Won't you take me to Crunchytown?

Of late I've decided to get greener.  My family and I moved recently from Washington to Montana. In Spokane, we were delighted to have recycling containers beside our city garbage bins.  We didn't know exactly what we could recycle, but if we didn't know we'd just toss it in, and if it remained after pickup day, we knew we couldn't recycle that.  But we could recycle plastic 1 and 2, glass, phone books, cardboard, and batteries.  And aluminum, of course.

When we got back to Montana, I felt like shit every time I threw a plastic or glass container in the trash.  I thought Montana didn't have plastic recycling facilities, but it turns out we do!  It's called Earth First Aid Curbside Recycling, and the prices were reasonable, $14 a month, and they take glass.  So I do plan to do that, but until I get that going, I started collecting my plastics in garbage bags in the garage.  Then I found out that Wal Mart has a plastic recycling bin, right by where the plastic bag recycling is.  (I hate Wal Mart, but sometimes I'm forced by time or money constraints to shop there.  At least they recycle.  Although I had the thought that they just take the bin and dump it into their regular dumpster.  Gah!)  So the other day I loaded that sucker up with two garbage bags full of stuff. 

So I'm trying stuff.  I'm growing things!  I've got a tomato plant, a few different kinds of peppers, strawberries, cilantro, basil, and chives.  My cilantro is totally kicking ass and as soon as those peppers and tomatoes grow I'm gonna make salsa.  I've also got a bunch of flowers that I'm in love with.  Every day I fondle my plants, clucking over them.  I check their greenness and assure them they're doing a great job.

And, I've made my own shampoo and rinse!  I decided this is an easy way to cut down on some of the toxins going into my body, and it would save me money.  But mostly, I did it because of my itchy head.  I've had an itchy scalp for decades.  Not dandruff, just itch.  Then, last fall, my daughter brought home head lice, and the whole family got it.  Trust me when I say after you have head lice, you will NEVER EVER be able to itch your damn head without wondering if they're baaa-aaack.  So my scalp's always been sensitive. Recently, though, it got bad, to the point I was sure the lice were back or that it was a sign my hair was soon going to fall out in chunks.  So I did some online research, looking for ingredients, how folks liked it, what it made your hair feel like, etc.   I shower about every other day, and if I go longer than that, my head really itches and my hair feels greasy.  I wanted to avoid both of these things.  I asked my new bloggy friend, Funky Little EarthChild, a bunch of questions about what I'd learned in my research, and she gave me tips too.  So for the last 10 days or so, here's what I've been using for hair care:


Dr. Bronner's castile soap mixed half and half with water.  I got it at Target, and the one I got is almond scented.  Smells like Christmas cookies on my head.  mmmmm.  I put it in a spray bottle because it's a thin mixture.  It lathers nicely, though. 

After that I rinse with diluted apple cider vinegar.  Blondes are supposed to use regular white vinegar and redheads red wine vinegar.  I started out with straight AC vinegar, two capfuls of it from my old mouthwash container.  Then after it went down a little I just kept diluting it, and it looks like piss now, as my husband says.  I leave it on for a few minutes like I would my conditioner and then rinse.  My hair just looooves to be tangled, so I was nervous that brushing it out wouldn't feel as smooth as it did when I used conditioners, but nope.  It was like buttah.  I can still smell it on my hair when it's wet, but when it dries it disappears and smells, get this, like just plain clean hair!  Not only that, but after a week and a half, my scalp is about 90% less itchy.  Big deal for me.

I also bought some coconut oil (got it at Wal Mart in the cooking oil section), which I started out rubbing into my scalp before I got in the shower.  But I read something about it last night and decided to do it when I can leave the coconut oil on for an hour or so before I shower.  I've also been using the coconut oil as lotion.  Yesterday my kids came home from their grandparents dried the eff OUT.  Papa and Grams have an above-ground pool and instead of chlorine they use salt, which seems very cool.  I'm not sure which one dries out skin worse, but my kids looked like a desert.  I rubbed just a litte oil into their faces and on their arms and backs, and it didn't sting like lotion on the excoriated spots.  Plus, when I was done they absolutely glowed bronze. I've also been using the coconut oil for lotion, and I'm pretty much in love with it and with the glass jar it came in, which I can definitely use for something. 

So my first big step on the journey to Crunchytown worked out great!  I'm not sure what thing will be next, but I'm very interested in:

Composting
Natural toothpaste
Homemade laundry detergent
Family cloth

Have any tips on natural hair care?  Want to go to Crunchytown with me?