By Janey Lee Grace, contributor to "The Cancer Revolution: The future of cancer care".
Home and Garden on Female First
As our personal and national carbon footprints have grown larger most of us know we need to opt for sustainable choices in our personal life. But I've met many a carbon offsetting Eco warrior who falls short with their green credentials when it comes to their homes and personal care products.
It is actually fairly simple to tick the 'eco' box. Looking after your own health and wellbeing by thinking holistically (and sometimes more simply) we can make ethical choices that save us money, reduce our carbon footprint and increase our health and wellbeing. There's lots of simple things we can do to enhance our space and reap the benefits of ditching the chemicals and opting for 100 per cent natural solutions.
For starters anyone can enjoy the benefits of the right houseplants, not just for aesthetic purposes either. The Peace Lilly - along with the humble Spider Plant was researched by NASA scientists and found to remove formaldehyde from the air to a radius of 30 feet. They do say have one plant for each piece of electronic equipment though so beware, your home office could start to look like Kew Gardens!
Forget conventional air fresheners also, and avoid the wall mounted ones which emit synthetic fragrance. It's known that air fresheners in the home contribute to respiratory problems, insomnia and headaches.
Many Oncologists in breast cancer units now tell women with breast cancer to avoid plug in air 'fresheners' in the home, If you're wondering what the problem is with a quick squirt of air freshener, be aware that just the word 'parfum' or fragrance on a bottle or aerosol can mean that up to 200 different synthetic chemicals may be contained within the product.
For DIY air freshening simply half fill a plastic plant spray bottle with filtered tap water and add a couple of drops of essential oil. Eucalyptus and tea tree are 'antibacterial' while lemon or citronella are zingy and refreshing, add a drop of vodka or vinegar to preserve or change the water regularly.
For general cleaning go old style. Use the usual suspects, like Bicarbonate of Soda, white vinegar and a microfibre cloth - they all work wonders. But with the best will in the world the top ingredient of all is the one we have all forgotten. It costs nothing and yet it's the most effective of all; of course I'm talking Elbow Grease. You can get a great workout and burn a few calories at the same time!
Check out the amazing natural cleaning products from Mangle and Wringer www.mangleandwringer.com which are based on recipes handed down by a 1950's housekeeper. All totally natural, with cool packaging and no need for a lock on the cleaning cupboard - even if you have young children.
They do say don't put anything on your skin that you can't eat and when I wrote my first book ten years ago there were only a handful of organic skincare and makeup ranges. Now the industry is huge. Look for companies who are genuinely ethical and shout about what's not in their products, try and avoid petroleum, parabens, preservatives, sodium laurel sulphates, phthalates and artificial fragrance for starters. Some of my favourite skincare companies include the well-established Green People and Weleda, For deodorants and great affordable shampoo and conditioner Faith in Nature. www.faithinnature.com
NATorigin www.natorigin.co.uk has a fantastic vegan approved makeup range. Don't forget it's easy to go DIY with skincare basics too, when you've made a fresh juice (if you aren't yet, it's worth starting!) use the pulp as a face mask; lots of enzymes will still be intact. A handful of oatmeal and water makes a simple exfoliator (add sea salt for a scrub) and of course we all know how brilliant avocados are - both to eat and to nourish the skin.
The best all over body moisturiser (and intensive hair conditioner) is coconut oil but make sure its raw organic and extra virgin such as Tiana Fair trade organics. www.tiana-coconut.com
My passion is to encourage people to stop and think before making a purchase, I don't believe in sacrificing either, in 'Look Great naturally without ditching the lipstick' and in 'The Cancer Revolution' I try to fast-track people to the products that really work and yet don't cost the earth.
For recommendations on natural living visit www.imperfectlynatural.com and for information about cancer and the role of toxins see www.thecancerrevolution.co.uk
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Janey Lee Grace is an expert contributor in the new book "The Cancer Revolution: The future of cancer care" available from Amazon, all good bookshops and www.thecancerrevolution.co.uk