiding plastics. If you insist on using body wash however, here are some links to buying it in bulk so you can put it into a reusable stainless steel container (links above).

• 1 gallon tea tree and lemon body wash
• 1 gallon allergen free body wash
• 1 gallon Dr. Bronner's Organic Pure-Castile Liquid Soap Lavender

How to make your own liquid or bar soap here: http://www.make-stuff.com/formulas/soap.html

Shower Curtains
Typically at least the shower curtain liner in a shower is some sort of plastic. I have found some cloth alternatives that are linked below.

Natural Cotton Shower Curtain (no need for a liner)

Curtain Liner 2 (cotton as well)

Be sure to use medal or wooden hooks to hold up the curtain! (Can buy at most any department store).

Eliminating Plastics: Cleaning Edition

Things covered in this issue: Dishwasher Detergent, Dish Soap, Sponges, Laundry Detergent, Laundry Softener

Dishwasher Detergent:

Many of you have probably never even thought about what you use for detergent in your dishwasher. Most dishwashers themselves are made of plastic, but there are some stainless steel varieties. If you want to continue using your dishwasher regardless of what it’s made out of, using a more natural alternative to store bought dish soap is a great idea. Not only does this home made dishwasher soap save you a lot of money, but it is also not in a plastic bottle.

The recipe:

1 large glass jar (for storage)

1 ½ cups--20 Mule Team Borax (found in the laundry section at most stores)

1 ½ cups—Baking Soda

1 cup—Table Salt

(Mix all together and use ¼ cup per dishwasher load)

Video on how to make.

Dish Soap:

Perhaps you do your dishes by hand. The dish soap that is typically found at stores not only comes in plastic but has all sorts of artificial colors and scents added to it. It’s quite simple to make your own dish soap. First you will need a jar/container of some sort to store the soap in (I have put some links below for stainless steal containers that will not break if you drop them into the sink/hit them with a pan, etc). Below the links is a recipe for making soap

Stainless steel soap dispensers:

• Soap Dispenser 1

• Soap Dispenser 2 with Sponge Holder

• Soap Dispenser 3

• Soap Dispenser 4

Several Dish Soap Recipes Found Here.

Dish Sponges:

Many people use dish sponges to wash their dishes (or wipe them off before putting them in the dishwasher). Most of these sponges are made of plastic. There are many alternatives to these potentially harmful sponges. This is not to mention the fact that since most sponges are made of plastic they don’t decompose well (or at all) Dish rags are always a choice. They are relatively easy to make yourself (from old towels you cut to rag size, or by crocheting them). They can also be purchased online. Several companies also have natural sponges available for washing dishes. I have included links to both these sponges and home made dish rags.

Non-Plastic Sponges:

• Agave natural fiber dish sponge

• Twist Clean Eco-Friendly Biodegradable Naked Sponge

• Twist Loofah Dish Scrubber

• Agave Dish Scrubber

Home Made Dish Rags:

• Crochet Dish Cloths

• Crochet Dish Cloths (2)

• Crochet Dish Cloths (3)

• White Crochet Dish cloth (easy to bleach/clean)

• Make your own dish cloths here.

Laundry Detergent:

Just like dishwasher soap and dish soap, laundry detergent comes in a plastic container and often complete with artificial colors, scents, and additives. Making your own is a cost effective alternative that gets you away from plastic. This recipe also works for HE front load washers. It is low suds which is what the “specially made” detergents for these washers are.

• What you need: 1 – 55 ounce box of Arm & Hammer® Super Washing Soda1 – 76 ounce box of 20 Mule Team® Borax (The same you used for dishwasher detergent)
• 1 – 10 pack of 4.5 ounce bars of Ivory® Bar Soap (**note** you can use cheaper soap, I actually had this on hand already. Use whatever tickles your fancy – Other brands of commonly used bar soaps include Pure & Natural®, Fels-Naptha® and/or ZOTE®. Both ZOTE® and Fels-Naptha® are made for and sold as “laundry bar soap.”)

Here’s How

Be sure to store it in a glass jar!

Fabric Softener

The best alternative I have found to store-bought laundry detergent is vinegar. Whenever I tell people this I get a similar response, something to the effect of “Eww, don’t your clothes smell?” or “You end up smelling like an Easter egg though don’t you?” The answer to both of these objections/questions is no. I add approximately a cup of white vinegar to each load I wash (add with detergent, I pour right onto the clothes) and they leave the dryer (or drying rack) with no static and soft as can be.

Store/buy your vinegar in a glass jar.

Eliminating Plastics: Baby Edition

Things covered in this issue: diapers, baby bottles, pacifiers

I’m assuming that if you are reading this blog you know that plastic isn’t a healthy thing to have in your life. As you have seen from the last three posts it is everywhere, and hard to avoid while living in the current society. Slowly poisoning yourself from these contaminants is one thing, but harming your children is quite another matter. In this issue I will delve into the world of babies and try to provide alternatives to the plastic “necessities” all new parents are marketing from long before conception.

Diapers:
Disposable diapers are a bad idea. I said it, and I’m sure that you have heard it before. They take AT LEAST 100 years to decompose in a landfill. As a rule I try to avoid using anything that would take 100 years to decompose (things of this nature tend to be full of many a thing that is unnatural). The first disposable diaper was created around 1950 which means that all disposable diapers ever created are still in existence (this holds true for most plastic products). You don’t care about the environment? Well that’s just too bad and I don’t know why you are reading my blog in the first place, but let’s assume you care for your child.

Here’s a link to a WebMD article that talks about disposable diapers being linked to increased asthma rates: Link

An Associated Content article about chemicals in disposable diapers: Link

So, you are convinced. You will use cloth diapers. Now where on earth do you buy them? Here are a few places. Try to avoid diapers with Velcro as that is also a type of plastic (snaps or pins are ideal). It was hard for me to find many snap diapers that used medal snaps however, but plastic snaps are a much better choice when compared to disposable diapers.

Mother-Ease USA
Mother-Ease Europe
Choosey Diapers
Green Mountain Diapers
More Cloth Diapers

Make your own cloth diapers!

Baby Bottles:
It’s almost understandable when you think of the development of the plastic baby bottle. No newly initiated mother or father wants to deal with a dropped and shattered glass bottle in the middle of the night. I’d say, however, that they’d rather deal with that than a sick child. The chemicals that are in all plastics are also in baby bottles. The nipples of bottles are also made of latex which can cause allergic reaction, but they CAN be found made out of silicone or rubber, which is what I have tried to track down. So here are some alternatives to the plastic variety. If there are any parents reading this that have comments/suggestions let me know!

Natural Rubber Bottle Nipples:
Link 1
Link 2
Link 3 (Google Shopping Search Result)

Glass bottles with silicone nipples
Glass bottles with silicone nipples and thermal hugger
A few kinds of glass baby bottles (and free shipping)

Handmade crochet baby bottle covers:
Link 1
Link 2

Make your own baby bottle cover (crochet)


Pacifiers:
Since we’ve established that giving your baby something made of plastic to suck on is a bad idea, I have provided links below to natural alternatives to the latex pacifier. In even silicone pacifiers the part that touches your baby’s face is plastic, this is why I have stayed with rubber pacifier links.

Natural rubber pacifiers:
Link 1
Link 2
Link 3
Link 4

Eliminating Plastics from your Daily Life: Installment 3

Things Covered in this Issue: Buckets, Lunch Bags/Boxes and Grocery Bags

5 gallon buckets for storage/hauling liquids:

• Canvas Buckets: Bucket 1 , Bucket 2

• Steel 5 Gallon Bucket (no lid)

• Steel 5 Gallon Bucket (With lid)

I am trying to track down a pattern for making your own canvas bucket but have yet to find one. If anyone has one, or has made one and wants to share please email me/post a comment.

Lunch Box/Bag

If you are anything like me you take a lunch to work/school (or maybe your children/wife/husband/significant other do) nearly every day. Did you ever stop to think about what your lunch box is made out of? Most are made out of plastic (or at least lined with it). Belo

w are some options to purchase lunch boxes that are not made of or lined with plastic. There is also a link to making your own lunch bag.

• Stainless Steel Lunch Tin Set with recycled cotton bag

• Stainless Steel Stackable Lunch Box

• Recycled Cotton Lunch Bag

Make your own Lunch bag. Note: This design calls for a thin plastic lining in the bag. I would skip using that as a lining and just use cotton. You could wash the bag once a week or so to keep it clean if need be.

Grocery Bags

I’m sure that by now you have all heard that plastic grocery bags are horrible for the environment (if you are reading this blog you likely use reusable bags already). I figured I would put this section on here anyhow, however, since most store bought reusable grocery bags have plastic in them. Below are links that you can purchase cotton bags from and also how to make your own reusable grocery bags. If you wish to have more choices for purchasing reusable bags, simply search “reusable cotton grocery bag” or “reusable hemp grocery bag”.

• Reusable Bags made from Cotton and/or hemp

• “Thank You” Reusable Canvas Bag

• 35 Reusable Grocery Bags you can make

Eliminating Plastics: Installment 2

I’d like to thank everyone for their interest thus far in this project along with all of the recommendations I have received. I have been looking around me with a new set of eyes since I started working on this yesterday and I see that plastic is literally everywhere. I am going to work to provide not only alternatives that you can purchase, but also (when possible) alternatives you can make yourself. I am also going to try to recommend (also when possible) alternatives for purchase that are hand crafted by someone else for those not inclined to craft themselves.

Things covered in this issue: Tea Kettles, Coffeemakers, Rice Cooker, Plastic Wrap

Tea Kettles/Tea Pots
I was looking around my kitchen last night when I realized that even my tea pot has a plastic handle and a plastic cover over the spout. I have, thankfully, been able to locate some tea pots that do not include plastics. I have links for them below.

Ceramic Asian Stove Top Tea Pot

Duo Glass Tea Pot/Infuser

Staub Cast Iron Tea Pot

Tea For One Tea Pot

Coffeemaker

Take a look at your coffeemaker. Most have plastic everywhere. Even if you use a reusable mesh filter, the basket itself is still likely plastic, not to mention the body of the coffee maker, the handle and top of your pot, etc. I have found some alternatives that avoid the use of plastic and still produce a tasty pot of coffee!

Chemex Coffee Makers and Filters (From their website: “The Chemex® coffeemaker is an elegant, one-piece, hourglass shaped vessel made of high quality, heat resistant glass. The traditional model comes to you with a polished wood collar and leather tie. The collar serves as an insulated handle around the middle of the coffeemaker.”) Note: be sure to use unbleached coffee filters with this.

Stove top espresso maker

Porcelain Percolator

Stainless Steel Percolator

Stainless Steel French Press

1 Cup Stainless Coffee Maker & Porcelain Drip Coffee Makers (Scroll Down on the Page to find them)

Rice Cooker

Rice can be a staple, especially in budget living. A rice cooker can come in handy to get that perfect rice (they also work very well for quinoa). Finding a rice cooker that doesn’t have plastic is hard work however. Below is what I’ve found. The most natural option is pretty obvious and that is to make the rice in a pot on your own. If you don’t have the time for that option however (or skill) there are some alternatives where plastic doesn’t touch the rice directly.

Miracle Rice Cooker (It looks like the outer areas of this cooker are plastic, but everything that touches your food is stainless steel)

Clay pot 5 cup rice cooker (It looks like the outer areas of this cooker are plastic, but everything that touches your food is clay)

VitaClay Rice Cooker (It looks like the outer areas of this cooker are plastic, but everything that touches your food is clay)

Plastic Wrap

Many people use plastic wrap to cover foods and to wrap up items for their lunches. Until yesterday I didn’t know of any good alternatives to this. On a forum I am a member of however someone mentioned beeswax coated cloths. After a brief search I found them!

Abeego Wraps. From the website “Abeego came to life one year ago as a result of my fascination with nature and my growing dissatisfaction with plastic. Through months of trial and error I discovered the perfect blend of natural ingredients, closely mimicking the us eful qualities of plastic while eliminating the unsavory attributes. Creating an original, handcrafted, natural alternative to plastic food wrap has been a wonderful and rewarding experience. Enjoy!”

Eliminating Plastics: Post 1

Covered in Today's Issue: Prescription Medicines, Food Storage Containers, Coffee/Tea To Go,

Prescription Medicines:
It really is disturbing when you think about how much plastic medicine comes in contact with. The large jars they are in at the pharmacy are plastic (you cannot control this). The machines they are produced in are riddled with plastic as well (also cannot control this). The one thing you can control is what they are stored in when you receive them. Ask your pharmacy if they have glass jars available. If they do not, transfer your medications yourself into glass jars when you get home. You can buy jars from any of the following sites:

Jars:

Link 1

Link 2

Link 3

Bottles:

Link 1

Link 2

Link 3

Link 4

Link 5

Food Storage:
Over the last couple decades people have become accustomed to storing food in plastic containers (Gladware, Tupperware, etc.) It may seem like an awkward transition to switch from plastic to glass, but it is much easier than might be anticipated.

Avoid plastic wrap if at all possible.

For small storage containers save the jars that you already use. Jelly jars, spegetti sauce jars, etc. make great containers to store leftovers (and even freeze soup in!)

If you want to purchase jars for storage the hard part is finding them that do not use plastic covers. Ceramic jars work well for storing things like sugar, flour, etc. Jars that close more tightly can be used for other things.

Here are some websites:

Bake 'N Keep Storage Container with glass lid

2-c. Glass Refrigerator Storage Container 81884S with glass lid

Glass Spice Rack

Square 40oz glass canister with lid

Glass Canning Jar/Gasket Set

Coffee/Tea To Go:

Did you know that paper cups from places like Starbucks are actually lined with plastic? Besides generating unnecessary waste, you are also drinking coffee out of warmed up plastic, yuck.

If you are staying at the coffee shop to drink your coffee, ask them if they have mugs for customers staying there. Many shops have this.

A reusable mug is a great solution if you aren’t staying at the coffee shop, but be sure to find one that isn’t lined with plastic. Also, most mugs have plastic covers, avoiding these is pretty difficult. I found some with silicone covers, which seems like cheating but it is better than plastic (Silicone is chemically inert and poses no known health risk. It is completely safe to use as cookware and will not leech into your food. It is technically not a plastic, although it displays properties of plasticity.)

Here are some links:

Cups with silicone lids:

Silicone lid 1

Silicone Lid Cup 2

If you aren’t going far and aren’t apt to spill much, a ceramic mug with a ceramic cover might work for you. Here are some:

Ceramic Mug with lid and infuser (for tea)

Coffee Mugs with Lid 1

Coffee Mug with Lid 2