what else can i do

[my2]

with a family history of cancer on dh side and a son with aspergers im trying to go naturally as possible but with not much cost.

i have

olanted fruit trees and veg garden
use grey water for lawn
use ornaic and natural wash liquid and dish washing liquid
buy as much organic stuff i can
use lavender oil and water as air freshner
use a water filter
have just bought organic and natural sunscreen and mossie repellent
just bought organic shampoo and conditioner and bubble bath
bough organic hand wash
have my own chickens for eggs

what else can i do,organic meat is dear here and im trying to do it with a oh who loves junk and convenience .

what do you use for sandwich wrap?
what other household cleaners do you use
what about baking trays etc

we practice attatchment parenting,son attends school due to his special needs and oh works nights.i dont drive so am limited to what i can access here in australia.

thanks in advance

[lucyem]

Well to answer your quick questions we use a re-useable wrap for sandwiches. I found it online. It has velcro to stay shut. Ours are 2-3 years old and still going. As for food storage I use the glass pyrex bowls with rubber lids as much as possible. All my pots and pans are stainless steel and no nonstick teflon. I pretty much only use baking soda and vinegar for cleaning. For meat we only buy local grass fed. it means less meat dinners but that is OK because the ones we do are much better. We are working on meat chickens. I was hoping for this coming summer but we may have to wait another year. Too much to do on the farm that has to get done first. I also try and buy as locally and organic as I can. That means farmers markets every weekend in the summer.

There is only so much you can do. I read an article recently talking about the best foods to buy organic. Potatoes and strawberries were high on the list. Most fruits like oranges with thick skin you peel are lower on the list. There was also a thing about buying cans. They say you should not buy tomatoes in cans because the acidic tomato juice will cause the toxic stuff on the inside of the can to leach off faster then it will with other products. So only buy tomatoes in glass jars. Avoid cans when you can This was in a yahoo article about a month ago.

[Adamsmama]

Cooking and baking: we only use glass, stainless steel, cast iron or stoneware.

Do you make your own bread and baked goods? If so, you could try a flour mill/grinder and grind your own wheat, beans, rice, oats, etc.

[zoebird]

we're like adam's mama for cooking and baking, though i'm thinking about silicon mats for the cookie sheets and the like instead of parchment paper. they're reusable, but the plastic kinda freaks me out.

i tend to use those glass jars that have that sealable lid for dry good storage, and those can also be used for canning which makes it easier to reuse IMO. but i haven't gotten into canning yet.

we also use re-useable sandwich wrap. a friend made them for me and ours tie because the velcro was driving me nuts (it wouldn't stay shut after a while). she makes hers out of scraps and uses some kind of spray on the outside to seal them. anway, they look like envelops and we love them.

yeah, i can't think of much else.

for household cleaners, i don't use much. i make them out of essential oils, vinegar, castile soap, vodka (evaporates quickly), and baking soda. i do buy a separate laundry liquid, but i'm going to move to soap nuts (they grow on trees, are dried, and you can use them for multiple loads of wash . . .they work great if my friend's clothes are any indication).

my one concession, though, is oxyclean as a pre-soak for my baby's clothes (and mine when he gets tomato soup on me).

anyway, that's us.

[Gingercat]

Originally Posted by my2

what do you use for sandwich wrap?

I've been looking literally everywhere for those traditional brown wax papers that used to wrap their sandwiches in the past (e.g. like they did in Little House on the Prairie ) but had no luck. Does anybody know if they do exist anymore? Parchment paper is just an artificial imitation of this old wax paper and I'm so sad I cannot find it any longer (I'm 33 years old and I do remember my mom using it when I was really young!).

[Jackies Ladybug]

butcher paper from a restaurant supply store may be what you are looking for.
its brown or white paper with wax on one side

[Tangled Hill]

I have MS (and my brother has Crohn's - both autoimmune diseases believed to be caused by genetic and *environmental* factors). In order to keep myself as healthy as possible, and in order to keep my MS in remission, I've been slowly (over the last several years) turning to more natural, healthier ways of living.

Some of the things I've done:

• No shampoo - instead I use baking soda and vinegar
• No cosmetics
• Natural deodorant - I use a crystal mist
• No cleansers - I wash my face with honey and use witch hazel as a toner
• For anything I put on my skin, I scrutinize the ingredients very carefully
• Found lead-free dishware (more difficult than you'd think)
• Got rid of the crockpot due to lead
• Got rid of all our kitchen plastics
• Bought enameled ironware pots and pans (even our "stainless steel" cookware was actually clad in aluminum!)
• Stopped using commercial cleaners - I use vinegar and baking soda, instead, and it works surprisingly well
• Brush my teeth with baking soda and salt
• Try to get enough exercise and sun each day
• Switched to cloth pads (scary chemicals in the disposable ones that actually physically changed my cycle)
• Wear and sleep on natural fibers
• Don't purchase things in cans
• Tossed the aluminum foil and made sure to stay away from aluminum in things like baking powder
• I switched from vegetarianism to veganism a few years ago. Recently, however, I've become a raw food vegan (one great aspect of this way of eating is that I don't really have to worry about additives/preservatives/etc.)
• Buy organics as much as possible
• Grow my own veggies
• Work hard to keep stress at bay
• Listen to my body more now

I still need to switch from tap water to non-fluoridated water (requires a reverse osmosis filter - kinda pricey).

Some of these things save me money (skin and hair care, for instance), while others have cost money (cookware and dishware, in particular).

I recommend Randall Fitzgerald's book The Hundred-Year Lie. It's a frightening read.

Years ago, I was terribly symptomatic: optic neuritis, vertigo, pervasive numbness, phantom pain, Lhermitte's sign, brain fog, etc. I was wearing an eye patch and walking with a cane for a while (Arrgh!). But, since making these changes, I have only a tiny bit of lingering numbness in the fingers of my right hand and very mild Lhermitte's sign (mostly after exercise). I can't say for certain that any one thing has done the trick, but I am sure that I'm treating myself much better than ever before.

Good luck, and don't try to change everything at once. It takes time and effort. And lots of trial and error.

[Gingercat]

Originally Posted by Jackies Ladybug

butcher paper from a restaurant supply store may be what you are looking for.
its brown or white paper with wax on one side

Thank you for this, I''ll look for it!
I guess my other concern with this is whether the wax is natural (pure beeswax) or it is a paraffin one. Sure I do not want to wrap up our sandwiches in parafin!