Green living and environmental stewardship in a fallen world – how can Christians be good stewards of this great gift from God, the earth? From natural, safe cleaning and personal products to ideas on how to reduce waste and your impact on the environment, Kitchen Stewardship has it all.
I’ve been passionate about healthy, non-toxic soap for YEARS. It’s so important to use regular soap vs. non-antibacterial soap. Remember Triclosan, the active ingredient in…
Parabens. You may have heard the word bantered about, but are parabens bad? Just what are those nasty little buggers anyway? Should you go paraben free? Parabens are a class of chemicals commonly used as preservatives in cosmetics and personal care products. They help to inhibit the growth of bacteria, yeasts, and mold, giving products
How to Go Paraben Free – And What to Use Instead Read More »
I’m really not a big DIY person. Yes, I make all my food homemade and from scratch. Well, almost. But I’ve never gotten into greasing up my pots with beeswax and coconut oil to make homemade lotion bars or figuring out much beyond this simple homemade deodorant, which honestly I don’t really bother with anymore.
30-Second Homemade All-Purpose Kitchen Cleaner Recipe (Clean Hardwood Floors Naturally!) Read More »
When I asked readers what post they wanted to see during quarantine, “how to sanitize your cell phone naturally” got the most votes! (Not to mention that we should all be cleaning our phones regularly all the time.) I did some research, found great ideas in my own natural alternatives to bleach post, tested out
Hydrogen peroxide is cost-effective, widely available, and promoted by many as an effective disinfectant. Along with baking soda and vinegar, it’s one of my three favorite natural green cleaners. I’ve counted on it for years! Imagine my surprise when I received an email asking me to rescind my information about the hydrogen peroxide/vinegar duo for
I’ve been looking for ways to be more frugal for years! Luckily some of my frugal tips for stretching soap also come in handy to make your soap last longer when store shelves are bare. This is one of our many real food, natural living, budget-friendly resources to help you through COVID-19 here at Kitchen
Wishing there was a natural disinfectant as effective as bleach without all the hazards? Whether you’ve been washing dishes with bleach or just need to sanitize surfaces, YES, there are alternatives to bleach that are EPA-approved, even for childcare facilities to disinfect naturally. From hydrogen peroxide to kill germs to thymol to essential oils, we’ll
EPA Says Natural Disinfectant as Effective as Bleach Read More »
So you’re worried you’ll run out of toilet paper and not quite ready to install a bidet? I’m with you, my friend, I’m with you. I’ve seen other recommendations for what to do when you run out of toilet paper, including just “take a shower.” What?? I’m imagining some extremely dried-out skin, eczema going nuts,
Reusable Alternatives to Toilet Paper and Paper Towels Read More »
What do conventional sunscreen, drugstore lipstick, and big brand snack cakes have in common…other than that hopefully they’re not in your house? 😉 They all have parabens. You better believe I don’t allow parabens in my top recommended natural mineral (reef-safe) sunscreens! But what are parabens? Are they totally safe, or are they going to
Dangers of Parabens: What They Are and Where They’re Lurking Read More »
Katie here 🙂 For years I was afraid to buy more expensive, sustainable fish and then ruin it because I didn’t know how to cook it! It didn’t help that my husband only begrudgingly eats it when it’s coated in this spicy fish seasoning. Thankfully, I’ve moved past that and we eat fish regularly now,
This is a guest post from Carol Little, R.H. of Studio Botanica. Whenever I (Katie) have made homemade gifts with my kids, it’s always super sweet. The look on the kids’ faces when they present their creations to family members and teachers is priceless… Kind of like when they learned to cook and serve others
DIY Herbal Gift Recipes: Fun Ideas to Make With Kids {Guest Post} Read More »
The dangers of mattresses off-gassing are talked about far more now than when my husband and I got married and bought our first mattress in 2003. There was so much we just didn’t know as we spent hours agonizing over making the best decision. Sleep is so important! Fortunately, there are many options for natural
Back when I wrote about non-toxic nail polish (important because of all the negative health effects of the chemicals found in conventional nail polish) tons of people had questions about all the brands I reviewed. Did the non-toxic nail polish last? How well did it apply? Did it still smell bad? My daughter, our neighbors,
Non-Toxic Nail Polish Review: Final Test Results are In! Read More »
If I go down in history as the Wikipedia of mineral sunscreens, I might be just a little proud of that moniker. Since 2010 my family has tested natural zinc-based sunscreens rated safe by EWG every single summer, and by 2017 we had reached a milestone of over 100 different tubes, tins, and sticks tested!
My family has tested over 100 natural mineral sunscreens over the years and inevitably, we’ve found some we just don’t love as much as our…
Zinc-Based Sunscreens People Love Asking Me About (and why I don’t love them back) Read More »
When you test over 100 sunscreens, some make the top recommended “best natural mineral sunscreen” tier which is highly coveted and quite a small group, some get on the “also recommended” list, and others get asked about a lot but just aren’t all that awesome. We all want reef-safe sunscreens to protect the environment, especially
Learn how to reduce the use of plastic in your home by banning single-use plastics, using single-use plastic alternatives, and repurposing single-use plastic. This post is from KS Contributing Writer ‘Becca Stallings of The Earthling’s Handbook, with photos by her son Nicholas Efran. I have long been baby stepping my way to reduce plastic use
Reducing Single-Use Plastic Food Packaging & Alternatives Read More »
Is your baby’s colon worth having pretty eyelashes? Would you trade your child’s ability to poop for a pretty smelling shampoo? Let’s make a deal: You get convenient spray sunscreen, your newborn gets bowel surgery. Sound like a plan? This is the trade-off pregnant women using conventional beauty products may be making every day because
I’ve been saying for YEARS that we must stop using conventional sunscreen because of its endocrine disrupting quality (and other reasons). As of last month, February 2019, the science is finally starting to get some momentum beyond the Internet and the FDA is paying attention. What’s an “Endocrine Disruptor?” Quite simply, it’s a chemical that
Sunscreen Takes a Hit – Only 2 Ingredients Will Be Left with “Safe” Status from the FDA Read More »
Remember last year when Hawaii banned some conventional sunscreen ingredients that were totally toxic to the coral reefs? And now last month the FDA is actually beginning to take steps to remove GRASE status from pretty much ALL the conventional, non-mineral sunscreen ingredients! Things are moving in the right direction for the health of our
