I’ve found it easy to ramble on about my shampoo-free hair adventures on my blog so far, but in all honesty the whole No ‘Poo thing has been a gateway drug to detoxing many other aspects of my life.
So I’m excited to say that I’ve decided to start up a “Detoxifying Your Home” series to show you how easy it can be to go au naturel across cleaning products, personal care products and food!
Before I get started on any particular topic, I think it’s important to tell you that I’m continuously updating my newfound list of “ethics” with the more research I do, so I thought it might be helpful to give you a little checklist and starting point of your own. It’s by no means extensive, but I find it helpful to keep these things in mind when I need to buy something (need being the operative word).
It is of course completely up to you to decide what is most important to you as it’s almost completely impossible to buy 100% ethical/sustainable/whatever you define as “safe” products 100% of the time - although the good news is that many ethical brands tend to cover more than just one ethical plus point.
But when you start giving a crap about your health and animal welfare and the environment and all that jazz, there are loads of things to consider and the following questions can be applied across cleaning, personal care and even food products:
Is this product safe?
In other words: are the ingredients safe for me to use over a long period of time - or are they linked to diseases, allergies or other health conditions?
For a while this was my only real concern, especially as after giving up shampoo this weird rash behind my ears cleared up - something no amount of E45 cream was helping me with.
Am I a scientist? No. But over the last 8 months I’ve read enough from sources that I trust and I know how positively cutting out junk food and chemicals has affected me as an individual.
And is it just me or does it really suck having to keep your cleaning products with warning labels slapped all over them out of the reach of kids and pets?
The way I look at it is like this: I don’t believe anything should need a tonne of chemicals in it and there’s a pretty good chance these chemicals are harming us and our environment, so why not try an all-natural alternative and see how you get on with it? Worst case scenario it doesn’t work as well and you need to try something else.
I’ve found a few handy resources that help me suss out many products I use. For cosmetics, you can pop a product name or ingredient into the EWG Skin Deep Database for a toxicity score and for a more UK-focused equivalent try the Think Dirty App - download it and scan it your personal care items for an overall ‘clean or dirty’ score.
While you’re there, have a search for Lush. Trust me. Then go and Google ‘greenwashing’.
I’ve also found lots of retailers and certifications which help me find more natural products - but do bear in mind that just because something is certified, it’s not backed by law. It all comes down to who you trust, and how much you research.
For example, if something’s got a Soil Association certification I genuinely believe it will have a high proportion of organic ingredients from a sustainable source, until the day I find out otherwise - question everything!
Is this product sustainable?
In other words: is this a reusable product or has it come from a sustainable source - or is it depleting our natural resources or adding to our growing waste problem?
It’s not just about recycling and buying recycled products - in fact, I’ve read a few disturbing things about how they have to use harsh chemicals to make toilet paper fit for reuse so we managed to find one that explicitly says that no chlorine or bleach is used in the manufacturing process.
However, there are loads of reusable options out there worth considering - just think of Bags For Life especially now that we’re being charged 5p for plastic carrier bags. Sure you can probably afford the plastic ones, but wouldn’t it be kinder to the planet to just reuse your own bags?
In terms of sustainability, my favourite thing right now is clothing made from bamboo, which as a material has a load of environmental positives.
I’m not going to try and sell it to you as I don’t know enough about the manufacturing process - but I will say that my Costco pyjama trousers were making my legs unbearably itchy so I ordered a pair of bamboo joggers to lounge around in and they’re pretty dang easygoing on my skin.
Yeah I really don’t think the manufacturing process to turn bamboo into clothing is all that great. Idk, we all have to wear clothes, but instead of propping up a largely unsustainable and toxic industry, I’ve just cut back on how often I buy new items.
Like the whole “capsule wardrobe” thing is pretty cool and makes your life much easier when you’re throwing clothes on in the dark first thing in the morning.
Is this product “Fair Trade”?
In other words: have the people making this product been paid a fair wage and are their working conditions safe - or am I supporting a company which profits through sweatshops and destroying local communities?
I dunno about you, but personally I would rather hand my money to a local business owner who can openly tell me who made each product over a faceless corporation who hides behind a load of legal bullshittery.
I’ve found that genuinely well-meaning brands are very upfront about their sources and processes, which is good because not everyone can afford to get officially Fair Trade certified - the same goes for organic certifications.
Is this product cruelty-free?
In other words: has the making of this product meant an animal has had to suffer, either through their bodies being torn apart for scraps or through cruel and unnecessary testing?
Again, if a company has nothing to hide they are always more than happy to state how their products have not been tested on animals or explain that any animal derived ingredients have been taken humanely.
I’m not vegan so I will occasionally buy a product containing beeswax from people I trust - like the soaps I buy from a local beekeeper and fellow No ‘Pooer who respects nature and makes all of her products by hand.
And although I’ve been told we don’t need to shear sheep to keep them healthy, I personally prefer natural materials over synthetic ones from a toxicity point of view. That and I was recently told to Google ‘fly strike’ - yikes.
So personally I just take great care in researching a company’s treatment of animals when it comes to wool, down or anything like that.
Usually, information is so hard to find when it comes to clothing that I’ll end up buying synthetic anyway, but I go for materials like organic cotton wherever I can - I’ll get round to hemp one day if I ever find clothing that fits with my personal style…!
Besides that, I exclusively shop online for my cosmetics and personal care items as it’s easier to research them and avoid impulse buying something that I think I want at the time.
I look for the Leaping Bunny or Vegan Approved certifications and I read descriptions carefully - just because someone can’t afford to get certified doesn’t mean I won’t hear them out and take a look at their ingredients/materials.
Chances are the products I’m looking to buy are already known to be safe for humans anyway as they’re all natural!
Has this product been sourced locally?
I felt like a right nob recently when I bought some of that poncy Pink Himalayan Salt after reading a few blogs about its incredible health benefits - only to discover that it’s no better for you than good old Celtic Sea Salt.
Not only did I feel conned, I realised how wasteful it was to be buying a product that had to travel thousands of miles to get to me when I could have bought a perfect equivalent on my own doorstep.
It’s not possible all the time (like with the Indian herbs I now use to cleanse my hair), but now I do try to bear in mind where something has come from; the best example I can give for this is the fact we now buy the majority of our food from our local farm shop and local butcher.
Sure, not all of our food or other products are from Britain, but by being more mindful and at least trying to find a local equivalent we’re doing what we can to reduce our carbon footprint.
Is this product overly processed?
Across food, cosmetics and cleaning products, I really believe that the less processed it is, the better it is in terms of its health properties and reducing your risk of diabetes, cancer and a multitude of other health complications.
I’ve only written a couple of diet-related posts so far, but since cutting out junk food and later gluten, refined sugar, caffeine and FODMAPs I’ve gone from feeling lethargic and bloated most of the time to a small minority of the time, usually when I eat out or don’t check the FODMAP list, which used to be a really bad trigger for me.
We stopped eating processed foods a long time ago and make pretty much every meal from scratch, so our switch to farm shop fruit and veg hasn’t been a huge jump in price - if anything we now get a lot more for our money, even for the butcher’s meat.
If you’re concerned about price because you’re so used to how cheap a Maccy D is, I completely understand - food that’s good for you should never be more expensive than junk food.
But with literally hundreds of blogs out there dedicated to helping you to create healthy meals for very little money, I really believe that turning the chore of cooking into a hobby is worth it to put the health of your family first.
Plus, you’d be surprised by how many exciting meals you can make for cheap!
Can I DIY this product cheaply and easily?
I won’t lie, some of this stuff can get really expensive really fast. Equally though, a lot of it can work out a tonne cheaper than what we’ve been used to paying all these years.
It’s all about shopping around and doing your research (yawn, I know right).
Chances are you can make your own cleaning and personal care products for a fraction of the price of its chemical-filled equivalent - for example instead of buying expensive anti-bacterial sprays we use apple cider vinegar mixed with water in a spray bottle to clean all of our kitchen and bathroom surfaces, and I make my own dry shampoo using a mix of kaolin clay and cornflour with a couple drops of essential oil.
That kaolin clay is going to last me bloody years as well as it’s no good as a wet shampoo for my hair type. So now I have access to a lifetime’s supply of dry shampoo compared to the can of Batiste that I was steaming through every week - all for the same price as two cans of the chemical stuff!
Honestly, I’m a lot happier since I stopped searching for the latest and greatest new product and started sticking to what I know works - especially when what works costs pennies.
Lastly - but most importantly - do I really need to buy this item?
The main thing I’m learning through this lifestyle change is to ask myself how much I really need that new pair of shoes, or whether I really need to try out that new supplement.
As much as I love shopping, and as thrilled as I am by how many new retailers and brands I’ve discovered and how dearly I would love to support what they’re doing for the world, the fact is that consumerism is not sustainable at the rate we’re all going.
When it comes to fashion I’m abandoning the “trends” (they make us all look like tits, anyway) and sticking to my well-made basics of jeans, tees, jumpers and boots. Everything mixes and matches, and anything I need to replace as the years go by will be from *hopefully* sustainable and ethical sources.
We also don’t really drink alcohol or buy overly processed foods unless it really is a treat, in which case we read labels a lot more carefully and we’re more likely to buy it from UK artisans who make it in small batches by hand.
Doing all of this might seem alien and restrictive to you, like we’re denying ourselves of all our Western Worldly pleasures, but actually we feel like pretty smug bastards.
I kid, I of course meant to say we feel incredibly fulfilled and positive that we’re contributing in our own small ways to the environment, to local businesses, to our own health and to human and animal welfare.
Generally though I just feel more mindful of what my actual needs in life are - do I really need more stuff? Sure, I’d love to switch our brand new non-stick pans to more chemically stable stainless steel and copper, and I give all my unwanted clothes to charity - but shit’s expensive yo, and I couldn’t justify wasting what I already have if it’s not broken.
The rate we go through our natural resources is just embarrassing and the way we allow animals and other humans to be treated at our expense is heartbreaking, and personally I just can’t make any more excuses for burying my head in the sand.
The internet has helped connect me with countless other individuals trying to make a difference, and I feel that when I have to spend money on something, it simply needs to be with these people.
And over the coming months I can’t wait to share them all with you too, whichever “ethical” standards you want to try and live your life by!
Thanks if you made it this far, you’re a real trooper.
