Moving Forward: A Year of Change

The year following our first six months was a little less crazy, since now we knew where we were heading and why. It was just a matter of slowly ridding our home of the old stuff as we could, and replacing it with non- (or less) toxic items.

I wish I had known about Pinterest at this time. Since I only recently discovered the pure joy of being able to contain all of my billions of interesting Internet pages in one place, there were many great reads that I unfortunately cannot seem to dig up anymore (or I've simply forgotten where I found them in the first place). Some helpful Internet searches would be to just google "how toxic is ___" and see what you can sift through. I think I literally spent thousands of hours during this year reading and researching (yay for nursing; I could do this all without the least amount of guilt! LOL). The desire to know more about what things I was subjecting my child to (in the air, in his body, etc) grew stronger by the day. Once I mastered one thing I wanted to learn more about the next. I literally began breaking down the materials in every thing and checking for myself to find out exactly what they were made of, where they came from, and if they posed a health hazard in any way. I mentioned this site in my first blog but the greatest site I have found for researching things has definitely been the Environmental Working Group's page, found at www.ewg.org. Not only do they have a TON of factual info, but in their Cosmetics Database you can search for any ingredient or product and find out just what it is, what health hazards it poses, whether it's been tested in rats, etc. (Go to "Health/Toxins" on the left side, then scroll down to "Cosmetics Database").

At this point in time we had a cleaner kitchen, a water service (more recently I've become really disgusted with the fact that it is all stored in plastic water jugs. At the time; however, it was more important for us to be drinking water that wasn't laced with fluoride and other seriously harmful toxins), and we had massively transformed our diet by cutting our almost all meat, dairy, and junk food. It was a long year to make that happen (we are still working on it!), but we made some seriously delicious meals and replaced our night-time cookies with things like home-made guacamole, smoothies, home-made snack bars made of nuts/honey/dates, and the occasional sugar-free baked good made with healthier flours, bananas in place of the oils and ground nuts in place of the butters. We had already been buying organic foods in the past, but after I began learning more and more about the harmful effects of pesticides, GMOS, etc, I began stricly buying organic when and where I could.

During this year, my husband and I were finally able to switch to more natural beauty products as well and really enjoyed it. For him, it was an easy transition to simply buying different brands (he continues to use a few regular products, but switched his shampoo/cond, body soap, and even his deodorant!). For me, it was a long process of trying things that did (and mostly didn't) work for my hair and skin. I tried the "No-Poo" method (you basically do not wash your hair, and once you get over the 'transition period' it supposedly works wonders), I tried making my shampoo & conditioner using various online recipes and ingredients such as apple cider vinegar, baking soda, honey, etc, and I tried multiple brands of all-natural/eco-friendly bottled shampoos and conditioners. Finally I settled on the Whole Foods brand, which contains very few ingredients and is biodegradable. I found that (aside from the price being a whole lot lower) it soaped better and felt more like typical shampoo in my hair than the other brands. As for my skin, I found a great lotion recipe which I love and continue to use. It takes only a few minutes and a few simple ingredients to make a good size batch:

• Pour 3/4 Cup pure oil (I used coconut oil) into a glass measuring cup. Add 2 TBS plain shaved beeswax.
• Place measuring cup into a saucepan of water and still on m heat until the wax melts. Let cool for 1-2 mins but don't harden!
• Slowly add 1 Cup of distilled water to the wax mix (it will thicken).
• Add up to 30 drops of essential oils (NOT "Fragrance Oils"- these are synthetic!) and blend.
• Store in a glass jar for up to 6 months.

I also attempted to make my own deodorant but didn't have much luck (although I know other women who do make their own and swear by it!). Maybe I will try again one day when I am not so busy but for now, I use Toms of Maine and it works great. (Note on the deodorant: It did take my body some "getting used to" when I switched to the non--aluminum deodorant. This was something I was able to tolerate a little more than greasy hair and I stuck with it. I feel like it works just as well now as my old deodorant ever did). Lastly, I was able to switch my feminine hygiene products from tampons (toxic & wasteful) to the Diva Cup. It was surprisingly comfortable, and super easy to use. Much easier and far less messier than traditional disposable products, believe it or not!

There are probably more little things we transitioned to over that next year but it is hard to remember everything now. I think the biggest thing we discovered was a new sense of awareness that totally altered our lives. The way we acted, the things we purchased, and even the way we viewed certain activities or items drastically changed (for the better!). Every day we are thankful for our "awakening", thankful for at least the awareness of all of the toxic stuff which surrounds us, and grateful we are able to give BB the best we possibly can. Sometimes it seems so discouraging in a world filled with so much bad stuff...but we tell ourselves that every little bit counts. And hopefully in the long run, in terms of his health and happiness, it does.