What are the best ethical and natural products you use???

[turtleschell]

Those laundry ball things filled with pellets are awesome; ZERO chemicals so you don't need to do a rinse cycle!
I can't think of the brand right now, but they rock, and way cheaper. I wash cloth nappies with them and they come out perfectly sparkling!

I'm just trying to get in the habit of bringing cloth bags to the grocery store.

How are people replacing ordinary pads and tampons?? Tell me!!!

[Pretty Butterfly]

I have some cloth pads, but would like to get up the courage to get a moon cup!!!

So those balls work?? I've heard of them, but had no idea a few balls rolling around in the wash would work... How does it work?

[*TripleJ*]

ive got cloth pads have yet to use them

[sconeonamission]

Yeah, where do you get those washing ball things?

I have a Lunette (Moon Cup thing). LOVE IT! Was very hesitant at first, but now I tell everyone! I also have some cloth pads, but I only use them at the most heaviest time or at night. Saves so much money! My Lunette has paid for itself now (from not buying tampons)!

[Fleur]

I use Aware, from Coles... Earth Choice I'm a bit iffy on what's in it. There are three different ones, I think one of them is better than the others.

Essential Oils, I get from my chemist. Citrus oils are cheapest - lemon, sweet orange - florals like Jasmine are more expensive. I prefer citrus generally anyway, especially for cleaning, it feels fresher. ATM I have 25ml bottles of lemon, orange & bergamot , they were about $20ish I think, and smaller bottles of geranium, mandarine, ylang ylang & peppermint.
You can get them from health food shops too. Just make sure they are essential oils & not nasty synthetic fragrances.

This month will be my first using the ladycup & cloth pads. .. is it weird I am looking forward to trying it?
ETA - Scone, I am telling everyone too, I have already converted my boss & I haven't even tried it yet!

[Nettie]

ETA - Shampoo & conditioner, Organic Care by Nature's Organics. Face wash, Organic Surge. It is hard though to find cleansers, moisturisers etc that I like & are ok. I have quite a bit of Body Shop stuff and sadly a lot of that has parabens in it too.

I second that hair shampoo and conditioner - and they have kids versions (2 in 1's). Bonus - they're Australian!

I like the eco store baby bath stuff and the baby moisturiser (my DS has developed some skin irritations and it helps him) - they smell sooo divine!

I too am excited to hear about the moogoo deoderant! I get some from the health food shop now (no aluminium for me!) and yes, it's not 100% effective, but I'd rather stink than get cancer. But then, I'm a repressed hippy

I buy my facecream and soaps from my local market. Made locally using local ingredients and very ethical (the soap lady is a campaigner for the orangutans - no palm oil in her soap!). If you ever want to make your own stuff, look for a book from Jackie French called 'Natural Solutions'. It's a Women's Weekly book and it has recipies for making your own soap, shampoo - just about anything! I've used a number of the recipes and they are fantastic!

[mummato1]

I would also recommend The Chemical Maze by Bill Stratham. I have been shocked by so many products that I have brought that have claimed to be organic and natural but once you read the back they really aren't. Green Washing in the cosmetic industry is terrible, I used to have a fantastic document that had all of the requirements that companies had to meet to claim 'organic' labels.. so many different stamps that are available on the market (and yes, they dont make up their own as a marketing strategy as well) and a lot of them don't actually require much in the way of organic / natural material.