To Smell or Not to Smell....Read On CONTINUED

As mentioned in the previous post, my family has been on a journey of sorts toward living a more organic lifestyle. To this end, I began to experiment with "earth-friendly" cleaners and scents. I can now proudly say that we do not use ANY harsh chemical ingredients.

Just a couple of ideas: Did you know that mixing baking soda with dish soap (to the consistency of toothpaste creates a very effective abrasive cleaner that does not scratch, and does not have harsh chemical ingredients.

Speaking of dish soap, if you switch to a more earth conscious dish soap, it will likely not have a scent. Not a bad thing in itself. But if you miss having the aroma to go with clean dishes and a sink full of hot bubbly water, try this; simply add a few drops of an essential oil to your dish soap. Lavender is lovely, but one of my personal favourites is peppermint. For me, it makes doing dishes nearly quite pleasurable. Remember you may have to shake the dish soap to keep the essential oil mixed in.

You can do the same with liquid hand soap, or laundry soap. For me, adding an essential oil, especially a food grade oil gives me satisfaction in knowing what I am breathing in is OK to eat.

Yours naturally and keep warm (up here in Canada anyway).

To Smell or Not to Smell....Read On

With a baby and toddler in our home, we are very contentious about the cleaning products we use. That means everything from the dishes, to laundry, to the toilet bowl. I have found our world is very involved with how things smell. There is apple dish soap, vanilla room scent, lemon toilet bowl cleaner, pine floor cleaner, outdoor dryer sheets, and finally odor eliminators (which I suppose you will need once you have used all the above products).

I have nothing against smells. I infact love smelly products. What I do not like is artificial, harsh, or potentially dangerous smells. As you may have experienced, the ones that smell wonderful but make you gasp for breath because they are so powerful. I question how safe these smells can be for our children pets and ourselves. If the label states you should call poison control immediately, should we really by putting it in hot water to breathe in the sweet scent? I suppose not.

I was given a baby soap with a warning on the reverse label stating that a child with allergies may have a severe reaction to the product's smell. Needless to say, I chose not to see if my child was allergic to it or not. This example is simply illustrate the length to which we go to smell nice.

How can we have a smelly house without worrying about possible health reactions? Read on in our next post.

Yours Naturally,

The Nurture by Nature Family

The Purpose of Our Blog

We would like this site to be a forum for sharing and discussing our "environmental finds". That is, if you know of a way to get banana stains our of baby's sleeper without the use of harsh chemicals, share it! If you have a great online resource you would like to share, link us to it.

Living organically is a choice. It takes time, knowledge, and patience. At Nurture by Nature, we think it is a work in progress, and that every step helps the greater good.

Our immediate family has started to live more organically by implementing "Organic Goals". We are trying presently to live without plastic. We are finding this quite challenging and exciting. We want to hear about your organic lifestyle goals. Please share.

Yours Naturally,

Tracy MacGregor &
The Nurture by Nature Family

Hello World!

About Nurture By Nature

How We Came to Be

We began planning Nurture by Nature shortly after the birth of our first child. We were concerned about the harsh chemical ingredients, use of plastics in feeding items, and numerous recalls on baby toys which were supposed to be "safe" for our daughter.

Trying to find safe, organic, natural baby care products was difficult to say the least. When we moved to a more rural location, there were even fewer resources available. So, we began to research and try-out items with our daughter and family. While we continued on this journey toward an organic lifestyle, we had another addition to our family, our son. This provided a span away from paid work to delicate more time to developing our business. Finally, more knowledgeable about organic products for children and families and wanting to offer our finds to other families, Nurture By Nature a reality.

We hope you will find our products and resources helpful to your family. Many thanks.

The Nurture By Nature Family.

www.nurturebynature.ca