DIY Orange Peel Facewash

This vegan and all-natural facewash is hands-down to be called as the most refreshing facewash which I have made so far. It is so easy and requires no processing. You basically need only two ingredients, the third one is abundantly available and the fourth one is optional.

Dried Orange peels, Castile soap, Water and Orange essential oil

Oranges have a high amount of antioxidants which fight free radicals which may slow down the pace of wrinkle production, and can also help in stopping premature ageing. Oranges have a high content of citric acid which aids in skin exfoliation thoroughly improving the overall look of your skin.

Ingredients:

1. 1 tbsp orange peel powder
2. 2 tbsp Castile soap
3. 6 tbsp water
4. 10 drops of orange essential oil (Optional)

 

Here are Orange peels guarded by Jenny 😀

Process:

1. Keep the orange peels in sunlight for 3 – 4 days until it is absolutely dry and hard.
2. Blend it into powder in a grinder.
3. Mix all the items listed under ingredients.
4. And, you are done!
5. Store it in a clean and dry bottle, preferably with a pump for convenience.

 

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DIY Soapnut Shampoo, Laundry and Dishwash

You can easily make your own cleaners with soapnut/reetha. Chemicals from store-bought detergents go down our drains and into our streams, rivers and oceans causing massive imbalances in the ecosystem.⁠ The recipe I am sharing today is really very old school, my mom remembers using soapnuts as cleansers as a child. So basically detergents, shampoos are just a few decades old.

Soapnuts are the berries of a Sapindus species tree that grow in subtropical to warm temperate areas and when soaked or boiled with water, produce an amazing natural soap. Which is absolutely natural, easy to make and chemical-free so good for our waterways. It would also help you to save tons of money and will reduce single plastic bottles which come with store-bought products. You can also refer to my DIY toothpaste recipe and DIY orange peel facewash recipe too.

This is a super easy procedure which uses zero energy and it is a recipe which is actually multi-purpose. 🙂

You just need two things here:

Soapnut and water, that’s it.

• Soak a handful of soapnuts per litre of water for 2 days.

Soak Soapnuts in Water

• After 2 days, crush them with hands to get all the pulp in the water.

Extract Soapnut Pulp after 2 Days

• Strain to get rid off the outer shell.
• And, voila! Use it as a natural shampoo, laundry detergent, dishwashing liquid, floor mopping and even giving your pooch a bath.

My Batch in Reused Bottles for Shampoo, Laundry and Dishwashing! 🙂

How will one plastic harm? Said 7.8 billion.

Hi! I am glad you could make it to this blog post. 🙂

This definitely means that there is a high chance that you are well aware of how terrible is single-use plastic and you want to know what are the ways to reduce plastic use. I have contemplated the idea of writing this blog piece after my recent talk at work. I would keep it very short and to the point to talk about why we need it and what I am doing and what you can start doing from this day!

So let’s start with this picture:

Looks all normal, nice and convenient?

Now look at the next one:

This could remind you of the last road trip you took and you stopped by to buy some water and cola.

The next one is where they end up forever:

But what can you do alone, you ask? Surprisingly all 7.8 billion people ask the same question. 😀

But before I move on to what can be done or what I am doing; I want to share some stats which I found from Google.

20,000 plastic bottles are used every second. That’s more than a million bottles every minute.

300 million tons of plastic is produced each year. And, 50% is one-time use! 9% of plastic gets recycled globally.

1 million seabirds die every year due to plastic

83% tap water samples have plastic

1 fish in every 4 fishes have plastic

Half of the world’s plastic come from Asia

Stats can be validated here: WWF Video

Shocking and depressing isn’t it? Is it overwhelming? Do you feel helpless or do you think there is somebody else who will fix it? It’s complicated. Yes, the govt. and the corporates should stop the origin but in the meantime what can you do to reduce plastic? And, eventually, save money too.

The truth is, it is almost impossible to get rid of plastic due to our lifestyle and industry usage but we can still start with few things to contribute less to our own carbon footprint.

I want to introduce ‘The Mantra’ of reducing waste to you. The 5 R’s for waste reduction:

• Refuse – Avoid single-use plastics and paper products by opting for re-usable.
• Reduce – Downsize what you purchase, opting to be more mindful of what you really need.
• Reuse – Always find a way to keep an item out of the landfill by keeping it in great condition, repairing or up-cycling it when it breaks.
• Recycle – Properly recycle any plastic, paper, glass or metal that comes into your life you cannot refuse, reduce, or reuse.
• Rot – Set up a compost system for your food scraps, or find a food scrap drop off centre (like a farmers market, or community garden) near your house.

How to rock at work? aka How to reduce plastic at work:

1. Get your own mug for tea/coffee.
2. Ask cafeteria personnel not to give plastic spoon/straws
3. Carry your own bottle for meetings all the time
4. Don’t wrap food in foil, opt for beeswax wrap (if at all)
5. Reduce paper usage, go digital wherever possible.

How to chill right at home? aka How to reduce plastic at home:

1. Use a bamboo toothbrush
2. Get your own tiffins for takeaways
3. Borrow/rent plates and cutlery for parties
4. Always carry a bag for shopping
5. Use no/less plastic bag at grocery stores
6. Adopt a menstrual cup or reusable cotton pads
7. Use reusable diapers for babies
8. Say no to fast fashion
9. Stop wrapping gifts

How to be a pro-traveller? aka How to reduce plastic while travelling

• Carry travel cutlery
• Keep a reusable water bottle
• Get your trash back 
• Cleanup where you travel
• Take your own toiletries
• Motivate your friends and family

Now after all this preaching, the question is – where have I reached in all of this fight against plastic?

This was my reusable bottle when I attended a conference recently. In this two day conference, I at least saved 20 of these small monsters. The hotel was more than happy to refill the bottle for me from their filter.

Above set of pictures denotes my personal use items which are helping me to reduce so much waste while saving me money.

1. I swear by my reusable menstrual cup which is helping me save almost 50 sanitary pads per year which will otherwise will be on this planet forever.
2. My reusable cutlery helps me to save so much plastic every time I travel now.
3. I have started making and using homemade toothpaste and orange peel facewash with no chemicals which don’t come in any new one time use bottles.
4. And this is my dear bamboo toothbrush will is helping me to send less plastic to the landfill. 🙂
5. The last picture is how I do takeaways now, I carry my own boxes to get food.
6. I use homemade soapnut liquid cleaner for shampoo, bathing my dog, dish-washing and laundry.
7. Honestly, I am quite proud of my small accomplishments. :)As a last takeaway from this blog I want you to remember this picture before you pick up your next single-use plastic.

DIY Tutorial: How to Make Your Own Pallet Sofa

I am so happy and excited to share how we made our own pallet sofa without any knowledge of carpentry in this blog. We were so tired of our 6-year-old L shaped sofa. Our furball Jenny had ruined it so bad and I wanted something more useful and comfortable which meets our lifestyle.

I first encountered a pallet sofa at a friends place in Italy and then I realised I have seen some in the sitting area of Shacks in Goa. This also made me realise that our generation has made ourselves so much constrained to the trendy stuff available in the mall and online furniture websites and don’t have any creativity left in the fast-paced corporate lives. Anyway, cutting all the philosophy short. Let’s go straight to how you can make your own sofa.

The most important thing to consider is the dimensions of the pallet you will choose because they come in shapes and sizes. Measure the place as well to visualise how it will fit and look like. We chose two rectangular pallets and decided to do a double layer of it, which means 6 pallets in total. The dimension of one pallet is 6 ft * 3 ft. We wanted to do an L shape which is the most space-saving and is a bit more relaxing and informal. So all of it fits really well.

We bought these pallets from a local scrap dealer at throwaway prices, you might even get it for free from the stores who discard them. It is also important to take care that it is in good condition while choosing, it might need a little bit of smoothening which is ok. Once you have finalised the pallets, time to head home. 😀

Here is the step by step tutorial to getting your sofa ready!

1. Take sandpaper and smoothen the pallets.
2. Paint a double coat with your desired colour, we chose cream to keep it neutral.
3. Laminate the upper area of the pallet to safeguard the mattress. (Totally optional but recommended.)
4. Make or order a mattress in accordance with the pallet size.
5. Get the cushions sorted too, it is purely based on your choice and comfort. We wanted to make it very cosy with big cushions so I bought 8, 24-inch cushions to cover the back completely.

Smoothening the Pallet

Painting Your Pallet Sofa

Laminating the Pallet

And, that’ it! I hope you enjoyed reading this small tutorial. Let me know if you have any questions or if you want to share how did you make your own pallet sofa.

DIY Pallet Sofa

Zero Waste DIY Toothpaste Recipe

Here is a post on how you can make an all-natural ingredient toothpaste/ tooth oil at your home with basic kitchen ingredients. First of all, congratulations that you have decided to come out of the bandwagon of commercial products and ready to take charge of what you put in your body.

This recipe is very basic and needs only a couple of minutes or less because there is no cooking/processing involved in it. So you need below-mentioned ingredients to make a DIY zero waste toothpaste:

Ingredients

1. 2 tbsp Mustard oil/Coconut oil
2. 1/2 tsp Himalayan pink salt or rock salt
3. Few drops of Clove oil
4. 1/2 tsp Cinnamon powder

Let me explain why this combination can do wonders to your teeth:

• Mustard oil has antibacterial and anti-fungal properties so it is preferable but if you don’t like the taste of mustard oil you can use coconut oil too.
• Himalayan pink salt is quite important in this recipe because when it dissolves, it eliminates sediment and removes toxins from the teeth.
• Clove oil is optional but a great ingredient due to its antiseptic properties, and is useful in preventing gum disease. It has been found to be very effective as a deworming agent.
• The antimicrobial effects of cinnamon may also help prevent tooth decay and reduce bad breath. It has antifungal and antibacterial properties, reduces infections and helps in fight tooth decay and bad breath.

Process:

Just mix all the ingredients with the help of a spoon and store in a glass jar.

Tips:

1. If you are using coconut oil, make sure it is soft before you start blending.
2. Use a spoon to take the right amount on your toothbrush, since dipping toothbrush can spread bacteria.
3. Although I recommend making this recipe as fresh as possible, this keeps well up to two weeks in a tightly closed glass jar.
4. You might be wondering about no mention of baking soda which is usually suggested for DIY toothpaste. I wouldn’t recommend that because it is abrasive and can damage the enamel. If you want, you may add it sometimes, maybe use it twice a week.

p.s: This post no way claim that you can cure cavities or major dental issue as a home remedy but as an alternative to toothpaste for healthy teeth.

Stay healthy, stay natural! 🙂