GREEN YOUR: LAUNDRY ROOM

Last night Miss M and I went to her Freshmen Science Project Expo where the final results from their class experiments were on display.  The experiments ranged from music effects on heart rate to reactions times while talking on the phone, playing video games or surfing the internet and of course what happens when you mix Diet Coke and Mentos.  We’ve all seen the videos.  No surprises there.

This one however, did surprise me.

Kinda….

I already had an inkling that fragrances were toxic.  I used to spend 60 hours a week in the mall.  Working not shopping.  The perfume counters and fragrances worn by customers gave me obnoxious headaches.  But it wasn’t until I gave up fragrances that I truly realized just how obnoxious they were.

That’s not to say that I live in a scentless world.  I often have fresh flowers in the house; I wash my head, hands and body with peppermint castile soap; use lavender and orange air freshener in the bathroom and clean with vinegar.  That’s one helluva scent.  Just ask Mister.

The difference is that they are natural scents.  Derived from essential oils, not chemically induced fragrances.

Do you even know what fragrance is?  Probably not, because manufacturers don’t have to tell us.  It’s a “trade secret”.  When you see “fragrance” listed as an ingredient on a product, that one word – “fragrance” – often contains dozens or even hundreds of synthetic chemical compounds.

Compounds like:

toxic compounds in fragranceSome of these are so contradictory I can’t help but laugh.

Benzyl Acetate: “Do not flush to sewer.”  Yet we’re using it as shampoo, dishwashing liquid, detergent and soap?  Pretty sure those pipes lead to the sewer.

Camphor: “Avoid inhalation of vapors.”  Guess what it’s in… perfume and fabric softener.  Am I the only one who sees the irony in this?

But my favorite has to be Limonene.  It’s downright comical.

Limonene: “Prevent its contact with skin or eyes…”  So what’s it in?  Perfume, cologne, deodorant, shaving cream, after shave…  Why would you use a chemical NOT intended for contact with skin IN products applied directly to it?  Or how about this… “Always wash thoroughly after using this material and before eating, drinking, …applying cosmetics.”  Okay, let me just grab my soap.  Damn.  It’s in soap!  Oh the hilarity.

Or should I say insanity.

Really, it’s no joke and honestly not a laughing matter.  It makes no sense.

Which is what I would like you to do – no scents.

Think for a moment of all the things you use during the day that contain fragrance.  Do you even know?

You probably don’t realize just how assaulted you are.  I’m not even going to go into the realm of all outside fragrances you encounter throughout your day – Ever come within 20 feet of a Hollister? – let’s just focus on the toxins we inflict upon ourselves.

Your nose has become so accustomed to these “fragrances” that you don’t even realize they are there.  Prompting manufacturers to make them stronger (i.e. more obnoxious).  Or, they’ve altered your perception.  Do you really think mountain rain smells like that bottle of blue liquid has led you to believe?

I encourage you to stop and take note.  Flip over those bottles and read the ingredients – if your lucky enough to have them listed. Keep a running tally of all those containing “fragrance”.  How many do you use?  The average North American uses between 17 and 21 scented products per day.  Surprised?  It’s in more than perfume and air freshener.  Lipstick, toilet paper, tampons…  Come on, who’s sniffing around down there?

Now that you’ve got your list, decide what you can live without or at least find a natural alternative for.  Essential oils are wonderful.  And wonderfully concentrated.  A little goes a long way, so you can have scents while saving cents!

For one month I challenge you to reduce or eliminate your self-exposure to synthetic fragrances.  I think it will be eye nose opening!

Rebecca Jean

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My favorite 1950s day dress

An oldie but a goodie, that's what.

This 50′s day dress is hands down one of my favorites.  While I don’t think I have shown it on the blog before it has made its way into my Flickr photostream a couple of times, here and here.  In fact, it was one of the very first photos I uploaded there.  Back when I didn’t have a tripod and took all my photos indoors in front of my office cabinets.  Bad lighting, bad background, bad cropping, all around bad bad bad.  This photography thing is a long learning process, I tell ‘ya.

I know most fashion blogs wouldn’t dare show the same outfit twice, but I am not one of those women with enough clothes to never have to wear the same thing twice – okay, maybe I am one of those women, but this is more than a fashion blog.  It’s a blog about sustainability.  It wouldn’t be very sustainable to wear something once and then let it take up precious closet space, only to be thrown out a year later now would it?  Nope.  So I do wear my clothes, again and again.  Wear, wash, repeat.  And not necessarily in that order.

This dress cost 12 bucks!  I certainly have gotten my money's worth in the year that I have owned it.

Lovely toile pattern with floral motif.

I think Americans are obsessed with cleanliness and not in the right way.  Which is dirtier: wearing your clothes more than once before washing or the pollution caused by burning coal to run our electric washers and the toxic chemicals we use to launder our clothes with?

Wear you clothes more than once before washing, it’s okay.  Unless you’re Mike Rowe and have a dirty job, nobody will know.

  • You will save money
  • Your clothes will last longer
  • You will have more free time
  • You will consume less resources
Hard to believe that a dress 60 years old will outlast one produced just last year.

Wear, wear, wear, wash, repeat.

How about it?  Are you a wear once and wash person?  Or do wait to launder only after clothes have failed the sniff test?

THRIFTED/VINTAGE/INDIE PIECES
  • 1950′s day dress {purchased locally at Vintage Vogue}
  • Corduroy jacket {thrifted locally at Goodwill}
  • Vintage barrel bag {purchased locally at Vintage Vogue}

Rebecca Jean

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Smells like Sunshine

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One easy way to GREEN YOUR: LAUNDRY ROOM is to take your clothes outside.  Outside on the line that is.  Clotheslines are better for the environment, easier on your clothes, reduce waste, cut energy consumption, save you money, and you just can’t beat the smell of line-dried clothes! I stopped drying our clothes in the [...]

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Thrifty Green Thursday – Laying it on the line.

Basement clothesline. During the summer it easy to conserve energy and money by hanging your clothes outside to dry. But, what about the winter or HOA’s that do not allow outdoor clotheslines? If you are lucky to have an unfinished basement like me, And yes I said lucky. Most people consider finished basements a bonus, [...]

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