I have just been given a link to this website on cleaning without chemicals, you can even become a consultant and make some money. take a look and see what you think.

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I hope everyone had a great Christmas and new year, i got an extra special early Christmas present the birth of my son, So i am now the proud mum of three boys. They do take up alot of time i have had to put the site on hold for a few weeks while i get myself into a reasonable routine.

I hope now i can write my guide a little better with the aid of my youngest as it is down to him that i have become a new woman and a teacher to my children and anyone who will listen.

Books are everywhere,  but do we really need to keep buying them from big named shops.  My local library can track down a book for 80p instead of paying out £5.99p for the average book if not a lot more. What happens to your books when you have finished with them? I have recently found that we have about two large bookcases full of books scattered around the house, but how many of those are we going to read again or have we ever read.   I know I have about 30 books under my bed which I have not read so my aim now is to read them and then give them to my local library for others to read.  The charity shop will benefit from them as well. We cut down too many trees to produce a brand new books, do we really need to when we have library’s that have a full selection of wonderful books.  My aim over 2009 is not to buy another book but to read more because I do love to read.  The library is an exciting place for children as well, my boys love going to the library, they get very excited about it.

This is one of the most used websites by mysef, i use it for my toothbrush heads and toothpaste mainly but it is hears not to treat yourself when you start delving in to all the lovley buety products that they sell, it also sells all sorts of cleaning product, Ecover being it’s main brand.  It does have a lot of different brands which sell really nice gift sets so you could take a look for christmas ideas. Take a look

Well i thought i would write an update at 3 months with my website, I still have not got my family 100% committed to my eco life style especially with my husband and the plastic bags. I am starting to realise that just because i am 100% committed i can’t rush the others. I showed James the cotton baby wipes the other night and he looked at them in horror. Something he will just have to get used to. I did buy him a pack of wiona nappies which are fully biodegradable and chemical free. This is only because i might need a bit of help straight after birth.

My children are easier to train, after buying them there eco worrier jumpers they don’t mind me reminding them that if they want to be an eco worrier then they will have to change, the key is communication and explanation. They thrive of it knowing there looking after the place they live.

We are now all set for the arrival of our baby no.3, i managed to find alot of second hand clothes from ebay , i didn’t see any point in buying more things when other people have bits they don’t need and it is only warn for three months so i can keep them nice and pass them on when i’m finished with them.

I am happy now that my home does not have any chemical cleaning products in it i am at the moment happy with the soap nuts (even though they need to travel over here) i use them for everything.

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.

Quote

“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.