An update on the experiment

So it's been what, almost 3 weeks?  Here's the scoop on my Natural Hair Care Experiment.

Washing with baking soda alone has been fine.  I still only wash every other day, with just a water rinse on the odd days.  The soda seems to get the hairspray out just fine, and my scalp hasn't been itchy or anything.

The rinses, however, are a different story.  I've tried a few different combinations to see what works best for my hair, and so far the plain apple cider vinegar gives me the best results.  I tried ACV and honey (for frizz) which wasn't bad... just beer (for body) which left a weird residue and seemed to make it tangle a lot worse... ACV and beer, which wasn't as bad as just beer but not the best... ACV and olive oil, which oh god no.  The day after that one was the oiliest, most disgusting hot mess of hair I've ever had.  I had hoped the tiny, bitty little drizzle of oil would help with some of the flyaways I was dealing with, but it weighed my hair down worse than regular conditioner does.  So in the end, I'm sticking with plain old ACV, with a little honey maybe once a week.  I might switch to plain vinegar, but I like the smell of ACV better.

My hair hasn't looked nearly as fried - it's soft an shiny and so much easier to style, even if it still doesn't hold a curl all day.  My color is holding up much better too, and once my hair is dry it doesn't smell like a salad or anything either.  :-) 

There was one day that I had some leftover baking soda in the cup, so I used it on my face - forget the oil cleanse method, holy cow did this make my face feel wonderful!  It's got just enough grit to exfoliate, and I'll probably only do it once or twice a week, but it worked fabulously.  I still have a whole bottle of Burt's Bees face wash to use up first though.

Natural Hair Care Experiment, Day 1

The fabulous Lani Diane Rich has been writing recently about her experiments with homemade and natural methods for a multitude of things, from lipbalms to dryer sheets.  And I, being the sporadic, lazy-ass, wanna-be blogger that I am, decided to finally start writing about my experiments as well.  I've been meaning to do this for over a year now anyway, so I might as well take inspiration when I can.

First, I'll start with the one that I embarked on today, known in some circles as the "No 'Poo" method.  Me being on the same level of humor as a 12-year-old boy, the words "No 'Poo" just make me think of avoiding the toilet for some unknown 12-year-old-boy reason, so I'm going with the more innocuous "Natural Hair Care" method instead.

The most common recipe that I've found goes something like this:
1 tbs baking soda with 1 c water, to rub into scalp
1 tbs apple cider vinegar with 1 c water, to rinse ends of hair
-- Add honey for frizz
-- Switch to lemon juice for grease
-- Add lavender oil to help with itchy scalp
-- Add olive oil to ends for dryness

Considering the number of "sparklies" (aka gray hairs) I've been noticing, I dyed my hair again this past Saturday.  Sadly some of the grays are already sparkling away in my bangs again, despite the fact that I haven't used shampoo in 6 days before even starting my experiment with the natural ingredients.  I usually only wash my hair every other day anyway, so this week I just gave it a good water rinse to try and get some of the product out of it without using shampoo.  I also figured this might give my scalp a chance to balance out so it might not get as oily throughout the whole transition process, which many people have commented can last up to a month.  I had one day this week which could have been considered a "hat day," but otherwise it wasn't so bad.

So today, here's what I did.

I grabbed a couple of leftover Red Solo Cups (I fill you up... LET'S HAVE A PARTY...) and put my baking soda and ACV in them to take to the shower.  I added a tiny squirt of honey to the ACV - my hair tends towards flyaways using regular conditioner so it made sense to try this right out of the gate.  I filled the cups about halfway with water and gave them a swish with my fingers, then just tipped my head back and poured the baking soda over my scalp.  I took a minute to scrub with my fingers a bit, but it didn't feel particularly gritty. Got some baking soda water in my eye which felt funny but didn't burn like if it was shampoo, so there's another bonus.  I rinsed my hair, then repeated the mixing process with the ACV/honey.  This time instead of pouring it over my scalp, I held my hair up from my neck and poured most of the mix just over the ends, then poured the last little bit over my whole head.  I kind of squished my hair a bit to work the mix through, then rinsed again with water.

I was worried about detangling afterwards, but it wasn't too bad.  As long as I don't rub my head with the towel but just squeeze the water out, I think it'll be okay.  The smell of the ACV didn't bother me at all, but I do want to find out what an occasional beer/egg rinse might do for me too.  My hair felt "sticky" like velcro when blowdrying, not the usual slippery-overconditioned-smooth.  It also seemed to dry faster than normal.

So far, no noticeable negative effects - frizz is of the normal sort, but we'll see what it does over the course of the day.  Too bad there isn't anything to be done about my cow-licks.



Manifesto

In anticipation of a burst of writing, I re-designed the blog a bit.  It's tidier and easier to navigate I think.

Up at the top you'll see a new tab, "Manifesto of a Green Girl."  It's kind of a rough draft - I'll probably be adding to it & editing it throughout the life of this blog.  Feel free to comment on it, & let me know if it's missing anything important that you'd like to know my stance on.

I outlined a list of article topics that should see me through several months, and I've started researching my first few subjects.  I'm not sure how long it will take to write these first few, as they're going to take quite a bit of studying and some product testing on my part, but I'm hoping to have the first one up around the end of next week!  I'm excited and anxious - I feel like I'm back in school, putting this much effort into my writing.

In the meantime, if you're new here feel free to browse the archives - almost all of the past articles are ones that I wrote for my previous employer when I was their Sustainability Coordinator.  Comments are still open on all of them, and I welcome any questions or ideas you might have.

Back in the saddle

I have a bit of free time on my hands, so I decided to reinstate my 'green' blog.  New name, new place, but I've copied all my old posts from the last one over here.  Now, it's just a matter of having something to write about...

In the past, I've gotten my ideas from my collection of books and websites that I like to read - I'd find an interesting article or tidbit of information to share, or something to try and then give my personal take on it.  But unfortunately, all of my books are in storage right now.  I still have the web, but sitting in front of a computer when I have the opportunity to be outside, away from a desk... not so appealing.

So, what to write?

I have a few ideas brewing, but if anybody has some input, let me know in the comments.  Heck, even if you don't have any input, I'd love to hear from you in the comments anyway, just to know you're interested.

Book Review: Food Rules

Michael Pollan, bestselling author of In Defense of Food: An Eater's Manifesto and The Omnivore's Dilemma, has published what is called a "definitive compendium of food wisdom."  Food Rules is a short, easy-to-understand guide to eating real food and avoiding over-processed "food-like substances."

Pollan's mantra of "Eat food.  Not too much.  Mostly plants." was established after the extensive research he did for his previous books.  He found that all the science and techno-babble about the nutritional value of food could be simplified down to its core: real food is what's important.  Not the additives, the preservatives, the artificial, the pre-packaged - real food.  This philosophy is reiterated again and again, with rules such as "Avoid food products that have ingredients that a third-grader cannot pronounce," and "It's not [real] food if it's called by the same name in every language (Big Mac, Pringles, Cheetos, etc.)"

The book not only discusses what to eat, but also how to eat.  Pollan discusses the problem with "Western" food culture in the introduction, and breaks down the way we eat as one of the key issues alongside what we eat.  Common sense wisdoms such as "Stop eating before you're full" and "Spend as much time enjoying the meal as it took to prepare it" encourage readers to pay attention to how they're eating to avoid overindulgence.

Pollan's previous works cover some of the same material, but go into much more detail regarding the science and statistics behind the reasons for avoiding processed foods.  Food Rules is, in essence, the simplified version.  Some of the 'rules' were written by Pollan, but in the introduction he discusses his process for this book, talking to not only nutritionists, doctors, and food scientists but also folklorists, anthropologists, mothers and grandmothers, looking for insight into what rules, ideas, wisdoms, and sayings about food are not only truthful, but have survived the tests of time and culture.  The result is a common sense, simple to follow guide for eating healthfully.

(If you'd like to borrow my copy of the book, feel free to ask!  It's also on sale on Amazon.com for $5 - less than half the cover price.)

Green Briefs - Alternative Fabric Softeners

Reduce your laundry costs by cutting out the liquid fabric softeners and dryer sheets.  Not only are these products harmful to the environment - adding chemicals to the watershed and non-biodegradable waste to the landfills - they can be easily replaced with other methods.

If the weather allows, line-drying your laundry outdoors gets rid of static and helps your clothes smell fresh naturally instead of using synthetic fragrances.

Try putting half a cup of white vinegar in the fabric softener tray of your washer instead of the pink stuff.  Vinegar is a natural fabric softener, and - despite what you might think - won't leave your clothes smelling like pickles!  (Just be sure you don't use bleach at the same time - the combination will produce toxic fumes.)

Fluff your laundry with re-usable dryer balls like the ones found here.  They increase the air flow around your clothes, helping them to dry faster as well.

If none of these solutions appeal to you and you still want to use dryer sheets or fabric softeners, look for biodegradable sheets or plant-based softeners like these and these from Mrs. Meyers.

Post-Holiday Clean Up

After the holidays, it's inevitable -

- overflowing trash bins.  According to the EPA, American households produce a staggering one million tons of trash during the holidays alone!

Wrapping paper, cardboard packaging, broken lights, dying trees... they all get piled at the curb, waiting to go to the landfill.  Some cities might mulch your tree, but in many cases it too just gets thrown away.  And we all know that there is no such thing as "away."

I think it's pretty obvious what you can do to decrease your holiday waste footprint - recycle.  The wrapping paper, cards, envelope, and cardboard boxes are easiest - they can go in with your regular paper recycling.  You can even save yourself some money next year by re-using the paper or making small gift boxes out of the holiday cards.

But what about those dead, broken strings of twinkle lights?  There are even ways to recycle those!  Here in Michigan, a company called Holiday LEDs will recycle your lights for you.  All you have to do is mail them in - and if you team up with friends, family, or neighbors, you can share that cost.  Better yet, Holiday LEDs will send you a 20%-off coupon for new, energy efficient LED light strings.  Other companies are available across the country - visit Earth911.com to find resources in your area.

As for your tree, if you have some property the best thing to do is put the tree out to naturally decompose.  Next year, spend a little extra for a live tree - one with an intact root ball - and plant it in your yard.  Dead or alive, your tree will also create habitat for songbirds, chipmunks and rabbits.

If self-mulching or natural decomposition isn't an option for you, check with your city waste department to find out what they will do with your tree.  In Toledo, if you are on the new automated pick-up system, you will have to call the city to have your tree picked up.  Also, Toledo's Department of Solid Waste sends all trees to the landfill - and while they will eventually decompose there, it's a much slower process than it is in nature, and just adds to the volume of trash.  However there are several places in Toledo that will take Christmas trees and treat it as compostable yard waste - check this list for details.

And in Monroe County, Michigan, you can drop your tree off at any of these locations, free of charge.

Don't let the holidays be any different from other times of the year - do your best to reduce your waste, and recycle what you can!