Going green/crunchy...

I am now entering my second phase for going green and crunchy!

Phase one was eliminating paper products and using primarily cloth. I still have TP on hand for guests, and paper towels on hand for especially gross cleanups, but for the most part, I'm all cloth! I also started "no 'pooing" during this phase, although that technically fits in better with phase two.

Phase two is switching to all/mostly homemade cleaners and health and beauty products. I bought white vinegar, apple cider vinegar, baking soda, cornstarch, witch hazel, chamomile tea, borax, honey, and I think I am forgetting a few things I've already purchased. I still need to get essential oils and some containers. With these products I will make an all purpose cleaner, disinfectant, window cleaner, other various household cleaners that I'm forgetting at the moment, face wash, deodorant, and will wash and condition my hair. I'm still trying to figure out what to do with most of my old stuff.

Phase three is partially started, but that's when I'll focus more on food. Right now I've been focusing more on just avoiding processed foods. Eventually I'd like to buy more organic, and even grow some of my own food. Who knows what the phases after that will be, but this is what I have set out for now!

I'm really loving these changes and it's not as hard as it might seem. Just do things slowly. You don't just wake up one morning and you're all green/crunchy. It has to start with one thing at a time.

For me the starter was cloth diapers(still use a sposie here and there.)
From cloth diapers, I went to cloth wipes.
From cloth wipes, I went to cloth household.
Not sure how, but from cloth household, I went no-poo, haha.
And that's where we are now, with the homemade products!

It's definitely a process, and the more I educate myself on the dangers of the products being consumed by the average American, the more I want to actively do something. Not buying their products is the first step.

Day 2 of NO TV!

Like most Americans, I watched a lot of TV. So much in fact, that I felt like I never got anything done, because between the shows I watched, keeping up with all the social networking sites I frequent, and taking care of my daughter, there wasn't much time left for anything else!

I noticed that more and more often, McKaleigh was zoning out on whatever was on TV. I never watched any kids shows, but she was still hooked to the TV at times. This was my primary reason for no more TV. I may still watch a few select shows here and there, but only the ones that I REALLY love. I will no longer be watching the shows that just happened to be on. Heck, if it's not on hulu.com, I probably won't watch it, haha.

I truly believe that not watching TV has made it so much easier for me to get things done. I just did things today, without really thinking about it. I was constantly thinking of the next thing to do, instead of vegging out in front of the TV and my computer all day.

I did the following things today:

• Made pancakes and eggs for breakfast(instead of the typical cereal or bagel.)
• Decluttered a majority of my kitchen(the side I actually cook on... other half still needs a lot of work:P.)
• Moved my full sized bed into the guest room, to make room for the king, got the bedframe today.
• Did a bit of vacuuming in my room and the guest room, but still need to clean them more thoroughly.
• I cleaned up the dogs' room, like completely cleaned it up (yes my dogs have their own room:P.)
• Finally got the futon mattress from the garage and into the dog room.
• Vacuumed the futon mattress because it was gross from being in the garage.
• Re-organized the furniture in the dog room and set up the kennel that was in my room, in their room for big ol' Jack.
• I lost track of time, so we had a late lunch.
• After lunch, I actually cleaned up everything I had used to make it, and all the miscellaneous dishes that had been laying around!

On a typical day, before no TV, I felt productive if we had 1 cooked meal (the other two would be packaged) and I got the dishwasher loaded! And I would feel extra productive if I vacuumed the living room, haha.

Today was day one of using all cloth, and I've got to say, I love it! It just works so much better than paper, and with as many paper towels as we were going through, we're going to save loads of money!

Tomorrow will be day three of "no 'poo"ing, and my second time using the baking soda wash and apple cider vinegar rinse. I was going to wait three days, but we have playgroup tomorrow, and I don't want to be too greasy.

McKaleigh decided to not nap until supper time, so I better sneak off and cook while she's sleeping:). Today has been a good day.

Wow, so much has happened in 2 months!

I'm 12 weeks pregnant! I can't believe I haven't blogged since finding out! I'm due September 3rd and am soooo excited to be having our second baby.

Things have been rough lately, last week McKaleigh was sick for most of the week. Then we had to put down the oldest dog, because he couldn't walk anymore. We knew the alternative was hauling him back and forth to the vet for a few months before he would end up just dying naturally. I'm a small girl and he was a big dog, so it just wasn't a feasible option:(.

This week has been much better so far. McKaleigh finally got over her sickness this weekend, so we made the jump into cloth diapers. I love love love them! I have more on the way and wish I would've been cloth diapering from the beginning! I'm so excited to cloth diaper baby #2.

Switching to cloth diapers has led me to want to live a generally greener life. I'm thinking about switching to cloth all around (even mama cloth *gasp*) because I'm tired of buying things to throw away, when there are reusable options out there!

Today was also day 1 of me switching to a "no 'poo" routine. Instead of shampoo I used a baking soda/water combo and instead of conditioner I used an apple cider vinegar/water combo. My scalp is a bit dry and itchy, but I know that it's just part of the process of my scalp getting used to producing it's own oil again. I may have to make up a natural deep conditioner for the mean time though. I saw a good recipe in Cosmo, lol.

So that's just an update on some stuff around here... I know I don't really have many followers, but I write these more for me than anyone else anyways:).