It almost feels like yesterday that I removed my Motorola razr phone from my school trouser pocket and tried my hardest to flip it open with one sudden movement of the wrist to answer my mum’s phone call, or received my LG chocolate slider phone one Christmas morning.

I can’t quite believe it, but September is fast approaching which for us means my daughter is starting forest school (ARGH). Alongside me, parents and carers across the country are handed kit lists, school supply lists and are probably googling something along the lines of ‘what do I really need for nursery?’…

I love advent. I love the anticipation and the preparation and I’m not even gonna pretend that I’ve not peaked too soon this year? Anyone with me?

Before I had my own kids I was a live-in nanny and I remember each year their mum would put slips of paper into each pocket of their calendar and they would run down the stairs each morning with squeals of delight, fending each other off to be the first to see what the activity for the day was and I remember my own delight as a kid as my mum handed me the dairy milk calendar. I’d always dreamed of the rituals and traditions I could bring into our home when we had children and have loved hearing of others, especially traditions from different cultures like Parols, bright and colourful lanterns placed inside the home in the Philippines, and those in Poland cleaning their homes from top to bottom to make it perfect for the arrival of Jesus.

Thank you so much for joining me for the non-toxic home series. I had so much fun preparing it, and it was so encouraging to hear everyone’s responses and to get product recommends and tips from you guys too!

The message I probably received most in response to my posts was something along the lines of ‘this is great, where on earth do I start?’ and ‘how do I do this on a budget?’

I thought I’d write something quick (she says…three weeks later) just to address those questions.

You may have read it in the intro, but my journey with clothes really started over 2 years ago after watching a documentary called ‘The Trust Cost’. It made me re-question a lot of the things I was buying; who had made my clothes? Was I buying on impulse? What effects were my purchases causing to people and the planet? I’d already bought a lot of second hand clothes at that time, but the 20% of clothes I did buy new were from Zara mainly, and though hard, I decided the night of watching that movie that I would never shop there again. Dramatic I know.

Let’s say my level of makeup knowledge is so so basic. I have no idea how to successfully achieve a smoky eye or contour, and as it stands I’ve probably worn makeup for all of one day during lockdown and it’s never felt better so please don’t take makeup advice from me- i’m very much learning.

Makeup was one of the last areas of our home to move over to becoming cleaner. Maybe it’s because makeup is low on my agenda list anyway but, as I’ve switched to green beauty I’ve come to take more of an interest in it and really become excited and curious about what’s in the makeup I’m using and the fun and quirky ingredients that often make up green beauty!

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!

Is there a room in your house that you dislike cleaning the most? The bathroom is probably high up there on mine as it feels like so many things are begging to be deep cleaned in such a small space?! The bathroom was hands down the area we used the most plastic in and probably the most amount of chemicals in before we started this toxic-free journey.

I’ve trialed the lot when it comes to washing powder; throwback to the days of Fairy and Ariel giving me crispy whites and super soft towels and then with the realisation of those particular things probably actually causing harm then moving on to soap nuts and an eco egg to no avail. I so wanted these options to work for me, but with a newborn at the time, they just weren’t cutting it and left my clothes coming out of the washing machine no different to what I had put them in. I then moved onto Ecover for a season, and while I think it is a better option than many, it still didn’t sit quite right with me and neither did SMOL a subscription service we received through our door, which coincided with a bad outbreak of eczema on Heppy’s skin and made me look even more closely into what was written on the back of bottles.

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.

Back in mid- April just before Hephzibah’s second birthday it suddenly crossed my mind that lockdown was the perfect place to potty train.

Hephzibah had shown zero signs that she was ready to potty train. She hated having her nappy changed, seemed unaware of when she needed a poo or wee and would have happily hung out in a diaper with either of those in all day!

6 weeks into lockdown I committed to the thought that was flying around my head to start potty training Hephzibah. There had been no real signs that she was ready to potty train I just thought it would be worth a shot because we were at home all day with no where to go and liked the idea that there was very low-expectation so we could just see how it went.