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What's your favourite green product?

Posted by ushakrishnan • 6/10/08 • Subscribe to this Discussion [RSS] • Report This Topic
Topics: green, green products, recycle, reuse

Hi,

I've been trying to go green for the last year or so and it's working out better than I expected. I love certain products such as Burt's bees and for kids- Natures Gate. The only difficulty I have is in giving up disposable diapers for my son.

I was wondering if you'll have green favorites that you'll use and reuse?

User Comments

6/10/08

richrf

Hi there,

I've been using natural products for so long, I wouldn't even know where to begin. But a thing about the diapers. We used cloth diapers for our son, and it was GREAT!. He loved them. Look, what would you rather have on your bum, soft cotton cloth, or plastic and paper. Give the cloth a try - it you are so inclined.

If there is any particular class of products you are interested in, let me know. I probably have a favorite.

Cya,
Rich

[reply]
6/10/08

jafabrit

Washing line

[reply]
1. 6/10/08
  
  richrf
  
  Very kewl.
2. 6/10/08
  
  clioandme
  
  Definitely. Or in my case, the clothes rack in the hallway.
3. 6/15/08
  
  dharmagypsy7
  
  supposedly that's one of the seven wonders for a cool planet. That and a bike among others.
4. 6/15/08
  
  offendedblogger
  
  Ha! I was going to say that. It's true, nothing better than hanging your clothes out to dry in the warm sun.
5. 11/04/08
  
  Louise
  
  I never owned a drier...things are a bit backward over here...
6/10/08

focusorganic

Not to be a downer, but Nature's Gate products actually include a number of ingredients that, well, aren't good.

I'm still searching for products I love... I have some hibiscus shampoo, but it hasn't grown on me and I don't even remember the brand name...

[reply]
1. 6/10/08
  
  richrf
  
  The way I approach it is, a little bit more advantageous for health is a step in the right direction. So, I gradually get healthier, live healthier (and that includes the planet), by using less and being a bit more "green". Every little bit helps.
2. 6/10/08
  
  focusorganic
  
  That is very true, Rich. My husband read an article about people claiming there is no point in using CFLs because they also contain mercury. So, even though they save on energy, they aren't worth it? It's better to use the lightbulbs that waste more energy and contain mercury?
  
  Why not change something if it can help, even just a little?
  
  Ooh, I thought of a couple products. Eco-friendly laundry detergent and fabric softener. After we switched, I even noticed a dramatic decrease in the amount of dry skin I had.
3. 6/10/08
  
  richrf
  
  Yep, if everyone did just a little, it would help a lot.
6/10/08

ushakrishnan

Hey, thanks guys. Will do a bit more reading on Nature's Gate. Both my kids used to have Eczema and I see such a marked difference in their skin thanks to switching to eco friendly laundry detergent, line drying clothes, short showers and a better diet. I guess that's what made me such a believer. Plus of course, the fact that as Rich says, every little helps!

[reply]
6/10/08

richrf

My son had eczema as a baby. He grew out of it. The big thing is for your kids to stay away from hot and spicy foods. That really heats up the body and causes the breakouts. There are other things, but I thought you might like a quick tip.

Cya,
Rich

[reply]
1. 11/04/08
  
  SweetViolet
  
  Hot and spicy foods has nothing to do with eczema unless the sufferer is specifically allergic to one of the spices.
  
  I had it in childhood (quite severely) and have occasional outbreaks as an adult. The causes are myriad...allergies can cause it, stress can cause (or exacerbate) it, and it is even hormone related. In my case, it started to reduce at puberty and by the time I had my first baby, it was gone. Now, post-menopause (and not taking supplemental estrogen) I get occasional outbreaks when I am stressed.
  
  My husband is Indian so we eat a lot of curries. I eat hotter curry than he does. I do not have outbreaks around the times I eat curry or Mexican food, which I love. I do, however, get it when I use a new product in the wash (like a laundry detergent with a scent).
  
  Eczema benefits from hydrocortisone cream (will clear up a spot on me in under 3 days) and from air and sunshine (UV light is good for it).
  
  But it is NOT caused by hot and spicy foods unless the person is allergic to the particular spice.
6/10/08

polybore

My favourite is my worm compost bin. It is amazing how much kitchen vegetable waste my worm friends can get through. If you'd like I can post a link so you can visit them as they have pride of place on my blog.

I have the same nappy dilemma. I am considering switching to compostable nappies and upgrading the size of the wormery to cope with the extra workload.

[reply]
1. 11/04/08
  
  Louise
  
  We compost too - we use the traditional bins, but they seem to have attracted their own worms. We give non-meat food waste to the chickens, the cats get the rest.
6/10/08

DVS

My favourite green product is my green underpants. Dead comfy.

[reply]
1. 6/10/08
  
  polybore
  
  When underpants go green it is time to change them. Regardless of how comfortable they may be.
6/10/08

Anok

My garden

[reply]
1. 6/11/08
  
  ThriftShopRomantic
  
  Oh yes! For me it's my Secret Garden in the middle of the city, filled with color and peace. Can't beat it.
6/10/08

seaglassorganic

Reusable water bottles & reusable shopping bags (I love Burts' Bees too!)

[reply]
6/10/08

ushakrishnan

No place for a compost bin, so I give it to someone I know who has one. But would love to see your link. And you're dead right about the green underpants! DVS, not even going to ask you to clarify

[reply]
1. 6/10/08
  
  polybore
  
  Link as requested.
  polybore.blogspot.com/2008/05/my-hard-working-worm-friends.html
  
  Say hello to my worm buddies. I'm running out of names for them as there are thousands now. All name suggestions gratefully received.
6/10/08

DaneMorgan

Mt. Dew is green and I like it a lot.

[reply]
1. 6/10/08
  
  seaglassorganic
  
  I thought it was more uhm..yellow?
2. 6/15/08
  
  dharmagypsy7
  
  ha ha.. you and my brother. he's a Mtn Dew Freak!
6/10/08

JollyGreenDad

Absolute favorite is Shaklee Basic H. Its a non-toxic, biodegradable, no fume household cleaner. And, on top of that, its concentrated so that one bottle of it will make 42 gallons worth of commercial cleaners.

www.jollygreendad.blogspot.com

[reply]
1. 6/15/08
  
  pkbaldwin
  
  Basic H is great. I'm a life-time member. When you get through using it to wash whatever, pour it on your plants. Just make sure you don't overuse it. It actually makes water wetter!
6/11/08

Truebird

My bicycle! Gets me fit, it's super cheap and it's faster than a car round London

[reply]
1. 11/04/08
  
  Louise
  
  For sure its faster, but don;t let them taxi-drivers get you down, especially around Marble Arch!
6/11/08

Anniepooh

Burt's is all I use. Love it.

My garden is pretty good, too

[reply]
1. 6/15/08
  
  dharmagypsy7
  
  I use the Burts Bee Tearless Shampoo and the Baby Buttermilk lotion for my little one. It smells divine!
6/11/08

ushakrishnan

Yes, i love that Burt has travel sizes too - beats trying to fit large bottles into small bags for weekend trips!

[reply]
6/11/08

saraho

Soylent green.

(Soylent green is people) *LOL*

[reply]
1. 6/15/08
  
  ravenscawl
  
  ~saraho
  
  www.soylent-green.com/
  
  Not a bad idea being a vegetarian these days!
  
  news.mongabay.com/2005/0709-rhett_butler.html
2. 11/04/08
  
  Louise
  
  I feel SO OLD! I saw it the first time around...
6/15/08

dharmagypsy7

Mrs Meyers is nice to clean with. Smells so nice but I am really loving the inexpensive cleaning wonder of Charlie's Soap. I use that to wash my daughter's clothes, it's hypoallergenic enough for babies, but cleans everything from baby poop to vomits.

LOVE my Envirosax bags and produce bags from Eco-bags.

Burts Bee is a nice affordable brand. I love 7th Generation Brand from everything to dish soap to baby wipes (we use it when we are out and about)

Next up is worm composting.. that and a manual lawn mower although I have beef with it being couple hundred dollars. Does anyone have one they want to sell to me?

[reply]
1. 11/04/08
  
  MissMalaprop
  
  Ditto on the Envirosax bags! Out of all of the different kinds of tote bags I have, the Envirosax are the ones I'm able to keep on me at pretty much all times, because they fold up so small. And because I always have one on me, it means I actually USE it and prevent picking up another plastic shopping bag.
  
  I also love cloth menstrual pads, all handmade from different people on Etsy.com. They're so much better for the environment than disposables but I actually think they're much more comfortable too! (No nasty chemicals!)
  
  I recently got to try soap nuts for the first time for laundry... they're all natural nut-like things that contain soap stuff. They actually work and they're totally non toxic!
6/15/08

acousticguitarist

www.independent.co.uk/news/world/americas/guitar-makers-band-together-to-sa...

[reply]
6/15/08

Rozie818

Since no one said yet, my favorite greens are greenbacks, the dollar bills.
With those you can buy healthy and wise. Many people do not have them and have to live off spam and other garbage. So, it is hard to create a balance.

[reply]
6/15/08

satijournal

We switched from paper napkins to cotton, which cuts down on our waste. My wife uses a "green" laundry detergent, but I forget which one. The next step is going from paper facial tissues to cotton. From what I've read, Kimberly-Clark is one of the worst environmental companies.

We produce very little actual garbage. Most of what we discard goes into the recycle bin.

[reply]
1. 6/15/08
  
  LGramlich
  
  My husband actually has an OCD regarding paper napkins, tissues, paper towels, etc., so we can't even have them in our house. THAT was a huge adjustment for me when I first moved in. 5 years later I'm more used to it, but sometimes it's still a pain in the rear (particularly when I'm painting--I always had a dampened paper towel there in case of emergency. Can't have that anymore.) It's weird, but if that's the worst thing about him, I have to say he's still pretty darned good.
  We don't produce much garbage, either. We save all of our "burnables" as kindling when we have fires out back &/or reuse shipping boxes.
6/15/08

choochoo

Reuseable shopping bags.

Phosphate free detergents.

Vinegar and baking soda for cleaning.

Compost bin & my organic garden.

Diva Cup. *TMI for the guys, but ladies, do consider this amazing product. wish I had heard of it years ago. www.divacup.com/?gclid=CPOY8sDt9pMCFQuYQAodWG79Vg

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6/15/08

LGramlich

Breyer's all natural ice cream. Mmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm.

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6/15/08

RecycleCindy

I used cloth diapers for both my sons. They really aren't that hard to get used of. I would bring a plastic bag to put the dirty ones in even when I went on outings. It's so much cheaper, easier on our environment, and my kids' bottoms liked the softness of cloth much better.

[reply]
6/15/08

SolReka

My solar cooker - it rocks (launch date July 08)

Once I develop a Stirling engine to fit on to the cooker it will not only be a solar cooker, but also a portable power generator

Petrol & oil - what was all that about I hear our future selves saying in 10 years time.

It's time to start harnessing the plethora of free and alternative energy devices which have been suppressed for far too long.

solreka.com/blog/solar-cooking/solar-cooking/

[reply]
6/15/08

flamingspinach

As far as cleaning products go, try Mrs. Meyer's Clean Day All Purpose Cleaner -- it's not tested on animals and it doesn't have that bleachy smell when you use it to clean your bathroom/kitchen floor.

[reply]
6/15/08

wandadog13

Courgettes - DOh! I've miss-read this discussion topic completely haven't I?

[reply]
6/15/08

jan4insight

My Scion car when it gets 30 mpg (not bad for a gas engine)
Reusable shopping bags
My city's recycling drop-off sites
Ecover automatic diswahing tabs
Advanage all-purpose cleaner
Vicco toothpaste
the list goes on and on ...

[reply]
6/15/08

offendedblogger

I hand blend all of my own facial and body products for us to use here, and I only use organic ingredients. Essential oils, fresh herbs and flowers, clays and minerals, etc. are all things that I use.

[reply]
6/15/08

jan4insight

Here's some more I just thought of:

compact fluorescent light bulbs
baking soda in my laundry - instead of fabric softener, which is noxious

these two are such a fundamental part of my day-to-day life, I forgot that other people don't use them ... yet

[reply]
6/15/08

ncarey

Dollar bills - they're green

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6/15/08

aningeniousname

Kermit the frog sanitary towels.

[reply]
6/16/08

themir

i love fragrance free natural soap by sungold, i also like the natural odor eliminator by clean earth called " pure ayre".

[reply]
6/16/08

robinj

I have a collection of earth friendly bags some for shopping some for walking some for the flea markets and so on

[reply]
6/16/08

robinj

I have a collection of earth friendly bags some for shopping some for walking some for the flea markets and so on

[reply]
1. 11/04/08
  
  ushakrishnan
  
  We have a lot of eco-bags that are stocked all over the house, so there's no excuse when one goes to the shops, library...just about anywhere.
11/04/08

Bricore

Well I have a few things I like but most I don't buy like at a local store (well besides the baking soda that is.)

I LOVE my hay twine rugs. I take the old twine and loom knit it into a rug. They really make the best darn outdoor rugs (and I used to have so much hay twine with all our horses.)
Here is an article that Craft magazine did on my rugs.
www.craftzine-digital.com/craft/vol04/?pg=115

Soapwort is another favorite thing of mine. I make shampoo and a liquid soap out of it. It's just a weed to most people but to me it's one of the best things you can have around. Here is a link to how we make it into a simple shampoo.
bricoreandfamily.blogspot.com/2008_06_19_archive.html

AVC (we make our own)- I just love this stuff too. I use it for so many different things. It's on the top of my list of favorites for sure.

I do buy baking soda which I use again to clean and for tooth paste (mixed with some other goodies.) I also use it to settle stomaches (we feed it free choice to our free ranged goats. We also use it on us.)

Dora Renee' Wilkerson
www.bricoreandfamily.blogspot.com/

[reply]
11/04/08

annz

microfiber cloths - you can get them in the automotive section of places like Target. They're so good at cleaning up spills that I rarely use anything more than water and the cloth now - since they have microfibers, the cloths actually clean close enough to surfaces to remove oils and bacteria. It's pretty crazy, and they're super cheap.

Other random favorites are composting, cloth diapers (which we wash at home with vinegar, no bleach), high efficiency washer/dryer, and reusable shopping bags.

[reply]
11/04/08

ecoaffiliate

We use the GDiaper in our house. When i found out that a normal diaper can take up to 500 years to fully breakdown i was horrified! G-Diapers breakdown in about 50 days.

www.eco-affiliate.com

[reply]
11/04/08

SweetViolet

White vinegar and baking soda:

cheaptricksntips.blogspot.com/2007/12/saving-money-12-practical-uses-for-on...
cheaptricksntips.blogspot.com/2007/12/saving-more-money-25-cheap-tricks-wit...

[reply]
11/04/08

ushakrishnan

I've just gone completely organic. Our almost 3 year old son has been diagnosed with a severe nut allergy and while there is no known cure for this, I do believe that eating natural, healthy food will help. So in addition to trying real hard to be green and eco friendly, I now shop only at organic stores for local produce and then I cook/bake pretty much everything. It doesn't work out that much more expensive as I'm making things from scratch. It is a lot more time consuming, but I get the kids to pitch in.

[reply]
1. 11/05/08
  
  Bricore
  
  I am not sure which food allergies you are dealing with (if only nuts or more) but you may want to look at Goat milk over cow milk. Raw over heat treated (of course talk with your doctor and look at state laws, only buy from a clean source with good milking practices..and so on..)Grass fed over grain fed- some people believe it's the grain that the animal is fed not so much the milk or the meat you eat (it's VERY hard to find a dairy that does not feed grain.)
  
  Another thing is fermented foods sometimes can help. There are people that can't have normal breads but can eat sour dough (like I said I don't know what your dealing with and how you'd or your family would react to it but its worth at least looking into.)
  
  Kefir is another biggie for us. I put it in raw goat milk. We own our goats and I free range brush. I do all the milking and test my goats milk. Almost NO grain. Yes, you get a lot less milk with not feeding grain to a dairy animal but you can still get milk if they have enough high quality food and are not over stressed with vitamin and mineral loss. I do have one dairy goat that I have to give grain to but the others are Mini Nub's and they require less feed to get their milk from. We do not sell ANY milk or cheese from our farm, all our goats are for our own use (it's too $$$ to get the license to even sell it as "Pet food" here in the state of Alabama. A matter of a fact the last time I checked we didn't even have ONE place licensed in the WHOLE state selling raw milk.)
  
  I am NO doctor and I am not telling you just to go do any of these things. I just thought I'd tell you some things you may want to look into (I hate saying that but don't want someone getting upset thinking I am giving you advice that a doctor should be giving you.) I feel for my family it works but that doesn't mean it would for yours of course.
  
  When you got your son tested was nuts the only thing that came up on the test?
  
  Dora Renee' Wilkreson
11/04/08

ushakrishnan

A big thumbs up to baking soda- I guess we all use a lot of it and it sure does the job!

[reply]
1. 11/13/08
  
  ushakrishnan
  
  Hey Dora, Appreciate you advice He seems to be allergic to only nuts- tree nuts (including coconut) and peanuts. Am not sure if going organic will help him overcome his allergies, but buying the raw ingredients ensures that I now bake/cook everything at home - right from making all meals to baking cookies and granola bars. This way at least I know there are no nuts in any of the food he eats and the product is not made on a machine that also deals with nuts.
  We can also taste the difference in the veggies, especially things like potatoes and carrots. I love that you have your own goats!
  Cheers!
  Usha
11/04/08

joeyblogs

jack herer:D

[reply]
11/04/08

aningeniousname

Frog pussy, that's cats owned by frogs before you all start reporting this.

[reply]
11/04/08

joeyblogs

lol

[reply]
11/04/08

sinuousscribe

I like broccoli. Oh wait, green ....! beeeep, beeeeep beeeeeeeeee

....transmission lost.....

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11/04/08

arilestariono

organic food.healthy choice.

[reply]
11/05/08

morgantj

fluorescent light bulbs, easy, fast, cheap, and make a huge difference.

[reply]
1. 11/13/08
  
  ushakrishnan
  
  That's great too. Have also unplugged all our appliances which we don't use on a regular basis. Can't see the difference in our bills, but makes me feel better.
11/05/08

freeatlast

local food

[reply]
11/13/08

lnclark1950

Quixtar's SA8 laundry detergent which has been a green product since the 50's. You can read about it here
lclark3.qhealthbeauty.com/products/product.aspx?itemno=E0002

This was a good question which leads to people sharing products that help keep the environment clean.

[reply]
1. 11/13/08
  
  ushakrishnan
  
  Thanks, Will check out the link.
11/13/08

myriadlife

Eco wash washing powder, it's the only one that doesn't make my skin itch! Am happy to be helping the environment at the same time.

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