Green Household Challenge – Preparations

In order to get my challenge started I needed to take a look at myself and my apartment in order to see what I need to replace. Looking around the kitchen and bathroom revealed the following list:

• Dishwashing soap
• Dishwasher tablets
• Shampoo
• Shower gel
• Toothpaste
• Hand soap
• Creme
• Sunscreen
• Mascara

I had already made laundry detergent from chestnuts and an all-purpose cleaner from vinegar and citrus peels earlier, so I didn’t need to make those anew. So now I just had to find out how to make those other products myself. Some research on the internet, largely on the website Smarticular revealed that it is not just possible, but actually quite easy to do.

Now I just had to get the ingredients somewhere. Many of the ingredients are available in most households (e.g. cider vinegar, baking soda), others might be a bit more unusual (e.g. Xylit, citric acid). I would have liked to buy everything directly at the shop. That would probably have been possible with a little more time. I did get most ingredients at the organic store, drugstore and pharmacy. Still, I needed to buy a few things on the internet. I intended not to use any ingredients that had already been processed. Unfortunately I would have had to think about that a little earlier, as it takes several weeks to make soap or tinctures. I had to buy those ready made in order to use them. Nonetheless, I want to try to make these myself.

Saturday then was the day those ingredients should turn into household and cosmetic products. Even though my kitchen looked somewhat like a lab from time to time, it actually only took me a few hours. Within half a day I had most of the products above ready. In the next few days I will try them out and see how well they work for me. Since there are so many possibilities and preferences vary especially for things like shampoo, toothpaste and  shower gel, I will likely try out a few alternatives in the course of the month.

To be continued…

Photo: facingchange