14 September 2007 September 14, 2007

Well, it’s been a long time.  I’ve been busy with work (it feels nice to be able to write that).  I’ve been working 34 hours a week, but commuting time to and from work makes it much longer, and makes me feel much more tired.

I’ve been eating well.  The breadmaker is wonderful, and apart from homemade bread my diet is very close to being entirely organic.  I’ve also lost a wee bit of weight.

The rather generous wage I get from the council has meant that I’ve felt more able to spend money on quality toiletries and make up.   Of note have been Dr Hauschka’s Moisturising Day Cream (lovely and light) and Living Nature’s Dawn Light (a good match for my pale skin).

I was prompted to post today after receiving a comment from  Lloyd from Nappies Direct about their Naty products.  He has kindly pointed out that they have a new website dedicated to Naty products:  Naturalised.  I’ve bought, but yet to try some Naty sanpro.  They look and feel a bit more substantial (in a reassuring way, rather than a bulky way), than the Natracare sanpro, so hopefully they’ll do a better job (couldn’t really be worse!).

Yesterday,  for the first time I missed a dose of my Cellcept.  I’m not sure how serious a problem missing a dose is.  I felt a bit faint today, but that could have happened anyway.

9 June 2007 June 9, 2007

So I’ve been trying new, more environmentally-friendly products to replace the things I’ve been using for years:

Natracare

I’ve been really keen to find an alternative to bleached and plastic-y sanitary towels. As I’ve mentioned before I’m a fan of the idea of washable, reusable cloth sanitary towels, but practically - and for the sake of saving my blushes - I am eschewing them (for the moment). So, I turned to what seems to be the next best thing: Natracare. Natracare are non-chlorine bleached, perfume-free, plastic-free and over 95% biodegradable. Great I thought and ordered some super pads with wings. The arrived and immediately I was pleased to see that they are packaged in a cardboard box and the individual wrappers are paper not plastic - excellent from an environmental point of view and because they are consequently quieter to unwrap (hurrah!). Upon looking at the pads themselves I was disappointed and slightly concerned. Despite being ’super’ pads, these are thin - not ‘good thin’, but ‘worryingly thin’. In fact they are thin and narrow, which makes them a bit unreliable and not really suitable for people with very heavy periods nor for night-time use. This is such a shame, because the idea is so good. Fair enough, most women would probably be fine with them, but they really aren’t comparable to the non-environmentally friendly ’super’ pads.

Naty also make ECO Sanitary Towels so I’m going to give them a go, but they don’t seem to be as readily available, online they are available from Nappies Direct and, if you’re lucky enough to be in their delivery area, Waitrose and Ocado.

Soapnuts

For me, it was quite a radical move to try soapnuts instead of washing powder/liquid/tablets, I really can be very cynical about some things especially if I don’t understand them. Despite my cynicism I was keen to find an alternative, eco-friendly laundry product. I had been using non-biological tablets - sometimes Ecover or Tesco Naturally, sometimes not. Anyway, I got a wee sample of soapnuts and gave them a go. They go in the washing machine in a little cloth bag (tied tightly). I’ve been washing at 30 degrees on a short cycle (39 minutes including spin). I’ve stuck in everything no matter how dirty and stained and everything has come out as clean or cleaner than it would have with tablets. The little bag of soapnuts smells horrible when it comes out of the wash and is damp. Let’s be frank: it smells of pee, but the washing itself smells fine, quite pleasant really. I haven’t had to resort to putting any essential oils in the drawer, but I know that it is an option should I want my clothes to be fragranced in the wash. I’m a convert and will be buying a full sized bag asap.

23 May 2007 May 23, 2007

Once I go for something, I really go for it. Last night I purged my toiletries drawer of just about everything. This has forced me into buying lots of natural / SLS-free / paraben-free toiletries. I splurged on some essential oils and some bottles of flower water from Naturallythinking. I have also been totally sucked in by the look and descriptions of Burt’s Bees products.

I also spent a little bit of time looking at the supposed healing properties of crystals. I know that it’s garbage, but still I might dig out my turquoise earrings.

I’m slightly more persuaded by the argument for washable - and therefore reusable - sanitary towels. I hadn’t heard of them before, but they seem like quite a good - if slightly yucky - idea. I’d heard of mooncups before, but had immediately decided they weren’t for me as I prefer to use pads, so discovering that there was a pad option was an interesting revelation. If they were easily available in the Britain, for a decent price and they looked as nice as the ones from Sckoon (see left) then I think I might take the plunge. There would of course be the issue of washing and drying them in a house I share with my mum and dad - practically the definition of ‘awkward’.

(Daily 20 minutes exercise - done!)