Eco-Friendly Products

In a previous life, I used to manage a summer resort with a fab spa. Big bonus, discounted spa products for me! But one day, getting ready for work, I realised my bathroom shelf looked like a display cabinet in John Lewis. I was using nearly 10 products on my face before starting with any makeup. Not only did I have no idea what was in those 10 products, but I very quickly had to stop adding up how much I had spent (even with a discount). 

The Think Dirty product rating

I thought this brand I used was pretty eco-friendly, but after chatting with a friend, she mentioned an app called: THINK DIRTY, where you can enter a brand, the specific product, and it basically gives you a green rating out of 10 for your items. I was amazed to find that this brand that was all about combining natural ingredients with scientific power wasn’t particularly green. 

Then I was hooked on checking out all the products on my bathroom shelf, from my black eyeliner to my deodorant, to my toothpaste. It was a fascinating exploration of what I THOUGHT I knew! The THINK DIRTY app saves all your products and gives your bathroom shelf an overall green rating. Hmmm… suffice to say I was pretty disappointed with mine. 

Time to Get Educated

So, starting with the face products, I thought that whilst the products might not be as green as I thought, at least I could recycle the bottles and containers, right? Wrong. After emailing their customer care address, I was informed that their recyclability was down to whether the country I was in accepted their bottles or not. The country I was currently working in did not. Ok, so did the product manufacturer accept the bottles back to be reused or recycled in-house? Again, disappointingly no, they didn’t. So that was the end of my love affair with those products. 

After doing loads of research on the ‘good’ companies out there, I decided to get some coconut oil! Yes, I got bored of google searching, and yes I was probably broke at the time. However, honestly the best thing I could have done. I’ve found that coconut oil can solve a million issues : 

Green Coconut Oil

  • Stubborn eyeliner? Coconut oil = makeup remover

  • Dirty teeth / bad breath? Coconut oil for toothpaste and “pulling.”

  • Dry skin? Coconut oil for moisturiser – also recommended by the midwives at Bourg St Maurice hospital when I had my babies for their baths

  • Dry, frizzy hair? Coconut oil to tame flyaway strands

  • Boring dinner? Fry in some coconut oil! 

Plus, coconut oil on Think Dirty = super green rating - yey! 

Be the Change You Want to See

This is just one example of how I have been making the personal journey to reduce my product usage. Other things I have done are to :

  • Stop using disposable razors.

  • Use washable face clothes and make-up remover pads

  • Switched to locally produced and bought bar soaps rather than plastic bottled options

  • Sourced chemical-free “no-poo” bar-shampoos and conditioners for all the family. I like Shea Moisture which is also super active in supporting #BLM and #BAME peoples and organisations.

  • Find natural ingredient deodorants ( I love Native who also now have plastic-free packaging)

If you’re looking for some ideas on how to start reducing your product usage, or just in general how you can start educating yourself on becoming more socially responsible, check out the amazing people at POW - Protect Our Winters, who have some great ideas and resources on how to make changes in yourself and others.

Green, Health, Social ResponsibilityJennifer TsangMassage Megreen, alps, mountains, Wellbeing, Health