I used to love candles, particularly in the fall. I don’t know what it was, but something about the cooler temperatures made me want to set one out on the kitchen counter and light it up.
Friends, I no longer use scented candles, and I’m about to tell you why.
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Dryer sheets might not be the healthiest or most earth-friendly product for any of us to be using. I grew up using them, so I get it. It was something I was taught to do. It was part of the household laundry routine. I knew they would help with static and make my clothes smell good, so I continued using them even once I left home. But along my journey for living a more natural and earth-friendly life, I found them both wasteful and potentially harmful for me and my family. So, let’s take a look at what these are made of and find a solution to replace them.
First of all, from an environmental perspective, these are single-use, disposable products made from synthetic materials (i.e., plastic). I have heard there are some that are made from a recyclable material, but let’s hold that thought.
Second of all, from a non-toxic perspective, these just don’t make the grade. They work by transferring their coating onto your clothes to make the clothes feel soft. You probably know the difference in the feel between a new dryer sheet and a used one. That stickiness on the new one is the coating that’s going to be transferred to your clothes. Added to it is a synthetic blend of chemicals to create a certain scent (fragrance). Fragrance is a catch all term used by manufacturers to label any chemical added to their product that smells. A company is not required to disclose the chemicals used in their product because their fragrance recipe is considered a trade secret.
Try looking on your box of dryer sheets to see what the ingredients are. I did. They’re not listed. Why? Because companies don’t have to list them.
So, here’s what we know for sure: the product is made of a synthetic material with added fragrance. Those two points alone are enough for me to give them a pass.
What can you do instead? Purchase yourself a set of wool dryer balls. They’re available all over the place. A set of 4 will serve you well for at least a year (or a lot more) and only cost you less than $10. I use 2 per load, so that gives you a couple to spare in case one gets stuck in the previous load.
There are a few tricks to switching over to them. First off, drop the heat setting on your dryer down a notch. Second, drop down the time on the drying cycle. These two steps in combination will reduce the amount of time your clothes rub together AFTER they are dry which is how some of the static builds up. If you’re looking to add in something to make your clothes softer, adding a bit of white vinegar to the fabric softener compartment of your washer can do the trick.
Missing the scent that you got from the dryer sheets? I got you, friend. You have several options:
- You can add a couple of drops of essential oils onto the dryer balls that will carry you through.
- You can take a damp washcloth, add essential oils, and toss it in the dryer with the clothes.
- You can add essential oils into your detergent in the washer. Yep, it works.
At this point, you’re going to be saving money on purchasing those single-use dryer sheets and perhaps improving your health overall by reducing your exposure to fragrance, which in my mind is a good thing.
Interested in learning more about earth-friendly options? Join my free group here.
Get my free guide: 4 Ways Being Earth-Friendly Can Change Your Life for the Better HERE.
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Most of us know what whitewashing is - trying to brush over unpleasant facts of a situation, particularly when it is political in nature. Greenwashing is whitewashing about environmental issues. It is a marketing practice conducted by companies to sway consumers into believing they or their product are more environmentally friendly than they actually are. In other words, the money spent on the advertising campaign is greater than the money spent on making the company or product environmentally friendly.
Why do companies do it? Well, consumers have moved more and more toward companies and products that have a lesser impact on the environment. This is a good thing. Because of this, companies are motivated to win customers over through making themselves environmentally friendly even if they’re not.
A specific example of this happened in 2018 with Starbucks. In an effort to appease the masses calling for an elimination of plastic straws, the company announced they were switching to a straw-less lid by 2020. Many environmental groups applauded their efforts. However, as it turns out, the straw-less lid contains more plastic than the old straw and lid combination. This is an example of packaging but what about what’s inside.
In the US, there are no regulations governing use of the terms “natural” or “nontoxic”. A company can claim that a product is natural even if it contains little to no natural ingredients and is, instead, primarily made of synthetic ingredients. The use of flowers or other “green” images are further attempts to convince the customer that the product is good for them.
What is the consumer to do?
- Do some digging on the ingredients in your products and the company that makes them.
- At the risk of becoming skeptical of all companies that make “green” claims, find companies that are living up to their marketing and practicing what they preach.
- Be on the lookout for small companies that are bought out by larger companies. When this happens, the ingredients in a natural product that was made by the smaller company are often changed to synthetic and undesirable ingredients in order to cut costs and increase profits. This has happened to me on more than one occasion.
- Lastly, just because a product is environmentally friendly one day doesn’t mean it will continue to be. Companies are known to change ingredients without warning. This has happened to me as well.
Bottom line, if you can find a company that you trust, buy as many products from them as possible. Check in on them from time to time by doing a quick internet search using their name and environment. See what comes up and then decide whether to stick with them or move on.
Interested in learning more about earth-friendly options? Join my free group here.
Get my free guide: 4 Ways Being Earth-Friendly Can Change Your Life for the Better HERE.
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I love using hand and body lotion that smells good, but for years, lotion and I did not get along. The ingredients in pretty much any lotion I used would cause my hands to burn and hurt when I applied it, especially in the winter when I really needed it. It was a constant struggle between hands that hurt due to chapping and applying lotion to those hurting hands that made them hurt more. For the most part, I would grin and bear it one way or the other. Some lotions marketed as fragrance free or all natural still contained ingredients that made my skin crawl…literally.
Looking into what some of those ingredients are, revealed a list of some chemicals to avoid. These include:
- Parabens
- Pthalates
- Retinyl palmitate
- Triethanolamine
- Butylated Hydroxyanisole (BHA)
- DMDM hydantoin
- Fragrance/Parfum
- Petrolatum
Wow! That’s quite a list! I had to ask myself: Am I really going to have to carry around a list of ingredients to cross-check my hand lotion product every time I go to the store? Chances were slim, so I just needed to find a product I could trust that would be good for me and wouldn’t change over time.
My decision on a safe lotion to use came down to one that I knew would be natural – goat milk lotion. The downside to using this natural product is that I missed the smell. Along came essential oils. I played around and discovered that I could add essential oils to my unscented goat milk lotion to create my own custom scent. Now, I tend to rotate between Peace & Calming and Valor, two of my favorite blends. Rather than mix up a whole bottle’s worth, I put a few squirts in a travel jar and then add 2-3 drops of essential oil and mix with a toothpick or wooden modeling stick.
I’m not a big lotion user, so this little travel jar lasts me a couple of weeks to a month. Give it a try and let me know what you think.
Want to learn more? For 4 Ways Being Earth Friendly Can Change Your Life, click here.
Interested in learning more about earth-friendly options? Join my free group here.
*As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases.
