Now, don’t think I am advising you to replace a product you do not even need with another product you do not even need. Like dryer sheets, or zip lock bags or what was the other one I thought of this morning oh yes Laundry Conditioner. We can live without these things.
I am looking for the little companies that have stepped up to make eco friendly products. That engage environmentally sustainable practices. That are creating products we need in the most planet friendly way they can – as eco-friendly as manufacturing can get anyway.
Now the sun is out and it is going to be a warm garden day.
Do you think that FreeBee has a crocodile smile? That crooked line to the lip?
Can you help?
Anyway I cannot be going out into the gardens quite yet this morning – as sunny and enticing as it is, as it is time for me to reach out to a few really good environmentally aware companies for partnerships so we cah show their logos on our pages. (My first step being to display their logos on our new Sustainable Home page and maybe a couple here – we will see). But it will be elegant.
These will not be adds. Just logos linked to a product we like. All very graceful and low key.
I thought you might be able to help.
I have listed a few of my favourites below:
Sustainable Stuff
- 4oceans because they are working to pull plastic (and tires and ghost nets) from our precious sea. They are my charity.
- Pottery for the Planet because I buy their stuff anytime I am in Australasia and give it as gifts all the time. Pottery for the Planet made my little travelling coffee mug. Plus they talk to me in the DM’s (customer service is super important to me).
- I am presently researching American Blossom Linens. So expensive but good sheets should last a lifetime.
- Chew.Brush.Smile – toothpaste tablets. Have you tried any of these? Let me know.
- That lovely wool blanket place in Canada – what was its name again? They even have the sheep. I have that written down here somewhere.
- Alabama Chenin – I saved up and bought one of their skirts once, it was long and fitted exactly right. Not cheap but made by Alabama seamstresses using locally grown organic cotton. Pure cotton. After wearing it for years I left it in a hotel wardrobe one day. OF COURSE no-one ever saw it again. I have never gotton over losing that skirt. (And cannot afford to buy another one!).
- Bakeshare. His pies are amazing. He uses local organic flour for his crusts plus he is super nice. He has a little shop now up in Greyslake, Chicago,
- Dr Bronners Castile Soap ( though they are so big but I make my laundry soap using their soap).
- Janie’s Mill so you can buy flour from my fields.
- Earthling Co, for shampoo and conditioner bars (I am still researching them but their products and packaging meet my standards).
Go wild – think right out of the box
Many of you are already using good sustainably manufactured products. Yeah? Who is your favourite – eco friendly company? Maybe it is local to your country. One that produces a product you can stand behind.
Local products and strengthening local economies so SO important to me. I really want to support the little people. Especially ones with good solid sustainably manufactured products – look at packaging too. Then we apply ‘And Then What’ to see if they pass that test.
A family owned organic seed place for instance.
A really awesome locally made garden tool.
Kitchen tools?
Maybe a really great second hand site? Are they out there?
Second hand books – that would be great right? I like that idea.
Clothing.
No need for links at this stage just the name of the product – what you think.
There is always the risk of being hoodwinked so I do deep dives to see if they are legit.
Farmyard
This morning dawned fine and clear and cold.
While closing up the birds last night and checking on speckled hen, who has been disappeared into the general population and is doing fine (she laid a perfect little olive coloured egg – while in prison hospital), I saw Boo watching though a gap in the door.
Such a sad doggie face.
We had a hard frost overnight, I went out late last evening and covered my pots on the porch with the frost blanket. (Big old cotton blanket). I became concerned for my rosemary – rosemary hates frights.
Weather
Sunny today and warmer! I need to get this work finished so I can get out there!
Great weather for asparagus!
Now, don’t worry about TKG looking for partnerships. I hear you worrying. I will still be the same. The farmy will still be its gentle self. This is where you still come with your coffee in the morning or wine in the evening.
Most of these logos will be over on The Sustainable Home (TSH) side.
But I would LOVE to hear if you know of any cool companies we could highlight!
Good morning and thank you so much!
Talk soon.
Celi
The Kitchen's Garden 
71 responses to “What’s your favourite eco friendly product. Let’s make a list.”
Oh boy, where do I even start as I use so many earth friendly items. One of the biggest wastes in our society is fast fashion..we buy clothing, linens, etc. made with bad materials, from bad sources, made in third world countries with no regard for their environment, child labor, etc. etc. then get rid of them after a short time and buy new stuff. X-s that by billions of people and UGH! There are mountains of our used shit in other people’s countries piling up in huge trash heaps. So…I found a great online consignment shop a few years ago, called http://www.thredup.com No one needs to buy new clothes..we have enough already here to circle the earth a thousand times. You can also sell clothing with them.
I totally agree Christina – you are absolutely right. So – tell me – how has your experience been with thredup – what have you bought from them and what is their return policy? Many of these companies dump returns which makes me madder than a hornet.
I have had great luck with ThredUp and have purchased many things from them…I have a thing for 100% wool sweaters as in this damp PNW winter, weather it’s the only material that really keeps me warm. So..I have a bunch of those and being wool they hardly ever wear out.. a few dresses, jeans, leather belts, even a couple pair of boots. You can get things brand new to gently worn. I even bought a brand new bathing suit with tags for a fraction of its brand new price. You can return almost anything except for final sale items..which is pretty standard anywhere and I believe there is a small restocking fee but I have never had to return anything.
You can narrow your search by item, size, color, price, what condition, etc. which is very convenient and they often have discounts and sales. You can also earn points for further purchases. I even re-use the cute green and white, polka dot, tissue paper that they wrap your items in. 🙂
This is really great. I might look into them for myself instead of the local second hand shop which is a pretty sad affair.
I think you might like it if you know specifically what you’re looking for as they have scads of items and scrolling through them would take forever. Be careful though..you might end up purchasing more than you really wanted to..I put in little black dress and so many came up that I liked that of course, I had to get more than one. Lol.
Let me know if you get anything!
I see what you mean!! I fell down the rabbit hole this morning. Not buying yet ( looking for a black blazer) but tons there! Thank you!
I think you’ll be able to find one you like..and it’s funny because I was reading up on their About page and they list blazers as the number one most carbon intensive clothing item to buy brand new. Evidently there is a dirty dozen clothing list…who knew? So you would be doing the world a great favor by purchasing one from Thredup! (thumbs up) 🙂
I hope to find a real wool one! So we will see’ – but there is so much wasted fabric in a blazer/
rE dish soap bar and a local goat farm, Swiss Frau Farm (she has a website) she makes wonderful soap including a shampoo bar. I make my own skin care stuff, mostly coconut & olive oil with beeswax pastilles melted in and my own toothpaste, simply baking soda, sea salt & water. I have a glass of Switchel aka haymakers punch – raw honey, organic apple cider vinegar, water and ginger – great for gut health every day. I do go through a lot of the vinegar, it’s great for your hair. Also make my own deodorant, I’m really putting forth a lot of effort to get rid of as many chemicals as I can.
Sherry you are doing wonderfully! A star for us to follow! Vinegar – how dos that go with white hair – I must look that up. And thank you for your toothpaste recipe – we used salt as kids so this makes a lot of sense – can you give me your proportions off hand? I will look into Swiss Frau Farm. I love shampoo bars! And eliminating plastic any way we can has to be good for turning off the plastic tap!
Hope you are well!? and things are doing good.
2/3 cup baking soda
1 tsp fine sea salt (optional – direct application of the minerals in sea salt is great for teeth, but can be left out if the taste is too salty)
1 – 2 tsp peppermint extract or 10-15 drops peppermint essential oil (or add your favorite flavor – spearmint, orange, etc.)
filtered water (add to desired consistency)
Swiss Frau soap is wonderful, the hand soap makes your skin feel so soft and the shampoo bar gives a wonderful lather. My hair is white now (or Ash Blond as I prefer to say, haha) and I do a vinegar rinse pretty regularly, it’s good for your scalp also.
I’m doing well, impatiently waiting for spring, 80’s several days last week then 2″ of snow on Sunday, sigh.
My favourite ecofriendly products are the ones I make or reuse. Most other things I think of are very local to me or in Australia (I also have a Pottery for the Planet mug I love). Off the top of my head here’s a few favourites. Our soap comes from Perry’s Lemon Myrtle a few kilometres down the road but they have an online store. My go-to place to buy gifts for kids is Ford Street Publishing in Melbourne – a small independent Australian publisher of books for children and young adults, via their online store. I buy olive oil in bulk – 20 litres drums from Nuggety Creek Olive Oil in the Victorian Goldfields region also via their online store.
Not what you requested, but at the top of my wish list is a small chicken coop for back-yard chicken keepers like me. Over the years I’ve seen lots of designs, but nothing that would meet the needs of versatility, safety, durability and portability. It would be nice to find local or regional craftspersons who have interest and skill at such endeavors, but I believe the concept has wide applicability.
It does! I also would love to support a young designer and builder to create the perfect coop. Let’s keep looking – if you see one that you love let me know and I will promote them! That is an excellent idea.
Portability is a must for me too. Chickens are great lawn mowers and fertilizers but the coop needs to be moved daily at that point.
Deal. I’m so glad you like the concept. Maybe we, in our connection across the miles of US terrain, can conjure up someone human who wants to create in practical terms, our ideal portable chicken coop. I’ve heard of chicken tractors, for instance, but the physical requirements are too demanding for an old lady like me. I’ll wish on it . . .
Oh yes!! You are a great researcher so I bet we can find something close to that – and so many people are setting up urban coops now. I wonder if anyone is making them with recycled plastic piping. That would make them a lot lighter and get the plastic pipe off the streets. Lets keep in touch on this. c
I’ve been using PVC scraps in several of my personal design products. It’s lightweight and sturdy. I’ve had to hacksaw through it, not an easy task.
PVC (polyvinyl chloride) is used in much modern construction now for piping. Its disadvantages are that it leeches components into water it carries, and treated water, like chlorine or flouride, contributes to its deterioration. PVC exposed to hot sunlight and high UV deteriorates even faster in my salty atmosphere, so I couldn’t rely on it to hold up at stress points over time.
I’m not a builder or architect, but I do have working knowledge of a variety of materials in my locale. I know there are many possible materials that can be used. Maybe others can provide tips, if others are also inspired by this concept.
PVC is rigid in short spans, but it is brittle. I’ve punctured my underground water line with a gardening tool.
Not a problem with an above-surface traveling chicken coop, but be aware that sun exposure and movement can contribute to abrupt breakage at stress points.
Just thinking on-line . . .
I made a mobile chook tractor which could be easily adapted for permanent living. I’m a 62 year old arthritic woman with a damaged back and I can pull it around my back yard without any difficulty, as it’s made from PVC (sadly not recycled) pipe. Here’s the link for the post about it (https://talltalesfromchiconia.wordpress.com/2022/03/26/tales-of-chookonia-4-what-a-hoopla), and I also wrote detailed assembly instructions and another diagram apart from what’s in the post, if anyone wants it. I can email it if you let me know.
I love using Earth Breeze laundry sheets. Eco friendly and they do a great job. Also they are super easy to pack when traveling!
This one is Australia-only: Eden Seeds (https://www.edenseeds.com.au/), who do organic and heritage varieties of seeds for all types of climate from mine (tropical) to cool temperate. I also use beeswax wraps for loads of uses in the kitchen. I buy locally-produced shea butter soap (I have very dry skin and it’s very good). I don’t buy toilet paper, we use a bidet spray. I crochet my own cotton dishcloths and string scrubbers. Bamboo toothbrushes, fully compostable. My chickens not only eat my vegetable scraps, they also turn local wood chips into fantastic poop-enriched compost. I follow Justin Rhodes, Sow the Land and The Hollar Homestead channels on YouTube, all of which have excellent ideas for homesteading, growing your own clean food, care and management of land and livestock, and living a more aware and responsible life.
Beeswax wraps! I had forgotton about those – thank you! Deb (above) and I were talking about home made string bags for her soap – maybe you can connect with her on that? I told her you know more about this stuff than I do – (not being a knitter and all!)> we were wondering which yarns/string to use. Thank you for the utube tip! One of these days!!
Blueland soap – small tablets come, add to either a glass jar you can buy from them or any foaming jar you have already on hand. I’ve used for several years and love them!
Thrift books.com, BEST place for used books and cheap! And amazing farmy selection!
4Ocean I used to love, I did, I’ve got several bracelets from them. Then I noticed, the small print now says made with 5% recycled materials. Umhmmm? How about the rest of it???