TIPS. Organic/Ethical lifestyle on budget

samanthaneww2d

budgeteer wrote: »

I enjoy the 'what's in your veg-box' thread. But I'd also like to hear some ideas from others who wish to eat more organically, begin to banish toxins from the home, source good quality yet ethically produced clothes, fabrics and bedding - all on a very limited budget. No eco-warrior bludgeon-brandishing (try saying that after a few glasses of elderberry and parsnip wine!), just little ideas for things we can begin to do that'll all add up to make a real difference.

Sorry if there is already a thread like this, but I couldn't find one:p

begin to banish toxins from the home,


I use white wine vinegar to clean from my local asian store its about £2.50 for 5 litres and E cloths bio d for washing powder I try to reduce the amount of washing I do by making sure I have a full wash load as for organic clothing I can't say I can afford that so try to buy clothing from charity shops and have organised a couple of clothes swapping ( swishing) parties
Bicarb is good as are lemons for a lot of jobs and its surprising what a bucket of hot soapy water and a lot of elbow grease can clean

I also try to source things from freecycle and offer my unwanted things to reduce landfill

[Deleted User]

I too vote for Astonish after I was told by the lady who comes to clean my cooker/oven once a year that its the best cleaner on the market (she is my one luxury as I can't bend down properly to clean the oven )I went to Wilkinsons and bought every astonish product they had on the shelves and its not that expensive and totally free of harmful chemicals .Brilliant for almost every cleaning job around the house and lasts ages as its in a paste form

Penelope_Penguin

As this is more of an Ethicl thread, I'll move it to the Green and Ethical Board


Hi, Martin’s asked me to post this in these circumstances: I’ve asked Board Guides to move threads if they’ll receive a better response elsewhere (please see this rule) so this post/thread has been moved to another board, where it should get more replies. If you have any questions about this policy please email [EMAIL="forumteam@moneysavingexpert.com"]forumteam@moneysavingexpert.com[/EMAIL].

more_money_for_me

http://www.sustainweb.org/foodcoopstoolkit/

This might be worth a look. Not always just food, it can be a range of products.

Peter_Pan

I use the Astonish paste and also basics like bicarb of soda, citric acid, soda crystals, borax substitute for claning and have even made my own washing powder its amazing that Supermarkets lead you to believe you need all those cleaning products when in fact you only need a select few ingredients which will do it all without harming the environment.
We use a range of organic toiletries as well as all our household eco-friendly products from a family run Company and love them so much we now retail them ourselves to local households, i didn't realise until i joined that a product can be called natural even if it has chemicals in, at least i know know what i use is as natural as you get now.
Now i miss out several aisles in the Supermarket, we are also trying to buy organic food, we have cut out various items such as red meat, all processed foods, sugar and other bits since hubby got diagnosed with prostate cancer earlier this year which has also led us to look at our whole way of life, reducing chemicals, diet changing to mostly fruit and veg with a bit of white meat, working on ourselves in a personal development way, looking after our body, mind and spirit.

Debbie

celerity

Wee in the shower .
Here is a genuine Brazillian advert endorsing just that, take a look at the video: http://www.treehugger.com/files/2009/08/pee-in-the-shower-save-the-rainforest.php

(and they have a point!)

/\dam