AfrikanLatina writes:
Hey curlies!
Prior to beginning my natural hair journey, my hunny and I began making other lifestyle changes to live healthier lives and help the planet. We stopped eating beef, pork, and dairy, and also cut out (most of) the junk food! We also began recycling to cut back on the amount of “garbage” being added to the landfill. My question for you curlies is:
What changes in addition to wearing your hair naturally have you made to live a healthier life or help the planet?
A few things that I do/did are:
- Reusing old pesto jars and hummus containers to mix & store my homemade conditioners, whipped shea butter, and Bentonite clay masks in.
- We use cloth diapers for our son.
- When I ran out of plastic caps for deep conditioning a week ago I used one of the bags that you put your produce in at the grocery store. It worked great!
I've been part of a CSA for a year now – the produce is local, fresh, organic, and tastes better than store bought. Farmers' markets for anything extra. I bought a DivaCup and need to try it. Like others, I also use vinegar and baking soda for cleaning. I reuse all my conditioner containers, etc for homemade products. Any plastic bags (i.e. Ziploc) absolutely needed are cleaned/reused as often as possible. I bicycle commute and will soon ride to TJs, bank, etc. Of course, recycling and composting all food waste. I'm so happy to see this post and others doing their part for the environment.
We have recycled and used reusable bags for years however going natural last year made me focus even more on healthy living. I try not to buy too many processed foods for the kids and purchase more natural foods and cleaning products.
http://basicwoman.blogspot.com/
Well, I gave up Beef and pork when I was 21.After reading a book entitled , " The Conscious Kitchen" by Alexandra Zissu!! I changed my thought process on what I eat , and where I purchase my produce and seafood. So now my kitchen pots and pans are made by ecoware company. No microwave, Glass bottles for milk,and I joined a CSA for my produce.. ( highly recommend everyone join a CSA)
All my skincare/Haircare/Bath products are organic..
Little by little I'll get there..
-bike to more places , ESPECIALLY within 2 miles
-buy local and organic (Local CSA's usually help with this or a farmers market)
-compost
-change all lightbulbs
-add aerators on your sinks & faucets
-change your water heater to tankless
-dont use plastic produce bags, use reusable produce bags
-install a cistern system
-dont buy the pesto, make the pesto (cheaper, no packaging, saves money)
This is a great topic! My husband and I have been making changes little by little and we are pleased with the results.
We only clean with vinegar, water & castille soap (sometimes I'll add a little Tea Tree Oil for the fresh scent & antibacterial properties). Other changes are: not using the microwave, only using dishware (no plastic or paper plates/cups/utensils), walking instead of driving-if practical(it's beautiful out, may as well take advantage & help the earth at the same time), stopped using most commercial personal care products and lastly we've switched our diets up considerably. We now eat mostly gluten-free products, I love Basmati brown rice, cold water fish like Salmon, lots of greens, brocolli, beans and tons of fresh fruit! We feel better & we've began to see the results of eating better when we look in the mirror.
BTW, I love suqiit's comment!-All of the ladies here seem to be on a great path! If we can share these ideas & good habits with others we will certainly start to see a shift in the way things are done!
Blessings,
~Aja http://www.ajanaturals.blogspot.com/
I actually stopped straightening my hair after going vegetarian, so on the health front, I realized my hair mattered too. I am a trained dancer (ballet, etc.), but had not danced in 2 years. I recently joined a local dance studio, that and pilates are my main form of exercise. I am a huge bag re-user, if I forget my cloth grocery bags. And I am a huge plastic and paper recycler! I also abstain from buying bottled water, only using my reusable bottle.
It's great to know that there are women of color using the DivaCup. My friend and I are trying to warm up to it and purchase one. I will make a post in the forums to get everyone's ideas about it!
I may be a bit use more hard core than some of the ladies here… lol. So I've cloth diapered, extended breast feeding, worked as a breast feeding counselor, reduce-reuse-recycle, all organics in the home, make my own cleaners, have used the DivaCup for about 5 years, salt rock deodorant, cloth napkins, my list goes ON AND ON AND ON AND ON. My children have become very much accustom to my bohemian lifestyle as well. I'm a painter and a full time student. Typical days with my kids involve burning incense, discussing the their smoky embellishments, discussing art and politics, school and holistic healing, preserving the planet, and living freely as your soul defines your path in life. I would love to share tips and tricks with any ladies here if you wish as well.
Our family recycles and I stopped buying bottled water unless absolutely necessary–we use a Brita pitcher. Our recycling company just started curbside composting and we're doing that. I also use either cloth bags or reuseable bags at the grocery store. When my girls were babies, it was cloth diapers with diaper covers.
@Angie–Here, here on the Divacup. I've been using it for the past 2 years and it is the truth. I'm so glad to see you mention it on this board.
We recycle all the time, whether reusing a jar or putting it into the recycling bin. And I am very anal when it comes to using my water, electricity and heater. Use what you need and turn it off. I don't eat anything white, no sugar (except when it is in my chocolate, lol), no flour, no white bread.
Peace, Love and Chocolate
Tiffany
Yeah! no pork, no white rice/bread and we use our Jack Lalane juicer. We make our own air freshner, laundry detergent, replaced aluminum foil balls for dryer sheets. and household cleaners. I am 5 month pregnant and we are planning on going to cloth diaper route. My summer projects are to begin composting and reuse our glass and plastic bottles.
These are some great ideas ladies. I need to get on board with the laundry detergent. We use Charlies Soap to wash our clothes since we its free of all those additives, perfumes, and dies. Its good for our sons cloth diapers.
@Angie…I never heard of the Divacup. Thanks for sharing that.
I think a lot of people don't realize how many plastic bags and bottles we go through and how long those things stay in our landfills. Recycling grocery bags and water bottles alone is a great place to start if one wants to start small. 🙂
No chicken, pork and rarely beef. Minimal dairy. Supporting local farms and farmers markets. Composting. Public Transportation and voting green!
no pork
no beef
no soda
no white bread
eating at home more
my husband and me have been doing this for maybe three years I still have sweet tooth (cookies) and he loves salt(chips) and something that we struggle with
With cowashing I realized I was throwing away (well, recycling) 2-4 plastic conditioner bottles very month. Now I reuse some of those bottles for my own hair concoctions. I do the same with the empty plastic jars from store-bought shea butter and gel. Even cutting down on recycling trash helps.
Over the past couple of years I have become a lot more "eco-conscious", not only out of concern for the environment but also for my health. I make my own castile soap, laundry detergent, and household cleaners. I also use cloth diapers (cottonbabies.com is AWESOME Nikki, you MUST browse the site before baby comes!), cloth napkins, and cloth menstrual pads and DIVACup in place of disposable pads and tampons.
I try to use reusable shopping bags and have recently started trying to limit my consumption and disposal of plastic items. I have a garden and compost everything compostable too!
Along with my natural hair journey, I decided to lead a healthy lifestyle as well. I am eating better, exercising very often, and I want to get down to a healthy weight. After I have achieved my weight goals, I want to continue in the same manner.
Since I always worried about what I was putting on my hair, I light bulb went off. I need to worry about what I'm putting in my body!!! I eliminated soda, sugar, white starches and keep I red meat sparingly. I never ate pork, my parents never gave it to my siblings and I.
My husband and I have slowly implemented new practices in our home throughout the year.
We make our own deodorant, powdered laundry detergent, and (for the first time this week) dishwasher detergent (thanks, AllAboutOrange and SavvyBrown!). These are all less expensive per use, easy to make, better for our health and the environment. I recycle plastic bags by using them more than once at grocery stores, and at our local Trader Joe's, every time I do this I have the chance to win a gift certificate.
I make my own "bug-off spray" using essential oils. I use the same essential oils to make perfume and to add scent to homemade hair products. We crumble eggshells and put them in our plant beds to keep slugs away. White vinegar and baking soda have replaced a lot of my cleaning products. Also, I use baking soda instead of boxed carpet fresheners when I vacuum. Works just as well.
We are constantly on the hunt for more ideas on safer (and cheaper) alternatives to make our home less toxic, so I look forward to seeing the comments from others.
This is fantastic! We love cloth diapers!!!!!!!