How to Make Your Own Shaving Soap: Homemade Natural Coconut Shaving Soap Recipe

My husband is very picky about his shaving soap. Which is totally cool. He’s one of those guys who has to shave every day – and so I can absolutely understand being particular about ensuring whatever he’s using works well, feels good, and doesn’t create a huge mess.

Shaving soap also happened to be the final item he needed in his personal care arsenal in order to be ENTIRELY natural, homemade, and chemical-free. Yup… he’s rid of all personal care store-bought products at this point. The shaving soap was the last hurdle to conquer!

Bee a Hero: 6 Easy Ways to Save Your Pollinators

I went to an Introductory Beekeeping class this month, and it was AMAZING!! Offered by the Lake County Beekeepers Association, it was chock-full of information, useful strategies, history and biology, and specific steps for starting your own hives.

I left with the very firm conviction that I want to commit to beekeeping; however, with a daughter who is still hesitant, neighbors right next door who are somewhat nature-phobic, and still so much to learn… I’m okay taking one more year to plan carefully, feel fully prepared, and find a good home for my initial hives.

DIY Shampoo + DIY Conditioner Recipe: How to Make Your Own Lavender Shampoo + Rosemary Conditioner

So… today’s homemade shampoo and conditioner recipes will shock you with their simplicity. So much so, that I am going to take a bit of space to share why it’s good to make your own shampoo and conditioner – and some of the benefits of taking care of your hair a little differently.

Here are the four biggest benefits I’ve experienced in making my own natural (and chemical-free) shampoo and conditioner:

DIY Deodorant Recipe + Pros/Cons of 3 Natural Deodorant Options

Homemade deodorant was one of those hurdles I balked at when taking on making my own non-toxic personal care products. I guess I was convinced there was no way it would work. Or it would feel funny. Or stain my clothes. Or be too hard.

Luckily, I was wrong on all counts! I started experimenting with natural deodorants after seeing the film Chemerical and seeing continued suggestions that the aluminum found in most store-bought deodorants may be linked to Alzheimer’s Disease. (Not to mention other potentially dangerous chemicals like parabens, pthalates, and SLS.)

DIY Lemon-Eucalyptus Dishwasher Detergent… aka THE SAGA

One of the first things we wanted to tackle when we started to de-toxify our home was dishwasher detergent. It’s the item we’re most likely to consume, we use it every single day, and the list of ingredients on most brands is filled with things I cannot pronounce.

“How hard can it be?” we thought. And therein lies what has probably been the greatest saga in our household toward finding a green, chemical-free solution that works as well as the brands we were trying to replace.

DIY Dishwasher Rinse Aid Recipe: How to Make Your Own Citrus Vinegar

Figuring out how to de-chemical-ize our automatic dishwasher detergent has been one of the most difficult transitions thus far. In some ways, personal care products are so much easier to finagle. And it’s very easy to go more natural for hand-washing (I’ll post more on that another time)… but the automatic dishwasher has driven us a bit nuts.

Later in the week, I’ll give you the actual saga of our search for an effective detergent, but today I wanted to focus on a great rinse aid trick.

DIY Face Wash Recipe: Homemade Peppermint-Honey Face Wash (Natural + Exfoliating!)

As I mentioned yesterday, my husband (Andy) and I decided to do our best to go chemical-free after watching the documentary Chemerical. It opened our eyes to the number of crazy chemicals in our cleaning and personal care products… and upon doing further research via the Environmental Working Group’s Skin Deep database, we were determined to go a more natural route.

Now, Andy had been a long-time “apricot” face wash user and desperately wanted something that would still do the scrubbing duty of his favorite brand. Luckily, I was able to combine an amazing recipe I found at One Good Thing by Jillee (who had originally found it at Towards Sustainability)… and an idea that came to me after reading several body wash recipes that used cornmeal for grit.

Welcome!

Hello and welcome to Do It Now + Green. Somehow you found yourself here (which is awesome!), and you’ve probably got good reason for landing in this spot.

Maybe you’re worried about money, or your food choices. Maybe you dream of casting off your sub/urban lifestyle and running away to the wilds of Wisconsin to start your own mini farm. Maybe you want to revamp your living environment or try something totally radical… like geothermal heating and cooling, hydroponics in your basement, homemade biodiesel fuel, backyard chickens, and the like. Or maybe you’re just sick of the clutter and eager to save some green while going more green. (Win-win, right?)

If so, this blog is for you. It’s all about diving in, trying a few things, and seeing what you think. What works for you? What’s sustainable for you? How do you choose to be responsible to others? What resonates for you or feels like that “ah ha” moment you’ve been waiting for? (And what holds you back?)