HEARTH​AND​CARAVAN​​​​

'Radical Living' sounds extreme, but for our family it started in a very gradual way. I became very knowledgable of the the health industry when I was pregnant with my babies. I had my four children in 5 years, so I spent a concentrated amount of time in doctors offices and hospitals. These years opened my eyes to truths about the healthcare industry that I may not have learned any other way. 

Following the birth of my 3rd child, we began doing major research about the foods we were consuming, sustainable agriculture, and we learned about the truly unbelievable ways "big agra" was/is contaminating and poisoning our food. 

I won't go into politics here, but suffice it to say, we're blown away by the brokenness of the system, and the way people choose to lash out before they've ever researched a topic. IT'S. A. MESS.

So what does this have to do with you? If you're reading this I'm assuming that you're at least a little interested in natural living. Probably a little wary of certain industry/government things... But you're also a real person who has real life going on. You're going to buy the Doritos and disposable diapers if that's what needs to happen for this season to make your life run smoothly. But you're always trying to do better. And guess what? Me too. I'm a completely regular person, who is trying a little bit every day to reconcile the life that I live with the crazy truth about this world we're living in. So here's how I'm tackling 2020, and how I can help you:

1. A Monthly Focus. There are a billion BIG problems that we are faced with every day. We can't change everything at once, so sometimes we change nothing at all. We get paralyzed by the amount of work it takes to change our lives! If we narrow our focus down to one simple thing at a time we can make real, lasting changes for our family and our future.
2.  Leave Surface Level Behind. One monthly focus means we can go deep. We can learn all about that one topic and make simple changes as we go. At the end of the year there will be some major changes that we have made together, building on what we have learned each month.
3.  Community! We can learn together. Have questions? Join my Facebook group and ask away. In the past I have typically only shared about essential oils in that group, but I think it's time to include everything. We're branching out and expanding into including the whole sustainable lifestyle. ​

Check out the focus features from 2020 so far:
Water Filtration for Beginners
Building a Holistic First Aid Kit

Welcome to the place where regular people can begin to explore the ideas of radical living. There may be (i.e. definitely are) affiliate links in this post. Should you purchase something through them, you will be personally helping our family of 6.  Thank you for your support, shares, comments, and pins. <3 Full disclosure here.

If you find yourself in a situation where you may want hand purifier, but can't find any at the store, here are a few substitutes.

DIY Hand Purifier Gel

• 1 1/2 ounces pure aloe vera
• 3 teaspoons rubbing alcohol or witch hazel
• 2-3 vitamin e capsules (cut open and squeezed in), or several drops vitamin e oil 
•  5-7 Drops Essential Oil (I used Thieves and Peppermint.) Purchase oils through my link HERE.

 
 
DIY Hand Purifier Spray
I love this liquid spray option! So easy to put together, and the witch hazel is gentler than alcohol (even though it may contain some alcohol)
Ingredients

• 1.5oz witch hazel
• 2-3 vitamin e capsules (cut open and squeezed in), or several drops vitamin e oil 
• 5 drops thieves essential oil
• 2 drops peppermint essential oil

      (Get Oils Here)
 
DIY Foaming Purifier
This is actually just foaming hand soap, but in a pinch will work for sanitizing. 

1. Grab a foaming soap container here. These are a great size to tuck in your purse.
2. Put 1/2 teaspoon of Castile soap.
3. Add 5 drops Essential Oils. I used Thieves and Peppermint, but you could also use Tea Tree, Lemon, Lavender, Oregano, or any other oils you feel would work for you. (Get Oils Here)
4. Fill the container slowly with water (don’t let it suds too much & don’t fill too full). Leave room for foaming dispenser top.

Want more DIY's? There are several HERE.
Want to know more about how we stock our mostly holistic first aid kit? Read that HERE.
Interested in how to have clean water in an end-of-the-world situation? Try HERE.
Subscribe to my email newsletter to get the latest from Hearth and Caravan. 

Welcome to the place where regular people can begin to explore the ideas of radical living. There may be (i.e. definitely are) affiliate links in this post. Should you purchase something through them, you will be helping a family of 6 pay for things like groceries, or maybe a night out bowling...  Thank you for your support, shares, comments, and pins. <3 Full disclosure here.

I like using holistic first aid as much as possible. If we can fix something naturally, we always try that first. So that's how we build our first aid kit--we start with natural and holistic options, and build up to high emergency last resort options. I choose to use homemade/DIY options often, certain purchased items from companies I love that work for us, and a few store bought /prescribed options. Having kids has taught me a TON about administering first aid, and what I haven't learned by trial and error, has usually been found at youtube university..

At home we have a huge amount of first aid remedies.. In the kitchen, in the bathroom, in the bedroom.. there are oils and salves, teas and tinctures, and anything we could dream up, really. There are a couple of reasons we've decided to collect our first aid into a "kit" that we can take with us.

1. The main reason being ease of finding things in an emergency situation--it's all gathered up. We have already used our kit for splinter removal in the few days since it was gathered together.
2. Secondly, the salves, oil blends, and mixtures are already created.. Previously DIYed--as in, I don't just have the ingredients--they're already assembled.
3.  This kit is very inclusive, but still small enough to take with us in a car or camping trip. So it's great for home and travel (lol for hearth and caravan..)

Top Row:

• Caboodle! Or a Tackle box. We found ours on sale (because it's ugly, lol). 
• Yogi Tea. (Breathe Deep is my FAVE but Throat Coat is what's in our kit)
• Mini Castile Soap--you never know when you need to get clean.
•  Weekly Pill Organizer Filled with:
  • Ibuprofen
  • Benadryl
  • Imodium
  • Empty Capsules*
  • Inner Defense*
  • Life 9 (Probiotic)*
  • Digest & Cleanse*
• Raw Honey--Honey has antibacterial properties and has been used for thousands of years for both energy and medicine (source)
• Coconut Oil--the uses are practically endless. Might as well have a packet in the first aid kit! 
• LLP*--this is short for Lemon, Lavender, and Peppermint. These 3 oils blended together help us so much with seasonal allergies that we don't use allergy meds anymore. 
• Helichrysum*--One of the most important essential oils for a first aid kit. Literally for almost any issue.  It's expensive to purchase but I believe it's worth it. It took us 4 years to go through our first bottle, so it has longevity. Read some amazing facts about helichrysum here, then order some here.  
• Breathe Again*--This essential oil blend helps me get open airways for deep breathing--especially as it relates to my seasonal allergies. I usually don't leave the house without one of these in my purse.
• Emergen-C--I have recently learned of the amazing and important capabilities of vitamin c. I encourage you to read more about it vitamin c here.
• Tummygize*--This is an essential oil blend of spearmint, peppermint, Tangerine, Fennel, Anise, Ginger, and Cardamom oils, all blended up with coconut oil to create a kid friendly tummy oil. I like to use it with a roller top, and we can roll it right on when needed.
• Cotton Swabs--for applying salves without using fingers mostly.
• Safety Pins--you just never know when you'll need one to hold an ace bandage together, or whatever.
• Needles--for splinters
• Essentialzymes-4* (enzymes)--beneficial enzymes help aid in digestion. 
• Alkalime*--adds alkalinity to your body-- use when your tummy is upset or you have heartburn or indigestion.
• Mightypro*-- young living's brand of probiotics for kids. Tastes like pixy stix and makes you feel better (both kids and adults)

Middle Row:

• Elderberry Tincture--such an interesting way to preserve elderberries without having to create elderberry syrup that isn't shelf stable. Great for immune boosting! Find the recipe here.
• Fingernail Clippers--ever useful, must have!
• Tweezers--ditto.
• Lighter--for sterilizing needles, starting fires, and killing ticks.
• DIY Ear Oil--this oil has saved us from many ear troubles before! (Swimmer's Ear!) It provided nearly immediate relief for us... 5 drops lavender EO, 5 drops Melrose EO, and top with olive oil. (2 ml dropper bottle)
• Lavender Lip Balm*-- You can DIY this using this recipe, or just use the one from young living. It's fantastic after a day in the sun. 
• Hydrocortisone cream--dollar tree special. We don't often use it, so we went cheap on it. 
• Band-aids--must be fabric bandaids (or have cute cartoons on them)
• Liquid Bandage--you could probably just use super glue, but we had it from a previous gash that didn't quite require stitches.
• Floss--many purposes including its intended use. 
• Lavaderm*--IMO completely MUST HAVE. We use on minor burns, minor cuts, sunburns, scrapes, insect bites, and minor skin irritations (like when the cat clawed me the other day..) Basically you can spray it on anything and it helps, haha!
• Hand Sanitizer*--Absolutely love young living's sanitizer. It smells like peppermint and cinnamon. Soap and water is always best, but when it's unavailable this is a great option. 
• Animal Scents Ointment*--Excellent all-purpose salve. Created for animals, used by my whole family, lol. We use for dry, chapped, or rubbed skin especially. Plus we have it for the dog too! 

Bottom Row:

• cotton balls
• toothpicks
• ace bandage (2 sizes)
• Reef Friendly sunscreen*
• All Natural Insect Repellant* (it works and no DEET)
• Antisceptic Towelettes
• Alcohol Swab
• Sting Relief Swab
• Peppermint Altoids
• Owie Balm*
• Sharpie
•  athletic tape
• gauze
• tape scissors
• scissors
• artificial tears
• emergency blanket

Essential Oils:

• Raindrop Collection
• Purification
• Tea Tree
• Lemon
• Digize
• Frankincense
• Thieves

(Plus the others on the top row--LLP, Breathe Again, Helichrysum, ang tummygize.)

You should know that I have a lot of oils, but for my first aid kit, these are the absolute MUSTS. I will always have other certain oils in my purse with me, and they are tucked all over my house, but like I said, these are definite must-haves.

This kit will change and grow over time. I'd still really like to add:

• spare glasses--we need to make an eye doctor appointment and get spares!
• ​cayenne powder (I forgot to pick some up--it's supposed to be a blood coagulant and has other very interesting first aid applications--worth the dollar spent at the dollar tree)
• a suture kit--I don't know how to suture, but it's one of those situations that may come up, and I'd like to have a small amount of knowledge and the proper tools should it arise.
• a small bottle of alcohol--whiskey probably, to make toddies, apply to wounds if necessary (lol just like in the movies).--

Those are easy additions that I will likely add over the next year. Do you have any suggestions for additions to our mostly holistic first aid kit?

When creating your own holistic first aid kit, there are some good things to remember! 

• Keep a small first aid kit in your large one. You can pull it out for taking on a hike or during your daytime activities. 
• Don't feel like you have to create it all at once. You can build it over time! While I did purchase several things over the month (because it's the focus for the month!), there were many, many items that we already had on hand, and had collected over time. 
• If you do decide to build your kit all at once, remember the dollar tree is your friend, lol! We got several items at the dollar tree. 
• Build it into your year. Each year you will want to go through your kit to replace used and expired items. You may want to replace used items as you go so you never have to start from scratch again, but at least once a year take a look through your kit. 

While I am not an expert at gardening, this is the year to do better in this department with the foods that we eat, and with the herbs that we use. I've heard that gardening is a common hobby among the people that live the longest in the world, so I'm going to try to do better with it! There are so many plants, flowers, shrubs, and herbs to grow to use in creating balms, salves, tinctures, and teas that are perfect for our holistic first aid kit! 

My favorite medicinal plant that I believe everyone should start with is Aloe Vera! It's such a versatile, and relatively easy plant to grow. And, BONUS! it's not hard to find. I use aloe in my after sun spray which is a DIY version and close kin of the lavaderm from Young Living that's already in my first aid kit. 
 
Most herbs you cook with also have a medicinal purpose and use. Oregano, basil, and thyme are all great to have for both culinary and medicinal applications. Ditto for onion, ginger, and garlic! 

Some perennial options for zone 7 include, oregano, thyme, mint, chives, and lavender (among many more, I'm sure!) We have had some issues growing herbs from seed, so this year we will try to start with plants. I'd like to try some Golden Oregano, as I've read it it's hard to kill--that's the kind of plant life I need!

We grow cilantro (which is the champion of our garden) and basil in with our vegetables,  and they both do well from seed. 

This year we are trying some new plants and I am so excited! This year we will add calendula, lavender, lemon bee balm, and echinacea. Preserving these flowers should be simple in the dehydrator (cross your fingers!), and then we can make all sorts of holistic wellness products with them. I'll be sure to share those with you as the garden grows.

I am so relieved to have our first aid kit in fantastic working order. It will be wonderful to grab it to take with us as we go camping and on vacation, and even as we go on day trips! Being prepared is becoming more and more important to us as we get a little older and wiser, and see the world around us. Every little bit of preparation takes a bit of the weight off. Will you do yourself the favor of preparing for the first aid needs of your family? You'll be glad you did.​

I created a free checklist to help you build your own first aid kit! Go grab it here.

Welcome to the place where regular people can begin to explore the ideas of radical living. There may be (i.e. definitely are) affiliate links in this post. Should you purchase something through them, you will be helping a family of 6 pay for things like groceries, or maybe a night out bowling...  Thank you for your support, shares, comments, and pins. <3 Full disclosure here.

Water has it's own nifty water purification system built right in. The water cycle has been doing it's thing since the beginning, recycling water through the process of evaporation, condensation, and precipitation to purify and cleanse every drop we use. 

Surprisingly though, citizens of earth have been purifying and clarifying their drinking water for a really long time. Medieval times, ancient Indian civilizations, and Hippocrates (among others) all have records of water purification systems being used to filter water for purity and taste. (source)

Simply put, there are contaminants in our water supply that we don't want to ingest. Pharmaceuticals in trace amounts may be found in our water and we have no idea what effect that may have on us (and especially our children) in the long run. (source) Fluoride isn't for drinking, so we definitely want to filter that out. Not to mention, our tap water tastes pretty much exactly like a chlorinated pond.

4 Basic Reasons to Filter Your Water:
Sediments, Contaminants, Parasites, and Taste. 

1. ​Sediments include sand, rust, rocks, and organic material that are found in the water. A Sediment filter does not remove substances that are dissolved in such as heavy metals and other chemicals such as fluoride. (source)​
2. Contaminants include microorganisms, viruses, pharmaceuticals, household products and cleaners, and all the yucky stuff that is floating around in the municipal water supply. (source)
3. Parasites--you don't want to be a host for freeloading parasites that make you sick. If you've ever traveled to countries without clean water then you know exactly how important it can be to have access to clean water! 
4. Taste--Clean water from your tap may *technically* be potable, but taste like chlorine or lake water. Filtering for taste is just as important as these other issues listed above. Anything we can do to get more healthy water in our bodies is a good thing! 

When I found out residual pharmaceuticals were popping up in water supplies, that was the final straw for finding a water filter for our family. I had also been vaguely concerned about fluoride in our local water supply, but after looking up the details on fluoride it lit a fire under my behind! I found out that a water filter could help remove the heavy metals, residual pharmaceuticals, and fluoride from our drinking water, and provide purer water for my family and I. The best water filtration system for our family is the Berkey Water Filtration System. We like the Travel Berkey, as we can pack it up and take it camping with us. If you are planning on using your water filter at home for more than a couple of people for all cooking and drinking needs, I recommend the Big Berkey. While the Travel Berkey can work, having the larger capacity for mealtimes would make life just a bit easier. 

We chose the Berkey Water filtration system over all the others for a few good reasons:

1.  For the price, the Berkey has the best filtration. (Filters more water to a higher degree of filtration)
2. The filters last substantially longer than other filter systems. I hate replacing filters every month or quarter! The Berkey Black filters only need to be replaced approximately every 6000 gallons. 
3.  There are  fluoride filters available. Not every filtration system will filter out fluoride and that is important to us. 

Drawbacks to choosing the Berkey filter system:

1. It does cost more than a basic pitcher filter upfront.
2.  If you don't filter water through the system for 3 consecutive days, you will have to re-prime the filters.
3.  As with most filters, you have to plan ahead to have plenty of water for when you are boiling pasta or making a gallon of tea. It's actually easier with the Berkey than with other filters with the exception of maybe a built-in reverse osmosis system (Which removes the good minerals along with the bad, unlike the Berkey system)

Hiking and Backpacking have recently come into my life, and I was so curious how people could hike for weeks, months, or even a few days and still have plenty of water to drink! The answer is--they filter their water as they go--and it is unbelievably affordable and efficient. There are several portable water filtration systems that many prefer, but the most widely available, affordable, and lightweight options are the Sawyer Squeeze ($30~), and the Sawyer Mini ($20~). Both provide thousands of gallons of filtration in a simple handheld device that attaches easily to a water bottle. It is the single item in my house that gives me the most confidence about emergency water filtration for hiking and beyond.

Reasons to Go with a Sawyer Mini (or Squeeze):

1. Affordability--Literally cannot beat $20. It's the cheapest clean water insurance plan you can find. Honestly, just keep one in case SHTF even if you aren't a hiker.
2.  Longevity--It can filter 3 gallons a day for 91 years and never need to be replaced. 10 gallons a day for 27 years. Basically, it's the energizer bunny of water filters.
3.  Super Lightweight and Compact--which is the perfect solution when backpacking, hiking, etc..

Drawbacks to a Sawyer water filter:

1. Although it does filter 99.9999% of bacteria and protozoa (v. important when drinking water from natural sources!) It doesn't filter heavy metals. That's why I choose a different filter for everyday use in my home.  (source)
2. It lasts virtually indefinitely, filtering over 100,000 gallons of water, but it has a fatal flaw--It cannot be frozen after the filter gets wet. If it freezes, throw it out and get a new one. Keep in your pocket or next to your body if you are out it temps where it may freeze!