DIY Laundry Detergent

Good morning, friends! Happy Wednesday! I got a special request, from a friend of mine on Facebook, to write a post on alternatives to laundry detergent. Whether your concern is harsh chemicals, sustainability, or you just want to save a bit of cash, this post will have something for you.

Let’s start with those concerned about harsh chemicals. There’s a lot that goes into a bottle of conventional detergent. Unfortunately, we as the consumer are not privy to that information beyond an ingredients list that sounds like rocket science. You could stand in the aisle of your local grocery store, or you could try adding 1/3-1/2 cup of Dr. Bronner’s castile soap to your load and then add a half a cup of vinegar to the rinse cycle.

If you’d like to up the environmentally friendly factor, you can buy a product called soap nuts! It’s also referred to as soap berries, or eco-nuts. These little gems come in a cloth bag unless you grow them yourself, which is an option! Personally, I would buy some first to see if you like them and then make the commitment to growing them if you do.

Just pop 4-5 nuts into the little cloth wash bag they come with, tie the bag closed, and throw them in the washer with your clothes. Start the washer as usual. Once the load is finished washing, remove the bag and set it aside for the next wash. Pretty simple, huh?

Now, for those concerned about saving money, I have a solution for you! My first DIY laundry detergent ever was created back in highschool. I made more detergent than I bargained for, using Fels Naptha. You’ll need a bar of Fels Naptha, a pot, borax, washing soda, two five gallon buckets with lids, and water. Your favorite essential oil is optional. I personally choose not to use them in this recipe because I like the scent of fels naptha.

Grate the bar of soap first and set it aside. Take a large pot and add 4 cups of hot water to it. Then set it on the stove on medium heat. This is the time to add your soap flakes. Stir them until they’re completely melted. Turn off the heat and fill one of the five gallon buckets halfway with hot water. Pour in the soap mixture while stirring. Once that’s done, add a cup of borax and a cup of washing soda. Then add half an ounce of your essential oil, if that’s your jam. Stir until it’s all well dissolved. Fill the bucket with more warm water until the bucket is full and give it one last stir. Put the lid on and let it sit for 24 hours.

After 24 hours, remove the lid. The mixture will be gelatinous. Pour half of that into the other 5 gallon bucket and fill both up with more warm water. Stir them and replace the lids and you have 10 gallons of ready to use laundry detergent, my friend!

Thanks for stopping by to check out my post! I hope you’re all having a wonderful day. If you have any questions, please feel free to hit me up on Facebook or Instagram.

You can find me on Facebook by searching Erica Denise Payne or Find me on Instagram @theearthnerdanarchist.

And we’re back!

It’s been a rough road since I last posted but I’m finally back! I missed posting regularly. You guys have been so sweet and supportive. I really appreciate it. I’m still going to create the same content you’re all used to. I’m just in a new location! Like… across the country new location, haha! Going forward, you can still expect lots of environmentally friendly DIY projects, philosophical chats, educational content, and so much more!

I’m spending this week getting set up in the new house. I should have wifi Wednesday so I don’t have to post from a Mcdonald’s. I’ll do a more in depth post then showing you guys the ecofriendly choices David and I are making to help reduce our impact.

I hope you’re having a wonderful day! I’ll see you back here Wednesday!

Navigating Egoism

Let’s start with the definition for those who may have be new to Egoism. Egoism is an ethical theory that treats self-interest as the foundation of morality.

There seem to be two reactions to this. The first of them being a complete rejection of the idea in favor of what one may perceive to be objective morality. This is common in religious and “natural law” circles.

The second reaction is confusion paired with a desire to understand. When you have nothing to lose from having your ideas of morality shaken or you can separate yourself from your own sense of morality, you start to see that there may be something to this.

It’s scary to realize that all you understood about the world is actually not what it was presented to be. The positive aspect is that if you can make it to the other side, there is real freedom and peace in store for you.

You have so much to gain from realizing that all that really matters to you is what serves you. It extends from your beliefs all the way down to the apps you have on your phone and the amount of physical possessions you own.

I think minimalism is the son of egoism. They share DNA but still manifest differently like a parent and their child. Both concepts deal with rejecting all that does not serve you. The difference is that minimalism is a term popularly used to describe policing one’s physical posessions, relationships, and habits. Egoism isn’t popular at all. haha It deals with maybe heavier things like morality and philosophical questions.

What about beliefs that do not serve us? Why do they get to hang around but not that 20 year old parka you found buried in the garage? They both have the same affect. Your unnecessary beliefs are just on a grander scale and able to do more damage.

Anyway, I would love to hear from you guys. What is a belief you have and how does it serve you?

Ecofriendly Alternatives to Household Products

Hello friends! Today, I’ve completely gone nuts trying to procure a list of the best zerowaste swaps for your everyday cleaning needs. I want to encourage everyone to put their current cleansers and products through the lense of the Environment Working Group and the zerowaste philosophy so that we can curb things like plastic use, water pollution, toxicity, and wasting money.

Let’s start with the king of Earth friendly options. Dr. Bronner’s castile soap comes wrapped in paper which is compostable, making it zerowaste. This soap can be used for everything from bodycare to dishes to all purpose cleaning. There is some work involved if you buy it in bar form as you would need to dilute it correctly for different needs. Some co-ops have it in liquid form and they allow you to bring your own container. If you have that, the initial step of turning it from solid to liquid would be taken care of for you. The company does sell large plastic bottles of it. Still better than traditional soaps but not zerowaste. So I’d go with one of the other options.

List if uses and dilution ratios for Dr. Bronners

Now to focus on laundry specifically. Two things come to mind when you’re doing laundry, what detergent you use, and the dreaded dryer sheets. Fear not though, there’s a solution for that as well. You can replace traditional laundry detergent with a plant product called soap nuts. They come packaged in cardboard which is compostable and a small cloth bag which is either compostable or reusable.

As for the dryer, I limit my use of the dryer as much as possible. I exclusively wear all black and the heat of a dryer will fade my clothes. So I opt to hang dry my clothes most of the time. I understand this is not popular but you might give it a try and find that it’s actually nice.

If you do still need to use a dryer, you can replace those dryer sheets with wool dryer balls and customize the scent using 3-5 drops of an essential oil you like. Any brand of wool dryer ball will do!

On to the Bathroom! I don’t have to tell you how nice a clean bathroom is. You can’t get clean in a dirty space! So let’s go over some DIY eco friendly cleaners that will keep your bathroom nice and squeeky clean.

As mentioned above in the Dr. Bronners portion of this post, it can be used for all-purpose cleaner and toilets. As someone who has professionally cleaned houses, you don’t need much more than that to clean a bathroom. Pumice stones can be really nice for getting hard water stains out and if you really have a grimy shower, mix some vinegar and dishsoap with water and let it sit for a few minutes, scrub with a bore bristle brush. Everything should rinse away after that.

I hope this gives you guys some ideas of how to clean with the Earth in mind! If I missed something you need, please feel free to reach out and ask. I love solving problems and will help any way I can.

Thank you for coming back and I hope you have a wonderful day!🖤

Greenwashing

Hello my friends! Thanks for coming back! I hope you’re having a good day!

This week I want to talk about greenwashing. What is it? Why should I look for it? Who greenwashes?

Greenwashing is when a company advertises blatantly or implies a product or service as being ecofriendly but it’s really not. It’s usually no better than the conventional option.

Why should I look out for that? There are a few reasons. If you’re concerned about the environment, transparency between companies and customers, or your wallet, you might care very much. A lot of companies charge more for the “ecofriendly” option even though it’s not really friendly to anyone. It’s our job as consumers to control the demand and speak up for what we want out of household products.

Example time.

Mrs. Meyer’s Clean Day products. *sigh. Most of their products did not score well at all with the Environmental Working Group and let’s remember that it’s still packaged in plastic. Making the whole company a no-go for me.

Citation: https://www.ewg.org/guides/brand/6630-MrsMeyersCleanDay

What’s worse is that Grove Collaborative, a supposedly ecofriendly company, sells Mrs. Meyers products and spoon feeds it to us as green like they do a bunch of other not Earth friendly products. Don’t believe it, my compadres. If they package in plastic, not green. If they use ingredients that harm aquatic life, not green. Just because it’s made with recycled materials, not green. The company packages it in green with flowers and leaves all over it, not green.

Later on tonight, I’ll post a quick guide to safe, eco friendly alternatives to traditional and greenwashed products. That way you know what you’re buying is actually worth the money and trust you put into the purchase.

I hope this helped you! If it did, please let me know in the comments what you think and I’ll see you guys next week for another post from an Earth Nerd Anarchist 🖤

A Minimal Sunday

Let’s talk about stuff.

When I was 22, I was living a life that is very VERY different from the one I have now. I wasn’t an anarchist yet. I hadn’t even thought to study philosophy. I hadn’t heard of zerowaste yet. And most pertinent to this post, I didn’t know what minimalism was. I think I even still wore bras at this point.

I was up to my eyeballs in stress. I was dealing with a lot of abuse from my dad and a close friend of mine. My career in cosmetology was failing. Not to mention all the pressure to be “normal” from other people.

So I was living a very wasteful, hyperconsumer, normie life and it was fucking miserable. My relationship failed. It was a dark time.

One day I was lying in bed, mid afternoon watching youtube and I came across a video on minimalism. My life has not been the same since. It was like a truth bomb went off in my head and changed my thinking forever.

“The state of my life is my fault.” “Why am I doing or putting up with any of this?” “I DON’T HAVE TO DO THIS ANYMORE.” Like breathing for the first time.

What was this great thing, this minimalism? It’s a shift in the way we think about personal belongings, relationships, activities, and habits. You discard everything that does not serve you and you make room for what does. It’s a vehicle to take control of your life.

That evening, I started with my clothes. On my first declutter, I donated 6 trash bags of clothes, two giant gray plastic containers (also full of clothes) and 45 pairs of shoes. A weight had been lifted. “I will never be the same after this.” I remember saying that to myself. Haha I was right.

The second declutter, I donated books, even more clothes, and random stuff. I just kept doing it until I stopped feeling buried in my possessions.

Then it was time for personal relationships. I cut out my dad and the so called friend. They weren’t serving me and neither was living in Augusta, Ga. So I packed up all of my things into my jeep and left my old life behind me. I was hell bent on change and boy did I find it. I got my physical posessions down to a suitcase, a carryon, and my purse. I cut all toxicity out of my life. After a year from my start point (watching that first video), my life had completely changed. I felt more free than I ever had. No more mountains of clothes and shoes, no more toxicity, no more limited storage on my phone, no more pursuing things that didn’t not serve me. My greatest act of self love was that year.

I wanted to talk about this because I think the concept of minimalism can help a lot of people. We get caught up in hyperconsumerism, toxic relationships, unhealthy and unsustainable lifestyles. We never really think about what we buy, why we bought it, or if it would even serve us. Why we associate with toxic people and other useless things.

I’ll talk more about this in future posts but for now I’m planting a seed.

Does every item in your home serve you? Does every relationship you’re engaged in serve you? Does every habit you have drive you toward the life you want? If not, why are you hanging on to it?

Thanks for coming back to check out this weeks post! I hope you enjoyed learning a bit about me and how I’ve changed over the years. Stay tuned fkr next weeks post where I go into details about how exactly minimalism can serve you and the environment.🖤Have a great day!

Reusable Sandwich Bags?

So I was perusing through Target the other day and I came across this.

Initially I was really excited about this product. A reusable alternative to ziploc bags? Yes ma’am! So I grabbed a set. They’re $6.99.

David and I planned go to Snoqualmie Falls for the day and I saw that as a perfect opportunity to pack our lunches and have a little picnic while we were out.

The sandwiches fit perfectly. The bags themselves are great quality for what they are. Very durable and fold easily to put back into your lunch box after you eat whatever you put in it. They were very easy to clean after we got home. So they do work and I might recommend this to someone not transitioning into a zerowaste lifestyle but looking to save money.

However, I have one main beef with this product. It’s still plastic. At some point in time, these bags will break, rendering them useless. There is no way to reuse this product once it’s original function is no longer doable. It will have to go to landfill at that point. This type of plastic is not recyclable. While it’s nice and serves it’s purpose, I have to deem this product not zerowaste and borderline greenwashing.

Not all is lost! I have a zerowaste alternative. Remember the beeswax wraps I talked about in a previous post? You can fashion those into reusable sandwich bags! All you need is a large button, a sewing needle, thread, and a piece of string that will stretch around the packet, over the button and fit snug.

Just sew a large button on to one corner. (on the side your sandwich won’t be touching) Then fold your string in half to find the center. Tie the center of the string around the button and then tie the ends of the string together into a knot.

Place your sandwich in the center. Fold in the two side pieces overtop the sandwich. Then fold up the bottom and then the top piece over everything. Stretch your string around the whole thing and fasten it around the button so the string holds everything together.

You’re looking for something like this:

I hope you enjoyed the review and my extra little diy alternative to the product reviewed! Have a great day everybody! See you next week🖤

What we’re growing this year!

Hello friends! Welcome back 🖤

I apologize for my absence last week. David and I were both down with the flu. Now that I’m better, It’s back to business!

I wanted to talk about what David and I are going to be growing this year and what methods we’re going to use. To make up for last week, I have included a review that puts reusable sandwich bags I found at Target through the lense of the ZeroWaste! (I’ll post it right after this)

SO let’s begin. What are David and I growing this year? Basically all of the things our family eats and enjoys. Two varieties of red leaf lettuce, red bell peppers, rosemary, butternut squash, tomatoes, onions, garlic, zinnias, gerbera daisies, arugula, cauliflower, beans and peppers. That’s just off the top of my head.

How do we plan to grow these lovely plants?

I’m a huge advocate for permaculture and more specifically the No Dig Method. We have our raised beds in place. Yesterday, David took the weedeater to the grass inside them. Then we added a layer of newspaper to the bottom to prevent any weeds from coming up and wet it down really good.

Next, it was time for soil!

It took 12 bags of soil to fill up the raised bed shown. David’s mother and I picked up some starts from Home Depot. The rest we’ll grow from seed.

So far we’ve planted Gerbera daisies, rosemary, butternut squash, garlic, onions, basil and we have some red bell peppers sprouting in peat moss cups. So as you can see we have a lot of work to do. Haha

So as you can see, we’re just getting started. We have quite a ways to go.

Once everything is planted and in it’s place, we’re going to cover the beds with straw and dry grass clippings to prevent blight and work as mulch.

After that, all we have to do is monitor the weather and keep up on watering everything.

If you have any questions, please feel free to ask. I’m always happy to talk about this sort of thing.

Don’t forget, in a few minutes, I’ll be posting a quick review of my experience using target reusable sandwich bags.

I appreciate you guy coming back to support me and I hope you’re having an awesome day 🙂 See you Next week!

Easy DIY BeesWax Wraps

Buying these can cost up to $40 just to have enough for your kitchen needs. Screw that.

Easy DIY reusable beeswax wraps to replace saranwrap:
You’ll need scissors, cotton fabric, a microwave safe bowl, beeswax, a baking sheet, and a brush. I’d suggest getting the baking sheet, fabric, and bowl second hand.

Step 1. Grab some cotton fabric and wash it
Step 2. Lay your cotton out and cut it to the size you want. You can make it a square or a circle. Doesn’t matter. You want it to be big enough to fit over a dish or serving bowl.
Step 3. Put your beeswax into the microwave safe bowl and microwave in 10-15 second bursts until all the wax is melted.
Step 4. Remove bowl of wax from the microwave and lay your cotton piece on the baking sheet.
Step 5. Brush the wax onto the cotton until it has a thick coating. Let dry completely. Then they’re ready to go 🙂
To clean them after use, just wipe them down.
They are great as gifts and they really cut down on plastic going to landfill.

Let me know what you guys think of this lil midweek nugget of zerowasteness in the comments!🖤

Zerowaste Grocery Shopping

So I posted on Facebook earlier this week with a quick guide on how to zerowaste shop. Since it was just some basic tips, I thought I’d take the time to dig deeper and go into more detail about things. I want this to be as accessible as possible.

Tip number one was to set a realistic budget. This may take some time to navigate through but an important thing to remember is that the food you’re going to be buying is much more affordable than packaged, processed food. Almost everything you’re going to buy will be on the perimeter of the grocery store and those items are cheaper than everything in the center. The model I go by for myself is $100 per week. If I end up spending less than that, I’m totally okay with that.

Tip number two that I’m going to add is that you want to use everything in your pantry. When you plan your shopping list, look and see what you can use that you already have. Got a random box of pancake mix in the back of the pantry? Use it for breakfast this week. Lonely pack of ramen propped up on a shelf? Use it lunch one day. Buy things to add to it if you need to instead of buying a whole meal and leaving the ramen packet to collect dust! You want to use everything you already have so that you’re not hoarding otherwise good food. Why spend more money if you already did?

Now, let’s talk about what kinds of things are considered zerowaste and what kinds of foods you want on your list.

Anything packaged in glass, metal, wood, paper, cardboard or has no packaging at all is okay. No packaging being the ideal but that’s not always an option. Fresh unprepared produce has no packaging. Bread, you can get from the bakery and store in your own reusable bag orrrrr you can make it yourself at home. Milk comes in cartons so you can skip the plastic jug. Some places even still do milk delivery in glass jars. Not many people have friends with cows but if you do, that’s an option. Canned food is okay because cans can be recycled but remember that recycling is a bandaid. We shouldn’t rely on it but it is a useful tool if you can’t find a purpose for the thing elsewhere. Spices come in glass.

Meat and cheese might be a little tricky. Some grocery store delis will let you bring your own container and they will tare weight your container so you only pay for the meat or cheese or whatever. Some don’t so you might want to call ahead first. The larger portion of the zerowaste community right now is vegan and while they are right that Big ag is wasteful and harmful to the environment, I don’t support bullying of any kind and will not pressure anyone to change who they are or what they do. I’m here to lead by example and I encourage you to do the same. It’s not about perfection. I’m also not a vegan.

What can I use to carry my groceries in?

Smaller loose items like mushrooms, dates, almonds, grains, can be stored in glass jars or cloth bags. I like to recycle jars but you do have a bit more freedom with cloth bags because you can make them out of anything and customize them to the size you need. Just go digging in your giveaway pile! Bigger reusable bags are great for replacing plastic bags and will last you so much longer. I saw on pinterest where a woman made a jar caddy out of recycled denim and thats what she takes with her. I thought that was so neat.

Pay attention to what you buy. Often times you’ll find that what you buy already-made, isn’t that hard to make yourself. It could be a really fun problem solving challenge. I’ve found so much joy and confidence in how resourceful I can be. I know you guys can do it too!

Remember when thinking about yourself and engaging with others, it’s not about perfection. Don’t be afraid to reach out to your local zerowaster and see if they can help you brainstorm solutions and troubleshoot. I know I’m more than happy to help anyone who is interested. Even if it’s a small thing. Also, when you see others doing something wasteful, gently provide an alternative without humiliating them or shaming them. No one learns in pain. Physical or emotional. They may not agree to change right now but you’re trying to water the garden without flooding the bed. Be gentle and kind to people and maybe they will accept change at a later date.

I hope you guys enjoyed today’s post! If you have any ideas or questions, please feel free to ask or let me know! I’d love to help if I can 🙂

Come back and see me every Sunday at 1 pm pacific time for more environmental/anarchist posts! Have a wonderful day! 🖤