It only takes a little bit of creativity and planning to make the most amazing homemade and eco-friendly Christmas gifts!
Last weekend I spent around ten minutes in total making this nourishing, organic handwash infused with Young Living Thieves Oil, for the two lovely ladies who come in for an hour each week and help me keep on top of my housework. These ladies do a little more than help keep my home clean, they free me up so I can run Sustainababy and help inspire mums like you to be ecoceptional! They also value natural products so I thought a nice handwash would be perfect.
I made the recipe I feature in my Home Detox Boot Camp and used Young Living Thieves oil as the essential oil of choice. This oil is the best around for killing bacteria, viruses and other nasties, yet smells amazing and has wonderful immune boosting powers too. To purchase Thieves essential oil, click How to Purchase Young Living Essential Oils.
I was also able to repurpose some old shampoo pump bottles that I had lying around which mde the gift even more eco-friendly!
If you’re keen to make your own handwash, or make some to gift to a friend, you can’t go past this nourishing and creamy recipe:
Ingredients:
- 140g (5 oz) bar of pure castile soap (I lOVE DR Bronners’)
- 1.5 litres filtered or distilled water
- Essential oil of your choice
Directions:
- Grate bar soap using a cheese grater or food processor.
- Heat water in large pot until it boils. Turn heat down once water boils.
- Stir in grated soap until it fuly dissolves.
- Remove mixture off heat and let sit for 12-24 hours, stirring occasionally. The mixture will thicken during this time.
- Stir in essential oil of your choice. To purchase Young Living essential oils, click How to Purchase Young Living Essential Oils.
- Pour mixture into soap dispensers.
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Laura Trotta is one of Australia’s leading home sustainability experts. She has a Bachelor of Environmental Engineering, a Masters of Science (in Environmental Chemistry) and spent 11 years working as an environmental professional before creating her first online eco business, Sustainababy, in 2009. She has won numerous regional and national awards for her fresh and inspiring take on living an ‘ecoceptional’ life (including most recently winning the Brand South Australia Flinders University Education Award (2015) for the north-west region in SA and silver in the Eco-friendly category of the 2015 Ausmumpreneur Awards). With a regular segment on ABC Radio and with her work featured in publications like Nurture Parenting and My Child Magazine, Laura is an eco thought leader who’s not afraid to challenge the status quo. A passionate believer in addressing the small things to achieve big change, and protecting the planet in practical ways, Laura lives with her husband and two sons in outback South Australia. 
