When I went through my first huge purge of toxic household items I bought SO MUCH STUFF. Luckily, I also had a lot of stuff that didn’t need switching – I’m looking at you my beloved Pyrex storage containers – and I found a good bit more at thrift stores. But every month there’s this constant creeping feeling of something else needs to go. Here’s what I have replaced this month:
Stainless Steel Bathroom Cups
I have had these stainless steel cups on my Amazon wish list for over a year. I have patiently waited for them to go on sale. I have also told myself every time they went on sale that I didn’t need to hit that “buy now” button just yet because we still had a stash of disposables in the house. Well, today is that day. We are down to the last 7 disposable cups and I finally HAD to order them. Perfect size. Stainless steel. Enough in a pack for each of us to have our very own forever cup.
Glass Fat Separator
I am in charge of the turkey at Thanksgiving. I am also in charge of the turkey at our Christmas in July dinner. I wasn’t super jazzed about pouring hot turkey drippings into a plastic fat separator again. Yes, it’s a bit expensive. But it is beautiful. It held up really well to the heat from the drippings and it cleaned up much nicer than the old plastic one. As far as where I’m going to store it so it doesn’t get smashed in with my other baking stuff in our too tiny townhouse, I have no idea…
Glass Milk Bottles and Silicone Lids
These milk bottles are the perfect size for homemade chocolate syrup. The self inflicted homemade chocolate syrup that I now make a huge batch of every month because I was tired of the non recyclable plastic bottles the store bought was coming in. And who would have known how frickin’ easy it was to make! However, they came with plastic caps. And they were horrendous to open and close. So I replaced them with beautiful, easy to open silicone caps. Problem. Solved. And that chocolate syrup is freezer friendly too. 😉
Compostable Disposable Plates
I hate Hefty. *gasp* I know. Whatever. I think they look tacky and I don’t like the feel. Never have. Never will. I do still use the colorful paper plates for my kids’ parties because they add to the overall aestethic, but for other events I will use these from now on. They’re made from sustainable sugarcane and are compostable. They held up well and look really nice.
Sea Sponges for Bathing
Too much? Probably for some people. Was it really weird at first bathing with essentially a corpse of a once living sea creature? Yes, yes it was. However, sea sponges are actually an awesome alternative to plastic bath poufs. They’re biodegradable and sustainable because responsibly cut sponges regenerate. They’re not leeching plastic into the environment and they last a whole lot longer than plastic poufs.
Force of Nature Disinfectant
I have always had an unparalleled sense of smell, but since switching over to (mostly) fragrance free non toxic products I have found that A LOT of smells trigger discomfort and headaches way more than they used to. I LOVE the smell of things that have been bleached, but using bleach isn’t awesome and it is definitely a trigger now; I only use it when I have to have to. I also wasn’t in love with a lot of the safer, easier to find disinfectant options – a lot of them smell. I had looked at Force of Nature before, added it to my cart many times but never pulled the trigger. Naturally, when our family came down with some unknown NASTY bug a few weeks ago, I knew it was time. I gotta be honest, making the solution feels like a science project and I had so much fun giving it a go. It’s super easy, super safe, super disinfecty (EPA registered, hospital grade) and smells vaguely of ocean water. I LOVE it.
Switching over to non toxic products can be really overwhelming. So many things to go through, so many replacement products to choose from, this material, that material, constantly comparing cost and quality or safer alternatives – the decision fatigue is real. Even small steps make a difference!
