eco AND wallet friendly?

Green Home

eco AND wallet friendly?

Posted by shesmiledsweetly on August 16, 2007 - 12:51pm.

I am a college student and living on a fairly strict budget.
I hate buying cleaning/laundry or even bath and body products that are full of chemicals and tested on animals, but I find it so hard to justify spending my whole week's allowance on expsensive shampoo and dishsoap.
I love the "Method" brand of products that Target carries, but when they're sitting next to the highly toxic yet extremely cheap alternatives, I start to go into an ethics panic.
Do I buy the cheap bathroom cleaner and settle for the fact that I'm putting harmful chemicals into the air and water..or do I go for the eco-friendly option..and stay in my dorm when everyone is going out for dinner and a movie?
Is there a way to be eco-friendly and still have some extra cash in my pocket? <br>All suggestions are greatly appreciated! :)

My question exactly

by Ecobabe on August 16, 2007 - 3:25pm

I have the same problem when buying produce. I would prefer to buy the organic but it is so much more expensive, I'm not sure it's worth the extra expense. I hear you on the cleaners.... I was looking at 100% recycled aluminum foil and it was almost $4 for 25 sq. ft. I can get the same for .99 at the grocery. There just has to be a way to being these prices down so we can buy them.

same situation

by Monmac1 on August 16, 2007 - 4:06pm

I am almost in the same situation that you are in. I live with my father and roommate, hopefully starting school soon too, and I like to maintain a healthy living style for myself and for our environment. I just do not understand why everything has to be SO expensive! I only have one job and it is not enough to pay for all my regular living expenses, how am supposed to afford a green one too? I think it might just also matter where you are located; the whole cost of living issue comes up. Haven’t you noticed that all the stars and rich people are the only ones that can afford this kind of lifestyle? A lot of people would like to live a healthy lifestyle but why would they want to spend a extra lets say $200+ a month just to give a little to the planet? Well now I can kind of see why a lot of people do not and will not go green, it is because they cannot afford the expenses it takes to be green. Why don’t any of these company’s cut down the prices? Is it really that much more expensive not to make products with chemicals or test on animals? If anyone knows of any let me know! (This is another issue I am going have to think about, before the end of the month.)

ECOnomism

by cacholady on August 16, 2007 - 5:36pm

Check out the internet on homemade products. Homemade is usually less toxic and less on the wallet. For instance, for baby powder, use 1 part cornstarch and one part rice powder (use regular white long grain rice and put it in the blender, pulse it fine). To get more body in your hair: take a cup of dark molasses and stroke it thru your wet hair, leave it on for thirty minutes then wash it out. Use light molasses if you're blonde. There are a number of great beauty products that you can make from everyday ingredients in your kitchen!

thanks for the tips!

by Monmac1 on August 17, 2007 - 11:46am

Wow thank for these tips, I am sure they will come in handy! Is there a certain site that you know of that I could visit? Or do I just randomly search for homemade products on google?

One product a month

by Statuesqueone on August 16, 2007 - 9:41pm

I too am concerned with the price of green and organic products. What I have decided to do is just buy one green product a month and one type of organic produce a week. I already buy a green dish soap so it shouldn't be too taxing to buy something else green. Hopefully that won't cut into my budget too much and I will feel better about helping to promote green healthy living.

I'll also check out homemade products which I do know about as I wrote a forum on the topic a couple of months ago. I have started to use vinegar to clean my windows and mirrors and am planning on using more baking soda to help with household cleaning. I hear it works great on the inside of an oven (just have to leave it on overnight) But the bottom line is how do we get the costs to come down?

Products

by cbsunshine on August 17, 2007 - 1:24pm

I have found that you do not need that many products to clean.You can use Baking Soda and Vinegar for just about everything.I also found some great cleaners online.
http://www.seasidenaturals.com
All I use is the glass cleaner and the all purpose cleaner.
As for Personal Care I know how expensive it can be. I actually sell Miessence Certified Organics. I love the products, but just as someone else said I just get 1-2 products a month, and you don't use alot of it thankfully.
http://www.SunshineOrganics.net
As far as getting the price to come down, the more people support organic and sustainable products it will eventually be not as expensive for them to have the products produced and manufactured. I offer up to 20% off after your initial purchase.

Great links

by Ecobabe on August 17, 2007 - 3:15pm

I checked out both links that you posted and they were great. I can't wait to try the organic cleaners, hopefully they work as well as the full-of-chemicals ones.

Think I will wait to try out the Personal Care products until I run out of what I have. Look for me to be purchasing in a month or so.

doing your part

by Harley on August 17, 2007 - 3:32pm

It is wondeful that as a colege student you are willing to do whatever it takes to do your part. Kudos to you! These sites seem awesome and i too am going to try them out. Let us know how they work.

Again-I suggest Shaklee

by lovelyxmalia on August 17, 2007 - 4:13pm

I sell Shaklee and receive discounts when I purchase their products. I am also a college student and I was feeling the same way, so I started selling Shaklee to make some extra $$ and now I make enough money from selling it to buy my own products. People will buy cleaning products if they know that they are safe.

www.shaklee.net/maliam check out my site and if you are interested, sign up to become a distributor (or member and receive the discount) make sure to check out the products and see the prices-they aren't necessarily higher because they last MUCH longer than most cleaning products. You're just spending more at first. Their product Basic H2 (for the small bottle) is equivelant to using 728 bottles of Windex.

merci beaucoup!

by shesmiledsweetly on August 18, 2007 - 9:42am

thank you for all of your wonderful suggestions! :)I am definitely going to check all of this stuff out and maybe start selling some of those products you guys mentioned!

hair shiner

by Photohappiness on August 18, 2007 - 9:58am

I read to use any extra beer from the fridge to use in your hair from Reader's Digest over 1000 uses for everyday things under beer catagory. I tried it a couple times, and it made my fine hair very shiny instead of indulging in au-natural spa ingredients for hair or hair products with loads of chemicals.
Get hair wet in the shower/bathtub. After shampooing, pour a dab of beer in your hands and sleek it through your hair from top to ends. Rinse it out and condition (sometimes shampooing afterwards if your hair is thin and/or fine).

haha! i love it!!

by shesmiledsweetly on August 18, 2007 - 10:17am

too bad we college kids would rather drink it all than "waste" it on our hair. my friends may laugh... but i will honestly give it a try :)

Ditto to that!

by Monmac1 on August 18, 2007 - 11:59am

You know when there is an extra beer in the fridge from the night before, you need it to drink down some medicine for your head the next day! Quickest way to cure a hangover….

Not Tested on Animals

by Mom2giqm on August 19, 2007 - 11:56am

I used to work for a natural cosmetics manufacturer. There seems to be a BIG misconception about products not being tested on animals. The statement "Not Tested on Animals" only applies to the whole product such as to say "We Have Not Lathered Up Fido with Our Shampoo". "Not Tested on Animals" does NOT apply to any of the ingredients in any product. There is not an ingredient under the sun that has not been tested on animals at some point.

Alternatives

by holbunny on January 24, 2008 - 12:22pm

Below I am posting some links that I found through a Yahoo group I'm in. There are recipes for homemade shampoo and soaps. I was hesitant to buy "green" laundry detergent due to the price, but did to use for my business. I found that you actually need to use less than with conventional. I have HE machines so I only need to use 2 TBSP of detergent for a full load! Now, that's all I use for laundry! (I buy ECOS from Costco). Keep an eye out when you're in Target for stuff they mark down for clearance. I recently found Method everyday cleaner marked down 50%off because it was after Christmas and it was a peppermint vanilla scent. So I bought a couple!

I wish I had started thinking more green when I was in college (beyond just recycling). I commend you! If you'd like, you can also check out my online store for organic skin care products (beehive products and ones that benefit the Amazon rain forest) and receive 20% off your first order using coupon code:GrandOpening. Regardless, I hope some of these links help!

http://www.soapdelicatessen.com/soapmaking/toiletries/hair/shampoo/

http://www.drlera.com/health_beauty/hair/home_recipes.htm

http://www.make-stuff.com/formulas/hair_care.html

http://www.soapnaturally.org/soap_recipes/index.html#small_batch

Holbunny

Green products without spending a lot of green!

by slloyd20 on January 28, 2008 - 11:06am

I work for a company that sells environmentally sensitive products that are safer and healthier, and the cost is less per use than the regular products we see in the stores. I love them and love the fact that my baby girl is so much safer around the house! And, it helps my wallet too!!! Check out the following site for more details: www.livetotalwellness.com/StephanieL