Green Girl

Looking for fresh ways to freshen up your household this spring? AnnaElisabeth’s Etsy store offers environmentally friendly laundry detergent.  Using all natural, non-toxic ingredients, she promotes her products as excellent for diapers and other baby goodies, as well as being great for anyone who cares about keeping their impact on the environment minimal. We caught up with her to find out about her products and her commitment to the green way, and here’s what she had to say:

1. Where did you get your inspiration to begin making environmentally friendly products?
When I was pregnant with my daughter I started to explore the non-toxic world and I fell in love. Things happened one step at a time. Our family became vegetarian, I began to make natural cleaners for us at home (laundry soap included), we decided to start phasing out of plastic in our home, etc. I began to realize with her birth how important it was for me to take care of myself, my family, and our world. It’s blossomed into a sort of spiritual work for me now.

2. What is special about your soaps? How are they greener than others?

My soap is uniquely greener than others in part because it is unscented. I don’t use any scents at all, not even essential oils. I think this deters a lot of customers, but it’s important that I don’t jeopardize the earth for more sales. It seems a little radical, and even offensive to some people when I say that essential oils are really no better than artificial aromas. In lab studies essential oils have shown to be quite dangerous indeed to our earth, specifically when they are heated. They release harmful chemicals just as artificial aromas do. Essential oils have become identified with the “natural” life, but that shouldn’t stop us from moving away from them if they are bad for the environment.

All of the soap I use in the laundry powder is also hand made by other Etsy sellers. It’s oil and lye, nothing more. My mineral powder is extra green in that it has no soap at all. It’s great for delicates and for anyone with extra sensitive skin.

3. In addition to making soaps, do you do other crafty or environmentally-friendly work?
I try to keep the environment in mind in all my decisions. It’s not easy to say no to every plastic toy my daughter wants, or to explain to my cattle raising parents why I choose not to eat meat, but it’s worth it. Our family is taking all the steps possible in our tiny apartment in the city to be self-sustaining and eco-conscious. I spin bamboo yarn, I knit our sweaters, I sew, I make many of my daughter’s toys, I bake our bread. . . basically I’m a Jane of all trades. It’s not just about the environment, though. It’s about keeping our money out of sweat shop owner’s pockets, and moving away from big corporations in hopes that peoples’ lives will be changed. We all have to do our part even when it seems insignificant. Humanitarianism and environmentalism go hand in hand. You cannot practice one and not the other.

4. Feel free to include any other information you’d like us to know about you, your work, and your thoughts on the environment.

I feel it’s important for people to know you can live this way without being a hippie, or frumpy. If you don’t make things yourself, buy handmade instead of buying from large corporations. There are some seriously stylish things out there, and Etsy is a great place to start. Taking up the task of becoming eco-savvy seems incredibly daunting when beginning, but once you start doing things - one at a time - everything else starts to make more sense.

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