The body wash and shampoo aisle is overwhelming. There are literally thousands of different soaps and shampoos “specially formulated” for your hair by people who have never seen your hair. Here are a few things to watch out for when buying soaps:

• soap companies can put “natural” on just about anything
• “fragrance” means a conglomeration of chemicals
• avoid anything that has palm oil, as it is extremely unsustainably harvested

A great resource when purchasing health & beauty products is the good guide. They have a rating system that helps you tease out the good from the bad throughout the grocery store. Here’s what they say about soaps. You can also look for local soap producers, and see if you can support their business and get clean, chemical free soap.

If you’re interested in making your own soap from scratch, it’s a pretty complicated process. Especially bar soaps, which easily turn into messy, slimy little balls. You’ll also need several ingredients you probably don’t have lying around the house, such as lye and tallow. If you have the time, and the patience however, home made soaps leave your skin feeling really soft, and they also make great green gifts.

Half way recipes (in which you take a pure form of soap and spruce it up) can be fun and easy to do at home (more…)

It’s apple picking season, and with that comes canning and preserving.   My grandmother used to make some of the best apple jelly, and lots of it.  She lived in Canada, where I am originally from; nearly every package we ever received from her contained a jar of her apple jelly.  That was one of the things we looked forward to in her care packages.  Grandmother has since left this earth, and one of the things I desire to learn how to do is to make her apple jelly, so future generations do not lose yet another one of these dying arts.

Confronted by the many pounds of apples waiting to be processed and eaten, I found myself in need of an alternative to the cheesecloth grandmother used to squeeze out the juice.  A friend recommended this Finnish-made, Mehu-Lissa 10 Liter Stainless Steel Steamer Juicer, a device that can save hours of work and produce faster results than hand-squeezing ever would.

From my perusing many reviews and my friend’s recommendation, it appears this is a product going on my wish list. It not only produces fruit juices, but can cook (more…)

What today falls into the niche of “DIY” (do it yourself), is in fact the longest human tradition there is.  It’s funny that today we need people to teach us how to do it ourselves, that we can’t fathom making things we find essential.  Do it yourself-ism is a quiet, but effective way of protesting the consumerism that has gripped us.  By taking the few extra minutes to make your own shampoo, deodorant, shirt or whatever it is, you’re turning your back on big companies and bringing your health and well-being back into your own hands.  It may not seem like a big deal when you do, because it isn’t, it’s what we’re made to do.

Take, for example, deodorant.  Many people consider it a daily necessity (and perhaps more people should).  Rather than going to the store, look for a few things in your cabinets: (more…)

By now all of you know of my interest in farming, and writing for The Alternate Consumer has been a fun way to expand my knowledge of farm and garden products available to us. The farming possibilities available in urban and suburban settings continue to amaze me — from the fact that people in Chicago (and New York) are allowed to keep chickens — to the urban beekeeper, these urban wannabee farmers are letting nothing stop them from growing their own food. These are the people that inspire my husband and me to do what we can from our suburban locale to fulfill our dream of being farmers.

Natural England, a conservation group in England, has been in the business of conserving bees since Great Britain’s bee population, along with the rest of the worldwide bee population, took a hard hit a couple of years ago. They are currently (more…)

I’ve often heard people say they do their best thinking in the shower, and although I can’t say I’m one who does heavy brain work amidst the suds I did take a minute the other day to read the back of my shampoo bottle.

What I saw surprised me.  Water, sodium laureth sulfate, glycol distearate, sodium lauryl sulfate, cocamidopropylbetaine, cocamide MEA, zinc carbonate, behentrimonium chloride, fragrance, magnesium sulfate, sodium benzoate, zinc chloride, sodium citrate, benzyl alcohol, sodium chloride, sodium hydroxide, blue 1, red 4.

I’m not sure I want all those things that close to one of my most vital organs, or possibly getting into my eyes, nose or mouth.  Of the twenty-two ingredients that are in most shampoos, only about three of them actually clean.  Others, like cocadamide MAE are suspected carcinogens.  Americans spend almost $11 million each year on shampoos that contain these toxic and useless ingredients.

As a college student I’m not generally keen on paying for more than I’m getting (and nineteen to one just doesn’t cut it) so I went to the trusty internet to investigate a solution, and found several recipes for homemade shampoo.  After some testing and several washes my hair was happy and I had a good working concoction. (more…)

Knitters, happily take note:  Natural Star, a New Zealand-based professional knitter can provide the beanie pattern (above) to fit Newborns through to 5 year olds, ($5 US).  No time for needles?  Find a head-topper ready-made in fine Merino wool, raspberry or navy, ($22).  Or pluck various sweet organic woollies for the wee set — mittens, booties, and sweaters via etsy @ NaturalStar.

We’ve seen too many unfortunate deaths of the everyday t-shirt.  (Many in the form of “memory” quilts-gone-wrong.)

All the more reason to love this purplish-gray, feet-friendly, 100 percent recycled rug, crafted from discarded, hand-cut tees. Super soft and available in an array of sizes suitable for any room (21”x30” to 5’x8’), the rugs, by Talking Squid start at a respectable $48.

For $5 off of a $30 purchase, become a fan of TalkingSquid on Facebook and use code “Face5” when ordering through etsy.

Love the idea but not the rug? Check out this DIY project that will turn your old tees into something just as chic, but wearable. A delicate, sinewy necklace.

Flipping through a magazine the other day, I came across an article on Wall Hooks – there were about six different designs featured, and to my surprise, not one of them was sourced from eco-conscious materials.  So I thought I’d dig up a few cool-looking babies for our viewing pleasure.

For that homey, rustic look and feel, (above) — a one-of-a-kind Vintage Wood Wall Hanger with antique door knobs in beautiful sage green, by Jennifer Goode ($28.95) @ Etsy.  (How reasonably-priced.  Seems like just the materials could cost that much.)

On the other hand, creating your own version seems like a fairly simple, Do-It-Yourself project.  Above is a great example of an upcycled concoction gone bad, from Oddee (although I’m a bit hung up on it — it’s  weirdly charming, yes?)

For the mod squad, this sleek bamboo Hookaboo Multi Hook (above) in Natural by Umbra may be more your cup of tea. (more…)

I confess, I’m not only a pedal pusher, but also a pillow pusher.  Always looking for a change in scenery on the home-front, an easy, inexpensive trick is to invest in some decorative pillow talk.

If you’re blessed with the knack to Do-It-Yourself, repurpose an un-used table cloth, skirt, scarf or whatever material you happen to have lying around.  Cover your tired throw pillows, stitch those straight seams, and voila — happy new accessories for your bed or couch.

Not sew handy?  Visit etsy for handmade pillows from recycled material or eco friendly bamboo, hemp, or organic cotton. Here are a few folksy/modern styles, inspired by Early (more…)

I’m a little late to this dance, but I found Josh D’s DIY take on the iPod to be interesting, nonetheless.  Josh’s ingredients: one Mini iPod, one Dremel, some Australian red cedar, a few screws, some double-sided tape and more than a modicum of woodworking skill.  The result:  one crunchy, custom iPod case.

He even recreated his iPod dock in wood. (below)

The pix are from his Wooden iPod Flickr page.

via: design boom

Modern home furnishings and accessories all made from sustainable cork with little waste and a teensy carbon footprint.  What’s not to love?  Lisbon’s Corque Design creates modern furnishings and items for the home, with an eye on both style and the environment.

find out more @ corquedesign.com

In these trying economic times, many of us are making-over our homes and offices as cost effectively as possible, and oftentimes this means doing it ourselves.  A great green resource for eco friendly building and home improvement supplies is Green Depot.

On the Web for the past four years, and with a new location in Manhattan, everything from eco-minded flooring, paint, tiles, countertops to cleaning supplies and home decor are all (more…)

A Cirque du Soleil moment?   If you have storm damaged trees in your yard or woodlot, you might want to consider this DIY project.  Designer Jurgen Bey created this fusion of nature and furniture out of a log and a few bronze, classical chair backs.

Arborists and tree surgeons should note that as an art furniture project the bench is list priced for an incredible $20,200 – yet, since tree trunks are locally available it’s stated that only the chair benches are for sale @ droog.com