I remember the days when TRESemme took off. I was in high school, straightening my hair between classes in the girls’ toilets whilst applying lancome lipgloss. I was washing my hair every day because somehow it seemed that overnight it got greasy; I had no idea that was probably because of the particular products I was using, and I gave no thought to how many bottles I was throwing away every few weeks.

I was a little surprised when I saw how captivated Heppy was by the simple act of hanging up scraps of fabric with a peg, taking them down, folding them and putting them in the basket, only to then repeat the whole task again a few minutes later! All you need is some string, some pegs, some scrap fabric (old t-shirts or towels)- you could even go as far as cutting into the shape of items of clothing, and then maybe a little bag or basket for it all to be kept in.

When it comes to having babies there is a lot of information thrown around and a lot of product suggestions too. Many brands sell many things making many claims and usually at an increased cost. There is often a-lot of unnecessary ingredients in those products and just because it says ‘baby’ on it doesn’t even necessarily mean it’s safe.

I remember seeing Heppy’s newborn skin and feeling such a responsibility to treat it well, and govern well what passed into it! It felt so pure and untainted- so that’s what I committed to do; to do my research to make sure I could look after it, and in turn teach her how to too.

An article in the Guardian stated that: “American women use an average of 12 products a day – nearly 200 chemicals – according to a 2004 study by the Environmental Working Group (EWG).” I can’t imagine that’s much different for us here in the UK... scary huh? These chemicals are not needed when there are so many products that are as good, even better available, and don’t contain them. Plus, many of these are often cheaper too, containing less plastic, and can be made with things you can already find in your home!

We live in a cottage in the West Sussex countryside and while I wouldn’t say our house is clean or even in any particular order, I can’t seem to rest until the washing up is done or sleep until the surfaces are somewhat clean.

The kitchen is probably the place where people find the majority of their cleaning products. One thing I’ve learnt in this process is shops are selling a lot of things! There’s a cleaner for your counters, and your sink, and greasy surfaces and sticky surfaces and scummy sinks and products to clean your bin and clean your dishwasher. The result of seeing so many products on shelves is that it makes us believe we need a new product for every single different area in our homes.