Today’s reader question comes from Karen, who asks…

I have a question for you. I’ve decided to start going green slowly, as you’ve suggested, and have focused first on body and cleaning products. With both of these, I am finding some difficulty in figuring out what products are actually green and which are not. Some products say they are biodegradable, some say eco friendly, some talk about fair trade, and as I’m sure you know the list goes on. How do you choose what types of products to use? Since you seem to really know about these things, I’d love to hear your point of view on this.

Thanks!
Karen.

Excellent question! I’m sure many folks going green wonder about the above. First off, as for the cleaning products part of the question, we’ve discussed how to choose or make green cleaning products in multiple posts here so for this, you can browse the following.

• How to choose green cleaners – store bought green cleaners
• 25 Safe, Non-toxic, Homemade Cleaning Supplies
• Hot Water for Cleaning – Yeah It Works
• Are Sponges A Great Green Choice?
• Reader Question: how long to keep homemade green cleaners?

WHAT ABOUT GREEN BEAUTY & BODY CARE?

To green your beauty and body care product routine use the following tips.

Read labels and learn what they mean: Anyone can write “natural” or “green” on a label and both may mean absolutely nothing. At the very least the beauty/body care products you buy should state that they are natural, free of preservatives, free of chemicals, not tested on animals, and so on. BUT to be more sure, you should look for official eco-labels such as Leaping Bunny Eco Symbol and USDA Organic. However, unlike food, there’s not a massive eco-labeling underway of body care items, so your best bet is to read the label carefully for ingredients.

Read the company’s website: Most beauty companies have an “about us” “eco-goals” or “green page” IF they’re eco-friendly. If they’re forth coming about green company policies and list all ingredients on their website and/or packaging that’s a good sign.

Try bulk: Many co-ops and natural food stores offer bulk body care such as organic shampoo, lotions, and body soap. You simply snag some refillable bottles and keep refilling them with healthy products rather than purchasing new.

Buy recyclable: If you do buy products (vs. buying bulk or making your own) buy products that come in recycled or recyclable containers. Look for the least packaging possible as well.

Buy  & use less: Buying and using less of all items is a green step. You cut down on packaging, emissions, and save money to boot. You don’t need to shampoo each day (really) or wear as much make-up. You can try using less of an item, like lotion and get the same effect. You can also use items like dry shampoos to save other resources like water (also a green move).

Score check: You can quickly find our how your favorite products stack up at Skin Deep. Skin Deep rates everything from sunscreen to baby shampoo to make-up and more. They offer a score based on issues like toxicity levels, animal testing, chemical content, and more.

Shop check: As you shop you can check out the safety and greenness of products with the iPhone app, GoodGuide. GoodGuide mobile is a free application that allows you to look up safe, healthy, and green products on the go. There are over 70,000 products and ratings included in the app.

Look for product reviews from green bloggers you trust: Assuming you trust me, you can read up on green beauty care products I’ve reviewed at my green beauty blog or check out our huge growing list of green product reviews here at THF (beauty and body care included). You can also do web searches like, “Organic soap review” and substitute whatever product you like and see what pops up.

Make your own: The best way to know what’s in your beauty and body care products is to make your own. Plus this is greener still because it cuts down on packaging. Some recipes featured here include…

• Homemade Organic Herbal Hair Conditioning Spray
• Homemade Sugar Body Scrub
• Homemade Healthy Hair Care – Hair Masques
• Homemade Organic Facial Toner
• Homemade Organic Cleansing Creams
• Homemade Organic Paint Soap for Kids
• Homemade Organic Facial & Body Cream
• Homemade Organic Honey Beauty
• Fast Homemade Organic Fresh Kitchen Face Scrubs
• Homemade Organic Liquid Handsoap
• Homemade Deodorant
• Strawberry Face Mash

Hopefully the above helps you to navigate the green beauty and body care market. If you’ve got your own tips, share in the comments.

[image via jennifer chait]

Post from: Tree Hugging Family

Green gifts can cost a little more; but not if you make them yourself. I’m going to give you some ideas for homemade eco gifts that won’t cost too much to make and that people will actually adore. Some are from Tree Hugging Family’s past, and others are new.

If I see any more over the next couple of weeks, I’ll post those too.

Great little homemade green gifts for party hosts:

Pennyroyal, Cinnamon, & Lavender Air Freshener

Flower & Spice Table Toppers via Family Corner

Organic homemade beauty gifts:

Following are some of the organic beauty recipes I’ve posted here over time. These make great low-cost homemade eco gifts. If you’re going to give one of these as a gift, make sure you spice it up. Put the product in a nice vintage looking jar or bottle and be sure to label it. You can make a wonderful custom label on your computer, or for say grandma, have your kids make the label with crayons and markers.

Lemon Bath Cookies

Organic Facial & Body Cream

Organic Cleansing Creams

Homemade Sugar Body Scrub

Homemade eco crafty gifts:

Solar Art Project – if you can find some sunshine, a solar print makes a great gift when matted. Image via Sunprint Gallery.

Make some homemade paper, then bind it into a journal with a beautiful cover. To learn how to make a homemade journal watch one of the following videos – Junk Journal (a pop and his daughter make a journal out of recycled trash!) or Basic DIY Book Binding Demonstration.

Make everyone a homemade reusable shopping bag out of old clothes or fabric you already have on hand.

Yummy green homemade gifts:

Cookie and Brownie Mix In a Jar – replace conventional items with organic.

Cornmeal Rosemary Biscotti or Cranberry Pistachio Biscotti

Get Out Those Canning Jars – by the timely Linette who must have known I was going to post about this.

Great homemade eco stocking stuffers: 

Homemade Organic Paint Soap for Kids

Homemade Recycled Stickers

[image via here]

Recycled and molded crayons: Grab those broken crayons and learn how to mold them into cool shapes (use holiday molds).

Bonus homemade joke gift for bad co-workers, mother-in-laws, or your lame ex: Homemade Anti-Tree Hugging Beauty: Bacon Soap!

Stay tuned because soon we’ll also be looking at some more homemade gifts (hopefully) plus eco-friendly wrapping ideas. In the meantime, Eco Street had a great post last year -7 groovy handmade recycled gifts to make and give, that has plenty of cool ideas, even for pets.

November current events at Tree Hugging Family – themes, reviews, news, and more…

[image via stock.xchng]

Post from: Tree Hugging Family

Nimli is having a cool giveaway from now through November 21st. Nimli is a nice eco online shop for many reasons…

• They offer natural, organic, and sustainable lifestyle products, such as clothing, accessories, home decor, beauty products and much more from loads of independent designers.
• Products come in various slice of natural, organic, recycled, sweatshop-free, and cruelty-free.
• Their designers follow environmentally conscious ethics.
• Nimli policy requires that all designers ship their products directly to customers. Which of course results in a much lower carbon footprint by eliminating the extra warehouse shipping.

Entering the giveaway is a snap:

Head to the Nimli giveaway page and subscribe to their newsletter. Easy right? They’re choosing multiple winners each day throughout the event that might appeal to Tree Hugging Family readers.  For example, as seen above, on Tuesday can win green baby gear you may win some cool home items or clothing supplies. On Friday you could win some nice green bling! Not as useful, but fun all the same.

Enter the Nimli giveaway!

Post from: Tree Hugging Family