This was the second book i bought to set me on the path of green living, it is full of useful information from minimising household rubbish to teaching your children to be green, i am really enjoying it. This book is really worth a look at as its jammed packed full.

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“Packed with practical and realistic advice, Green Living For Dummies is a comprehensive guide to minimising your impact on the world around you. Here you will discover effective and simple strategies for making a difference in every part of your life – from reducing energy waste in your home and cutting reliance on your car, to going green in the garden and at work.”

This is a cleansing lotion to use with washable wipes or cotton wool. It is to be used to clean baby bottoms at nappy change time.

First you will need two chamomile tea-bags, poor boiling water over the teabags and stand for 15 minutes. Then you will need to poor 30ml of lukewarm water tea into a jug. add 1 tbsp of hemp oil (if your baby is over 1 year then add 1 tbsp of pasteurised runny honey) wisk well. Put the ingredients in a refillable glass spray bottle. shake well. You can use this straight away.

When it is nappy time shake well and spray on your cloth or cotton wool. Make up a new batch every couple of days. Keep refrigerated.

I do not intend to buy any baby wipes because these don’t biodegrade for 100’s of years, and there is absolutely no point to them.

Well with 8 weeks to go (give or take a couple). Everything we need is either on its way or here. This time around i have really minimised what i have got. i have only bought what i really need for the first 3 months. I have only bought what i can sell again so nothing will be wasted, i have even bought second hand things from ebay so i am not creating more waste, but using products that are all ready in circulation. Somethings are new that i couldn’t find on ebay. my grow bags are 100% organic which have long arms for winter (not the easiest things to find) they will last until about 9 months. My early nappies are wiona 100% biodegradable and free from chemicals (just for the first few weeks until i get my strength back). My wipes however are washable. My pram was a ex- display model of ebay which saved me over £100 and it was good quality, i can sell this in 3 years time and it will sell because its good quality, i bought a silver cross in the end which is a uk based company.

I have not gone for breast pads but lily pads which are easy to use and easy to sell when i have finished with them. I only need one pair and i can wear them with out a bra as well which would be really great for night times.

Every time i thought of something that i wanted I had to think do i really need it, could we live without it, this has saved us so much money and i do not have a cluttered house (well not from baby anyway).

After looking around on the internet for organic products i was pleased and surprised to find a range of badger balm in my local boots shop. This goes to show now that not all products that i like have to be bought online. Which is not at all good for my carbon footprint. I am now on a hunt for products that i can purchase from my local shops. They have to be out there its is just a matter of finding them.

There are lots of different badger balms A baby balm, different lip balms, soaps. At the moment i am using my lip balm from lush but i am looking forward to trying tangerine breeze.

Toilet Roll

This is a real concern for me due to the amount that is flushed away each day, the way around it is to use recycled paper even cloths that could be washed after use (not an area i have ventured in, i think this would take a lot of persuasion for my family). With toilet rolls i don’t like the packaging that they come in, i can’t recycle them which means they end up in landfill. An other issue is that my son does not understand one at a time so alot of toilet roll is wasted at the moment. I have found an alternative though, recycled box of tissues from tesco which does not contain any plastics which some boxes do. I am giving it a trail run for the month because i am not sure how James and the boys are going to react to it.

Noses

The concept of blowing a runny nose on a hanky would put my family off, this is only because we have never done it. I used to have a hanky when i was younger, it was second nature then and they are very easy to wash so my family are going to get another shock when i send them out with a hanky instead of tissues. This will save on the amount of tissues my family will get through.

These are a mild filed, there are far to many on the market at the moment and for the next 9 weeks i don’t need to worry about this particular area but by christmas i’m going to have to find an alternative to the high street brans. towels and tampons are like nappies they take many years to decompose. I can’t believe that 75% of people flush tompons down the toilet, that is disgraceful. Well with the amount of toxins in the recognisable brands i have stayed clear of these even before i became pregnant.

I have however found a few alternatives.

This is a moon cup it comes in two different sizes, and is fully reusable so there is absolutely no waste. It will need washing and sterilising before each use. It can be cleaned in the same way as baby equipment: with sterilising fluid, or by boiling for five minutes in an open pan of water. The Mooncup is made from a special medical grade non-allergic silicone. Silicone is derived from silica which is one of the most abundant minerals on earth. The Mooncup will hold 30ml of fluid, which is roughly one third of the average total produced each period. A light seal is formed with your vaginal walls allowing your menstrual fluid to pass into the Mooncup without leakage or odour.

The smooth surface of the Mooncup allows the mucus membranes of your vaginal wall to continue their essential cleansing and protective functions. It does not absorb your body’s natural defence mechanisms and will not deposit fibres in your vaginal wall. It will not cause irritation and is suitable for women with sensitive skin, thrush, eczema or allergy.

Eco-Femme Washable Reusable Menstrual Pads Sanitary Towels

These are great because they do not produce any waste to put into landfill, you get a liner so you can put more than one liner in the pad if you have a heavier flow. Completely washable. Having looked through the web this one is the best that i have found and it looks the best product around.

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I found this book and thought it was great for a beginners crash cause in green living, its simple but really effective, its not to in your face and scary but runs through the basics. I like it because it is not to over powering.

I found mine at Play,com but why not save yourself £5.99 and go to the library.

I wanted to let off a bit of steam about the world of advertising. I loath it, it actually frustrates me. (even though eventually i will put advertisements on here about eco products and i have already advertised things), I especially don’t like adverts for children because its all i hear from them as soon as it comes on the telly “i want that” and then they expect. With my new eco life though they are not getting. Cleaning products is a big one on tv, since i only use my soap nut cleaner i have noticed that a lot of the adverts are all for the latest cleaning product, i really find it hard to tolerate them. i only watch the odd few programs now but i like to record them and then i can skip the adverts.

I think it is down to frustration though of how i used to love the adverts and then buy them, now i am not drawn into them anymore they don’t mean anything more that chemicals that are going to ruin our planet.

As a housewife i should probably really enjoy cleaning but i can’t say that i am that fond of it. Building this site has changed the way i look at housework.

I used to be a little bit of a product obsessive, i used to love going around the supermarket looking at the cleaning products but now it is totally avoided. My cleaning cupboard is getting very empty which is a really exiting thought.

This is great as a parent because my cleaning cupboard is no a longer toxic dangerous place. I am enjoying the cleaning now, i’m now proud of my home were i was not at all last year.

My cupboard now consists of

Soap nuts

white vinegar

tea tree oil

Orange oil

Lavender oil

Bicarbonate of soda

borax

spray bottles

We used to live with out these gadgets but now there everywhere. There are millions of mobile phones in the uk and about 20 million in draws unused. I do own one, it gets used when i go out and my son is at school other than that i keep it turned off to save the battery,

Next time your survice provider asked you if you would like an upgrade, why not say no (unless your old one is broken).

Some parts of mobile phones contain toxic materials so you need to dispose of your old mobile phone properly. Don’t put them in the rubbish to end up in landfill sites. Car phone warehouse reuse mobiles so if your going to throw it away why not give it to them or a mobile bank.