Shampoo without a ton of chemicals

On our walk this morning, I noticed the labels on the storm drains, something about be careful what you put down them because they go directly into rivers. Well, of course. I hardly ever consider that all the things that I wash and what I wash them with are going back into the water system and back into the earth. Kind of makes me think twice even before I buy something as mundane as new shampoo.

So the shampoo aisle at Target has a whole bunch of stuff, but not a lot of it limits the amount of chemicals that will be washed away along with the ever-permanent layer of grease that coats the roots of my hair. See, I'm picky about shampoo -- I have short hair that hangs like two oily curtains on either side of my face if I don't use the right thing on it. The goal has always been to fluff it and make it look less flat. So this is a big step for me. Unfortunately, I still have that lingering 'if-it's-all-natural-it-must-not work-as-well' prejudice to overcome.

Now I know you have to step out of the shampoo aisle and do a little hunting in order to find things that are greener. I wondered if Burt's Bees, one of my favorite lipsticks, might also make shampoo, and they do! I got the Super Shiny Grapefruit and Sugar Beet shampoo, 99.8% natural, no parabens or phthalates, in a bottle made of 80% post-consumer recycled plastic. Nice. It can also be recycled easily since it's #2 plastic. It's got a lot of fruit oils in it and smells exactly like a halved grapefruit. We'll see how it works.

I'm starting to get used to being more conscious of everything I buy. I am finding that it just takes a few seconds of active thought in order to spend my money in a better way.