personal care

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June 15, 2009

“After enlightenment, the laundry.” Zen Proverb

Posted by greenlivingottawa under climate change, clothing, energy, household, personal care
[2] Comments 

By Eloise Collison. Eloise is a freelance writer, organic gardener, and fibre fanatic who lives and writes in Westboro.

Laundry

I’ve been thinking about laundry a lot lately. With five people in the house and a lot of rain this spring, laundry is becoming more of a sporting event than a chore.

To lessen the environmental impact of all this washing we are looking at solar hot water heating, and will be attending the next info session in our neighbourhood. If you missed the previous post it will be in Westboro (Ottawa): Tuesday June 23rd, 2009. 7pm-9pm at Dovercourt Recreation Centre, 411 Dovercourt Avenue, Ottawa, ON.

I am also hanging as much of my laundry outside as possible. It’s been raining a lot this spring but I sometimes hang it out anyway. I call it the second rinse. It will dry eventually, and still smell fresh.

In some communities there are by-laws prohibiting the hanging of laundry. However, in Ontario those by-laws have been repealed. (As far as I can judge from the legalese that I found here.) The environmental tips page at the City of Ottawa encourages the use of lines and laundry racks.

In BC an organization called Let’s Hang Out is working to promote outdoor clothes drying, as a way to combat global warming and save energy. According to the people at Let’s Hang Out, 6% of your household energy is consumed by the clothes dryer.

If you need a reason to abandon your dryer here are mine:

Top 10 reasons to hang your laundry on the line:

1 You can meditate about life as you pin up the clothes.

2 Folding the clothes as they come off the line prevents that “we decorate with mountains of socks” look in your living room.

3 Hanging laundry gets you outside on a sunny day.

4 Laundry flapping on the line is beautiful.

5 In the few minutes it takes, you can keep an eye on your garden, your children and what’s happening in your neighbourhood.

6 No static cling, and no need for fabric softener.

7 It’s a chemical free way to bleach out stains.

8 Bacteria in your clothing is killed when exposed to the sun.

9 Your laundry will smell fantastic when it’s dry.

10 Air drying your laundry saves money and Energy!!

 

April 15, 2009

Support Local Artisans Who Use the 3-Rs in Their Crafts – April 18 and 19

Posted by greenlivingottawa under 100-mile, Ottawa, arts and culture, clothing, fair trade, food, household, personal care, recycled, reduce
1 Comment 

Here’s an event that I wish I was in town to attend:  The third annual Salon des Artisans-Récupérateurs de L’Outaouais.  This craft fair will be on April 18th and 19th at the Tétreau Community Centre in Gatineau.  There will be over 50 crafts-people selling everything from jewellry, to clothing, accessories, paintings, sculptures, and household items.

The show is being organized by Friends of the Earth Outaouais and Véronique Bérubé of Design-Vert.  Everything for sale must be designed and made by the artisans present.  In order to qualify for the show, the items must be made primarily out of re-used or recycled materials, and be of high quality workmanship and artistry.

Alongside the craft fair there will be workshops, a recycled craft area for kids, items on display from an international contest to make toys out of reused materials, and a café.  Please note that there is no ATM on site and that many of the artisans will only be able to accept cash.

I’m honestly astonished (pleasantly) that there are 50 such artisans in our local area.  So please take the opportunity to support local environmentally-friendly crafts-people and let us imagine a day when most of the goods we buy are locally produced from sustainable sources.

Salon des Artisans-Récupérateurs de L’Outaouais

  • When: 18th and 19th of April from 10 am to 5pm.
  • Where: Tétreau Community Centre (Parc Mousette), 361 Boulevard de Lucerne, Gatineau
  • Admission is free!
  • Parking is also free, but the Community Centre is easily accessible by bike along the path that runs on the North bank of the Ottawa River.  So why not use environmentally-friendly transportation to get there.
 

March 19, 2009

The Ottawa Go Green Expo On This Weekend!

Posted by greenlivingottawa under Ottawa, arts and culture, building, clothing, energy, food, health, household, organic, personal care, recycled, transportation, waste reduction
[2] Comments 

written by guest blogger Eloise Collison. Eloise is a freelance writer, organic gardener, and fibre fanatic who lives and writes in Westboro

The Ottawa Go Green Expo takes place on the weekend of March 21st at Lansdowne Park. This is your opportunity to bring your green consumer out of hibernation; you can sample organic wine, check out the latest electric scooter or plan an environmentally conscious renovation.
Ottawa’s largest green event brings together 180 of the greenest programs, products and services under one roof. Guest speakers include Severn Cullis-Suzuki, Justin P. J. Trudeau, and David Chernushenko presenting his film Be the Change.

Vendors touch on all aspects of living green, including green home and gardens, local and organic cooking, eco-fashion, energy conservation, recreation, eco-tourism, alternative transportation, and health.

The Ottawa Go Green Expo runs from 10am – 6pm on Saturday and from 10am – 5pm on Sunday and admission is free.

Contact the Ottawa Go Green Expo at 905-477-2677 or 1-800-891-4859.
Find them on the web at: www.ottawagogreenexpo.com

Lansdowne Park
Aberdeen Pavilion
1015 Bank Street
Ottawa, Ontario K1S 3W7

 

April 6, 2008

The Quest for A Healthy Deodorant that Works

Posted by greenlivingottawa under Ottawa, health, organic, personal care, waste reduction
[4] Comments 

miessence deodorant

I’ve tried a great number of health food store deodorants, the ones that advertise being environmentally friendly and better for you than the run of the mill pharmacy ones.  I’ve tried a great many because they tend to work for a week or two and then fail miserably, usually on a high stress day when I really need them to work.  I was relieved to find that I’m not alone in this.  In her most excellent book, Ecoholic, Adria Vasil writes of experiencing the same problem.

There are certain brands that in the past I found worked for longer: Nature’s Gate and Tom’s of Maine.  However, these brands have propylene glycol as their main ingredient,  which the Skin Deep Cosmetics Database lists as “moderately toxic,” 4 out of a possible 10.  BTW, I have recently discovered that Nature’s Gate Organics deodorants are propylene glycol free, but I have not tried them. I was disappointed to discover Tom’s of Maine uses propylene glycol since they were the first company to develop a “natural deodorant” back in the 1970s and Ellis Jones, in his “the better world shopping guide” rates them as #5 on his list of the 10 best companies in the world from an ethical, environmental and social justice perspective. But I was determined to make my armpits propylene glycol free zones, so I went back to trying out deodorants.

Fortunately my environmentally-friendly hair dresser, Joy, recently introduced me to an Australian organic cosmetics company, miessence organics.  Their Aroma Free Deodorant is more expensive than your average health food store brand.  However, it has only four ingredients (water, aloe vera, sodium bicarbonate, xanthan gum, and grapefruit seed extract) all of which I am familiar with and comfortable using.  The deodorant works perfectly and has continued to work without fail for several months now.

One last note about healthy deodorants.  I have also found that deodorant stones or crystals work extremely well, save on packaging, and are about the most cost-effective natural deodorants out there.  However, on doing a bit of research, I found that their active ingredient was an aluminum salt, potassium alum, which led me to stop using it, the deodorant aluminum scares of the 1980s being what had led me to change to health food store deodorants in the first place.  The Cosmetics Database lists potassium alum as having very low toxicity (a score of 1, with 0 being the lowest possible), however, it also lists data gaps for this ingredient, so I’m still undecided on the crystal deodorant issue.

Incidentally, in preparing this post, I looked up grapefruit seed extract on the database and it gets a score of 3 on toxicity, mostly because of concerns that it might be contaminated with nasty chemicals.  So all I can do is conclude that being an informed consumer is hard work and the best path is never a clear one.

Resources:

Miessence deodorant available at Pure Joy Hair Studio in Westboro, Ottawa, open Wednesday to Saturday, phone ahead 613-728-4069

Crystal Deodorant Stone available from the on-line Outouais store: Scentfree.ca

Ottawa-based website on health and cosmetics: PureKnowHow

International, comprehensive cosmetics database: Skin Deep

 

December 11, 2007

On the Fourth Day of Christmas…Organic Cosmetics and Body-care Products

Posted by greenlivingottawa under 100-mile, Ottawa, organic, personal care
1 Comment 

lilou_logo.jpg

If you are tempted to buy someone cosmetics or body-care products this holiday season make sure to buy them products that do not threaten their health (or the health of animals or the planet).

After being diagnosed with breast cancer, Patti, a local Ottawa mom, began to research the toxic ingredients included in those everyday items we put on our bodies such as sunscreen, deodorant, nail polish, and mascara. Appalled at what she found, she and her friend and neighbour Tammey set up a web-site and newsletter to help inform women about the pitfalls of conventional cosmetics and the alternatives that are available. Before buying anyone cosmetics or body-care products take a look around their site: www.pureknowhow.com.

Okay, once you know what not to buy and why, you’ll probably want to know where to buy alternatives. So let me point you in the direction of another local website, Lilou-organics, run by mom-preneur Lisa. Lilou-organics carries 16 lines of organic cosmetics and body-care products for women, men and babies. While Lilou-organics is primarily an on-line store, for those of us living in the Ottawa area it is possible to go out and visit the showroom in Richmond, but Lisa says that you should call first since she has babies!

Lilou-organics carries many of my favourite products:

Lilou-organics, 6018 Perth Street, box 608, Richmond (Ottawa), ON, K0A 2Z0, 613-601-5701

P.S. for those readers not in Ottawa or without transportation, Lilou-organics offers free shipping on Canadian orders over $100 and on US orders over $150.

 

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