Summer’s here (yay!) which means picnic dinners, easy meals, camping, and lots of sun exposure. Our family’s been working on small steps we can take for a more sustainable summer, and I’d love to hear your ideas too! Using Grove Collaborative has made it super easy because all of our favorite healthy summer products are in one spot– and get delivered straight to our door.
Steps to A Sustainable Summer
Grove is known for their curation of all the best healthy cleaning and personal care products, but they have so much more. This year, the Summer Store is filled to the brim with everything we need for a healthy and sustainable summer – and up to 40% off for a limited time. All my favorite sunscreen brands are sold there, as well as mosquito repellant, summer cleaning items, and lots of other products! All the best stuff for our family to enjoy summer in the outdoors.
Sunscreen is so tricky. The stuff I’m used to and grew up with is full of chemicals, and makes me wonder if a sunburn is better for the skin, honestly. There are so many sunscreens that are way better for us these days, free of all that active chemical sunscreens. I love the Bare Republic brand. It’s BPA and paraben free, vegan, and free of active chemicals-but still does a fantastic job protecting our skin. Plus it comes in a spray (yay, so easy!). I love their Mineral Neon Sticks as well. Bold colors and uniques scents made from food grade safe ingredients and the color! I think my kids will actually love it. Plus, they make it easy to see where you’ve applied and where you haven’t.
Inevitably, we also need aloe because Edie especially is incredibly fair. If I forget to put on sunscreen on her way out the door to school, she comes home with pink cheeks. With just that 20 minutes of recess time! The Balder Balm Aloe Vera Gel feels amazing after a little too much sun. Soothing and hydrating, just like grabbing a leaf of an aloe plant (totally did that growing up in our house!). With 96% of it being pure aloe juice I can feel good about putting it on my kids skin.
Another important summer product is mosquito repellant- similar to sunscreen bug repellant can be full of chemical. I don’t want my family to get bitten, but what other options are there? Luckily, there are several products to choose from. The Murphy’s Natural Mosquito Repellant Incense sticks are awesome because they aren’t on your skin at all and they aren’t bad looking! We put ours on a little table outside by our picnic and didn’t have to spray a thing on our skin.
When you do need a bit more protection, the Murphy’s Natural Lemon Eucalyptus Oil Spray is great. It smells way better than the traditional repellant, and so much better for your skin. It’s DEET free, lasts for 6 hours, and doesn’t dry sticky. Also it smells really great! The whole Murphy’s Natural line at Grove is fantastic with mosquito repellant tea lights and candles as well.
It’s a great time to use sustainable products in the summer with casual snack picnics in the yard being our go-to dinner routine. In addition to all the specific products from the Summer Shop, we love the re-useable Bee’s Wraps (totally obsessed with these things!), and the If You Care unbleached compostable paper sandwich bags. Have you tried their Bamboo Straws too? We’ve been loving those as well. With these products I’ve been able to successfully pack away my single use plastic wrap, plastic bags, and straws without looking back.
Also, when I go backpacking I love these Cora body cloths for freshening up when I can’t shower for several days (although jumps in alpine lakes are always preferred).
Click here to find all these sustainable summer swaps and more up to 40% off for a limited time.
What healthy products and small sustainable swaps are you doing this summer?