Kids made us cut the chemicals

Since all of this sunscreen info has been going around, I figured I'd post this since it's been sitting in my drafts for over a month :)

I'll never forget the day back in November of 2011. Curly Girl was about 9 months old and she was taking a nap. I was on break [browsing Facebook before tackling my long list of chores]. A friend had posted something [http://www.forbes.com/sites/amywestervelt/2011/11/01/as-report-reveals-toxic-ingredients-in-baby-shampoo-johnson-johnson-goes-public-with-plans-to-clean-up-products/]  about the not-so-good chemicals in Johnson & Johnson baby wash. I started reading. I couldn't believe what I was reading. I was horrified. Actually, no, I was outraged. Here I was, trying to do everything I could to protect and care for this little baby girl, yet what I was using to take care for her could actually be harming her. 

Well, I then went into a Google craze. I started trying to figure out what other bad things I was putting onto her body. Then I began to think about the things Darling Daddy and I were putting on our bodies. It made me crazy. It was like everything we were using contained things that were not good for us. [http://www.davidsuzuki.org/issues/health/science/toxics/dirty-dozen-cosmetic-chemicals/]   So many chemicals! Some linked to cancer, some linked to other health problems. None of it sounded good to me.

I decided we needed to make some changes in the products we were using. To be honest, I really wanted to just throw everything out and start fresh, but the practical/frugal side of me couldn't do it. And I knew that Darling Daddy would not be on board with that either. Not only because of the budget we live on, but because he's a chemical engineer... That word 'chemical' is part of his everyday life. I knew he was going to be the hardest to convince and the toughest critic. Fortunately, God was on my side and he wasn't as difficult to convince as I had thought :)

I'm sure you're wondering what changes we have made. I will say that it's still a work in progress, but 3.5 years later, I'd say we're much better than we used to be. 

We started first with baby skin products, since that was what prompted the change. I threw out or returned every Johnson & Johnson product we had. Maybe a little extreme, but I wanted nothing to do with them after what I had learned. We've used many products over the years, but here is a sample of some of our current ones. 

Next I tackled the adult body care products. Got rid of anything and everything with parabens, phalates, triclosan and the other chemicals on the naughty list. This proved to be harder than I thought! They're in so many body care produts! Also, tearing Darling Daddy away from his antibacterial soaps was a challenge, but I did it! Here is a sample of some of our current products.

Then there were of course the cleaning products. Oh, the cleaning products! I had actually tested these waters a tiny bit before my baby body care discovery, so I jumped right in after. I wanted our home to be safe for our little crawler. It can be tricky to find safe cleaning products, depending on where you live. I've stuck mostly to Method and Seventh Generation. Both are sold at Target and as of the past year or so, Market Basket too. Yahoo! [Now if only Market Basket would start selling Target clothes and open a Starbucks, I'd be golden. We'll talk about that another time...] Here is a sample of some of our current cleaning products.

During this time as well, though I can't remember when exactly, my parents gave me a Shark steam mop for Christmas. Ten years ago I would have been quite disappointed in such a gift. Funny how time and children change things! I was pretty ecstatic about it! Cleans my floors with the power of steam! No chemicals at all! And recently I read about spraying a tea tree oil mix onto the pad or mixing it into the water to help disinfect even more. I'm going to investigate this one though. 

Now, I'd be lying if I said these were all of the body care products and cleaning products in our home. They're not. These are the main things that we use, but we still have others that I can't seem to give up. Like Resolve carpet cleaner. And spray Lysol [you better believe I was using that when we got hit with the flu, stomach bug & nasty colds this winter!] And Darling Daddy can't seem to let go of that bottle of bleach in the basement...

So we're on our way, but not completely there. We're so much better off than we were years ago though. The next step will be to start making our own cleaners using natural ingredients and essential oils. We're getting close so stay tuned for that!