Going All Natural: Home Products

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I’ve been considering moving toward more natural products for a few years now. I’ve started to replace disposable cleaning products with reusable options. We have mostly gotten rid of plastic food storage containers and switched over to glass. However, now that I’m a mom this transition feels even more urgent and important. Join me as I search for natural and non-toxic solutions for beauty & home. Today, let’s talk about natural home products!

Natural cleaning solutions is a hot topic right now. There are DIY recipes to clean your shower on Pinterest and the hundreds of “clean” options offered in stores and online. While the cleaning solutions are important, I think it’s also important to think about the materials with which we clean.

Plastic, plastic everywhere

Think about the last time you stood in the cleaning aisle in your local Target or grocery store. What do you see? Plastic bottles. Hundreds, maybe even thousands of them. It’s easy to forget since you only have a couple bottles at home, but all that plastic has to go somewhere. Now that you have your cleaner, what are you using to wipe up the messes and dry off the surfaces? I’m willing to bet it’s paper towels.

This isn’t to point fingers! I think nearly all of us grew up cleaning this way. Over the past six months or so, I’ve felt particularly convicted about this. It’s so easy to throw things out without a second thought, but recycling and reusing isn’t just good for the environment, it’s good for your budget!

Here are the natural home products I’m using around the house and what works:

1. Norwex cloths and mop system: we use the Norwex mop system, Envirocloths, window cloths, counter cloths, kitchen sponge and napkins. Their products use only water to clean and they’ve been extremely effective for me. I also use their makeup remover cloths, which I mention here.
2. Glass food storage containers: We have some from Amazon, some from Costco, and some that were even wedding gifts. It’s so easy to switch to glass, and safer too.
3. Amber Glass Spray bottles: We just purchased these to replace an existing glass bottle that broke. One has a diluted Mrs. Meyers multi-surface cleaner in it, and the other just a mild vinegar and water mix.
4. Reusable Water Bottles: We love our Hydroflasks; his is this big boy and mine fits in a car cup holder. In addition, we have a Brita filter tub in the fridge so we can always fill up our bottles with cool filtered water. I also have a few glass and hard plastic straw cups that I used for other drinks around the house.

Making a difference

Something that I try to keep in mind, and something that I’ve found to be helpful for others thinking about transitioning to reusable or lower-waste options is to take it slow. I think we all idealize making the switch in one fell swoop, from average person to recycling queen, but odds are it won’t happen that way!

I know that this transition can be frustrating to me – do the small changes I’m making even begin to counteract the huge environmental issues out there? Does the cost of creating the recyclable things outweigh the benefits? When it comes to natural home products, any change you make counts. So if that means you just swap out your plastic ware for glass and don’t make any other changes this year, that’s great! Try out my reusable makeup remover pads, because you don’t know if you don’t try. At the end of the day you can make a difference (but don’t put too much pressure on yourself).

Do you have any home products you really love? Please share with me below in the comments – I’d love to hear from you! As we’re thinking of the environment, it’s hard not to be focused on Australia and the devastating bushfires sweeping the country. Please take a moment consider donating to one of the organizations providing relief and support: CNET has a great article with information and links here.