Over the past eleven weeks we’ve been talking about how to make our homes healthier – how to reduce our toxic load (reducing toxins and chemicals), and ways to incorporate cleaning naturally by giving you green cleaning recipes for every room in your home. If you missed anything and want to catch up, check out the
Health Home category of the blog.
My son is 14 and about to go into high school, aaaah! Although he’s been learning about the products we use in our home over the past several years, I'm realizing that I've really only got four years left to drive home what it means to be “green,” how he can make conscious efforts to be sustainable, and keep his toxic load to a minimum, so he can continue to make wise choices when he’s out of the home. This made me start thinking about how to drive home concepts to our kiddos. And I didn’t have to go far. By choosing to bring dōTERRA into my home I’m teaching him so much (and myself too).
The name dōTERRA is Latin for “Gift of the Earth” – which is the perfect name for the essential oils and oil-based products that my family has come to rely on. We use plant “magic” in our home every day in multiple ways and developing daily habits with these botanical beauties that are more than sustainable, they’re life-changing.
The cool thing about dōTERRA is that they’ve taken going green to a whole new level. Not only do their products come from the earth, but they’re helping us as consumers be mindful of our waste with the shipping materials – eliminating plastic and making boxes out of sustainable forestry.
Here’s a short list of [some] of the ways that dōTERRA is going green:* resources for us to recycle or upcycle our empty bottles
* corporate uses soy ink over harmful solvents like petroleum
* product guides and other printed items being produced on recycled materials
* localizing shipment hubs to reduce fuel consumption for deliveries
* increasing sustainability by utilizing not over harvesting and utilizing plant waste or abundance to create a wonderful essential oil for us to benefit from
For those of you whose kids have already made that transition from living at home to the college dorm, frat house, or apartment or you’re just now jumping onto the natural solutions train yourself I’ve got some tips for you (and them) that can help.
Teach them the importance of reading a label, just because a label says it's green or has other trigger words doesn't mean it's safe. Most household cleaning and personal care products do not disclose all the ingredients within the product, making it very difficult to know what is safe. Based on scientific studies, many of these chemicals are linked to serious health concerns. doTERRA's cleaning and personal care products are made with clean, non-toxic ingredients that are safe, effective, and have a wide variety of health benefits. They build up immunity instead of tearing it down.
"No-No" Ingredients to Avoid in Personal Care Products:
Perfume (or variations of this word)
Fragrance
Parabens
Triclosan
Phthalates
Sodium Lauryth Sulfate
Formaldehyde
DEA, TEA & MEA
Talc
Aluminum
Fluoride
Petroleum and/or Mineral Oil
Since our kids like tech, here are a couple
phone apps that can help them figure out what products might contain ingredients that might be harmful:
Think Dirty®
Good Guide
Detox Me
Here's a downloadable green cleaning recipes quick reference sheet with several simple DIY green cleaning recipes using, yes you guessed it, doTERRA essential oils and their On Guard Cleaning Concentrate.
Not that you need them, they should be pretty self-explanatory at this point, but here are 5 reasons to go green, reduce your toxic load, and begin (or continue) to live a healthier lifestyle.
5 Reasons to Go Green:
Help the Environment
Boost Immunity & Respiratory Health
Wellness Overhaul
Save Money
Emotional Enlightenment
If you want to send your kids off to college with some Gifts of the Earth,
let's chat, I can help you figure out what's going to fit best with their needs and lifestyle. Always here to help!
xoDanette