A Sweaty Problem

Over the past few years I have been striving to eliminate as much unnecessary plastic and toxic ingredients from my personal care products. The end result is that my washroom is starting to resemble my kitchen because of the ingredients that are essential to my daily routine. My counter is lined with homemade products with coconut oil, body butters, cider vinegar, baking soda, honey, essential oils and salts. Because I make many of my own products now, I often have to store them in my refrigerator, so on top of my kitchen in my bathroom, my bathroom is now in my kitchen.

But there is one personal care product that I have decided to purchase from a store; natural deodorant.

Creative Commons Image

I am a very sweaty person, but I have long since given up wearing antiperspirant, for a variety of reasons.  I'm no longer fond of putting aluminum on my skin (some may say the jury is out on the dangers of aluminum but I'm not taking any chances), and I have found that unless I use the extremely strong, and therefore questionable, aluminum mixtures (which also burn my skin horribly), it does not stop the embarrassing pit stains for me. To top it all off, antiperspirant may actually make us stinkier! I've just given up the idea that I can go about life as if I live in an advertisement; so what if I have visible sweat marks once in a while (I have adapted to wearing darker clothing on top to mask the wet marks)?

Creative Commons Image

So then the only issue is the smelly one. I had to find a deodorant that I liked, that was natural, and didn't sting, because I have very sensitive underarm skin.


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DIY Salve with Plantain

For many reasons, I feel like I come alive in the summer. One part of the season that I do not enjoy, and I know I'm not alone in this regard, is bug bites. Not only do I dislike the itch and sting, but it is compounded by the fact that my daughters hate them and often refuse to go outside because of them. There are many products on the store shelves for bug bites, but in my quest to make my own and avoid unnecessary packaging and potentially harmful ingredients, this summer I have made my own skin salve, with the key ingredient being plantain. I also fits in nicely with my one little word for the year, make.

Plantain is a very hardy plant and grows almost anywhere, especially in lawns along concrete path and driveways. Most people think it as a weed and pull it up, but it is edible and can be used as a topical application for skin irritations like bug bites, stings, rashes and cuts. I have some growing in my raised garden beds and as long as it doesn't take over, I leave it.

Sometimes when I'm watering my garden in the morning I get mosquito bites, so I just grab a leaf of the plantain, crumple it (some people suggest chewing it) to release the moisture inside and directly apply to the itchy spot. Within 5-10 minutes the itch and sting is gone. 

I like to have salve with me when I go out with my daughters, and I want to have some when the growing season is over, so I made some plantain salve. I'm happy to report that it works as well as directly applying the leaf. 

I apologize for the approximations in my recipe below. I just played around different recipes  until I had the consistency I liked. Because I use coconut oil that can be very soft to liquid in warm temperatures, I added a little more beeswax to help keep the salve in more solid form during warm summer weather.

Ingredients and Materials:

• approximately 1 to 1 1/2 cups dry plantain leaves, chopped 
• approximately 1 1/2 cups oil (I like coconut oil for skin care)
• approximately 1-2 tablespoons beeswax 
• essential oil of choice (I like tea tree oil for it's curing properties)
• glass jar (I use mason jars)
• fine strainer or cheese cloth
• containers for the completed salve
• double boiler or pot and stainless steel bowl or crock pot

Method:

• Harvest the plantain leaves. If you must wash them, make sure they are dry so that the salve will last longer. Chop them into small pieces.

• Place oil on the plantain leaves in a glass jar. Completely mix together.

• Place the jar in a pot or crock pot with enough water to come almost to the top of the oil. Gently heat the mixture on very low heat for about 12 hours. I wasn't home long enough to do this in one go so I split the heating over two days. 

I added a cloth under my mason jar in the crock pot
so the glass wouldn't have direct heat on it.

• Strain the plantain leaves from the oil and allow the oil to cool completely. 

• Using a double boiler or pot of water and stainless steel bowl, melt the beeswax and add the plantain oil. Thoroughly mix. Add a few drops of essential oil of choice. 

• Pour into small glass jars or stainless steel jars. Leave it to cool completely and store for future use. 

The salve is cooled and ready for use, which I have already
done with the salve in the mason jar. You can see how
hard my mixture is (had to use my finger to scape it) but
if you like it softer just use less beeswax. 

Eco Jewelry Cleaning

After my second daughter was born I asked for a charm necklace with my girls' names and birth dates inscribed on them. The internet is chalk full of companies that can create beautiful personalized jewelry for women to commemorate motherhood and I succumbed. I love my necklace that now has three charms on it. I like to tell my girls that when I wear it I am keeping them close to my heart. But because I wear it everyday it can get scruffy looking.

I am very partial to silver jewelry and most of my earrings and necklaces are made of it, but a drawback is that it can tarnish easily when exposed to the humidity in the air because of oxidation.

I tend to forget to clean my jewelry until I am in a hurry getting ready to go out and I realize that my earrings are tarnished, so I put it away to clean at another time. Then I forget again until the next time. Lather rinse repeat.

Silver dips and pastes worked for me because they were quick and easy to do, but I knew that they contained toxic chemicals that smelled horrible. I have been working on detoxifying my home cleaning products and personal care products so I knew that I had to find a better way to make my silver shine again. I don't want to put something on my skin that has been cleaned in harsh chemicals.

It isn't hard to find non-toxic silver cleaner recipes on the internet but this is the one that I like to use.

Supplies for eco jewelry cleaning:

liquid dish soap (some recipes skip the soap)

salt

aluminum foil (I save a piece of recycled foil for this purpose)

water

bowl

Steps:

1. Place aluminum foil in a bowl
2. Pour a tablespoon of salt on top of the aluminum
3. Pour a tablespoon of liquid dish soap on the salt
4. Add 1/2 cup - 1 cup of water 
5. Place silver jewelry on the aluminium and mixture. 
6. Swish the jewelry around then leave for a few minutes.
7. Remove the jewelry from the bowl, rinse in water and dry off.
8. If my silver is particularly dirty I like to give it a quick shine it with a cloth.

That's it! No harsh chemicals, no gloves required.

New Year Intentions

At the end of the year I wrote about how I am proud of myself in what I accomplished in 2012, as a highlight reel for the year. Now that it is the new year people tend to look at the year ahead and plan what they hope to accomplish. I'm not big on making new year resolutions because we all know how those turn out, don't we? Instead, I will be participating, unofficially, in Ali Edward's One Little Word for 2013, as a guiding principal for the year, as something that I want to remember to guide my actions.

For now, however, I want to list some intentions I have for 2013. Or perhaps these things I want to learn are for the next two, five or ten years, because I'm not into beating myself up if I don't accomplish them. That would be too much like resolutions, and once resolutions are broken it is too easy to give up and forget about them.

Here are my intentions:

1. Learn about canning: we no longer have BPA in water bottles in Canada, but for some reason it is ok to still have BPA lining cans of soup and tomatoes. I want to learn how to can so I can have yummy home cooked meals with tomatoes that I know are free from BPA.

2. Learn how to use my sewing machine: I promised myself that I would do this in 2012, but alas it did not happen. Perhaps it is from high school trauma in sewing class when I almost failed home economics because the hem on my apron didn't line up evenly. My mother has known for a while that I wanted to overcome this as she gave me my sewing machine quite a few years ago, but she has used it more than me. I have this notion that I must sew one Hallowe'en costume for my children before they grow up because my own mother always made the most amazing outfits for me and my brother. There are so many eco projects I want to do that require sewing so I am determined to do this one in 2013. Ooops, this sounds eerily like a resolution.

3. Continue with my biking goal, as discussed here and here.

Biking in the summer with my wee one in the bike trailer. 

4. Expand my abilities with knitting and crocheting: I made infinity scarves for Christmas presents this past Christmas. I also gave my older daughters knitting needles and they are currently enjoying learning how to knit. After posting my 2012 Highlight Reel on Facebook, a friend, who is an amazing knitter, offered her services as a teacher/mentor. I look forward to taking her up on this!

A butterfly dish cloth and gnome knitted project I recently completed.

5. Try geocaching: I enjoy getting outside for fresh air and exercise, and just for the joy of being outside, but sometimes it is hard to get kids to go outside as reward in itself on less than perfect days. I know several people who love geocaching and they say their kids love it so I'm wondering if this might be the hook to get them outside with me. I've downloaded a beginner geocaching app for my iPhone but haven't started using it yet.

6. Learn about winter gardening: I am slowly learning about backyard vegetable gardens but I was too late to have a winter garden this year. I purchased a winter gardening guide at the UBC Botanical Garden this past summer when we tried out their rainforest canopy walk for the first time (I highly recommend it - my girls loved it) and I am going to read it again and be prepared mid summer to organize and prep a winter garden.

Some reading to keep me busy over the winter.

7. Make more whole food meals: When I became a mother I lost my cooking mojo. Perhaps it was because I was up every one to three hours feeding a newborn. Or maybe it is because my children are very fussy and would not eat all the delicious whole food meals that I used to enjoy cooking. I want to reduce the amount of processed, quick foods that we have had around our house to help us cope with being tired from long days (and nights) and busy schedules. I need to remember that we are literally what we eat and food is the best medicine. I also know how time consuming preparing whole food meals can be; before having children I was on a very restrictive candida diet that eliminated all processed foods and I was able to spend a large portion of time each day preparing meals (especially on my summers off). I can no longer devote that amount of time to prepping and cooking meals. I also know that it will take time for my girls to be receptive to trying new foods.

Delicious quinoa salad with avocado, cucumbers, carrots, sprouted beans, chickpeas, 

sunflower seeds and amazing  organic thyme garlic vinegar made by the Sharing Farm.

8. Mediate: Before children I used to mediate on a regular basis (perhaps not daily but certainly weekly). I felt more grounded and at peace when I did this and I am missing it. I know this will be difficult because finding even five minutes to myself in a home with three young children and a husband who works from home is close to impossible. But if something is important I should find the time for it.

9. Cut back on, or eliminate, coffee: I love almost everything about coffee. I love the smell of freshly ground and brewing coffee. I love the ritual of brewing coffee. I love the social aspect of sitting down to chat over a coffee. But I don't love how I have become a prisoner of coffee. I am no longer a functioning person until I have that first mug each morning and I am noticing that I have built up a tolerance to the effects of coffee. I don't like feeling like something controls me as coffee does. For a number of years I eliminated coffee from my life and I didn't miss it. Knowing I am an all or nothing person I think I need to cut out coffee for a while, then make it an occasional drink rather than a daily drink.

10. Be grateful: Resilience is the one of the new buzz words in parenting and education circles and resilience helps people carry on and even thrive in the face of adversity. One of the ways to help develop resilience is to have a sense of gratitude for what one has. Even though something unfortunate, or even tragic, has occurred, we still be happy because of all the good in our life. Research shows that people who have a well-developed sense of gratitude are happier in life. Over the past year intermittently, I kept a daily gratitude list. I would like to continue this for myself and expand this to my family.

Our family gratitude box -  after dinner each member of

our family writes one thing we are grateful for that day.

11. Find natural and eco alternatives to disposable and commercial goods: I want to reduce the need to recycle things by making reusable wax food coverings instead of plastic wrap (which I have almost eliminated the need for) and cloth bags instead of plastic baggies. I want to learn how to make my own washing machine detergent, dishwasher detergent and toothpaste.  As a family we are seeking ways to reduce our toxic load in our personal care products, such as make up and shaving cream.

2012 Highlight Reel

2012 has been a busy year of settling into routines, which has allowed me to try new projects and new ideas, this blog being one of them. Often at this time of year, after the big family festivities are over, I feel stuck in a rut, like I'm taking one step forward and two steps back. To help me feel a sense of accomplishment I want to look back over the year and think about everything that has helped me move forward on my life path.

When my children were very little most of my energies were devoted to meeting their immediate needs. I know that some women are able to balance their babies' needs and their own, but I am not one of them. Working part time and being a mother was pretty much all I could handle. As much as some say it might not be emotionally healthy, I am an all or nothing sort of person, as my husband will tell you. I think that in the past I have avoided getting into something new because I don't enjoy it unless I can throw myself wholeheartedly into it, which leaves little of my attention for anything else. Therefore it isn't surprising that looking after a baby took much of what I had to give.

My wee one when she was a newborn. 

My youngest daughter will be turning three in 2013 and I am finally beginning to feel like she does not require my full and undivided attention all day long as infants do. There are moments I can carve out for my own projects and passions that sustain me and fulfill my creative side, which I have been missing for a long time. Not for long, mind you, because she is a little monkey and into everything so much more than I remember my other daughters being. She has redecorated my walls with pens, added colour to my couch with juice, and added patterns to my carpet with a sharpie.

I want my daughters to see me being a life-long learner and meaningfully engaged in something because I believe that modelling is one of the best form of learning for children. It fills my heart to hear my daughters'  questions about what I am doing and see my daughters grab crafting supplies to make alongside me. I want them to be happy in life and I believe one path to happiness is to have interests and passions.

I am grateful that I have developed an interest in photography because it gives me something creative I can do with small children. Besides, what parent doesn't like taking pictures of their kids?!

My five year old in particular has followed in my footsteps and enjoys photography.

It is easy as a women to be overly harsh and self-judging. I could compare myself to the other mothers who always seem to be more calm, patient and together than me. I could compare myself to other crafters or gardeners who seem more knowledgeable and talented. I'm sure, though, that for every person I could compare myself to there is someone who sees me as talented and knowledgeable. I'm not saying I am talented because I know what is going on in my head and I am there for the behind-the-scenes daily grind of my life. I see my good, bad and ugly and therefore it is easy to judge myself. I must remember that every single person has that kind of messy life behind the closed doors of their life as well. There will always be someone who is more green than me, more eco-conscious than me, and I am working on seeing them as someone to follow and learn from rather than a measure of my inadequateness as an environmentally aware person.

source: www.spirituallythinking.blogspot.com

So, as a reminder to myself of my highlight reel for 2012, I've compiled a list of things of which I am proud, things for me to read on my low days, when I am feeling overly judgemental of myself. This is my top ten list to read to myself to give me energy when I need a do-over.

1. This past summer, when my youngest daughter was almost two and a half years old she weaned. After struggling for the first two months with my first two daughters and having a rocky breastfeeding relationship, breastfeeding went very smoothly, one might even say naturally, with my third daughter. I attribute it to a spontaneous, unmedicated home birth in which we had immediate uninterrupted skin-to-skin contact for at least the first hour (as far as I can remember) of her life. Weaning my youngest brought to an end over 68 months of breastfeeding in total between each of my daughters. I know that I did my best to give them the best start in life that I was capable of and I am proud of what my body was able to do for them. I feel very good that I sustained them with the most Earth-friendly nourishment that I could (I am not judging mothers who made other choices about how to feed their babies by saying this). While I was ready for that part of our relationship to end, my daughter wasn't fully prepared and to this day she occasionally likes to climb into my lap and pretend to have her beloved "milky milky".

My wee one breastfeeding her baby - modelling behaviours at it's best!

2. We continue to search for ways to reduce our use of single use disposable items. We have not used paper napkins or paper towels for years (with a perhaps two lapses per year when we have a large party and know we will run out of cloth napkins for all the guests). I have used cloth feminine napkins for at least a decade now.

purchased from www.mylittlegreenshop.com

This year I added stainless steel straws to our home, along with an increasing number of stainless steel dishes and containers to slowly replace plastic in our home. I love how stainless steel cleans up and does not retain the smell of the food the way that plastic can.

3. We continue to find ways to detoxify our cleaning products more natural, less chemical-based ingredients. I have fully switched to vinegar and baking soda alone for the majority of our household cleaning needs. We use mostly soap nuts for washing our clothes, but I am finding that they are not great for removing stains. I found a link for making my own laundry soap and that will be something I try in the new year. The last two areas where I would like to find something more natural are in our dishwashing soap and dishwashing machine detergent.

4. This year we completely eliminated commercial air fresheners because of their toxic ingredients and links to a variety of health concerns. We currently use baking soda for kitty litter odour (open box near the kitty litter box) and drops of essential oil in high odour areas like the bathroom. Occasionally I put a drop or two of essential oil of choice the wax of a burning candle to diffuse the smell quickly. We used to use incense quite extensively but have not done so as much recently. I find the best way to freshen the smell in a room is to just open a window. One thing I would like to focus more on in the new year is the use of plants for room air quality. We have very few indoor plants because our cats are very naughty and kill them by chewing on the leaves.

5. I am slowly learning ways to detoxify personal care products such as creams, shampoos, toothpaste, deodorant and make up. We have used "natural" toothpaste for years but I would like to challenge myself to make my own at some point in the future. I have found some interesting links for making my own on Pinterest and I'm excited to source ingredients. This past year I found some very expensive make up (eyeliner and mascara) at a local natural foods grocery store. The ingredients seem to be good but the product comes from Germany and when I say it is expensive I am not exaggerating ($40 mascara anyone?). To compensate for this I am trying to go without as much as I feel comfortable. This means going au naturel on days that I don't go to work or have a dress up event (I'm somewhat vain and sometimes feel like I need a little more colour). I am slowly transitioning to natural crystal deodorant because the ingredients in my antiperspirant are horrible (including horrible fragrance, or "parfum", which is linked to a variety of health concerns such as asthma and other respiratory illnesses). I am finding this a challenge, however, because I am a very sweaty person. I have a phobia of sweat marks on my clothing and crystal deodorant just doesn't cut it in that department. Again, I am compensating by using the crystal deodorant on my days off work. One area in which I am most proud is switching to baking soda and apple cider vinegar to wash my hair (called the "no-poo"method).

6. I am almost ready to call myself a vegetable gardener. I have dabbled in container gardening over the past ten years while living in apartments and a townhouse. Almost three years ago we moved into our new home, our first single family house with a large backyard and I was most excited about having room to have a vegetable garden. This has been a very gradual process with adding a new raised garden bed each summer we have lived here. I hope to have a maximum of four raised beds in the backyard next summer. I did very well with just two raised beds this past summer, growing dozens of vegetables and this fall I planted garlic for the first time. I know just a little bit, in fact only enough to know how much I don't know, but I'm game to experiment and learn. It was interesting to participate in our local CSA to compare what we received with what we grew, and this has increased my desire to branch out and try eating and growing new foods (like fava beans). My mother gave me a subscription to a Canadian gardening magazine, and I have a subscription to an organic gardening magazine and I bought a how-to guide for winter gardening. Once the dust settles on the festive season I will devote some serious time to planning my summer garden.

My garden mid summer this year.

7. I am not a baker. A friend has blogged about there being cooking people and baking people. I am decidedly in the former camp because I like to experiment and substitute, which just does not work with baking. When I do want to bake I don't have the correct ingredients because I never bake. I do, however, like to eat baked goods. A favourite of mine is breakfast scones. For a few years now I have bought my scones at my local grocery store. The drawback is that they come in a plastic container that I then have to recycle. I have been trying to focus on reducing what I consume before recycling what I use because of the energy used to recycle paper, plastic, metal and glass. The plastic waste finally got to me and a few months ago I started baking my scones each week. With practice I am getting better and am starting to expand my repertoire of baked goods.  Another reason I feel good about this is because I know what has gone into my baked goods. I can make them as natural and healthy as I want rather than having a bunch of ingredients I cannot pronounce that are there to increase shelf life.

My delicious, home-baked cheese scones for breakfast.

8. I've been trying to use my bike more in 2012. As my children get older and more capable my ability to bike with them will increase, making it easier to get out on my bike for daily errands and local commuting. There have been some blips and blurps along my path, as I'm sure there will continue to be, but I'm trying. I hope that as the weather warms and dries up in the spring and summer I will be more exclusive in my bike use.

9. After pinning dozens of knitting and crocheting ideas on Pinterest, I finally dusted off my knitting needles and finished some beginner projects for Christmas presents. I value making presents for people I love and I made each of my daughters scarves and each of the ladies in my extended family infinity scarves. My daughters had fun looking through my yarn bin and we found a few incomplete projects from years ago that I am now motivated to finish. I hope to take a knitting course or two to help me make progress in knitting in the round, turning the heel on socks and pick up stitches so I can complete some more advanced projects. I used to knit and crochet, especially for baby gifts, but when my own children entered the picture I lost the energy and time to keep up with it. That, along with small hands getting into my things and pulling all the stitches off needles made me put my yarn and needles away for over eight years.

10. I have been mulling and pondering about creating this blog for over a year, but I have been intimidated by the talented men and women out there writing about and sharing their thoughts and reflections. I was also scared of a learning curve with blogging and didn't know where to begin. I finally decided to just jump in with both feet and not worry about whether anyone would ever read my blog. If I'm being honest I'd admit that I want someone to read this blog - otherwise I would just write my thoughts in a journal. I'm proud that I started sharing my journey, even if it just documents for myself what I'm doing. I do believe that it is making me feel more accountable and more clear in what I am doing and hope to do. Something that I'm pondering now is writing for a supposed audience, of which every writer must be thinking about, versus writing for myself, because the two are often quite different.

Lightening the Laundry Load Part One: Soap Nuts

As a family of five, three of whom are young children, we do a great deal of laundry. Currently we do on average about five loads per week. When my children were infants, and when I used cloth diapers (which I will discuss in a future post), we did perhaps three loads over two days. There are periods when we do more, such as when the stomach 'flu hits our home or when we have nighttime accidents.

Just one or two of the of the many, many loads we do per week.

Because of the frequency with which we use our washing machine and dryer, I have sought ways to lighten our environmental load when doing the laundry. The first step is using the cold cycle to wash and rinse, which many people do now, so this is a no-brainer. Energy star appliances are another step.

I think most people upgrade to energy 

star appliances when they need to replace older models.

My husband has asthma and both of us have sensitivities to scents and additives, so we have always used unscented laundry detergent. For years I thought this was enough. I am amazed at the impact that scents in detergent can have on me. If we stay with someone who uses scented detergent I immediately have problems breathing and sometimes even get a headache. My husband has an even stronger reaction than I do. So far our children don't seem as sensitive, but then again we don't have strong scents around them on a regular basis. I don't think people realize how toxic synthetic scents can be, and after careful label reading I have noticed that even "unscented" products contain perfume!

Note the "unscented" label on this antiperspirant. But is it really?

Sorry for the quality of the photo, but on the second to last line of 

ingredients listed is "parfum", a fancy word for fragrance or scent, 

which is actually just a variety of chemicals linked to allergies and even cancer and neurotoxicity. 

When both my husband and I still noticed sensitivities to laundry detergent, and after doing research into the ingredients of conventional detergents, I sought alternatives. I've tried various "green" detergents, and while I have not noticed sensitivities, I do not like the cost. I also do not like the pseudo green products on the market that can dupe the consumer into thinking they are green with clever marketing tactics, a problem that is now called greenwashing. It takes so much energy when shopping to read labels after doing extensive internet research into ingredients to determine if they are toxic (as I am not a chemist- never took chemistry past grade 10 actually). It really doesn't seem fair that the onus is on the consumer to be aware of this. Don't get me started on the government lacking the political will to regulate companies and have them be honest about what goes into their products.

I can't remember how I discovered soap nuts. After some research into the pros and cons, and discovering some friends who use soap nuts, I decided to give them a try. I haven't been able to purchase soap nut in its whole form (throw them in the wash in a mesh bag) locally. I purchased some at a local store that are ground up in a filter-like bag that you throw into the wash and then toss when finished. When our current box is gone I plan on ordering whole soap nuts from an on line company I have found (the dried nuts, which are actually berries, go into the wash in a mesh or cloth baggie).

This is a box of 30 individual packets of ground soap nuts.

The packets are single use. Soap nuts are compostable, although I'm 

not sure if the packet material can be recycled or composted 

(they seem to be similar to coffee filters so I assume they can be).

So do they work? Yes. We have not noticed any difference in our laundry - clothes come out just as clean (caveat: see thoughts on stains below) and there have been no sensitivity reactions. Some people have complained about an odd smell when the clothes are wet, which we have not noticed. I think that perhaps those that notice an odd odour are not used to washing their clothes without scented detergent to mask the smell (?) of wet cloth. I am not sure if this is related to the soap nuts or the nature of my messy kids, but I have found that stains require more pre-treatment lately, which I am not very good at remembering to do. If you see a child walking around with a visible record of what they have eaten on their clean clothing (tomato sauce, anyone?), they may be mine. However, in a future post I will discuss my stain remover secret.

I have read some criticisms of soap nuts from a sustainable point of view. As they are a crop grown overseas in developing countries and land must be used to grow them, it may contribute to destruction of natural habitat (although this does not seem to be the case with the minimal research I have done) or reduction in other crops for the communities that grow soap nuts (again, I'm not sure about this). Also, it is important to keep in mind how far soap nuts must travel to reach our homes. I suppose you could research where the soap nuts you purchase are grown and how the farmers and their communities are treated by the companies, but once again, unless the company is direct about this information the onus is on the consumer. Sigh.

In the end, I like using soap nuts. They are completely compostable when they are fully used (whole nuts can be used several times). They are "natural" and involve minimal processing with hopefully a low environmental impact (not sure how they harvest or what process they use to dry the berries). They are safe for use in my high efficiency washing machine. I don't have to do anything different when I do laundry, so there is no change in my routine, and which is important when trying to make an environmental change. A win for us.

Do you have sensitivities to laundry detergents? Have you tried soap nuts or other "green" laundry detergents? What works for you?