12 Simple Ways to Live Greener

I try to do my part to make the world a better place, and as an ocean and dolphin lover, I really try to make a difference by being more environmentally friendly. People often think that living green means giving up a lot and changing your whole way of life. In all actuality, there are plenty of little things that you can do every day to get into better habits and live greener.

After just celebrating Earth Day one week ago, I thought now would be the perfect time to share my tips and tricks to help you create new habits that are simple and easy to do. Every little bit helps and makes a bigger impact.

1. Recycle

Recycling is a big way you can help go greener without much effort. If you aren’t used to recycling, there will be a little adjustment period. I didn’t grow up recycling, and so when I moved to California, I had to learn what items could and couldn’t be recycled. I quickly got into a good rhythm with it, though, and even when we moved to North Carolina, I have kept up with my recycling habits out here. It has become a habit for me, and I do it now without even thinking.

2. Dryer Balls

About 2 years ago, I decided to give dryer balls a try. I had been hearing so much about the toxic chemicals in dryer sheets and wanted to stop using them. I got dryer balls as a Christmas gift and have been in love ever since! Not only do I not have to use toxic chemicals on my clothes, but it also saves me a bunch! Dryer balls are good for many loads, whereas dryer sheets are a one-time use.

3. Reusable Straws

This is quite possibly my favorite of all these ways to go greener. A lot of theme parks and big venues are switching from plastic to paper straws in an effort to help the environment more. I’m all about going greener, but I, for one, HATE paper straws! They get soggy and gross so quickly that you end up having to use multiple straws, which is just as wasteful, I think.

When we took a family trip to Disney World in Florida, they only gave out paper straws, which did not work for us lol. So we took straws from my daughter’s cup to use instead. After we got home, I invested in some stainless steel straws. They are an absolute lifesaver! Easy to clean, and you can take them with you. I have even started turning away plastic straws at drive-thrus to use my stainless steel straws instead.

4. Reusable Cups

Another way to cut back is to use your own stainless steel or reusable cup in place of cups at restaurants and gas stations. Just bring your own cup with you and fill that instead.

5. Rethink Water Bottles

Just like with reusable straws and cups, get yourself a reusable water bottle. Using a filter and then filling up your own reusable water bottle will cut back on the waste of plastic water bottles. I drink so much water every day, so this one is huge for me.

6. Reusable Napkins

Instead of using paper towels and napkins, give reusable and washable napkins a try. A lot of restaurants use cloth napkins, and they work great. I haven’t personally tried reusable napkins at home yet, but I have been looking into it more. If it can help save money and go a little greener at the same time, why not?

7. Manage Water Usage

Cut back on unneeded water usage. Wait until the dishwasher is completely full to run it, turn off the water while brushing your teeth until you need to rinse your toothbrush, etc. Being mindful of using unnecessary water, even if it is just a little, can all add up and make a difference.

8. Manage Electricity Usage

Cut back on unneeded electricity use. Turn off the lights when you leave the room, turn off the TV when you’re in another room, use outside light during the day instead of electricity, etc. My parents instilled in me to always turn the light off when I leave a room, so I do it naturally now. Again, even if it seems insignificant, it can all add up.

9. Switch to LED Lights

Making little changes in your home to be more energy-efficient is a great way to do your part and help. When we redid our house after hurricane damage, we put LED light bulbs in all our lights. They are more energy-efficient and, in turn, help to go greener.

10. Sign Up for Electronic Billing

If you want to cut back on paper waste, switch to electronic billing instead of paper. Most companies offer this as an option nowadays. It is a huge help for me. I handle the majority of our bills electronically.

11. Buy in Bulk

Buying in bulk helps to save money in the long run and also helps to cut back on the plastic and packaging. Even with a small family of four, we buy in bulk sometimes. I learned the art of doing that to help save money growing up in a family of 10. If there are items you go through fast or will use in the long run anyway (i.e., toothpaste, soap, etc.), why not go ahead and get them in bulk to help save and go greener at the same time?

12. Reusable Grocery Bags

Plastic grocery bags have been banned in a lot of places. They are also not environmentally friendly at all. Even though we still have plastic grocery bags here in NC, there is one store that doesn’t use them and requires you to purchase your own reusable bags if you want to use a bag. I’m starting to get more into reusable bags.

By doing these simple little things every day, you are helping. Every little bit you do to help eliminate plastic waste helps our ocean and marine animal friends. Any little thing you do to help can make a bigger effect and lasting impact. This is something that I am so passionate about because you have to take care of what you love so that it will last.

DIY Foaming Hand Soap

I personally love foaming hand soap. It smells amazing and is fluffy and fun to wash your hands with. One thing I don’t like about foaming hand soap is how expensive it can be, especially if it is the only hand soap you use.

I’m always looking for ways to cut costs and save. Foaming hand soap was one of the things I found. I discovered I could make it myself and help save money, so I figured, why not? And now I want to share with you the step-by-step guide I use so that you can make your own as well!

What You’ll Need

• Foaming soap pump
• Castile soap
• Essential oil
• Fractionated coconut oil (optional)
• Water

FOAMING SOAP PUMP

You’ll need an empty foaming soap pump. You can purchase new ones online on Amazon, or you can save ones you already have. I just saved pumps I had bought from Walmart of Dial foaming soap. Once the soap was gone, I washed them out and reused them.

CASTILE SOAP

I like Dr. Bronner’s Castile soap because it’s organic. I used their baby unscented soap, but they also have other scents like lavender and peppermint.

ESSENTIAL OIL

Grab your favorite essential oils for scents. You can mix and match them as well if you so choose. I personally use Young Living.

FRACTIONATED COCONUT OIL

Basically, fractionated coconut oil is just liquid coconut oil. I found mine online at Amazon. It isn’t necessary to include this when making your soap, but I chose to for the benefits of helping to keep my hands softer.

WATER

Any water will do. I just used water from the filter in my fridge.

Let’s Get Started

STEP #1
Fill the soap dispenser about 1/4 of the way with castile soap. I just eyeball it.

STEP #2
Add 1 teaspoon of fractionated coconut oil into the soap dispenser.

STEP #3
Add 8-10 drops of your choice of essential oil(s) into the soap dispenser. You can do all 1 scent or mix a couple together. I was skeptical of using 10 drops because it seemed like a lot, but the scent was way lower than I thought, even using 10 drops.

STEP #4
Fill the rest of the soap dispenser with water and shake to mix. Make sure to leave room to put the pump in the dispenser. The bottles I used already had a fill line marked on the back, which was super helpful.

STEP #5
Let the bubbles settle from shaking and then enjoy your new foaming soap!

Congratulations, now you have your own homemade foaming hand soap to use! I made a total of 3 pumps my first time and only used a minimal amount of castile soap and fractionated coconut oil (see photo above). I still have plenty of product to make more. Think of all the money you’ll save doing this on your own. Plus, it’s simple and quick to make, so it doesn’t take up much time. Give different scents a try and have fun mixing and matching. Happy creating!

Drink More Water Challenge

This post is a collaboration with Zulay Kitchen. All opinions are my own.

Water is such an important drink. As humans, our bodies are made up of about 60% water, and drinking enough of it is essential to your health in many ways.

Towards the end of last year, I realized I was really slacking on my water intake. So I decided to start off this new year by doing a Drink More Water Challenge to help make sure I am getting enough water. First, I started researching how much water I should be drinking.

What I found in my internet searches is that there doesn’t seem to be one set amount a person should be drinking. It varies depending on your body weight and exercise routines, among other things. The most common thing I found was what is referred to as the 8×8 rule. On average, it is suggested to drink eight 8-ounce glasses of water per day (8×8), which equals 64 ounces of water a day.

Since I am pretty active and also drink quite a bit whenever I eat, I may tend to be a little on the higher-than-average side in those regards. However, based on my body type and weight, I’d be on the lower end. Another pretty average answer I discovered is to drink between half an ounce and an ounce of water per day for every pound that you weigh. For me, this is pretty doable, so this is the amount I based my challenge on. However, I realize it’s not as doable for everyone. For example, my husband said it would be nearly impossible for him to drink his whole weight in water a day. If it feels unattainable for you, I would recommend trying the 8×8 rule.

I, for one, have always been a pretty big water drinker; however, sometimes it gets boring drinking water due to the lack of flavor. One of my favorite ways to combat this is to put my favorite fruits in my glass to help add some flavor. I can drink cucumber water all day! I have been putting cucumbers in my water for a while now.

Zulay Kitchen gifted me with this wonderful 34oz water bottle with timelines on the outside of the bottle to make sure you’re drinking enough water. And the best part is that it also has its own fruit infuser to put fruit in when you drink. This has been such a great tool to aid in my water challenge! And it helped me combat those water blues by being able to mix up some different fruit blends in the infuser.

Some of my personal favorite fruit blends are:

• Just plain cucumber
• Cucumber + Raspberry
• Pineapple + Raspberry
• Blueberry + Mint

There are endless options, and you really can’t go wrong. Many fruits and veggies have amazing benefits by themselves. When you combine them with your water, you get double the benefits. Lemon has huge health benefits and is commonly used in water. I’m personally not a fan of lemon, so I use cucumber in most of my blends instead.

The Zulay Kitchen Water Bottle with Fruit Infuser I used for my water challenge is 34oz. Based on the timelines on the bottle, you would need to drink two full bottles a day, and this would equal 68 ounces. This would be just slightly over the recommended amount of 64 ounces for the 8×8 rule. After the first couple of days using this water bottle, I realized I actually went through two water bottles pretty easily, so I decided to make it my goal to go through 3 bottles in a day. That brought my water intake up to 96 ounces a day, which put me right in the target range of drinking half an ounce to an ounce a day per my body weight. Win/win!

When the new year started, I began actively trying to drink more water. I have only been 100% monitoring my intake since using my Zulay Kitchen water bottle. For about the last two weeks, I have been drinking between 85 and 96 ounces of water a day regularly. And other than peeing constantly (which is nothing new to me), I’m already noticing a difference and feeling better.

A big reason I wanted to do this challenge was that I could noticeably tell I wasn’t drinking enough water. Drinking enough water has big impacts on multiple areas of your body, health, and, in turn, your life. In my research as to why you should drink more water, I came across these areas that benefit from it. A lot I already knew or had seen for myself in my life, but I was honestly surprised at just how many benefits there are!

I’ve always had pretty good skin, which I attribute to the fact that I drink a bunch of water. Growing up, if I ever had a headache, my dad would ask if I had been drinking enough water and/or just say, “Drink more water”. I have also noticed in my own life that my energy and mood levels are both better when I drink more water. I’m not as hungry throughout the day, which I attribute to drinking so much water as well.

If those aren’t enough reasons to start drinking more water, then I don’t know what is. I challenge you to try the 8×8 rule and drink more water. If you realize, like me, that it doesn’t seem like enough, then up your ounce intake. Try the Drink More Water Challenge for 30 days and just see the differences for yourself! Let me know in the comments below if you’ve tried a water challenge before and what differences you saw in your own health.

Natural Ways to Dry Up Breast Milk

My son is officially weaned! After three years of being pregnant and/or breastfeeding, it feels so nice to have my body to myself again. But the weaning process wasn’t free of bumps in the road. My son took to weaning fairly well, but my body took longer to adjust.

With my daughter, I never had any engorgement issues or milk not drying up while weaning, but with my son I did. Having never experienced weaning issues before, I didn’t know what to do, so I began to look into ways to help dry up my milk supply naturally. In hopes of helping other women in the same situation as I was in just a couple of days ago, here is my list of natural ways to help dry up breast milk.

Wean Slowly

Take your time and wean slowly. Your body produces milk based on supply and demand. If you cut all nursing off at once, cold turkey, your body is going to keep producing the amount it is used to producing, and you will be in pain. For both of my kids, I did it slowly, cutting one feeding out at a time. My kids would nurse about 3-4 times a day when I started weaning. They would nurse first thing in the morning when waking up, before nap(s), and right before bed at night time.

I would cut out the feeding they relied on the least, first. For us, that was nap time feedings. I wouldn’t nurse before naps and instead, offer a bottle of whole milk. I would do that for at least 1 week, and once they got used to it, then I would cut out another nursing session. And so on until they didn’t nurse at all anymore. By gradually cutting out one feeding at a time, it gave my baby time to adjust to the new routine and my body time to adjust and produce less milk.

Don’t Stimulate

When working on weaning, try not to stimulate the breasts. Stimulating will keep engaging the body to produce milk. This means avoid pumping, touching, and long hot showers. On the flip side, you may still want to pump to relieve pain from engorgement while weaning. If you choose to pump for pain, try to only do a little until you feel relief and not overstimulate. Another alternative to pumping is to hand express. I have heard that can help when weaning as opposed to pumping.

Cabbage Leaves

What helped me the most for relief during weaning was cabbage leaves! Buy a head of cabbage, tear off the leaves, use a rolling pin to crush the veins in the leaves, and then put them inside your bra against your breast. The enzymes in the cabbage can help to dry up breast milk. The cool temperature of the cabbage really helps with the engorgement pain or any discomfort from weaning. I know it sounds strange, but it really works. Don’t believe me? Try it. I promise you will thank me later!

Peppermint Oil

Another huge help for me with engorgement while weaning my son was using peppermint oil. I love my essential oils, and when I read that peppermint can help dry breast milk, I had to give it a try. You apply it in between and around the breast. The first couple of times I tried it, I just applied straight oil. I was afraid it might be too strong using it multiple times, so after a couple of times I mixed it with coconut oil, and it helped not be as strong. The menthol from the peppermint gives you that cooling effect, which helps to relieve pain, and it smells amazing! Win/win.

Birth Control

Getting back on normal birth control can help regulate your hormones and help your milk dry up. While breastfeeding, I was on the mini pill, which only has one hormone that helps keep it from affecting your milk supply. Once I started weaning and my prescription ran out, I wasn’t on anything. I had to wait until my son was completely weaned to get back on the normal pill. Depending on the type of birth control you use, you may need to wait until the baby is completely weaned to start it. But getting on birth control can help naturally dry up any remaining milk supply you have once the weaning process is done. Always check with your doctor first before starting new birth control.

Sage Tea

Drinking sage tea regularly is another natural remedy for drying up breast milk. Simply put one teaspoon of sage into a cup of hot water. Let it steep for 15 minutes. Add in a teaspoon of honey for a sweeter taste and enjoy.

Give these tips a shot and let me know what works best for you in the comments below! Just know this won’t last forever. Your supply will go down, and you will get your body back. Be patient with yourself and your body. You will get there!