• One or two drops of the essential oil of your choice (I’ve been using lavender, and I’ve also been using more like 5 or 6 drops).

Danielle bought me this beautiful assortment of essential oils for Christmas (+ a tea tree).

• A bath cloth to catch the drops of essential oil (You’ll need to apply new drops to the cloth for each load you dry).

This has become my designated dryer sheet cloth.

If you have a bath cloth to spare and and a bottle of essential oil lying around*, then you should definitely give this a try. There’s nothing to throw away, and making them only requires one ingredient! Neither of those things can be said of store bought dryer sheets.

*A bottle of lavender essential oil sells for as low as $5, so even if you don’t currently own a bottle…buying one probably wouldn’t break the bank.

With Valentine’s Day coming up, I’m sure we’ll all be eating our share of sweet treats.  I love a Reese’s Heart just as much as the next girl, but I also realize that milk chocolate might not be the healthiest or the smartest choice to make. If you’re like me and are disgusted by the ingredients listed on the bag of those cute little candy hearts (modified food starch?!!), then you should check out this Care2 article about Healthier Valentine’s Candy & Chocolate. It has links to several sites where you can purchase natural, environmentally-friendly, and organic candy or chocolate.

My friend Missy introduced me to the Yummy Earth Organic Lollipops pictured above (which are free of corn syrup, artificial dyes, and GMOs) and they are delicious! My favorite flavors are Mango Tango and Pomegranate Pucker. I can usually find a bag or two of these bad boys at Marshalls, but they’re also sold at Whole Foods (in case you’re fortunate enough to live near one).

Image Courtesy of supermarkethq.com

By the title, of course, I meant more environmentally friendly items for less money.  It may not be clever or original, but it made me chuckle. And if you’re usually broke like me, then you’re gonna love re-nest’s 25 Green Home Gifts Under $25. Before seeing this list, I actually purchased one of the items listed for Kirby as one of his smaller Christmas presents). I won’t disclose which one, since Kirby may or may not read my blog sometimes (probably not). Anyway, how cute are those lavender sachets?!  Annnd I don’t hate that solid brass bicycle bell.

If any of these topics make you uncomfortable, then please read no further. Also, if you’re a girl, why are you uncomfortable with periods? They’re not going anywhere until you’re about fifty. Deal with it.

I once was a huge fan of tampons.  Sanitary Napkins (or pads, if you’re not big into fancy talk) were basically diapers for adults in my eyes; I wanted no part of that.  Still, the idea of stuffing bleached cotton in my vagina did not sit well.  I eventually decided to make the switch to unbleached tampons, but I quickly realized that my job does not pay well enough to treat myself with such luxuries.  My only other option was to give the pad another chance. I started buying them, and discovered that bleached cotton resting upon the vagina feels just as wrong as bleached cotton inside the vagina. I went to my sister, Disfordelicate , for advice. She had a simple solution, as she always does. She gave me two homemade pads that she had sewn together out of old t-shirts. They are stuffed with flannel to make them extra absorbent, which is great because I can honestly and unashamedly say that I have a stupidly heavy flow.

The verdict:

I am sold. They’re comfortable, reusable (Just rinse them with cold water, and then wash them with your towels.) and more environmentally friendly than the dozens of pads/tampons that I easily go through in a year’s time. I will absolutely be making more when the next Crafternoon rolls around. I will also be posting pictures of the process, if anyone’s interested.