Comments on: Hand lotion. Is it for the bees?

By: Scott

Scott — Fri, 01 Apr 2011 23:48:13 +0000

This is a great idea, and when I have access to the stuff I need I think I’ll try this! But for an even simpler solution, which may be especially suitable when traveling, you can just use any cooking oil as a lotion. It’s a bit greasy, but the oil absorbs after a few minutes. I routinely use olive oil or even vegetable oil if my hands are dry and I don’t have any lotion around.

By: Beth Terry

Beth Terry — Sun, 27 Mar 2011 23:13:59 +0000

Hi Matt. Yes, Brita has created a deal with Preserve and Whole Foods, but it’s only participating Whole Foods. It’s up to store manager. If your Whole Foods won’t take them back, there is a way to mail them.

The full story is that back in 2008, a bunch of us created a campaign to get Brita to create a recycling program. The web site we created is still up: http://takebackthefilter.org. Brita responded. Here are the full instructions on their web site how to do it: http://www.brita.com/support/filter-recycling/

By: Matt Sharp

Matt Sharp — Sun, 27 Mar 2011 01:44:39 +0000

Hey Beth
Supposedly every Whole Foods Market takes back Brita filters as part of a national program. I have not tried it yet and I don’t know for sure what Whole Foods does with them. Does this sound credible to you?
Matt

By: Beth Terry

Beth Terry — Sun, 27 Mar 2011 00:52:36 +0000

Oh also Autumn — Whole Foods has bulk beeswax.

By: Beth Terry

Beth Terry — Sun, 27 Mar 2011 00:49:09 +0000

Hey Autumn. You need the top open to pour oil in slowly, so I don’t think it would work for lotion. Same as mayonnaise.

By: autumn

autumn — Sun, 27 Mar 2011 00:26:58 +0000

what do you think of making it in a quart mason jar with the base of the blender screwed on to the jar? maybe start with blending only 1/4 of the ingredients, unscrew add the next 1/4, blend….etc.

By: Sonia

Sonia — Tue, 22 Dec 2009 00:20:05 +0000

Thanks for this recipe, I wanted to try making my own lotion as I make my own soaps.
As for the comment about LUSH, they do use less packaging but many of their products contain sodium lauryl sulfate which is bad news. :(

By: Erin

Erin — Fri, 31 Oct 2008 15:06:00 +0000

If you leave out the water, you can use this same recipe to make a terrific lip balm, adding a few drops of flavoring oil such as vanilla or peppermint. Also, I’d recommend adding a little honey or glycerin as both are natural humectants, drawing moisture to the skin.

By: Anthea

Anthea — Tue, 19 Aug 2008 20:19:00 +0000

At http://www.ewg.org (Environmental Working Group) I leaned way back when I was also a huge Burt’s Bees fan (before they were bought out by Clorox) that some of their products didn’t rate well at all on the level of toxic ingredients ….I was shocked….then read the ingredients carefully and looked up each item in the Dictionary of Cosmetic Ingredients by Ruth Winter.

We have to be soooooo careful. The world is full of marketers who want us to buy their products. They feel out the climate for the latest, hottest trend and market to that trend. They grab us, make us fall in love with the smell and feel of their products, and leave us blindsided when we discover that what’s inside the little metal or glass container is not so innocent after all. Earth friendly packaging doesn’t insure human friendly products.

As well, my 22 yr. old son who is a vegan brought to my attention that the reason vegans don’t eat honey is because many honey manufacturers KILL the bees at honey harvest time!!! It is easier and less dangerous to poison/kill bees. These huge honey farms have so many bees, they transplant enough bees into new hives to begin fresh. It’s actually cheaper and easier to kill bees and start over. This is certainly not true for smaller, earth friendly honey producers that would never consider killing their bees. However, I can only guess that the honey Burt’s Bees uses is likely from a large honey manufacturer.

So that also keeps me steering clear of products that include honey. Making our own, as with this amazing recipe posted on the blog, is the best way to insure that we know exactly what ingredients we are applying to our skin — which happens to be the largest organ of the body and absorbs what we put on it directly into our bodies which affects our longterm health.

I can’t wait to try making some of this body bar. It sounds wonderful! Thanks for sharing it :)

~Anthea

By: Anonymous

Anonymous — Wed, 11 Jun 2008 01:50:00 +0000

instead of using a mixer, u can try a hand held electric beater. maybe that will help? use a glass bowl and the beaters are metal… so it won’t stick