Coconut Beeswax Peppermint Chapstick!

It took me a while, but I found a favorite chapstick in Portland Bee Balm. A little over a year ago, I set out to replace all of the unnatural things that go in and on my body, with natural things, mainly because I was at my whits end from a rash I had in the corner of my mouth. I had had the rash a few years earlier in high school, and so switched to using Vaseline because it was supposedly as benign as it gets. But when the rash returned and the petroleum only irritated my skin and dried it more, my first switch to natural was inevitably with the products closest to my mouth. I found Portland Bee Balm at my local Townshend’s Tea House in Eugene, but you can order it online, or get it in a lot of different stores throughout Oregon. Today though, I had the unthinkable happen – I came to the end of my tube!

The greatest part of Portland Bee Balm, aside from supporting local bee farmers and using all organic ingredients, is that there are only four things in it – Beeswax, Coconut Oil, Olive Oil, and Peppermint Oil. As much as I love supporting their business, I love saving non-recyclable chapstick tubes from the landfill even more! So I decided to make my own and refill the tube I already had! I tried going by some recipes, but nothing was quite the same so I decided to wing it, and it turned out pretty great!

All the ingredients!

Get the double boiler going, and get your beeswax in first. I bought a bar just under 4 oz., but realized it might be too much, so I cut it in half to get about a 2 oz chunk.

Next I added about 2 big teaspoons of coconut oil, and a squirt of olive oil probably around 1 tablespoon.

Next I added around 20 drops of peppermint essential oil. I don’t like too strong of a mint flavor, but I ended up adding more later anyway.

 

In order to test the consistency, I took a spoonful after it was all melted down, and set it in the fridge for a minute to see how i liked it.

It wasn’t smooth enough, so I went back and added another big teaspoon of coconut oil and a dash of olive oil, as well as 6 or 7 more peppermint drops.

 

Next, I poured it all in to a Pyrex measuring cup with a spout, and very quickly poured in to the chapstick tube. The rest I poured in to a small ball jar, so now I have probably a years worth of chapstick! I’ll have to find a funnel between now and the next time I need to refill my tube though, so I can pour it directly from the jar.

Overall, I probably would even add a little more olive oil to keep it smoother, but I’m pretty dang happy with it.

So to sum it up, here is the recipe:

2 oz. Beeswax

3 tsp. Coconut Oil

3 tsp. olive oil

20-25 drops Peppermint Essential Oil

Bulk Liquids!

Hi! Its been three months since I’ve posted on here, but I decided to return since I’ve just moved to Portland! It’s been a long time coming, but I finally saved up enough money and got rid of enough stuff that I could move out of my mom’s. I’ve got 4 awesome roommates, and I’m living two blocks off of Mississippi, which is an amazing and delicious neighborhood. Also half a mile away is an awesome health food store called New Seasons Market, where there are a lot of great bulk buying and healthy options! Ultimately, my goal is to eliminate as much plastic as possible from my life, but its hard to do when it comes to liquids that need to be in a squeezable container. Before I left Eugene, I picked up two squeezy bottles at a Natural Grocers, and also found an empty shampoo bottle in my bathroom that was perfect. I planned out my shampoo use before my move, so I ran out the day before leaving, so when I got here, one of the first things I did was go get myself some shampoo and conditioner in bulk!

It feels good to check another thing off the list of waste that I will no longer create. True, the best thing to do would be to not use shampoo at all and go the way of the recently popular “no poo” method, but I really didn’t like how it made my hair feel, and I think it may have encouraged a rash on my mouth. So I’m just as happy with bulk shampooing. The most important realization I’ve had is that ultimately, what shampoo I use doesn’t make that big of a difference. Maybe for some people it does, but there is no reason to waste a lot of money and plastic just for the placebo effect of having better hair.

Another great thing about New Seasons, and I’m sure many other healthy grocers, is the fact that you can get things like olive oil and honey in bulk! I went back the other day and filled up my last squeezy bottle with olive oil, and not only does it weigh less and cost less than a glass bottle, its also WAY more convenient for use. You just squeeze a little in the pan and don’t have to worry about spilling or anything. Its the best 😀

So remember that buying single use products its an easy cycle to break if you make the decision to do it!

 

Slow Guide 2015

Since tomorrow is New Year’s Eve, I decided to put together a little gift guide – not for other people, but for yourself! If you’re looking to make changes in your life to become more waste-free, then here is a great way to start 2015 off on the right path. I called my Slow Guide for 2015.

First up is one thing that I use every day at work, and I carry it everywhere with me for eating on the go. Its not just a spoon, not just a fork, its a titanium spork! They come in mini or normal size, but I like the mini for portability. Get them from the Japanese outdoor company Snow Peak online, or visit their one and only US store in downtown Portland! Their whole line is made for camping, so the products are durable, long lasting, and perfect for reducing your consumption and waste.

 

 

 

Next up is another great product from Snow Peak that, while it could use some design upgrades (which it has gotten recently), it really is one of the coolest things I own. One thing that bothers me about regular lacquered chopsticks is how slippery and hard to use they are. I love disposable chopsticks, but not how wasteful they are. These are such an upgrade on so many levels – first, they are made from recycled baseball bats, second, the titanium base unscrews from the wood tip and then is stored inside itself for maximum portability, and third, they come with a little case that makes they less likely to get lost in my mess of a purse. Unfortunately this cheaper model is no longer available, but the Snow Peak website has some slightly pricier, but probably better designed models. The one they now carry has a square profile so it doesn’t roll around, and is made from bamboo which is more durable than the recycled wood on the ones I have. So if you have the extra funds, I highly recommend them for your next sushi outing or to-go ramen slurping.

 

This one might be a little more obvious, as portable mugs and thermoses are about as ubiquitous as reusable shopping bags and water bottles. What I love about this design though, is that it mimics a commercial coffee cup very closely, and so you don’t have to compromise ergonomics and familiarity for function. Granted if you like to keep your drink scalding for a long time, then maybe stick to the double layered behemoths, but for a cup of tea on my lunch break or when I’m running out the door in the morning, this is perfect. Its dishwasher safe, and breaks down into a few simple parts for easy cleaning. I got mine at a fancy design store in Milan, but you can design your own online and choose from the plastic version or the glass version. I think my next one will be glass, but read up on their ethos concerning plastic use, sustainability, and being made in Australia on their site. Its a great brand!

The next three things on the list were the only things I bought on Black Friday this year, and they all came from an Etsy shop called Man In The Moon Herbs. The shop has a lot of wonderful goodies to make your life more eco-friendly and waste free! First up is these produce bags that are a great thing to have sitting in your reusable shopping bags so you don’t forget them! Its good to reuse the plastic produce bags at the store, but its nicer to have some bags that are longer lasting and see through, and not so noisy!

One thing that I really need to work on this year is my overuse of paper towels. Its just so convenient, and worst of all, I use most of my paper towels once to dry my hands and then throw them away! But these are gonna be sitting next to my sink more often in this next year, and using them more in place of paper towels is top of my waste-reducing list. Get these, called “unpaper towels”, and the grocery bags above, here.

 

Sure, you can reuse ziploc bags, but really, nobody wants to take the time to wash and dry them. They are indisputably one of the most convenient products of the last century, but largely because of the fact that they’re disposable. You won’t be keeping any liquids in these cotton drawstring bags, but they are awesome for dry goods, but won’t take up lots of space like hard containers. They can also double as bulk bags at the grocery store, but if you don’t want to buy them here, they’re fun and easy to sew yourself, plus you can make them however big or small you want!

 

 

Hopefully these items have given you a lot of ideas about how to reduce waste in your life, and most of all, I hope they motivate you to start making small changes in your life. Remember the key word is small though, because as I’ve learned from having years of anxiety, taking on too much at once can lead to simply giving up because the task seems overwhelming, as it has for me many times. The key is to just take it one step at a time, and take it slow 🙂