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Going Green with Essential Oils
If it were possible to eliminate virtually all of the chemical products in your house and replace them with natural ones would you do it? Greening your life with essential oils is easier than you think and our mission is to provide you with the tools that are necessary to do so, without sacrificing the quality of life you've grown accustomed to.
Personally Green...
Not everyone is ready to dive head first into a greener lifestyle and that's alright. Lately "Going Green" is perhaps the most overused phrase in the english language, and for that reason many are too intimidated to take the first step. We believe that going green is a personal choice that should enhance not hamper your lifestyle, and it should be approached with enthusiasn, not apprehension.
While today's media and most of pop culture is focused almost entirely on greening the planet at large, NOVO's focus is on the more personal aspects of going green and how you can seamlessly transition yourself and your family away from traditional chemical household products and personal care items to all natural, 100% plant based ones - with an intoxicatingly fragrant spin. Essential oils are not only the most fragrant natural elements on the planet, but their diversity and functionality when it comes to going "personally" green is virtually limitless.
Greening your body...
The chemicals, preservatives, artificial fragrances and other synthetics that are found in commercial bath, shower and body washes are not a friend to your skin. Ingredients like coconut, olive, jojoba and palm oils are. These are just a few of the all natural ingredients used in our Lather Up aromatherapy soap line. Couple that with a generous infusion of pure essential oils and other raw botanicals and you have an all natural soap that's as green as it is luxurious.
One of the greatest misunderstandings about transitioning away from synthetic bath and shower gels is that soap will dry out your skin. This is true about commercial bar soaps because of the surprising amount of synthetics used to create them, but it is not true of 100% plant based soaps like ours. There are no synthetic fragrances, dyes, or preservatives used in any of our soaps and wherever possible, organically grown ingredients are used. They are scented only with pure essential oils and colored only with natural plant and herbal extracts. NOVO is opposed to the personal care industry's misuse of the word "natural". Even many of today's best selling natural brands include synthetic fragrances, colorants, and preservatives. When your skin goes green it will know the difference.
Beautifully Green...
What did we do before sodium laureth sulfate and methyl-parabens were born? We relied on simple, everyday items to fill in personal care gaps. Prior to World War II and the chemical revolution that accompanied it, women used, among other things, pure olive oil to deep condition their hair and skin. Here is a simple, efective, highly fragrant way to green your supply of deep condititoning treatments for your hair:
You will need:
-1 to 2 tablespoons of light olive oil, use more or less depending on hair length and thickness.
-Add 15 drops of our *"Care for the Hair" custom essential oil blend. If you do not have the blend, use 3 drops each of rosemary, peppermint, lavender, juniperberry, tea tree and cedarwood.
-Apply the mixture liberally to dry hair and scalp, leave on for 15 minutes or more, then wash and style your hair as usual.
*The essential oils contained in our "Care for the Hair" blend are well known for promoting hair growth, scalp health, eliminating dandruff and more in both men and women, while the olive oil base acts as an intense moisturizing and healing agent for your hair. It is worth mentioning that the aromatherapy benefits that accompany this treatment make it all the more enjoyable.
Greener Air...
Believe it or not, the air inside the average American home is teaming with some not-so-pretty pollutants of its own, many of which could be completely eliminated by simply employing the use of essential oils. Part of NOVO’s mission is to provide you with the tools you need to eliminate some of the most seemingly harmless but greatest contributors of toxins to your indoor air environment. Our starting target: chemical air fresheners.
Over the past thirty years the market has been flooded with a myriad of air “freshening” agents, ranging from everything from scented sachets to plug-ins, air mists, oils, fragrance diffusers, and the list goes on and on. But what few people understand is that a great many of these fragranced products carry with them some rather unsavory health effects.
But how can that be when they smell so good? Smell good they do but behind some of those synthetic scents is a toxic brew of, among other things, pleasantly fragranced formaldehyde. Yes, it's true. Many popular plug in and other scented air fresheners can contain formaldehyde and other incredibly volatile, unhealthy chemicals.
Consider this instead: Essential oils are among the most powerful natural deodorizers on the planet - and they are available in a plethora of all natural, all green scents. From lavender, to lemongrass to cinnamon and sage, essential oils can be just as effective at eliminating airborn contaminants as traditional chemical products can. Eucalyptus, for example, has been show to kill nearly 70% of staphlococcus bacteria by simply being diffused into the air of a contaminated room. And it leaves behind no chemical pollutants whatsoever. Try replacing your chemical air fresheners with this combination:
-10 drop lavender
-10 drops lemon
-10 drops eucalyptus
-10 drops peppermint
-10 drops rosemary
-4-8 ounces of water in a spray bottle
-Spray everywhere, breathe freely
This recipe will yield a highly effecive air purifying and deodorizing spray that will not only eliminate household odors, but the lingering scent of these ultra-fragrant natural plant oils will provide the added bonus of aromatherapy to you and your family.
If these traditional home fragrance products are so bad for us, then why are they so readily available? The answer to this is simple - insufficient testing. Believe it or not, an ingredient that has not been tested to determine its toxicity is treated like as a harmless, benign ingredient until proven otherwise. Interestingly, when just a small amount of attention was given to the ingredients contained in some popular commercial air fresheners, Walgreens was so concerned by the initial findings that they pulled their brand name air fresheners from the shelves.
Let’s have a look at some of the more common ingredients found in a can of air freshener:
Ethyl or Isopropyl Alcohol: these can cause flushing, headache, dizziness, central nervous system depression, nausea, vomiting…and more. These alcohols are dangerous if ingested, inhaled or absorbed through the skin.
Propellants (usually Butane, Isobutene or Propane): inhaling butane can cause drowsiness, narcosis, asphyxia, cardiac arrhythmia and more.
Paradichlorobenzene (also called 1,4-Dichlorobenzene, p-DCB, etc): causes dizziness, headaches, and liver problems.
Formaldehyde: causes irritation of the eyes and mucous membranes; inhalation may cause headaches, a burning sensation in the throat, and difficulty breathing, as well as triggering or aggravating asthma symptoms.
Phthalates: causes damage to the liver, kidneys, lungs, and developing fetuses
Although this list outlines a few of the harmful chemicals used in commercial air fresheners, most of them still remain nameless and hidden under the general header of “fragrance”.
Perhaps the most disturbing side of the commercial air freshener market is that it attempts to create a seemingly clean, fresh, pleasant atmosphere, rendering consumers completely unaware that they are turning their home environment into a petri dish of toxins and pesticides. Unbeknownst to many, the anti-microbial components contained in some air fresheners are classified by the EPA as pesticides. Alarming when you can consider how many of us think nothing of misting our children’s rooms with these products.
Consider praying your child's room with this instead:
-20 drops lavender
-20 drops of sweet orange
-10 drops peppermint
-8 ounces of water in a spray bottle
By and large, the popularity of today's synthetically fragranced commercial air freshening products has soared for one reason: to cover up the unpleasant indicators of a larger problem. Bad smells are usually present for a very good reason. If your kitchen drains smell foul not long after you’ve emptied a glass of milk into them, an air freshener will do little more than mask the odor and underlying cause. Eliminate the cause and you will eliminate the odor.
Try this:
-Allow ¼ cup of baking soda to sit in the drain for a few minutes
-Flush with a few cups of hot water
-Add 15-20 drops of peppermint or eucalyptus oil directly into the drain.
-No rinsing required.
This method works equally well to deodorize the commode, shower and tub drains. In many instances all you’ll need to eradicate the odor altogether are the essential oils. Pure essential oils like peppermint and eucalyptus are strong, penetrating and have an instant purifying effect on the air. NOVO highly recommends the use of these oils to replace traditional commercial deodorizers. Using them alone or in conjunction with other oils offers an abundance of all natural, all green air freshening possibilities.
-Many of the most common air pollutants in the average American home could be completely eliminated by simply replacing commercial air fresheners and other synthetic home fragrance products with essential oils
-Many of the chemicals used in today's consumer products have not even been evaluated for safety. Ingredients that have not been tested to determine their toxicity are treated as harmless, benign ingredients until proven otherwise
-In September of 2007, managers at 111 Walgreens stores in Minnesota and thousands more nationwide pulled three types of air fresheners off their shelves following a report that that some sprays, gels and plug-in fresheners contain potentially hazardous chemicals.
-The Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC) tested 14 air fresheners from a retail store and reported that most of them contained "a veritable cocktail" of compounds, including some that have been linked to development problems in babies and breathing difficulties in adults
-Some air freshening products that have been tested, including those marketed as "all-natural" and "unscented," contain chemicals called phthalates. These chemicals are also used in toys, cosmetics and personal-care products, and have been shown in animal studies to disrupt testosterone production and cause malformed sex organs
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