this post is dedicated to Molli, who inspires me daily. forever grateful for you, your abundant wisdom, and your beautiful friendship.
let me start off by saying: we’re all doing our best, we all have different priorities, we all are on different journeys. this is just my personal story. whatever works best for you is fantastic.
back in 2017, i had a big meltdown and afterwards implemented some changes to naturally manage (and thrive with) my then-crippling anxiety. which led me to learning more about integrative medicine and reading (and loving!) this book.
i took better care of myself. i moved my body. i drank water. i took supplements. i created routines to prioritize rest and recharging. and I tried some greener household items. (see the full post of my routines that help me feel my best here.)
but ultimately I gave up the greener household items, because I wasn’t super in love with them, and really I was like, “what’s the point?” i doubted they had any affect on my anxiety, unlike the “obvious” things like movement and sleep.
fast forward four years. we rather traumatically lost a pregnancy in a super rare way. like, a-mass-formed-instead-of-a-baby rare kind of way, and we didn’t find out until twelve-ish weeks in due to Covid regulations on their part and a pre-planned vacation on our part. months of pathology tests and mandatory bloodwork ensued - no reason for cause was found other than it being a fluke. we grieved and we healed. (read the full story here.)
months later, I felt like I was finally above water. absolutely inspired and awe-struck by her priorities of wellness, I inundated my dear, dear friend molli with countless questions - I hungrily ate up every word. and seeking comfort as Brett and I toyed with the idea of one day trying again to grow our family, I became reacquainted with my beloved book.
both of which led me to, once again, reexamine what I was putting into my body.
and really, we can’t do it all - we have to prioritize what’s doable for us. and I’m currently not at a point where I willing to give up my one-to-several-dr-peppers-a-week habit, nor am I willing to say goodbye my beloved skincare routine. and I still haven’t found a greener product I like better than my favorite hair oil. however, I am willing to part ways with my Tide and my Clorox Clean-up and my generic Amazon dishwasher detergent and my deoderant and my mascara and and and. so that’s where we start.
and this time? I actually love the greener products.
maybe I took longer to research and decide, maybe I loved knowing a person firsthand of whom I could see the benefits, maybe the pregnancy loss gave me a deeper purpose. whatever the reason, this time the switch feels sustainable and worth my while.
below are the products we love*. know that I love citrus scents, so I try to buy that option whenever possible. and what also works best for us are products that can be added to our monthly Amazon Subscribe and Save deliveries - we didn’t want to have to go to (or order from) a separate source. (aside from Brett’s coffee beans, but more on that later.) so while there are lots of options out there that may work better for you, know that ultimately we love the below products because they work so well for us, they may smell like citrus, and they were available through Amazon Subscribe and Save.
*I’m still testing out a few products to find my favorites, so I’ll update the list as I find them.
our toiletries:
our deodorant
Brett and I both use + like this brand (but I also like this one, too)
I had others I liked too, but this one is my favorite scent
our body wash (Brett and I share)
our shampoo + conditioner (Brett and I share)
I grabbed this at our grocery store for muuuuuch cheaper
and this stuff may not work for everybody, but Brett and I both have incredibly thick hair. like, horse hair. (and my hair errs on the side of dry horse hair.) and our hair loves this stuff.
KK’s soap, KK’s detangler, KK’s lotion
our cleaning stuff:
this stuff or this stuff as my all-purpose stuff
(the second one doesn’t smell very lime-y, but I love it regardless)
this stuff or the pink stuff for anything that could use a gooooood scrub
pure castile soap (still learning allllll the ways I can use this gem)
our electric spin scrubber brush thing - we love deep cleaning our bathtubs and showers with this thing
our steam mop - aka our favorite thing on this earth. huge thanks to another dear friend (bless you, sydney!!) for turning us onto this gem. our floors have never been cleaner, and never with this little work.
curious of my cleaning schedule and my laundry schedule? click here!
our diffusers:
many believe there to be numerous health benefits of essential oils, and I’m not discounting that. I really like my home to have a light citrus scent, but candles tend to bother me. so for that reason alone, I have two diffusers, and each morning I add water and orange essential oil to them. I keep no other essential oil on hand.
maybe there actually are mood-boosting qualities to the scent of orange - but really the morning routine of slowly pouring water, carefully dropping oil, and setting a cozy ambiance in my home is what is super grounding for me. and, like I said, my home having a light scent of orange makes me really happy.
(yes, I use inexpensive orange essential oil that I can buy from Amazon. don’t send me hate mail.)
our air:
we’re getting an air purifier for my birthday, but want to give it some time before recommending!
our water:
We recently got a reverse osmosis water system for under our sink. (And again, Brett the Chemistry Nerd is thrilled about this for his coffee.)
inspired by my brilliant friend lisa, each morning I fill one stainless-steel, 40 ounce, insulated, sweat-proof tumbler with a handle for Brett, and I fill one for myself. (I love that it fits in my cupholder and my stroller, so it easily goes with me to Stroller Strides in the mornings.) Our goal is to finish our cup by lunch, refill it, and finish the second pour by bedtime. Easy peasy!
I’ve had a similar water routine since that big meltdown years ago, but I do change water vessel, depending on my current needs. here is the original water routine and here is the one when KK came around, if you’d like past ideas.
our lunchboxes + food containers
see the blogpost on my lunchboxes and our lunches here.
our kitchen + our food:
like I mentioned previously, we really don’t eat that cleanly. really our only focus is to add produce, fiber, and water wherever possible in our diets. I do prioritize organic milk and half-and-half, just because it’s what I had growing up and because to me it tastes so much better. (I’m a huuuuge milk drinker.)
we do try to eat mainly at home. that is a huge priority for us. I do cook 5-6 nights a week because it makes me so happy.
Brett’s other passion and hobby is his garden - he’s veryyyy into Organic Gardening. So a lot of our vegetables come from there, mainly because he seems to only grow things in quantities of 37927392.
i do love going to the farmers market, but our schedule (and budget) don’t always allow for that. that’s something I’d like to better prioritize, even if it’s just using our local farmhouse delivery service.
we have a biggggg pile of these rags and a whole bunch of these kitchen towels (and a slew of linen napkins from Serena & Lily). like yeah, it’s good for the earth and all that stuff, but really it’s because I’m a Bounty paper towel snob and Brett used an atrocious amount per day, and we couldn’t afford our paper towel habit. our stash of rags and towels is the loveliest and my budget breathes a huge sigh of relief.
I do only have a whole collection of glass pans, glass leftover containers, and glass mason jars - mainly because I find them so much easier to clean (and prettier to look at) than plastic. here’s my Amazon storefront with some of my favorites.
we love this reusable pouch for KK (for our smoothies, for applesauce, for yogurt, etc) because for us it’s significantly cheaper to buy a tub of yogurt and portion it into a pouch — and I love that this pouch is spill-proof.
i have these stainless steel straws for my smoothie routine and my juicing routine. (speaking of, brett’s huuuuuge into composting. a good portion of our food waste is composted.)
and we plan to switch to these reusable snack bags soon, but other than that I haven’t really changed up any of our food or our kitchen supplies, and I haven’t felt called to do so yet.
baby steps.
