For a Sustainable Lifestyle Page 11

DIY Hand Sanitizer

Hand sanitizers don't replace a thorough soap and water hand wash but are a good alternative when those are not available.

DIY hand sanitizer allows you to avoid toxic chemicals and use natural antibacterials and antivirals essential oils instead.

Bonus: you avoid throwing away another plastic bottle, yeah!!

Instructions

Mix in a bowl:

1/2 cup of aloe vera gel
1/4 cup of witch hazel, rubbing alcohol (> 60%, the highest % the better) or vodka for a stronger gel (optional)
1 Tbsp of jojoba oil (sweet almond, flax oils work too)
10 drops of Tea Tree essential oil (natural antimicrobial, antifungal, and disinfectant)
10 drops of Lavender essential oil (Peppermint is a great antibacterial oil if your prefer its smell)

Gently stir until fully combined, fill with the help of a small funnel the hand sanitizer into a pump dispenser or small reusable silicone tubes.
Your natural, non-toxic hand sanitizer gel is ready!

If you don't have all these ingredients around or just don't want to spend time making your own hand sanitizer, just fill white vinegar into a spray bottle, it's a great disinfectant too.

Have you tried to make your own hand sanitizer spray or gel? What's your recipe?

Note: essential oils should always be used with caution, I am not a certified aromatherapist so please use your own discretion when making DIY recipes.

Zero Waste Classroom Valentines

What does Valentine's Day look like when you try to lower waste, especially with school-age kids? Well, it is a dilemma, your kid wants candies, which means wrappers, which means trash...

Here are 7 alternatives to keep Valentine's Day lovely for your kids and for the Earth:

1. Fruits: the ultimate healthy and zero waste Valentine's gift (especially if the scraps are composted).

https://cakewhiz.com/Valentines-day-fruits-with-messages/

2. You only have a few minutes, print these free Valentine Fortune tellers:

https://brendid.com/valentine-joke-teller/

3. Give a new life to all of those old and broken crayons by melting them in heart shape:

http://thenerdswife.com/handmade-valentines-heart-shaped-crayons.html

4. Sugar free and useful gift: pencils with valentines' toppers or taped to a Valentine's word search

https://www.thirtyhandmadedays.com/printable-pencil-toppers-valentines-day/

https://primaryplayground.net/valentines-day-student-gift/

5. My favorite: a heart-shaped bird feeder

https://www.notimeforflashcards.com/2012/01/all-natural-valentines-day-treats.html

6. Show love by growing food with printable seed envelopes or blooming seed hearts

https://artscrackers.com/2017/01/23/seed-packet-valentines/

7. Your child doesn't want to hear about any of these ideas and insists on candies? So be it! However prefer boxed candies such as Nerds, Dots, Milkduds, Junior Mints. You can even buy your candies in bulk and packaged them in decorated toilet tubes, or paper towel tubes.

https://www.hometalk.com/7059399/hogs-and-kisses-valentine-s-gift

Lastly, if you don't have time and want to keep it simple, check Etsy where nice people have already done the job for you!

Which one is your favorite?

Happy red-greenish Valentine's Day to all of you!

Tackle Waste on Super Bowl Sunday

Tips to reduce waste while hosting a super bowl party