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What’s one choice you made to live more natural lifestyle

What’s one choice you made to live a more natural lifestyle? Just one little change. Every night when you go to bed you face two choices: Option 1) beat yourself up for not making healthier choices or Option 2) give yourself credit for the healthy choices you have made.


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Please choose Option 2. Share some of the healthy choices you’ve already made. I know you can think of at least one. Maybe someone else reading this will be inspired, or will realize that he or she has made a similar choice and finally give him or herself credit for it.

Like what kind of healthy choices?

Ok, I can help you brainstorm.

Think about your meals. Made any changes in the things you eat or how you cook them? Do you grow anything yourself or buy locally?

How about the things you drink? More water. Water with lemon. Less sugar. Less alcohol. Any of those things would count.

What about your skincare or haircare routine? There’s a lot of chemicals in that cheap, store-bought stuff. I don’t expect you to go broke buying the luxury natural skincare, but maybe you found something with less chemicals in it that worked for you. Here are some handcrafted soaps I found for under $10 a bar.

Are you using any natural cleaners around the house these days? For most of my life, I didn’t realize how easy it would be to just make cleaners myself or to use more natural cleaning products, like biodegradable dishcloths.

Exercise? Me neither. Actually, since gardening season is over in New England, you’re probably doing better on this one than I am. But, I said we won’t beat ourselves up today! I’m going to at least stretch and do some yoga poses when I finish typing this and get off the couch.

Here’s a good one. More actively thinking about your breathing. Getting that air flowing through the body. Speaking of air…

Good old outdoors

Remember when someone used to tell you to go outside and play? If you are still doing that, you are living a more natural lifestyle. Gardening. Taking a walk. Putting your feet in the ocean.

You know for me, if I had to pick one thing I do to live a more natural lifestyle, it’d be gardening. Oh, but you might say, I just told you the gardening season is over where I live. Yes, the outdoor gardening season is, but I keep the party going inside all winter.

My natural lifestyle choice is having fresh herbs growing in my kitchen. I use them when I cook at least a few times each week.

Speaking of indoor natural living choices, having some fresh flowers or remembering to water a potted plant would totally count as making good natural living choices. It just gets you in touch with nature a little bit more. Every bit counts.

Maybe it’s just your mindset

Healthier living doesn’t have to always be physical.

Maybe just reading this post and reframing the way you think about your choices is a more natural approach. It means you’re shaking off some social sterotype or negative mindset that comes from living in a highly commercialized culture.

Hey, maybe you found yourself here, reading this post, because you just needed to hear me remind you not to beat yourself up. You probably did something this week that made you 1% healthier. If you did that every week, you’d be 52% healthier at the end of the year.

Actually, that’s not true. It’s better than that. The finance student in me needs to be true to who I am and tell you that with compounding, you’d be more like 67% healthier at the end of the year with a 1% gain every week. But, forget the finance blabbler. Since 67% is better than 52%, it’s fabulous news!

There’s one more thing

One of the most natural choices human beings can make is to connect with other people. We are meant to share ideas, to teach and to learn. We are at our best when we are supporting each other and our communities.

Thank you for supporting this natural living online community. And, thank you for leaving a super quick comment with even one word or one little idea about a healthy choice you’ve made. You’re great. And, you should know how much I appreciate you!

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Swedish dishcloths

Biodegradable eco-friendly compostable Swedish dishcloths

Last summer my family and I went to Cape Cod on vacation. It’s really unlike any other place on Earth, you must visit (and try The Beachcomber before it falls into the ocean).

When we had a rainy day, I took the kids to a nature center. After watching a movie about the creation of Cape Cod (spoiler: glaciers melting) and spending 20 minutes in the butterfly sanctuary, we stopped by the gift shop.

That’s when I saw them. It was love at first sight.

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Oh hello, Swedish dishcloths

Dishcloth doesn’t really cover it. Maybe there’s something lost in translation? Swedish dishcloths can replace sponges, paper towels, rags, wipes and dish cloths. Total kitchen powerhouse.

Fast facts on Swedish dishcloths:

  • does the work of a sponge, roll of paper towels, cleaning wipes, rags, dish towel
  • lasts 6 to 12 months
  • don’t stink like sponges (btw, how long does your sponge last? Mine don’t make it a month)
  • made of all-natural cellulose and cotton usually with biodegradable ink…why?
  • because you can compost them! zero waste.
    hold a lot of water (internet thinks up to 15x their weight. I did not run that experiment myself, but it’s believable.)
  • machine-washable (or dishwasher, read on)
  • withstands boiling (that might decrease their lifespan (also, why would you boil your dishcloth?) but, no judgment. You’re not harming anyone.)
  • leaves less streaks on appliances than typical cleaning wipes
  • feel really stiff when dry but soften like a cloth when damp

Want more details?

Swedish dishcloths aren’t just natural and biodegradable…they are so clean, you can compost them! Whaaaaat?!

That’s how I felt when I found out anyway. Use a dishcloth for a year, and then just toss it on top of my compost? Sold.

Oh wait, you aren’t sure if it’s clean enough to put into your compost bin? Just machine wash it with your favorite natural detergent before you put it out to biodegrade.

Yes, you can machine wash something that is compostable. It makes my head whirl.

Or you can be lazy like me and occasionally throw your Swedish dishcloths into the dishwasher instead of walking all the way over to the washing machine because the dishwasher is so much closer to the kitchen sink.

What’s my motivation here?

Well, I am not going to get rich selling Swedish dishcloths.

If you click through one of these links and buy a few dishcloths, I will make a small commission at no cost to you, but I stress the word small. Swedish dishcloths are not a pricey item.

Another problem for me, these things last so long you will now have enough Swedish dishcloths for the next three years, and you can give the third pack to a friend.

So my real motivation is that I really do use this kitchen product. I think it’s special, and I thought you might like to read about it and possibly give it a try. Plus, there’s a chance this sucker is going to go viral, and I want to be ahead of the excitement. (Update: That turned out to be pretty accurate.)

Do you recognize that dishcloth with the pumpkins on it? I wrote a farmstand5 post about the farmers market stand where I found it.

Tiffany Burns of farmstand culture using Swedish dishcloths in farmhouse kitchen

The pumpkin dishcloth is my second one. My first one is four months old now. It’s the original Swedish dishcloths that I encountered in the gift shop in Cape Cod.

Here is a photo of my first dishcloth after four months of daily use. Not bad. It’s not ready for the compost pile yet.

Swedish dishcloth after four months of daily use

My favorite thing

The best thing about Swedish dishcloths is that when you use them, you are doing a good thing for the Earth with no corresponding personal sacrifice or effort.

These are really useful around the house. They work. You would use them even if you wanted to destroy the Earth because they soak up big spills in one swipe. I know we’ve all seen that happen in paper towel commercials. I wouldn’t be surprised if the actors were holding Swedish dishcloths under those flimsy paper towels.

My second favorite thing

These cloths wipe countertops and appliances with less streaking than sponges, wipes or paper towels. Streaking bothers me. It might not bother you. Even if it doesn’t, less streaking is preferable.

You can even find these durable, biodegradable dishcloths for just a few dollars each.

Ok, I know I just told you I would do reviews on products from Amazon Handmade Marketplace, and then I wrote a review on mass-produced Swedish dishcloths. I should be more predictable.

There are plenty of reviews of handmade products in our future together. I just felt inspired to write about eco-friendly dishcloths today.

What do you think about Swedish dishcloths? Add a comment and let us know.

swedish dishcloths biodegradable eco-friendly replace sponges paper towels

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