Today while I had my kids over at my neighbour's house playing in the back yard, there was a man on the other side of the chain link fence spraying the perimeter of his property. They have a beautifully manicured yard and always keep it pristine. Now I know how they keep the edge along the fence so neat and orderly. Spray. I don't know what this man was applying to his lawn, but I did know that my child was right up against that same chain link fence playing with a cat. As this man started to walk the distance of the fence I could see that he was not going to stop when he got near her, so I called out to her, "You need to come away from the fence because someone is spraying chemicals and it's not safe to be there."
The man, who was a polite man, was kind enough to inform me, "It's okay, it's safe!"
"It's chemicals."
"Yeah, but they're safe. Believe me, Ma'am, if they weren't I wouldn't be using them. But yeah, that's probably a good idea to have her move away just in case."
Oh dear. He really wasn't going to stop for her. Some of you who know me might be wondering if I gave him an earful about how harmful chemicals (of any kind) can be to a precious child. Well, I did not. I didn't say another word after he spoke because I knew if I did, they might not have been gracious words. A kind old gentleman is not going to change how he has done things for decades. Not because some crazy lady yelled at him for nearly spraying her kid, anyways.
Parenting requires diligence. I have to protect my kids until they can learn to protect themselves. I can't imagine how nasty it would be to have pesticide sprayed a foot away from my face, and can't imagine how awful I would feel if my negligence let that happen to my little girl.
How many times have children walked in on their parents while they were cleaning their bathroom? Fan on, trying to suck out the fumes while they try to breathe through their shirt because the chemicals make them light headed, "Stay back, I'm cleaning! You can't come in here!"
Why are they in there? Don't they value their own health? Why is a toddler not allowed in the toxic fumes, but a teenager is forced to clean with them every week? If it's not safe for everyone, it's not safe for anyone. It's a stupid saying but it makes my point. No more double standards.
Friday, October 14, 2011
Thursday, October 13, 2011
Because the status is not quo.
Follow me. Change something. Change anything. I'm not kidding.
Use less water, start composting, drink tap water, recycle, do all your errands in one outing, turn the lights off, turn the thermostat down one degree, use cloth napkins. Pick one.
I don't do all these things, change takes time. I would like to do all these things and am working on crossing them off one by one. There are other things I can do that aren't listed. There are things that you can think of that won't even cross my mind. Tell me about them, please. I want to hear about what you want to do to change. I want to know how you are going to make a difference. Write it in the comments and do it in your life.
I am guilty. I have spent my whole life not caring about the planet that was created for us and the longer we mess things up, the worse our quality of life will be. It is so obvious when our population's health is examined that some thing's not right. Don't get me wrong, I love modern medicine. I think it's great that technology is so incredible. I love knowing what's going on halfway around the world. I just think that sometimes we try to fix things that aren't broken. Not everything has to be advanced. Some things were better before they were fixed.
Food, for example. Who fixed our food? I would like to slap that person. In the face. With a chair.
Why do we need to genetically modify our food? I don't want to eat wheat with fish DNA. I don't want hybrids. I want to eat blue potatoes, wild salmon, and ancient grains. Why? Because they taste better. That's a pretty simple answer. The food on the shelves isn't bad, I'm not against grocery store food (although, I don't like the pesticides used on them). Grocery store food just isn't the best tasting. There's a logical reason for that. Back to the good ol' Industrial Revolution, the introduction of mass production changed how farmers chose their crops. Foods were bred for mechanical harvesting, transportation, and shelf life. As a result, we have fewer foods to chose from and many foods have been forgotten. The good news is that the neatest veggies are making a comeback as people start to become advocates for their own health. The more people who look deeper into what they consume, the more people become aware of heirloom vegetables.
What is an heirloom? An original seed that passed down through generations of growers. I came across this because I wanted to know what kinds of foods to grow in my garden. This is what I found. The majority of seeds and seedlings that you can buy at a nursery are hybrids. If you tried to save the seeds from a hybrid tomato and replant the next year, your tomato would not be the same. You need to re breed the two parent plants again to produce the hybrid again. This means that farmers, gardeners, and people like me would have to re buy their seeds each year. $Cha-Ching$ With an heirloom vegetable, you buy it once and it's seeds are the same year after year. Not to mention that each variety has a story and it's own unique history. Oh, and they come in the most amazing shapes and colours!! Blue potatoes, round carrots, green corn. Why wouldn't you grow the most fantastic food on the block? I'm going to teach my kids that corn doesn't have to be yellow, carrots don't have to be orange, and beans don't have to be green. Our world is so much more beautiful than the isles of the grocery store.
I just realized that I am way off topic and am supposed to be giving a pep talk about saving the planet, but growing food is a good thing to add to the list.
Seriously though, tell me your ambitions! Now.
Use less water, start composting, drink tap water, recycle, do all your errands in one outing, turn the lights off, turn the thermostat down one degree, use cloth napkins. Pick one.
I don't do all these things, change takes time. I would like to do all these things and am working on crossing them off one by one. There are other things I can do that aren't listed. There are things that you can think of that won't even cross my mind. Tell me about them, please. I want to hear about what you want to do to change. I want to know how you are going to make a difference. Write it in the comments and do it in your life.
I am guilty. I have spent my whole life not caring about the planet that was created for us and the longer we mess things up, the worse our quality of life will be. It is so obvious when our population's health is examined that some thing's not right. Don't get me wrong, I love modern medicine. I think it's great that technology is so incredible. I love knowing what's going on halfway around the world. I just think that sometimes we try to fix things that aren't broken. Not everything has to be advanced. Some things were better before they were fixed.
Food, for example. Who fixed our food? I would like to slap that person. In the face. With a chair.
Why do we need to genetically modify our food? I don't want to eat wheat with fish DNA. I don't want hybrids. I want to eat blue potatoes, wild salmon, and ancient grains. Why? Because they taste better. That's a pretty simple answer. The food on the shelves isn't bad, I'm not against grocery store food (although, I don't like the pesticides used on them). Grocery store food just isn't the best tasting. There's a logical reason for that. Back to the good ol' Industrial Revolution, the introduction of mass production changed how farmers chose their crops. Foods were bred for mechanical harvesting, transportation, and shelf life. As a result, we have fewer foods to chose from and many foods have been forgotten. The good news is that the neatest veggies are making a comeback as people start to become advocates for their own health. The more people who look deeper into what they consume, the more people become aware of heirloom vegetables.
What is an heirloom? An original seed that passed down through generations of growers. I came across this because I wanted to know what kinds of foods to grow in my garden. This is what I found. The majority of seeds and seedlings that you can buy at a nursery are hybrids. If you tried to save the seeds from a hybrid tomato and replant the next year, your tomato would not be the same. You need to re breed the two parent plants again to produce the hybrid again. This means that farmers, gardeners, and people like me would have to re buy their seeds each year. $Cha-Ching$ With an heirloom vegetable, you buy it once and it's seeds are the same year after year. Not to mention that each variety has a story and it's own unique history. Oh, and they come in the most amazing shapes and colours!! Blue potatoes, round carrots, green corn. Why wouldn't you grow the most fantastic food on the block? I'm going to teach my kids that corn doesn't have to be yellow, carrots don't have to be orange, and beans don't have to be green. Our world is so much more beautiful than the isles of the grocery store.
I just realized that I am way off topic and am supposed to be giving a pep talk about saving the planet, but growing food is a good thing to add to the list.
Seriously though, tell me your ambitions! Now.
Monday, October 10, 2011
Poopy diapers.
Laundry.
We sort it, wash it, dry it, fold it and put it away only to wear it and do it all over again.
We have regular detergent, high efficiency detergent, cold water detergent, this one is now "more concentrated, that one is "eco-friendly". We have bleach, Oxy-Clean and Shout everything we can do to keep stains at bay. Fabric softener. Then we have dryer sheets and dryer bars.
Does that about cover it? I am sure that list could double in size easily. How much is enough? How much scent do we need to add into our clothes? Has anyone ever stopped to consider why all of our products have such a strong fragrance? Chemicals as we know them originated from the industrial revolution. They were so strong smelling (as most toxic chemicals are) that no one would want them in their homes. How do you sell something stinky? Cover up the stink with a stronger smell. Fragrance.
Fragrance was voted Allergen of the Year in 2007 by the American Contact Dermatitis Society. The composition of fragrances aren't usually listed on product labels. The actual chemicals used to create each fragrance are different and again, where are the regulations for our products?
Do you know someone who has a sensitivity to smell? That's because most smells are toxic compounds. Fun, hey? The real fun is that when we do laundry, the smells (among other chemicals) stick to our clothes so we can enjoy them all day! I recall a recent commercial for a laundry product that boasted a prolonged release of smell. If we knew what that really meant, it might not seem so appealing. Not to mention dryer sheets. The worst thing you could add to your laundry. The most toxic. Are we so concerned with static cling that we need to put a sheet of cancer causing chemicals in with our clothes?
So how do you do laundry now?
I have been using the Norwex Laundry Detergent. No fillers. No fragrance. With a high efficiency machine, you need only half a teaspoon for a regular load. My neighbour ran a couple loads of dirty diapers through my machine last weekend because hers wasn't hooked up during some renos. That was an amazing time to see what this laundry detergent could do. We ran her diapers through with a half teaspoon in the pre-wash and another half teaspoon in the regular wash. When lovely D pulled out a diaper, held it right against her face and breathed it in, I cringed. I didn't really believe cloth diapers could be clean with one teaspoon of detergent, but they came out without a smell! No urine, no poop, just clean! We packed that washer FULL. To top it all off, there were no poop stains left on the diapers. Crazy.
I will tell you this. Most people with top loaders are not totally sold on Norwex Laundry Detergent. For a top loader, you need to use two tablespoons of detergent which makes a big difference on the bill. The high efficiency machines make better use of the detergent than the top loaders. I know a number of ladies with top loaders who save the Norwex Detergent for their cloth diapers because the regular detergent causes skin sensitivities on their babies bums, but they (or their husbands) can't justify the cost of using Norwex Detergent for the rest of their family. I guess they're saving their toxins for their bigger kids.
As far as stains go, the Norwex Stain Remover does work. I used it successfully to get rid of a set in spaghetti stain. I sprayed the stain and let it sit for 10 minutes and washed it. The stain had faded but wasn't gone. As the instructions said, I didn't put it in the dryer, but sprayed it again. I wasn't planning to do another load that day, so I left it for the next laundry load. The next day the stain got washed again and came out SPOTLESS. Cool. I usually give up on stains. I would suggest using the spray on a fresh stain and then just setting it aside for the next scheduled load instead of waiting a mere 10 minutes. The enzymes in the spray need a bit more time to get at tough spots. The thing that made me happy about the spray is that I rubbed it in with my hands and they weren't irritated as they would have been had I used my old Oxi-Clean. Not bad for my skin, not bad for the environment. Good enough for me!
I ditched my dryer sheets for a pair of Norwex Laundry Balls. They are awesome! Static is easily avoided as long as you don't over dry your cloths. Our clothes all come out soft and fragrance free. I never have to buy dryer sheets again! This also makes me happy. Each time I realize that I never have to buy something again, I smile. :)
We sort it, wash it, dry it, fold it and put it away only to wear it and do it all over again.
We have regular detergent, high efficiency detergent, cold water detergent, this one is now "more concentrated, that one is "eco-friendly". We have bleach, Oxy-Clean and Shout everything we can do to keep stains at bay. Fabric softener. Then we have dryer sheets and dryer bars.
Does that about cover it? I am sure that list could double in size easily. How much is enough? How much scent do we need to add into our clothes? Has anyone ever stopped to consider why all of our products have such a strong fragrance? Chemicals as we know them originated from the industrial revolution. They were so strong smelling (as most toxic chemicals are) that no one would want them in their homes. How do you sell something stinky? Cover up the stink with a stronger smell. Fragrance.
Fragrance was voted Allergen of the Year in 2007 by the American Contact Dermatitis Society. The composition of fragrances aren't usually listed on product labels. The actual chemicals used to create each fragrance are different and again, where are the regulations for our products?
Do you know someone who has a sensitivity to smell? That's because most smells are toxic compounds. Fun, hey? The real fun is that when we do laundry, the smells (among other chemicals) stick to our clothes so we can enjoy them all day! I recall a recent commercial for a laundry product that boasted a prolonged release of smell. If we knew what that really meant, it might not seem so appealing. Not to mention dryer sheets. The worst thing you could add to your laundry. The most toxic. Are we so concerned with static cling that we need to put a sheet of cancer causing chemicals in with our clothes?
So how do you do laundry now?
I have been using the Norwex Laundry Detergent. No fillers. No fragrance. With a high efficiency machine, you need only half a teaspoon for a regular load. My neighbour ran a couple loads of dirty diapers through my machine last weekend because hers wasn't hooked up during some renos. That was an amazing time to see what this laundry detergent could do. We ran her diapers through with a half teaspoon in the pre-wash and another half teaspoon in the regular wash. When lovely D pulled out a diaper, held it right against her face and breathed it in, I cringed. I didn't really believe cloth diapers could be clean with one teaspoon of detergent, but they came out without a smell! No urine, no poop, just clean! We packed that washer FULL. To top it all off, there were no poop stains left on the diapers. Crazy.
I will tell you this. Most people with top loaders are not totally sold on Norwex Laundry Detergent. For a top loader, you need to use two tablespoons of detergent which makes a big difference on the bill. The high efficiency machines make better use of the detergent than the top loaders. I know a number of ladies with top loaders who save the Norwex Detergent for their cloth diapers because the regular detergent causes skin sensitivities on their babies bums, but they (or their husbands) can't justify the cost of using Norwex Detergent for the rest of their family. I guess they're saving their toxins for their bigger kids.
As far as stains go, the Norwex Stain Remover does work. I used it successfully to get rid of a set in spaghetti stain. I sprayed the stain and let it sit for 10 minutes and washed it. The stain had faded but wasn't gone. As the instructions said, I didn't put it in the dryer, but sprayed it again. I wasn't planning to do another load that day, so I left it for the next laundry load. The next day the stain got washed again and came out SPOTLESS. Cool. I usually give up on stains. I would suggest using the spray on a fresh stain and then just setting it aside for the next scheduled load instead of waiting a mere 10 minutes. The enzymes in the spray need a bit more time to get at tough spots. The thing that made me happy about the spray is that I rubbed it in with my hands and they weren't irritated as they would have been had I used my old Oxi-Clean. Not bad for my skin, not bad for the environment. Good enough for me!
I ditched my dryer sheets for a pair of Norwex Laundry Balls. They are awesome! Static is easily avoided as long as you don't over dry your cloths. Our clothes all come out soft and fragrance free. I never have to buy dryer sheets again! This also makes me happy. Each time I realize that I never have to buy something again, I smile. :)
Wednesday, October 5, 2011
Do I really need a telescopic mop?
Seriously. If I buy a product with "Telescopic" in the title, I'll be using it to start up my own little science lab in the basement. I've watched enough CSI that I could probably figure out how to collect and analyze my own evidence. I've got baggies and Q-tips.
I just read what I wrote and it sounds kind of creepy. I can't bring myself to delete it even though it wasn't going anywhere good. I'll leave it there and call it an icebreaker. Like that clip from the Office (located at MLM is Latin for Pyramid Scheme), that was funny. I like that show. Unfortunately, they didn't have a clip about a mop and that is what I was planning to write about. Before you run away at the prospect of reading a blog about a mop, hear me out.
Before I ever owned any Norwex (or even cared to check it out), I heard people raving about their mop.
"Oh, I just LOVE my mop!"
Really? What's the big deal?
Well, I got a mop in my start up kit and decided I might as well get the rubber brush that you can use with it. Let's go. We have laminate flooring on the main floor of our house, so I thought I would sweep first to see what the broom leaves behind.
Put on the Dry Pad and start going. Figure 8 pattern helps trap dirt in the pad, so they say. I'm thinking to myself, "Yeah, this is kinda like a Swiffer. Not bad." Then I turn it over to see what I've picked up, and I can see my girl's long blonde hair, dust, little clippings from that haircut I did 3 days ago, and crumbs. That's what my broom missed (and I did a thorough sweep). So maybe this is where you would normally rip off the pad and put on a clean one for the next time, but this one isn't disposable. I used the rubber brush to brush off the junk into the garbage, and it was super clean again! Better still, I had flashbacks to when I would rub my runners on carpet and shock people with the static charge it created. My mop is actually statically charged, and clean without washing. Not at all like a Swiffer! I'm not buying refills, I'm creating less garbage, it's good all around.
Wet Pad time! Color coded for those of us who are a bit scatter-brained. Wet it with tap water, wring it out. So, I'm pushing around the wet pad and I'm not very happy. The friction is actually making it hard to push the stupid mop around in the suggested figure 8. If nothing else, at least a good workout, right? Later when I read the product manual and it actually says in there that the wet mop will have high friction when you start using it because it's microfiber is grabbing the chemical residue left behind by other floor cleaners. They even recommend doing a plain old back and forth scrub to get some of that crap off before implementing the graceful figure 8 pattern. A few days later, I did the dry/wet process again and it was much faster the second time around. Practice made made me a faster floor cleaner, and for the wet pad, there was almost no friction this time around. HUGE difference!
I really like my mop now, I think we'll be together for a long time! I was really surprised that buildup from other cleaners made such a big difference on the floor, but it's gone now. Because of the antibacterial Wet Pad, we feel good about eating food off the floor. I'm not kidding, with a 2 and 3 year old, what food doesn't touch the floor at some point? No chemicals, no bacteria, no refills. The more I think about my mop, the more I like it. Okay, so does this make me one of those crazy people? Maybe.
I just read what I wrote and it sounds kind of creepy. I can't bring myself to delete it even though it wasn't going anywhere good. I'll leave it there and call it an icebreaker. Like that clip from the Office (located at MLM is Latin for Pyramid Scheme), that was funny. I like that show. Unfortunately, they didn't have a clip about a mop and that is what I was planning to write about. Before you run away at the prospect of reading a blog about a mop, hear me out.
Before I ever owned any Norwex (or even cared to check it out), I heard people raving about their mop.
"Oh, I just LOVE my mop!"
Really? What's the big deal?
Well, I got a mop in my start up kit and decided I might as well get the rubber brush that you can use with it. Let's go. We have laminate flooring on the main floor of our house, so I thought I would sweep first to see what the broom leaves behind.
Put on the Dry Pad and start going. Figure 8 pattern helps trap dirt in the pad, so they say. I'm thinking to myself, "Yeah, this is kinda like a Swiffer. Not bad." Then I turn it over to see what I've picked up, and I can see my girl's long blonde hair, dust, little clippings from that haircut I did 3 days ago, and crumbs. That's what my broom missed (and I did a thorough sweep). So maybe this is where you would normally rip off the pad and put on a clean one for the next time, but this one isn't disposable. I used the rubber brush to brush off the junk into the garbage, and it was super clean again! Better still, I had flashbacks to when I would rub my runners on carpet and shock people with the static charge it created. My mop is actually statically charged, and clean without washing. Not at all like a Swiffer! I'm not buying refills, I'm creating less garbage, it's good all around.
Wet Pad time! Color coded for those of us who are a bit scatter-brained. Wet it with tap water, wring it out. So, I'm pushing around the wet pad and I'm not very happy. The friction is actually making it hard to push the stupid mop around in the suggested figure 8. If nothing else, at least a good workout, right? Later when I read the product manual and it actually says in there that the wet mop will have high friction when you start using it because it's microfiber is grabbing the chemical residue left behind by other floor cleaners. They even recommend doing a plain old back and forth scrub to get some of that crap off before implementing the graceful figure 8 pattern. A few days later, I did the dry/wet process again and it was much faster the second time around. Practice made made me a faster floor cleaner, and for the wet pad, there was almost no friction this time around. HUGE difference!
I really like my mop now, I think we'll be together for a long time! I was really surprised that buildup from other cleaners made such a big difference on the floor, but it's gone now. Because of the antibacterial Wet Pad, we feel good about eating food off the floor. I'm not kidding, with a 2 and 3 year old, what food doesn't touch the floor at some point? No chemicals, no bacteria, no refills. The more I think about my mop, the more I like it. Okay, so does this make me one of those crazy people? Maybe.
Tuesday, October 4, 2011
MLM is Latin for Pyramid Scheme.
Multi-Level Marketing. The only people who love this system are the people on top. It's an unfortunate fact of life that when you are an "Independent Sales Consultant" your credibility drops. Nothing you say matters. Your product is a sham. You might as well be a dirty used car salesman (complete with diabolical laughter) trying to close the deal because as soon as they drive that lemon off the yard, it's their problem.
My heart bleeds a little when I think about MLM. I am not trying to recruit people. I also don't care enough about making money to fuel a successful sales career. At heart, I love the trades. I feel great charging people for something that I created! Maybe because people have proven to me that they will pay for my creations and I know it's worth the investment for the sake of quality.
Quality. This is where the shift has to take place. I know that quality is important. I want products that will last. Norwex isn't phone cards, weight loss, or cheap crap from a catalogue. I have never heard of another company giving a 2 year warranty on a cleaning cloth. I love warranties because that means that the company believes in it's own product enough to back it up. Not just a 30 day money back guarantee. 2 years. If my cleaning cloth falls apart in a year and a half, I get a new one for free? That I like.
I also enjoy feeling like I'm trying to contribute something to our planet. Oh, and there's the health of my children. I like to sit around and think about how much better our quality of life would be if the FDA kept toxins off the ingredient lists of our daily consumables. But since no one is prepared to overhaul the whole system, we need to be made aware of what we use. Avoiding the "dirty dozen" is challenging enough. Try to find better cleaning supplies in Wal-Mart. It's hard to stand there with 2 kids for 45 minutes and read every product label. There are no standards for "green", "eco-friendly", "natural", or any other new terms that sound health conscious. It is so confusing, I'm sure many people have given up right there in Isle 9.
This is where I remember that I don't have to read labels anymore. I don't have to memorize the list of the 12 chemicals to avoid. I have a cloth that kills just as much bacteria as those other products. I have laundry detergent and dish soap with NO fillers. I have also learned not to use blind trust, but to look deeper into what we use. Look at the first ingredient in your cleaner. It's water. Always water. Ingredients are listed in order of most to least. 95% of your product is in the first 3 ingredients. Why are we paying so much for water?
Okay, so that was a bit of a tangent. Back on track now... Quality. I am not paying for water. I am paying for quality. I can make no apologies for the fact that the founders of Norwex (I have met one of them - actually a very neat lady) have chosen to use MLM as a business model. I can only promise not to pedal cheap crap. This is why I am testing the products for myself. I am doing my own research as to how well Norwex works. I am very impressed at what I have already used, and will continue to test the limits (I am currently working on an old spaghetti stain).
I am not a Pyramid Scheme. I am one person cleaning my own house, clothes, and kids. Searching to find a better solution to our chemical exposure. I pay for quality, do you?
Monday, October 3, 2011
How do you live without soap?
I have been given two gifts.
I was given a Norwex body cloth and a Norwex makeup removal cloth. Supposedly, between the two of them soap becomes irrelevant.
How can you feel clean without soap? How do you get that smell off? What about oily skin? Am I going to break out (more than I already do)? This sounds like a TERRIBLE IDEA!
Terrible or not, my curiosity has gotten the better of me. I started with my face. I used the makeup removal cloth first but just for washing. I had friends tell me how "amazing" this thing was but how can fabric and water remove mascara without just smearing it around? Sounds dumb. I have oily skin and often have a zit or two hanging around and I read that the microfiber on the makeup removal cloth can actually pick up oil and debris off of the face. It is true. I have not used soap on my face for 2 weeks and I have no more zits than usual, in fact I may even have a bit less acne now. It cleans off the oils and the dirt amazingly. As for makeup removal and mascara, the creator of raccoon eyes everywhere, I was floored. Not kidding, floored!
Over the years, I have perfected a makeup routine that stays on oily skin. No budging, no smearing, nothing. I have also become a connoisseur of eye makeup removal products. NONE can hold a candle to my makeup removal cloth! It didn't smear around the mascara with oil, it didn't irritate my eyes, I didn't have to scrub, and it left NOTHING behind. Crazy. I am sold beyond belief. I will never buy another makeup removal product for the rest of my life. This fact alone amazes me. One thing is, you cannot expect that your Norwex face cloth will never get stained. Let's be realistic here. Mascara and eyeliner will leave their mark behind. I used a dab of Norwex dish soap (which doesn't have any fillers) and most of the black came out.
I have not used soap on the rest of my body either, with the exception of my armpits. (I haven't switched over to the Norwex crystal deodorant yet and won't until I finish my Costco stock. I'd rather not waste what I have already paid for. I wasn't sure if I wanted to get nasty deodorant stuck in my microfiber, so I use a little bar soap to wash off the pit stick.) So, in a tub with plain old water, I used the Norwex Body Cloth by itself to clean me. Not sure if it worked or not, I gave the cloth a bit of a hand wash in the tub to see if anything came out. I was disgusted when I saw the edges of the water in the tub were starting to turn brown. The dirt, oil, and dead skin that came off of me was sticking to the soap scum on the tub! I couldn't believe how much came off of me without soap, and I felt clean. There was no film left over, no false scent, just me. Squeaky clean. I am actually looking forward to the day that I run out of deodorant! No need for soap! Love It! Enough texture to exfoliate, gentle enough to use on my face as well.
As for the brown ring around the tub, an Enviro cloth with the same tub water cleaned that off and took the soap scum with it. Gone forever and good riddance.
I was given a Norwex body cloth and a Norwex makeup removal cloth. Supposedly, between the two of them soap becomes irrelevant.
How can you feel clean without soap? How do you get that smell off? What about oily skin? Am I going to break out (more than I already do)? This sounds like a TERRIBLE IDEA!
Terrible or not, my curiosity has gotten the better of me. I started with my face. I used the makeup removal cloth first but just for washing. I had friends tell me how "amazing" this thing was but how can fabric and water remove mascara without just smearing it around? Sounds dumb. I have oily skin and often have a zit or two hanging around and I read that the microfiber on the makeup removal cloth can actually pick up oil and debris off of the face. It is true. I have not used soap on my face for 2 weeks and I have no more zits than usual, in fact I may even have a bit less acne now. It cleans off the oils and the dirt amazingly. As for makeup removal and mascara, the creator of raccoon eyes everywhere, I was floored. Not kidding, floored!
Over the years, I have perfected a makeup routine that stays on oily skin. No budging, no smearing, nothing. I have also become a connoisseur of eye makeup removal products. NONE can hold a candle to my makeup removal cloth! It didn't smear around the mascara with oil, it didn't irritate my eyes, I didn't have to scrub, and it left NOTHING behind. Crazy. I am sold beyond belief. I will never buy another makeup removal product for the rest of my life. This fact alone amazes me. One thing is, you cannot expect that your Norwex face cloth will never get stained. Let's be realistic here. Mascara and eyeliner will leave their mark behind. I used a dab of Norwex dish soap (which doesn't have any fillers) and most of the black came out.
I have not used soap on the rest of my body either, with the exception of my armpits. (I haven't switched over to the Norwex crystal deodorant yet and won't until I finish my Costco stock. I'd rather not waste what I have already paid for. I wasn't sure if I wanted to get nasty deodorant stuck in my microfiber, so I use a little bar soap to wash off the pit stick.) So, in a tub with plain old water, I used the Norwex Body Cloth by itself to clean me. Not sure if it worked or not, I gave the cloth a bit of a hand wash in the tub to see if anything came out. I was disgusted when I saw the edges of the water in the tub were starting to turn brown. The dirt, oil, and dead skin that came off of me was sticking to the soap scum on the tub! I couldn't believe how much came off of me without soap, and I felt clean. There was no film left over, no false scent, just me. Squeaky clean. I am actually looking forward to the day that I run out of deodorant! No need for soap! Love It! Enough texture to exfoliate, gentle enough to use on my face as well.
As for the brown ring around the tub, an Enviro cloth with the same tub water cleaned that off and took the soap scum with it. Gone forever and good riddance.
Saturday, October 1, 2011
Terrible hippy.
So here I am. I liked how my unassuming little Norwex cloths cleaned my house. I knew that if I really wanted to make the switch to using Norwex in my house it would cost me a pretty penny. Like so many other women, I would rather spend my money on something else. I am a genuine independent consultant now. I did it for the discount, sales don't mean much to me. At heart, I am not a salesperson, in fact I would rather give things away. I just got my larger order in and I am still in shock at how much free stuff I have accumulated. I hosted my own "launch party" where I didn't have to push sales because everyone there already used this stuff and just wanted more. I qualified for the hostess package as well as some other freebies.
When all was said and done, I bought the laundry detergent, odour eliminator and the prewash spray. I got everything else for free.
2 Window cloths
3 Enviro cloths
2 Spirisponges
2 Spirinettes
Dish cloth
Car wash mitt
Kid's dusting mitt
Dish washing liquid
Mesh laundry bag
Antibac travel pack
Rubber mop brush
Mop brackets
Optic cloth
Bathroom hand towel
Kitchen scrub cloth
I also signed up for free and got these in my consultant kit:
Large Mop (with wet and dry pads)
Dusting Mitt
Window Cloth
Spirisponge
2 Enviro Cloths
Being somewhat frugal, I am really sure why anyone pays retail when you obviously don't need to. I have a free trial web page for Norwex products so if anyone wants to know about a product before I have tested it and formed my own opinions about it, you can see what this is about at www.kimberlybennett.norwex.biz
So far, the only products I have actually tested thoroughly are the Enviro Cloth, Window Cloth and Dusting Mitt. I'll have a writeup soon enough and will try and get some before and after pics. I regret not having pics of how much dirt that Enviro Cloth picked up because it was disgusting and yet it still cleaned the windows without leaving junk behind.
This is not a miracle cloth. Some people try to sell the "miracle" but if you use these cloths you are replacing chemicals with a different way of cleaning which often includes a bit of elbow grease. I feel this is a good trade off, some others may not feel that way.
An example would be windows. We all know how to spray window cleaner on and use paper towels to wipe it off. The water in the window cleaner evaporates leaving the chemicals on the glass and builds up over time. Now I have done all my windows inside and out and mirrors with one Enviro Cloth and one Window cloth. I can't even imagine how much paper towel would have been used to do that. With a wet Enviro Cloth, I cleaned the dirt off the glass and then dried and polished it with the Window Cloth. The Window cloth dries off the water leaving a streak free finish. This actually removed the dirt and the chemical build up, leaving the windows more crystal clear than I have ever seen them before. It was like having brand new glass.
I guess people call it a miracle because they disregard the science. I did my research and read the product manual to see how everything works. I am dorky that way. The microfiber is unique. The threads are so small! 1/100th of a human hair. Every enviro cloth has 2.9 million meters of microfiber. Think about that. It's crazy! One gram of Norwex microfiber spans over 70,000 meters. Just one gram! And every tiny thread is embedded with silver. It's not a coating, it won't wear off. It is made with silver in it. The bacteria cannot live on silver, so here this cloth picks up every tiny little germ and kills them ALL! Oh, all but .01% and even Lysol leaves that little guy behind. Another bonus is that germs cannot build up resistance to silver the way they can to chemicals so now we aren't cultivating those cute little Super Bugs. I love knowing how things work.
As I sit here ranting and raving about the wonders of ditching chemicals I feel guilty and a fraud. I was after all a hairdresser for 5 wonderful years before I had my kids. I am not ready to look into the chemicals of colour. I haven't even tried. I am simply not ready to go there. I sit on my couch with my brand new blonde streaks I put in last night. My roots are done and my vanity has been fed. I am not perfect. I am not so black and white after all. Little bits at a time I can change, but not all at once. I justify myself with the fact that if everyone made little changes, the world would be better. Am I doing my part? Is this enough?
When all was said and done, I bought the laundry detergent, odour eliminator and the prewash spray. I got everything else for free.
2 Window cloths
3 Enviro cloths
2 Spirisponges
2 Spirinettes
Dish cloth
Car wash mitt
Kid's dusting mitt
Dish washing liquid
Mesh laundry bag
Antibac travel pack
Rubber mop brush
Mop brackets
Optic cloth
Bathroom hand towel
Kitchen scrub cloth
I also signed up for free and got these in my consultant kit:
Large Mop (with wet and dry pads)
Dusting Mitt
Window Cloth
Spirisponge
2 Enviro Cloths
Being somewhat frugal, I am really sure why anyone pays retail when you obviously don't need to. I have a free trial web page for Norwex products so if anyone wants to know about a product before I have tested it and formed my own opinions about it, you can see what this is about at www.kimberlybennett.norwex.biz
So far, the only products I have actually tested thoroughly are the Enviro Cloth, Window Cloth and Dusting Mitt. I'll have a writeup soon enough and will try and get some before and after pics. I regret not having pics of how much dirt that Enviro Cloth picked up because it was disgusting and yet it still cleaned the windows without leaving junk behind.
This is not a miracle cloth. Some people try to sell the "miracle" but if you use these cloths you are replacing chemicals with a different way of cleaning which often includes a bit of elbow grease. I feel this is a good trade off, some others may not feel that way.
An example would be windows. We all know how to spray window cleaner on and use paper towels to wipe it off. The water in the window cleaner evaporates leaving the chemicals on the glass and builds up over time. Now I have done all my windows inside and out and mirrors with one Enviro Cloth and one Window cloth. I can't even imagine how much paper towel would have been used to do that. With a wet Enviro Cloth, I cleaned the dirt off the glass and then dried and polished it with the Window Cloth. The Window cloth dries off the water leaving a streak free finish. This actually removed the dirt and the chemical build up, leaving the windows more crystal clear than I have ever seen them before. It was like having brand new glass.
I guess people call it a miracle because they disregard the science. I did my research and read the product manual to see how everything works. I am dorky that way. The microfiber is unique. The threads are so small! 1/100th of a human hair. Every enviro cloth has 2.9 million meters of microfiber. Think about that. It's crazy! One gram of Norwex microfiber spans over 70,000 meters. Just one gram! And every tiny thread is embedded with silver. It's not a coating, it won't wear off. It is made with silver in it. The bacteria cannot live on silver, so here this cloth picks up every tiny little germ and kills them ALL! Oh, all but .01% and even Lysol leaves that little guy behind. Another bonus is that germs cannot build up resistance to silver the way they can to chemicals so now we aren't cultivating those cute little Super Bugs. I love knowing how things work.
As I sit here ranting and raving about the wonders of ditching chemicals I feel guilty and a fraud. I was after all a hairdresser for 5 wonderful years before I had my kids. I am not ready to look into the chemicals of colour. I haven't even tried. I am simply not ready to go there. I sit on my couch with my brand new blonde streaks I put in last night. My roots are done and my vanity has been fed. I am not perfect. I am not so black and white after all. Little bits at a time I can change, but not all at once. I justify myself with the fact that if everyone made little changes, the world would be better. Am I doing my part? Is this enough?
Friday, September 30, 2011
Life changing movies.
I am a glutton for punishment. Aren't you? We all are to some degree. I watched a few documentaries that changed how I view some very basic aspects of life.
I watched Earthlings (which streams for free at earthlings.com). Tapped and Homo Toxicus were on Netflix.ca, as well as some good foodie documentaries. So here I am wondering if I can't eat this or use that, am I supposed to live in a bubble? How far is too far in my search to avoid carcinogenic and toxic chemicals? After all, I could get hit by a bus tomorrow. But now this is in my head, and I have some minor regrets because ignorance was just SO much easier! I can't stop looking deeper into our products that we were all raised with. Do I have to choose the lesser of two evils? Which is worse anyways, bacteria or the multipurpose cleaner we use on it?
After being a hairdresser for 5 years, I am now a mom at home. Trying not to fall into the "frumpy" category, I do what I can without breaking the bank. I love my amazing two little girls (who are 2 and 3 years) and my husband is fantastic. I feel that I really couldn't ask for more. I am asking for more, though. I want to be healthy and I want to keep my family healthy despite the fact that the average house has indoor pollution 10 times worse than outside. How do you go back from that?
Ever since the industrial revolution, chemicals as we know them have infiltrated our lives. The average woman puts 80 chemicals (yes, 80!) every morning. We live in such a fast paced society that every time a new chemical has been introduced, no one questions it.
"Hey, Crazy Lady! You sound like another one of those tree hugging, hemp wearing, bra burning hippies!"
Well, I'm not. Am I? I'm wearing a bra, my clothes are cotton (and polyester), and I have never saved a tree although I planted a pear tree in my yard this summer.
"Then shut it. Quit complaining about how society has gone down the pooper! Get on with your life and enjoy it for all it's worth. Look around, it's beautiful!"
I know. I love my life. I have mountains out my windows, the best hubby ever, and beautiful children. I just want to protect them. Does that make me crazy? Am I crazy to read labels to see what toxic chemicals are in my kid's Princess Shampoo? It's SLS, by the way. Am I crazy to think that it's ridiculous how BPA (which acts like a synthetic estrogen) seeping into our baby bottles and sippy cups for the last 20 years is unacceptable? I mean, really! The average age of puberty is younger every year while cancer rates are higher and higher. Something is wrong here and I don't think it's me.
"Okay. But they stopped using BPA."
I know. But only after an independent study tested the safety of BPA at low levels. BPA is toxic in high levels, so they decided it was safe to use low levels. Levels so low they didn't even research how they would affect life. Just because it won't kill you doesn't mean it won't cause harm. Especially over long periods of exposure. This is the trend. Products are recalled after they are exposed. Everything is safe until proven otherwise. Smoking was "safe" until they learned it wasn't. BPA was "safe". Pesticides were "safe". Asbestos was "safe". Do I really need to go on?
Alright. Where does this leave me? Eco-friendly lifestyle. Nay. Human-friendly.
No one can roll out of bed one morning with a different lifestyle. It's not possible. I had heard about Norwex over the past few years. I refused to go to a "cleaning party" because I really don't like cleaning but now I needed to check it out. That was pretty easy. I went out and learned more about harmful chemicals *yawn* and about cleaning without them. Say what? Water. An antibacterial cloth that kills 99.9% of germs with WATER. How does that work? I knew enough people who used this Norwex stuff (and liked) it to know that it wasn't a scam. Anyways, the consultant gave me a discount on my package because I told her I would host my own party. I am after all a big fan of deals and hosts get lots of deals. So I got two antibac cleaning cloths, a window cloth, and a dusting mitt. With this pack, I eliminated window cleaner, dusting spray, and multipurpose cleaner. That was my first step in the right direction.
The experiment begins. How far can I go from here?
I watched Earthlings (which streams for free at earthlings.com). Tapped and Homo Toxicus were on Netflix.ca, as well as some good foodie documentaries. So here I am wondering if I can't eat this or use that, am I supposed to live in a bubble? How far is too far in my search to avoid carcinogenic and toxic chemicals? After all, I could get hit by a bus tomorrow. But now this is in my head, and I have some minor regrets because ignorance was just SO much easier! I can't stop looking deeper into our products that we were all raised with. Do I have to choose the lesser of two evils? Which is worse anyways, bacteria or the multipurpose cleaner we use on it?
After being a hairdresser for 5 years, I am now a mom at home. Trying not to fall into the "frumpy" category, I do what I can without breaking the bank. I love my amazing two little girls (who are 2 and 3 years) and my husband is fantastic. I feel that I really couldn't ask for more. I am asking for more, though. I want to be healthy and I want to keep my family healthy despite the fact that the average house has indoor pollution 10 times worse than outside. How do you go back from that?
Ever since the industrial revolution, chemicals as we know them have infiltrated our lives. The average woman puts 80 chemicals (yes, 80!) every morning. We live in such a fast paced society that every time a new chemical has been introduced, no one questions it.
"Hey, Crazy Lady! You sound like another one of those tree hugging, hemp wearing, bra burning hippies!"
Well, I'm not. Am I? I'm wearing a bra, my clothes are cotton (and polyester), and I have never saved a tree although I planted a pear tree in my yard this summer.
"Then shut it. Quit complaining about how society has gone down the pooper! Get on with your life and enjoy it for all it's worth. Look around, it's beautiful!"
I know. I love my life. I have mountains out my windows, the best hubby ever, and beautiful children. I just want to protect them. Does that make me crazy? Am I crazy to read labels to see what toxic chemicals are in my kid's Princess Shampoo? It's SLS, by the way. Am I crazy to think that it's ridiculous how BPA (which acts like a synthetic estrogen) seeping into our baby bottles and sippy cups for the last 20 years is unacceptable? I mean, really! The average age of puberty is younger every year while cancer rates are higher and higher. Something is wrong here and I don't think it's me.
"Okay. But they stopped using BPA."
I know. But only after an independent study tested the safety of BPA at low levels. BPA is toxic in high levels, so they decided it was safe to use low levels. Levels so low they didn't even research how they would affect life. Just because it won't kill you doesn't mean it won't cause harm. Especially over long periods of exposure. This is the trend. Products are recalled after they are exposed. Everything is safe until proven otherwise. Smoking was "safe" until they learned it wasn't. BPA was "safe". Pesticides were "safe". Asbestos was "safe". Do I really need to go on?
Alright. Where does this leave me? Eco-friendly lifestyle. Nay. Human-friendly.
No one can roll out of bed one morning with a different lifestyle. It's not possible. I had heard about Norwex over the past few years. I refused to go to a "cleaning party" because I really don't like cleaning but now I needed to check it out. That was pretty easy. I went out and learned more about harmful chemicals *yawn* and about cleaning without them. Say what? Water. An antibacterial cloth that kills 99.9% of germs with WATER. How does that work? I knew enough people who used this Norwex stuff (and liked) it to know that it wasn't a scam. Anyways, the consultant gave me a discount on my package because I told her I would host my own party. I am after all a big fan of deals and hosts get lots of deals. So I got two antibac cleaning cloths, a window cloth, and a dusting mitt. With this pack, I eliminated window cleaner, dusting spray, and multipurpose cleaner. That was my first step in the right direction.
The experiment begins. How far can I go from here?
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