going greenScience_Spot recently made the decision to go all green in her household and blog about it along the way.

This week, she tells us about stocking up on Burt's Bees products, curing her baby's diaper rash, and beginning to purge her home of chemical-laden products.

I still haven't made it to Target for more soap, but I got a nice surprise when I went to the grocery store this week. They had a new display full of Burt's Bees products! As I stood there in blissful surprise, the manager walked by and asked if I liked these products. I made sure to rave about the new addition to their store and tell him this was the largest selection of Burt's Bees in our entire town. He said it is here to stay, so let's hope so! The prices are the same as other locations in my town, which is always higher than the next town over, so that is something I may have to live with.

This time, I was armed with three coupons for $1 each, so I bought three items from the display: a beeswax lip balm (with peppermint, $3), Radiance Exfoliating Body Bar ($4) and Baby Bee Dusting Powder (on sale, $8). Yep, that's right they had the baby product line too! I was tempted to buy the diaper ointment, but it has zinc in it, and I am not sure if this was the irritant in the other diaper ointments we have thrown away.

That day, I stopped using the Vaseline as a wetness barrier at each diaper change, and starting using the dusting powder. I love how it smells and how much easier it is to get on a baby butt that squirms like a snake on caffeine. One squirt in the general vicinity of the butt covers it with powder! This is easy, and the best part is it worked! In less than two days, the rash was gone and my girl returned to her happy-not-grumpy self. Thanks, Burt! Her butt actually looks so good, we have been using the Huggies wipes on her sparingly. That's a good thing because my husband was firm that there would be baby wipes available at all times. Not cloth ones.

Having such a good experience with my Burt's Bees products so far, I felt it was time to take the big plunge and do an inventory of my product supply and determine which items would be up next for replacement. I usually shop in bulk on sale, and keep a good supply of most items we use frequently. My decision to transition to natural is based on the fact I refuse to get rid of all these products, but would rather like to finish using what I have when possible. It took two days (why does everything take two days?) of sorting through personal care products, reading ingredient labels and making decisions. I am amazed at the chemical lists in all of these products! I cannot imagine the number of chemicals I have been exposing myself to everyday; no wonder my skin is nasty. When I was done, I had a very well-organized linen closet, an overflowing bathroom trashcan full of junk/opened/expired products and a decent sized pile of new products to donate with the food drive at work (see picture below).

products to donate

Photo by Science_Spot


At this time, I did the unthinkable. I donated nine brand new Avon cherry lip balms; this lip balm was my addiction and #1 product for over a decade. I don't need them anymore because I have Burt's beeswax!

Previously:

Going Green: One CafeMom's Natural Transition

One CafeMom Goes Green: Week 2

One CafeMom Goes Green: Week 3