First of all, I was NOT raised organically- I literally grew up on Kraft’s Mac n Cheese, hot dogs, and Mr Bubble’s Bubble Bath (see photo below). We had no idea that the stuff in those things were not good for you- (I don’t know why my mother was never suspicious of those hot dogs, but that’s another story.)
We began to become more aware when we moved to Durango, Colorado because it’s filled with lots of organic people and they helped to inform us. But still, we kind of continued on in similar fashion because we didn’t NEED to go organic- in the sense that none of us were allergic to the nasty chemicals in our stuff, so it was just kind of easier to ignore it- and it was more expensive and not a lot of variety at that time.
It really wasn’t until my mom was diagnosed with cancer the 2nd time (8 years ago) that we started to take this stuff seriously. Her doctors told her that she really needed to start looking at the labels of her household and skincare products. That was a real wake up call as to how serious the chemicals in most of those products are – most of them are banned in Europe, actually.
Even though I eventually lost my mother to cancer, I have been on the journey to non-toxic living since then, for myself and for my family. I’ve spent countless hours researching which products were better (and which ones we could afford, let’s be honest.) So for the past few years, we’ve been using products that I thought were more natural and spending extra money on them, only to find out that many were actually FAKE natural, “green-washed” as the truly organic people say.
Really some of the trusted names that claim “organic” or “natural” actually have toxic chemicals in them that can alter your hormones (think fertility and mood, etc) and caused cancer in rats. I don’t want to name names, but it’s highly likely that you have some in your cupboards or shower unless you are completely woke in this area. (This is a list of the ones to avoid in case you are unaware.) And if you’ve never considered looking at the ingredients in your body products and cleaning products, please do. The typical brands from the big stores all contain these kinds of toxic chemicals and now many fake-clean brands do too.
This blog is an attempt to share some of what I’ve learned in a very non-judgmental and practical way. It’s likely that you are not going to be able to go 100% organic tomorrow, and neither am I. But there are things that we can do as we swap our toxic products for clean ones.
Follow my Clean Living Board on Pinterest if you’d like some more tips as well.
Here’s to making the most of life while we have it!
