This non-toxic, natural air freshener is easy to prepare using four simple ingredients—vodka, fresh rosemary, lemon and essential oil of vanilla. Freshen up yoga mats, gym shoes and your home without dangerous chemicals, and save some money, too. Read more…
As most of YU know, I am spending time in the country lately and like Chicago, there is a lot to love, and a few things that are well, unnerving, like spiders. Not small ones, but ones the size of a baby’s fist. And hairy (see pic below). Until I visited the cottage for the first time, it had been about 14 years since I had seen a spider like that (I grew up and went to college in the country but I had forgotten)—it was shocking. I didn’t jump up on a table and scream, that’s not my style, but for the rest of the week I was checking every sleeve of every sweater, every shoe and every pant leg before I put them on. After I spotted the 3rd one in a week (yes, in the shower), I accepted that I would have to find a way to deal with this pronto—catching them in a glass and tossing them out the door wasn’t enough.
The cottage is on an organic farm, so a natural spider repellent recipe is in order. One that doesn’t kill the little buggers (I don’t blame them, the country is a banquet of “spider food”) or contaminate the soil, just one that keeps them out of my home. Cross your fingers that it works—so far so great! Read more…
Commercial oven cleaner is one of the most toxic cleaning products that you can use. Some can contain lye and ammonia which actually eat your skin (I guess that’s how it eats the residue off your oven too). The fumes not only get into your lungs and linger in your home, but they stay in your oven once it is “cleaned” and the chemical residues intensify as you bake them into your food. And then there’s the waste that enters the environment with disposal. Eek.
These toxic ingredients are absolutely unnecessary. You can protect yourself, and your family, by making a simple, inexpensive, cruelty-free cleaning paste at home that works better than the commercial junk—using natural soap, vinegar, baking soda, borax, and if you want, essential oil for a nice fragrance. Read more…
Homemade gifts are the best kind in my opinion. It means that someone took the time to think about you in this busy, disconnected-from-others, day and age. Homemade gifts make you slow down and create, which is rewarding, inspiring and stress relieving. And when that gift is unique, useful, easy-to-make, eco-friendly, cost-effective and adorable, you have a complete winner on your hands. This gift is great not only for vegans and eco-friendly folks, but for new moms and people with allergies or skin sensitivities like eczema and psoriasis. Read more…
Wahoo, I am super excited to announce the launch of the YUclean line of 100% natural cleaning products with a giveaway of our first product—natural soap nut laundry kits!
I think I just heard a thousand cries of “what the heck are soap nuts?” Well, in short, they are a miracle fruit that works hard to clean, brighten and freshen laundry better than chemical-based detergents. Eco-conscious, green moms and folks with eczema, psoriasis, and other skin sensitivities should listen up. This soap from Mother Nature is fun, inexpensive, environmentally-friendly and allergen-free, since it’s chemical-free, naturally. Read more…
My workout of choice is boxing. And thanks to the fact that I sometimes leave my boxing gloves and wraps in my car overnight, it smells like my favorite workout is boxing. The other day, I realized that I should not only try harder to take my gear out of my car every night, but I should also make a quick, natural, non-toxic air freshener to keep in there for those nights when I’m too wiped out to remember.
I am a big fan of Sophie Uliano’s book Do It Gorgeously: How to Make Less Toxic, Less Expensive, and More Beautiful Products
So, mix, bang, boom—easy non-toxic air freshener. Out the door and made it to class on time, in a ride smelling like a box of flowers. Read more…
I consume 1-2 lemons worth of fresh lemon juice a day, either in pure water, in Raw Green Power Juice or as part of my post-workout recovery drink (found in Brendan Brazier’s book THRIVE
My first batch was officially tested out this past weekend with incredible results. I ran all around the house like a giddy schoolgirl trying it out on mirrors, the hardwood floors, the toilets, the granite counter tops, and all were squeaky clean, smelled of fresh citrus and streak-free! Read more…
