Going Green in Comfort

Earlier this year, I wrote about going shampoo-free to reduce my use of chemicals and to eliminate plastic shampoo bottles in my garbage. My experiment lasted about a month, but I just could not figure out how to stop my hair from looking oily. My plan was to figure out the best way to go water-only, then teach my daughter and husband the same techniques. © Aleksask |  Dreamstime Stock Photos  &  Stock Free Images   But over time, as I struggled to figure out what tips and tricks might get that icky greasy look out of my hair, I’ve added regular old shampoo back into my morning routine. It started off small, just adding a few drops of my daughter’s shampoo onto my head and working it into a lather about once a week. Then it became every other day, and now I’m back to every day. So much for water-only. I might try it again someday, but in the meantime, I have another plan: Organic shampoo bars. I first learned they existed just this past weekend while ...

(Photo by Chance Agrella / FreeRangeStock.com ) For one of my first posts, I wrote about changing how I washed my hair, ditching the store-bought shampoo for baking soda and apple cider vinegar . Recently, I decided to go one step further. What if all I used was water? The hope was that doing so would be healthier for my scalp and possibly reduce the amount of hair I shed on any given day. (Seriously, it comes out in tuff sometimes when I just run my fingers through it. I am often amazed I have any hair left.) The added benefit for the planet would be less trash going into the landfill. So I rinsed my hair every day, going through all of the motions of washing it. For a few days, it felt fine. After that, it started to feel a little greasy to the touch at the top of my head. Figuring I hadn't been the only person to try going water-only on her hair, I googled for tips. I came across an article, " The Ultimate Water-Only Hair Washing Routine," written by a woma...

Driving into work in early September, I had my radio tuned to an episode of "Morning Edition" highlighting Tom's of Maine 's efforts to create a deodorant free of petroleum derivatives . As interesting as Tom's journey to develop its products was, my biggest takeaway from the show was the realization that fossil fuels are in my deodorant (and toothpaste and shampoo, by the way). Now I realize that most green-thinkers might've been aware of this already, but I wasn't. And I was shocked. Knowing that now have a fossil fuel-free option for deodorant with Tom's, I turned my efforts to finding a more natural shampoo. It didn't take much googling to find that baking soda can sub for shampoo and apple cider vinegar for conditioner. Baking soda and apple cider vinegar The baking soda works well as a cleanser, though it seems to be kind of drying in my hair. I have yet to try apple cider vinegar as conditioner, mostly because I still have some re...