Low tox, low plastic
Recommendations.
The swaps we actually made, room by room. If you only change one thing in each, change these first.
Everything here is something we use. I am not interested in swapping one shelf of marketing claims for another, so where a product has a genuine tradeoff I say so.
Some links are affiliate links, which means I may earn a small commission at no cost to you. It never changes what makes this list.
JUMP TO A ROOM
If you only change four things
| Room | Swap this | For this |
|---|---|---|
| Kitchen | Plastic food storage and plastic kettles | Glass containers and a stainless steel kettle |
| Bathroom | Anything listing “fragrance” or “parfum” | Unscented, or scented with named essential oils |
| Supplements | Whatever was cheapest on the shelf | Third party tested, with the form of the nutrient named |
| Tracking | Guessing your fertile window | Ovulation strips plus a basal thermometer |
[Setup note for Sophie, delete me: each section below is a dropdown. Add your actual products and affiliate links inside each one, then delete these notes.]
Kitchen & cooking
What to switch first in the kitchen
Heat, fat and acid are what pull chemicals out of packaging and cookware, so the kitchen is where swaps pay off fastest.
- Glass storage containers instead of plastic tubs, especially for anything hot, oily or acidic
- Stainless steel or glass kettle instead of plastic
- Cast iron or stainless pans instead of non stick, or at minimum never heat non stick empty
- Wooden or stainless utensils instead of black plastic
- Beeswax wraps and glass jars instead of cling film
- [Add your products and links here]
Skincare & beauty
What to switch first in the bathroom
Skin absorbs, and these are the products used daily on large areas, so they add up. The single most useful habit is reading the ingredients list rather than the front of the bottle.
- Anything listing fragrance or parfum: that one word can hide dozens of undisclosed ingredients, including phthalates
- Deodorant: a simple unscented formula, applied to clean skin
- Body lotion and body wash: the biggest surface area, so the biggest win
- Sunscreen: mineral filters rather than oxybenzone
- [Add your products and links here]
Being straight about the tradeoff: “clean” and “natural” are unregulated words. What I actually look for is a full ingredients list, no undisclosed fragrance, and a brand that publishes independent testing.
Supplements
What I take, and how I choose it
This is what is in my own protocol. It is not a prescription, and what you need depends on your own bloodwork.
- Morning: vitamin D, folate, inositol, fish oil
- Evening: magnesium
- Follicular phase only: NAC
- For him, daily: selenium from one brazil nut, zinc, omega 3, antioxidants
- [Add your products and links here]
What I check before buying: third party testing, the specific form of the nutrient named on the label rather than just the mineral, and no undisclosed fillers. Price is a poor guide either way.
Cycle tracking
The kit I actually use
You do not need much. Everything here exists to answer one question: when is my fertile window, and did I ovulate.
- Ovulation strips, bought in bulk, because with PCOS you test for longer
- A basal thermometer with two decimal places
- A fridge calendar, so it takes ten seconds a morning
- [Add your products and links here]
An honest note on all of this
No product makes anyone fertile. What these swaps do is lower the background load of things working against you, which is the part we could control. I would rather you change four things and keep them than change forty and give up in a fortnight.
Start with the food.
The free menstrual guide is a full week of meals, warmth rules, seeds and teas, exactly as I follow it.