Twelve Days of Conscious Christmas: Day 7, Swap Your Holiday Candles

Nothing makes a holiday cozier than twinkling lights, and for me that includes candles. 

If you aren't seeking a fragrance, faux electric "flameless" candles can be a good way to go. They can be safer for forgetful people, and now come with energy-saving LED bulbs.

For those who still love the look of a traditional candle and may want the house-warming scents of pine or cinnamon or sugar cookie, an easy swap can be looking at the materials your candle is made out of. 

You'll want to look for coconut or beeswax vs paraffin or palm oil.

Coconut (pros): Vegan, sustainable, no major red flags for impacting habitat. It's a softer wax so sometimes blended with beeswax or soy.

Beeswax (pros): Beeswax is collected at the same time as honey. Strict vegans may be opposed.

Soy (pros and cons): Soy wax is made from the oils of soybeans, and renewable. However, soybean farming is tied to impacts to the Amazon, jaguar, and local farmers in South America. Consider looking for organic labeling. 

Palm oil (cons): Palm oil is a major driver of deforestation and habitat destruction for species like orangutans and tigers.

Paraffin (cons): Paraffin wax is derived from petroleum, both a non-renewable resource and releases benzene and toluene when burned. (Source)

Where can you buy better candles? The good news is: anywhere. With coconut, beeswax, and soy becoming more popular, you'll find them at popular stores and websites like Target and Amazon. Here are just a few examples: 

(Coconut and soy blend. Scents include gingerbread, pine, snickerdoodle.) 

 

(Holiday Fir beeswax candle)

 

(Red beeswax tapers, subtle honey scent)

Another resource I love is The Good Trade. They aren't a shopping site, but rather a resource site for sustainable shopping. Check out their guide for 11 Natural Candles here.

Mindful Mopping

I absolutely love the convenience of my Swiffer but don't love the single-use pads.

It was time to try a DIY replacement, but so often I haven't posted DIY cleaners because they are complicated or not super effective. Then I came across this recipe from Housewife How-To's, and it's just 5 ingredients that I already have at home: 2 cups water, 1/4 cup alcohol, 1/2 cup vinegar, 1/8 tsp dishsoap, and 5 drops essential oils (optional).

Katie of Housewife How-To's warns not to use dishsoap with lotion or castille soap, because it will alter the effectiveness and leave streaks. She also wrote this recipe for a mop or Swiffer Wet Jet, but I tried it with a regular Swiffer.

Important note: if you are a pet owner, do your research about what essential oils are safe around your pets. I'm reading too many stories about pets getting sick from just breathing around diffusers. I chose lavender for this batch.

Simply mix all ingredients (I used an old peanut butter jar, which I'll use to store the leftovers).

Then, I replace the Swiffer pad with an old towel or t-shirt. This one was almost the right size, so I didn't even alter it, but you cut cut your fabric to size and finish the edges if you prefer. Tuck the edges into the same holes you would the Swiffer pad, and you're ready to go!

Mop your floor and be prepared for *how effective* it is. (Gross!)

Once you're done, you can throw your mopping cloths in the regular wash.

This method is a winner for a few reasons:

• You get more use out of retired fabric.
• You don't use any more single use pads.
• The cleaner is very cost-effective, costing under $1 for 22 ounces of fluid. 

Goodbye Goo

I'm constantly bookmarking cool tips and tricks online, and eventually I get around to trying some of them. This video was intriguing, because it's a simple recipe with just 2 ingredients, and for something I could actually use: Goo Remover! This is supposed to remove challenging sticky or waxy messes:

 

Looks pretty easy, right? Well, I wanted to see for myself if it worked or was just movie magic.  Here are my items that need some label removal. The two little glass jars are pretty clean with just a little residue. The smaller plastic jar still has the majority of it's label stuck on, and the pump bottle had the label peeled off, but was almost entirely covered in label glue on both front and back.

 

I mixed up some of the Goo Remover (equal parts vegetable oil and baking soda), and slathered on a thick layer on each gooey surface...

 

... and waited. The two smaller glass jars cleaned up quite easily after about 1 minute. The plastic jar and plastic pump bottle tool a little more effort. I left the goop on for about 2 minutes, scrubbed at the labels a bit, and then added more goop for about 2 more minutes. While the residue on plastic was a bit more stubborn, the remover still did the trick!

A quick wash later (you need a little bit of dish soap to get the oil off), and I have clean, un-sticky containers for reuse.

Comparing to "Goo Gone", which goes for $7.50 for an 8 oz bottle, this mixture costs about $0.60 for the same amount. And... this mix doesn't carry a "harmful or fatal if swallowed" warning. Win-win!

Made From Concentrate

We're not talking about orange juice - I prefer that fresh squeezed! Nope, we're talking about cleaners.

Selling dry powder, solid bar, or concentrated products is not a new concept, but let's make it a preferred one. There's bar soap vs body wash, powdered or concentrated laundry detergents, concentrated household cleaners, and those yard sprays that you attach to your hose for full yard coverage.

Why the shift? First, if you can remove water weight from your products, you are literally not paying to ship *water* from the manufacturer to the store or your doorstep. This also saves room and weight on the shipping truck, saving fuel. For concentrated liquids, you will reduce the size of packaging needed for the product, and for dry solids or powders, you may even be able to shift to non-plastic packaging.

So with all the reasons to buy minus the water and all the other products listed above that already have this model, why don't we see it more with beauty products? How many plastic bottles do we have in our bathrooms from shampoos to face wash?

Enter salonsolids. I stumbled across them after being disappointed that I can't seem to find bulk bath and body products in my area. salonsolids is an online store for hair products (shampoo, conditioner, and styler). They are sold as granules, and you simply add hot water to mix them to a "regular" consistency. They come in a variety of scents, naturally fragranced with essential oils like mint, lavender, and lemongrass.

Sarah was kind enough to send me a shampoo sample to try. The small envelope was enough to last 5 washes.Check out this simple paper envelope - no travel shampoo bottles here.

Simply mix in whatever hot-water-safe container you have handy. Hello, mason jar! Or perhaps I'll reuse one of my previous bathroom bottles, cuz I do love a pump or lid to squeeze through.

I was a little nervous because I have frizz-prone, dry hair, and while washing, it felt a little too "squeaky clean". However, when my hair dried, it felt glossy and soft. After 5 washes, I'm pretty confident this formula will work with most hair types despite not having multiple formulas for specific hair types.

The products come in paper tubes that are recyclable or compostable. If you want to take it totally zero waste and reap the rewards, you can send 11 tubes back to salonsolids, and they'll send you a 12th product free.

I'm glad to see there are becoming more options low-waste beauty products. Mail order solids may just be for you!

Brand: Trust Fund Beauty

You don't need to be a trust fund beauty to enjoy this brand of nail polish. With flirty high-end names like a neutral metallic called "Boozy Brunch" and a hot pink "Non-Disclosure Agreement", this polish is fun for the high-powered city woman, but the price is quite average at $10-15 a bottle. I'm currently wearing the "$12 Latte" shown below. (I'd show you, but guys, my cuticles!)

Here's why I'm enjoying this polish: It's vegan and cruelty free (no animal testing), and they are "10 free", meaning they avoid harsh or questionable ingredients.

This polish is quality; you get great coverage with 1-2 coats. You don't even miss all the extra chemicals! :) 

It also has a sweet back story: founder Samara Granofsky was inspired by her mother, whose chemotherapy treatments made her nails brittle. Her polishes are an homage, both through a safe non-toxic product line with fun colors, and as a nod to their shared sassy sense of humor.

Brand: Perfectly Posh

I discovered Perfectly Posh through my friend and neighbor, Abbie. It's a pampering brand - think bath, body, and spa for men and women. 

It's one of those home party, independent consultant businesses, which I have a love/hate relationship with. But, I saw this ad, and was intrigued to learn more: 

Affordable, natural, and guilt-free? Sign me up! 

Abbie was generous enough to give me several samples so I could try a variety of the products, and I was beyond impressed. Here were some of my favorites: 

• BFF Face Wash: the featured ingredients are aloe, grapefruit oil, and peppermint oil. Being oil based, your skin feels refreshed not stripped, and the strong peppermint is a great way to wake up in the morning!

• Night and Day Moisturizer: the featured ingredients are aloe, olive oil, and lavender oil. This is a thicker moisturizer that I thought would be too heavy for daytime, but it soaked in to a silky finish after just a few minutes, leaving my 30-something skin feeling plump again. The subtle lavender smell makes you feel like you're in a spa. 
• End Mend Shampoo and Conditioner: These were the most impressive. I have brittle hair with a wavy/frizzy texture. I don't know what sorcery this is (well, we do - it's *all* the oils and seed butters), but my hair was soft and smooth after a single wash. Without products, my hair was drying into nice, frizz-free curls! You see commercials promising results after trying something just once, but this was a product that delivered. 
• Hello Sweetie BFYHC (Big Fat Yummy Hand Cream): a subtle vanilla scent and a formula that soaks in to be non-greasy. 

I have never been so pleased with a natural pampering products company before, where the fragrances are light and pleasing from essential oils, and the products seem very effective. 

Shop online here: www.PerfectlyPosh.com/HereDeares.