March 26, 2024 • 61 mins
If you just bought your new spring mattress and discovered the harmful chemicals of having one, this is us telling you that you do not immediately need to buy and swap your new mattress for a no toxin. In this episode, Jen and Jill, together with Alexx, discuss the benefits of reducing toxins in your everyday life and how it intersects with living a frugal life.
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Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
Episode three ninety two, Living a Low Talks Life Frugally
with Alex Stewart.
Speaker 2 (00:09):
Welcome to the Frugal Friends podcast, where you'll learn to
save money, embrace simplicity, and live a life here your
hosts Jen and Jill.
Speaker 1 (00:26):
Welcome to the Frugal Friends podcast. My name is Jen,
my name is Jill, and today we are having a
really fun conversation with a really fun woman.
Speaker 3 (00:38):
Alex is phenomenal. She had us on her show, which
I think is going to come out after this podcast episode,
but we just got to get a sense of how
approachable and kind and helpful and informative she is on this,
especially for someone just beginning to dabble with the idea
of low talks. So we love reducing barriers to entry
(01:01):
on especially things that can save us money. Absolutely like this.
Speaker 1 (01:05):
Yeah, and there's so many benefits to reducing quote unquote
toxins or whatever or just living a little more naturally,
and we cover some of the financial benefits. We also
have a little tangent during the episode, but it's definitely
one of those radical middle type episodes. It's take what
(01:29):
works for you, leave what doesn't uh, but try new
things to get new results.
Speaker 3 (01:37):
But first, this episode is brought to you by Granola,
Granola bars, granola and yogurt being granola. When all of
our country ways catch up to us and lead us
to low spend, let's put that extra bits of savings
into a high heel checking account. We really love ci
Jill personally have an account withs c it. They have
(02:01):
right now they're offering four point six percent apy on
their Savings connect account, So take advantage of that. Earn
money on your money. Put your sinking funds into a
high old savings account. If you don't have one, please please,
I beg of you. Even if it's not with CIIT.
Just get a high old savings account. But also frugal
friendspodcast dot com, slash c.
Speaker 1 (02:22):
Yes, it's a savings account, not a checking account. Maybe
we'll do an episode on the difference.
Speaker 3 (02:27):
What as I say, Oh, I'm sorry.
Speaker 1 (02:31):
It's fine. It's fine. They'll realize when they try to
write their first check from it. So if you're interested
in stuff like this, then we have several kind of
eco friendly episodes in our archives. Two of our favorites
not ego friendly, but but one of our favorites, Episode
three seventy nine how to get affordable quality versus cheap quantity.
(02:55):
And that's some of some of the talk about reducing
some of the toxins in our life, right is just
choosing maybe more it's more affordable and it's more quality.
So just kind of looking out for those things. And
then also episode two forty six Frugal Home Cleaning Tips,
(03:15):
we talk a lot about home stuff sense and stuff
like that, and so I mean, honestly, there are so
many ways that if you're just trying to do this
to save money, Like so much of the talk about
low Tals life is kind of veiled as you know
Crunchy or Granola's, but so much of it is about
(03:38):
saving money for us. And it's one of the reasons
we were so excited. We were so excited to have this
conversation with Alex. She's an educator, activist, change agent. She
runs Low Talks Life. She is a columnist for Well
Being magazine and a sought after speaker and consultant to
(04:00):
businesses committing to change for good. And she's just accessible
and relatable and she we fine, this is not in
her bio. She is also a like master bartender, so
if you need a good cocktail. Maybe she's also your girl. Yeah,
she's also your girl. So let's get into it and
(04:21):
chat after.
Speaker 3 (04:28):
Mmm.
Speaker 1 (04:34):
Alex, Welcome to Frugal Friends. We are both super excited
to have you on for this episode. It's just a delight.
I'm so excited. Thank you for being here.
Speaker 4 (04:45):
Me too, And I know we've chatted on my show,
and I feel like it is so lovely to connect
with communities who seem to be doing quite different things
and yet as humans talk more to each other. You
really how many beautiful overlaps there are in the things
that you care for. So it's it's awesome to be
(05:06):
here today.
Speaker 3 (05:07):
It's so true. I'm glad to have you. It was
an honor to be on your podcast, and I'm so
excited to share your wealth of wisdom. You've been doing
this work for far longer than us Brugal Friends over here,
which is really amazing to come across someone who has
been in the space for so long talking about low talks,
So thanks for being here.
Speaker 5 (05:29):
Welcome.
Speaker 1 (05:30):
All right, So let's start out what do you define
as low talks? Because I actually mentioned that we're interested in, like,
you know, reducing chemicals, and you were like, well, you don't.
You actually probably don't want to do that, And I'm like, Okay,
my mind's already been blown. Wait let's record. So like,
define for us what you see as a low TALS
(05:51):
life and how you see it benefiting your life.
Speaker 4 (05:56):
So to do that, I'm going to try and give
you the shortest backs story possible for how the whole
thing came about. Because I was just a regular person
who was on the antibiotic merry Go round of tonsaliitis
two three, four times a year, and you take the
pills and you get better for a bit and you think,
oh great, it's done, and then it's back, and then
(06:16):
I became antibiotic resistance. So I had to look outside
the box, which was quite terrifying because I'd grown up
super conventional, very normal, convenience driven eighties city family, right.
And I remember a girlfriend of mine was visiting me
bring me some soup, bless her when I was really sick,
like the pills weren't working, and she said, if you
(06:38):
thought about seeing a naturopath. I was like, what's that.
You guys call them nature pathic physicians for here, they're
not doctor qualified. It's just a completely different health science.
And while doing essentially the same thing, and so I
said no, but I found one because she really thought
that she could help, and she did. She gave me
(06:59):
this vaulting tasting herbal potion, which I've now come to love,
and vitamin C, zinc and a couple of other things
that are good for the immune system, and within three
days I was all better. And I was like, how
did you do that? I didn't even take medicine. It's
like you did. It's just the kind of medicine that
(07:20):
fortifies the body to take care of itself. And look,
I am a huge fan of how incredibly advanced our
crisis care system is for when the poop, it's the
fan and you've got to save lives. I'm definitely not
going to my natural path if my arm falls off.
But there is so much to be said for that
(07:41):
side of healthcare where we are actually addressing things that
might be missing in the body that are making it
not operate well. And if we look at the food,
the SAD diet, standard American diet, or we could swap
that with standard Australian diet, it's pretty much the same,
a lot missing. So it stands to reason that over
(08:03):
time our body gets less and less of what it
needs to operate functionally and let alone optimally, and we
get sick. So that whole journey took me down, starting
to look at packets and ingredient lists, and she said,
you know, be really interesting, there's some research on non
(08:23):
celiac gluten sensitivity. Because I'd ruled out celiac and strep
bugs overgrowing, so maybe try eliminating the gluten twenty years ago.
That was an incredibly difficult exercise. You couldn't just swap
everything that you did to gluten free versions because they
didn't exist. You had to ditch packets. And that was
(08:45):
a gift that I had no idea was a gift
at the time. I was like, oh my gosh, I've
got to cook everything from scratch.
Speaker 5 (08:53):
This is so awful.
Speaker 4 (08:55):
Everything has gluten in it. You know the special up
and go popper that I used to have like a
protein kind of shaky oat thing for breakfast. I was
a bartender, you know, I'm in my mid twenties at
this point, and it was just insane. So the gift
was I had to learn how to cook. Then I realized,
(09:16):
oh my gosh, everything tastes so bland. I got to
figure out how to do this better.
Speaker 5 (09:20):
So I did.
Speaker 4 (09:21):
And then I thought, well, I'm not going to miss
out on cake at birthdays. I'm going to figure out
how to make one. I was very creative.
Speaker 5 (09:27):
I was winning all.
Speaker 4 (09:28):
The bartender competitions for cocktails and working with chefs and
winning awards and being flown around. I mean, it was
a crazy life. Well but it did give me creativity
and creative license. So I just brought that over to food.
And what that taught me was, oh my gosh, I'm
not alone here. I was talking to friends and they're like, Wow,
(09:50):
how do you just magic up these things?
Speaker 5 (09:53):
It's amazing.
Speaker 4 (09:54):
This tastes incredible, And I realized none of my friends
knew how.
Speaker 5 (09:58):
To cook me.
Speaker 4 (10:00):
We knew how to appropriately heat a chicken until it
was safe to eat, and steam veggies until they were
kind of gray, but we didn't know how to cook,
you know. And it was it turned out to me
an incredibly exciting time. Demystifying these packets also made me realize, well, crap, like,
(10:22):
I know that's the gluten, but what is all this
other stuff? And then snowballs the education on our food
system and realizing how disconnected we are from where our
food comes from, and how bizarre it is that we
are eating all these things in packages? How does that
make sense? And then of course the personal care piece.
(10:43):
I'm pregnant with a giant baby and it's my ba
it's my baby shower, and all the friends, you know,
they give you those gifts and it's lovely. And I
was like, oh, I'm pretty good at food packets. Let's
have a look at what's on these. I didn't do
that in front of my friends, of course, but in
a time later, and I was horrified. I found these
(11:03):
chemicals that kept coming up in the research around either
endocrine disruption so fiddling with our natural hormone signaling, or
potential carcinogenic contamination. And I was like, this is babies.
And then I thought, well, if it's bad for babies,
isn't it bad for us too? Like we tend to
(11:25):
like coddle little babies. And then oh, you're old enough
to use the toxic stuff. Now I'm in where is
it the logic in that? So I had always been
a teacher and trainer in hospitality. I was always training
huge groups of bartenders. I worked for a very large
hospitality group Before that, I was in cosmetics, always teacher, trainer, motivator,
(11:46):
ran a whole team, and so it felt really natural
to think, well, can I help you? Like, could I
do something? And it was the real nascence of the
blog blogger sphere two thousand and nine, and I just
decided to start writing and sharing some simple swaps that
I'd made and resources people could find, and it built community,
(12:08):
eventually a Facebook page and then books, podcasts and all
the things that came after that. And so low Tox
for me, was a name that I came up with.
Being an exgenna, you were obsessed with original ideas when
the yeah, that had to not exist anywhere on the internet.
(12:31):
But I thought about my values as well, and I
thought about growing up as the Oprah generation, Like you know,
you'd watch Oprah if you were sick from school or
on holidays, and there'd be the next celebrity protocol that
you would try and ultimately fail. And I saw my
mom try and fail a whole bunch of diets, and
I just never wanted anyone on my watch to feel
(12:52):
like they were trying and failing and had this shame
spiral going on trying to be perfect according to someone
on the internet, just did not want to add to
the stress of you know, living our best lives and
actually living our best lives, not pretending to, and so
low tox me made space for people to define that
(13:15):
as what you want to do, where you're at, how
it looks for you. I didn't want to be, oh,
you have to di Wiatt like do it yourself or
you know you're not doing low tos. Conversely, I didn't
want it to always have to be about buying brands,
because a lot of people do want to make things
and love that creativity. So I wanted a lot of
(13:37):
flexibility and the realization that no toks doesn't exist, and
you know, it's just I felt like progress rather than
perfection was my real goal. So that's that's he was
all born beautiful.
Speaker 3 (13:53):
I can commiserate with what you're describing in different aspects
of your journey, what had led you to that and
be looking at the ingredients of things and demystifying. I
think that word in particular stands out to me. It's
been also a part of my journey in being better
in the kitchen is just kind of demystifying what's in condiments,
(14:18):
what are some of the basics of cooking and to realize, oh,
I don't have to get all of the salad dressings
and mayo and spreads in bottled plastic form, like I
can make it myself and every single time it's tasted
better than what's coming in the bottle, which then is
leading to understanding of these different products that are used
(14:41):
to keep it shelf stable that I don't totally need
and it's not going to be that great for my body.
But in all of this, something that I've realized is
it feels like so much to have to learn and
educate myself on, Like I've become more interested in tea
and herbs and the benefits that can have and things
that I can do when I'm sick just to help
(15:03):
my immune system. But it also feels like I'm opening
Pandora's box into this world of it. What can I
what's believable, what is true and right? How much do
I actually have to know what's going to be right
for me? And so with all of this, what would
you say to somebody, either from your own journey or
(15:25):
what you've come to understand now, like steps to take
in understanding your own journey? Of load talks and are
there things you might have done differently? Like what could
someone benefit from your expertise? And this feels overwhelming, but
I'm interested.
Speaker 4 (15:44):
I think I can do it. Okay, so funny story.
Of course, I had been researching things since I had
to go gluten free, which was what two thousand and seven,
So that's a while ago, now, can I have been
Yeah around then, and I therefore got to do everything
(16:07):
bit by bit. I therefore got to just bring in
a little thing, try another thing, research another thing. Ooh
tooth loss teflun coded a shocker. Let's see if there's
one that isn't. Oh, there isn't.
Speaker 5 (16:20):
There is.
Speaker 4 (16:21):
There's actually four brands brilliant and you know, formulating that
into a blog. And then once I'd gotten that habit
underway and changed it, moved on to the next thing.
So my advice is do the same. Do not make this,
do not make the mistake as I did when I
launched go lootox, which is our signature program of calling it.
(16:44):
And I'm still ashamed to this day that I called
this program this thirty days to your low tox life.
Speaker 5 (16:52):
It's not thirty days.
Speaker 4 (16:54):
I realized how important as an educator. Positive psychology was
in that round because people legitimately thought that they were
going to have to do it all in thirty days,
and we had to have like a team meeting, an
emergency meeting, me and three hundred and sixty women to say, please,
(17:16):
this is thirty days to receiving all the information you need.
The actual building of a lotok's life is probably more
you're looking at a decade.
Speaker 5 (17:25):
Relax.
Speaker 4 (17:26):
You know, if you just bought your new mattress last
year and right now you've discovered that it's you know,
a spring mattress or it's got petroleum memory foam or what,
that doesn't mean Oh my gosh, we're going to die.
I need to swap the mattress today.
Speaker 5 (17:41):
What a waste.
Speaker 4 (17:43):
There's always something you can do. And in that example,
just in case anyone is actually in that boat right
now and is thinking, is my mattress trying to kill me?
It's what you sleep against that's really important. So could
you get a cotton mattress protector and then you're sleeping again,
it's a natural fiber. Could you get a cotton mattress
(18:05):
topper or a wool or latex and then you're sleeping
against something much cheaper than the mattress replacement, but it's
a beautiful natural fiber. Just as an example. There's always
different levels of making swaps in this game, so as
we relax into what that then looks like on an
individual level, it becomes much easier. And I will also
(18:29):
say you're thinking about your makeup, your skincare, your cleaning products,
your laundry products, your bedroom products, linens, clothes, I mean,
on and on we could go. There's twenty two topics
in that course, never mind EMFs molds like bigger deal
things around your home. And so the question is what
(18:53):
are you excited to work on? What do you want
and really need to work on. Perhaps stop there and
absolutely forget every other category exists, don't worry about it.
You have to start where you want to stop and
where you feel naturally like you want to prioritize, rather
than playing to someone else's rules, because you're always going
(19:15):
to feel like a failure playing someone else's rules.
Speaker 3 (19:18):
That's so helpful. I'm also hearing that your reason for
entry and interest in load talks is valuable too, and
I don't maybe necessarily need to know all the things
about load talks that you do, Alex, depending on my
lifestyle and the things that I'm going through and experiencing
(19:39):
finding answers that are unique to my situation. I will
say for me, some of my interest in this topic
is first beginning with money saving. To be honest, it's
oh my goodness, I do not want to spend another
twenty two dollars on laundry detergent because I always buy
the big one, and yet it's so expensive. And I
(20:03):
also really hate waste. I hate food waste, and I
just hate all other kinds of waste too, and so
I'm hating to throw out this big, bulky plastic thing
that I know I'm not going to be able to
really recycle well because it's still full of such dense soap.
This is such a long example, but this is what
(20:24):
led me to why can't I make my own? Why
can't I demystify laundry detergent? It can't be that complicated?
And turns out it's not. And here I am diying
my laundry detergent, which then led me to diy my
dishwashing detergent. DIY What else am I diying? So many things?
(20:44):
But it's because it was primarily because of money. I
just don't want to spend the money, and then I
don't want to be throwing away the plastic. And now
I'm realizing, oh, and there's also like some benefits to
me as well here that I'm not engaging in some
of these chemicals and or in toxins that I don't
(21:05):
want to be having that I don't need to have
on my clothes and in my home.
Speaker 4 (21:11):
One hundred percent. It doesn't always mean you have to
swap a purchased thing for a purchased thing. It's kind
of like when you go gluten free, right, or you
go organic. Let's just say people who think, yeah, I
really want to do this. And if you go from
the regular oreos because that's what you eat for snacks,
not ideal, but if that's where you're at, and then
(21:33):
you switch to the organic oreos, which is crazy that
the world has organic oreos, but I do, it's going
to be more expensive. If you switch from the packet
cheesy puffs and you get the gluten free cheesy puffs,
it's going to be more expensive. There's a tax on
gluten free. On organic in processed food, there's way less
(21:55):
of attacks on switching from processed food to produce and
starting to actually eat less snacks that never fill us
up anyway, and actually investing that money into meals. You know,
like I laughed when you guys were on my show
about giving my son chili kon carne on toast for breakfast,
(22:16):
because that's what there was and it needed eating. But
the reality is is he's had this fantastic high fiber,
high protein, healthy fats breakfast. He had some avocado on
top that is going to carry him through to lunch.
He does not get recess food because he doesn't need it.
He feels great right through. If it wasn't going to
be the chilling conkhne, it was going to be the
(22:36):
three eggs, And like a lot of people think, gosh,
how can you eat that much at breakfast, It's like, well,
it's way cheaper than then providing two different packets and
a think of crudetes and all the extra stuff that
would take to fill him up till lunchtime otherwise. So
when it comes to things like personal care and cleaning
products and home products, people think, oh, you know, I
(22:59):
have to swe which my air freshener and my scented
candles and my fabric softna for the organic or the
essential oil based solutions. Actually you could here's a crazy idea,
but you could actually just stop using all of that stuff.
Speaker 5 (23:15):
Don't even need to swell.
Speaker 3 (23:17):
I know, I know when you're when you listen and
I'm like, I just don't even use that.
Speaker 6 (23:20):
Yeah, yeah, like that. You know people are using like
the little toilet duck thing that you hook into your
toilet because we can't handle natural smells in our modern
world anymore. Well, if someone's done a poop and you
use that thing, you can still tell there's been a poop.
Speaker 4 (23:38):
Lately, it's just covered up with a fake fragrance, Like,
just let it happen. It'll be gone in ten minutes.
It's fine. We're not gonna die people poop. I just
think we we have created so many so called solutions
for problems we actually never had. And when it comes
to the low tox game, it is about identifying those
(24:03):
and actually letting go of a lot of stuff that
we used to buy. And who needs a fifty dollars
cented candle? How do they get the apple and cinnamon
into the candle? Ask yourself? By crushing apples and minding cinnamon.
It's not it's very very processed and those chemicals are
(24:25):
hormone disruptive to us.
Speaker 1 (24:27):
So Saygabye, Oh, I okay, I want to stay on
this topic of what are the like financial benefits you've
seen by switching to a low tech flight. So we
covered a little bit about you know, the groceries, the
food was we could always go more there, the home
(24:49):
cleaning products just buy just totally eliminating like stuff. Let's
go like, what other financial like money saving benefits you've
seen directly, but also have you seen any indirectly?
Speaker 4 (25:03):
Ooh interesting? Well, obviously going low talks one tends to
have less hormone problems. From what I can see, I
have seen people's fertility challenges disappear. Now I'm not promising
that I can't, of course, but I can't tell you
(25:24):
the amount of people who've signed up to Preconception Ninja
or go low Talks thinking oh, I've just got to
try something, I've got to feel like I'm doing something.
Speaker 5 (25:32):
Here.
Speaker 4 (25:32):
A dietitian I met in a conference, I just had
this gut feel she had this sadness about her that
she was just going to stop trying with her husband.
They've done three rounds of IVF, and I said, look,
I have this course. I feel really drawn to just
give it to you, like, just let me just give
you a log in and password, just try because I
feel like there's a sadness around this ending for you
(25:55):
rather than a I've made the decision and it's happening.
And so if there's a sadness, there's still a desire
and if there's a stone unturned, maybe I can help you.
Speaker 5 (26:06):
She goes off. She does it.
Speaker 4 (26:07):
She pops up in the Facebook group about six months later,
and she's pregnant and it was a natural pregnancy. And
there was one household item she was using that she
was really really addicted to, and they had in their home.
It was one of those fresh air systems. They had
(26:29):
a dog, and she's the smell of dog in like
wet seasons. Just couldn't handle it. She got rid of that.
And then there was one thiroid test that her doctor
hadn't run for her, a more advanced kind of panel
from one of the doctors in the program. And those
two things she attributes to just being the two pieces
that were stressing her body out to the point where
(26:51):
it didn't feel safe to fall pregnant, so it just
kept rejecting pregnancy. The founder of the College of Environmental
Sciences here had ten miscarriages, realized it was actually the
smart meter that was on the other side of her
bedroom wall that she slept near, and then removed the
smart meter and felt pregnant and kept the baby to term.
(27:17):
So there are just so many environmental pieces that have
crazy benefits when you think about like our life goals,
Like if you want to be a parent, Not everybody
has to want that, That's not what I'm saying, but
if you did, and if it was freaking expensive going
through and the heartache of going through those rounds, and
(27:38):
did it take And like I'm not saying it would
work for everybody, but I have been invited to baby's
birthday parties as the lady who got them pregnant. I mean,
I'm just a health coach. I bring together a lot
of scientists and doctors, but I just help people make
some pretty basic changes and get the information they need.
(28:00):
That is my job. And like, imagine just ditching all
the things that stress your body out. Synthetic fragrance is
a huge environmental stress in our homes, and what does
that look like. It's the fabric softna, the scented candles,
the fresh air systems we're told we need when we
could actually open the window.
Speaker 1 (28:18):
The.
Speaker 4 (28:21):
Reeds, all the things, the perfume right there on our
throats and wrists. I could go on. What if we
just decided, I'm aston try and do without that. And
my favorite experiment is you box it all up and
you check it in your garage. You don't need to
throw it out. Just try and live for two weeks
(28:44):
without those things, and just use a plain bar soap
in your shower and for washing your hands. Most people, then,
when I issue them the challenge to bring it all
back and use it all back on the same day,
end up with headaches and asthma attack, just feeling awful
(29:05):
and a bit nauseous and feeling like they can't breathe well.
And it's because you've finally taken all of that stuff
out of your environment. You've never known an environment without it,
so your body's never really noticed that it was toxic,
and you bring it all back in and you.
Speaker 5 (29:23):
Go, WHOA, this is a lot.
Speaker 4 (29:26):
I can really notice it now, And then you become
that person who notices it at your friend's house when
they're running the dryer and the cuddly spring fresh kind
of fabric softness smell is permeating. I mean, it's estimated
that that represents a huge percentage of indoor air pollution
just the fabric softer alone. So I think you would
(29:47):
be saving twenty thirty bucks a month by not using
all that kind of stuff at least, and then that's
something you can reinvest as you ladies both put it
so well into something you really love, and then the
unintended beneficial consequences could be consequent. You didn't even realize,
(30:08):
like could your kid have less severe asthma attacks? Could
you know you end up not having a migraine problem
and needing ensides and other forms of medical care to
address that. So there are a lot of things that
are stressing our bodies out that when you remove them, yeah,
it helps your hip pocket, but it could end up
(30:29):
helping you in ways you didn't even sign up for.
Initially you could, you thought, yeah, let's save some money.
It was like, hold them, I don't get headaches anymore.
I remember I left the cosmetics industry because I had
this sense of feeling allergic to it at the time.
That's the only way I could describe it. But it
was more about being there and moving into a more
senior role, and administration is so not my bag. So
(30:53):
I left. And when I left that industry, in retrospect,
I left the world of headaches and migraines and buying
a full packet of painkillers every single month to address that, which,
never mind the effects on your liver and your hormones
and all that jazz. So the benefits are worth being
(31:17):
curious about how it might look for you, That's what
I can say.
Speaker 3 (31:21):
Knowing the landscape of just people's understanding and willingness to
try different things or certain things sounding like they're going
to go in a certain direction, I imagine that this
could kind of stir up this what's being said. We
have such this binary between science and kind of anything else,
(31:48):
anything else that you want to try and pursue and
try out. And it's reminding me in so my background
is in social work, and we would a lot of
times talk about and within texts the medical model, and
not trying to make any sort of like political or
otherwise statement about it. They were just describing the medical
(32:10):
model views humans in this way, and it's somebody comes
with a singular problem and we treat that singular problem,
and yet it kind of is to the exclusion of
the whole person. And so yes, there's gonna be lots
of different opinions on that, but I'm certainly tracking with
(32:33):
you on this idea that it doesn't have to be either,
or it can be both, and there can be all
of this whole person taken into consideration about environment and
experiences and circumstances, medicines and herbs, and to recognize that
(32:54):
many medicines are herbs or based off of our understanding
of herbs, like we only came upon the type of
medication that we have now within the past fifty to
one hundred years, and before it what you can find
from the earth.
Speaker 4 (33:10):
And I have an interesting story on that. Can I
share it quickly because it speaks to exactly what you've
just said about most medicines being to write.
Speaker 5 (33:19):
So we went on.
Speaker 4 (33:20):
I'm really passionate about if you get to live somewhere
that was once an indigenous place, you need to learn
that culture and respect it, like that is a given
for me. If you are on ancestral lands, and we
are here in Australia. You guys are too, And I
know different people have different feelings. People get triggered because
of the way they brought They were brought up in
a certain way, and I get that, but at least
(33:43):
paying respects and learning about that culture, I think is
a really nice. Well, we can all say that that
would be a lovely thing to do.
Speaker 5 (33:51):
So we go with this.
Speaker 4 (33:52):
Aboriginal guide and we're walking along the coastline and he's
pointing out different plants and I'm a nerd. I'm a
science nerd. I literally interviewed doctors every week. I love it.
And so I was asking. I was that question person
in the group who was like, so why and then
what do you like? What is it in the plant?
He's like, unfortunately, I can't actually say. And I was like,
(34:15):
why can't you say? And he said, because we found
that pharmaceutical companies were sending research agents to our indigenous
tools to try and find out what we were using
and why to then take back into being able to
turn it into chemical forms. And I was like, WHOA, Okay,
(34:40):
Now he had no need to tell me that there
was no financial benefit to him, explaining that but he
felt really compelled to just share what he could as
to why he couldn't be more generous with his information.
And I was incredibly sad about that. And I think
it's just the reality of the well we live in.
(35:01):
And so, you know, I love modern medicine. I love
how we can save people's lives, and I think there's
just so much incredible science there. And there's also so
much incredible science in other areas of science that bizarrely
get we get told a non science like that's just
(35:22):
weird to me. I really love the world where we
can just recognize the awesomeness of all of it for
what it is.
Speaker 1 (35:30):
There is a radical middle and in another life, Yes,
I was an acupuncturist.
Speaker 3 (35:36):
Oh that is what my degree is in.
Speaker 1 (35:38):
And I'm considered going to naturopathic medical school.
Speaker 3 (35:43):
So, like I, our listeners are learning just how hippy
dippy we are. I know, I know it all.
Speaker 4 (35:51):
I feel like my bartender days. People just kind of
tell me everything everything.
Speaker 1 (35:56):
I love it. But like even when I was practicing acupuncture,
we always look to hold the tension. It was never
just where practice like herbal medicine and acupuncture was the
way It's always about holding the tension between what can
Western medicine give me and what can it not? And
(36:16):
what can other types of you know, health care give
me and what can they not? And we say the
same thing about spending. So it's just opening up and
finding the boundaries and you know, the benefits to all
of these things.
Speaker 3 (36:35):
Yeah, and with that, I think I can appreciate your
pregnancy example, because there are certainly people who have diagnosable,
visible reasons that the parts aren't there, the parts aren't working,
they're not going to work, and that's s But if
you know this is happening and there's no real reason
that can be pinpointed, you know, even the medical community
(36:56):
will say that your stress levels, your sleep, what your
eating are going to play into your chances of pregnancy.
So then also why not potentially the things that are
in the environment as well, and what else can be
considered in all of this that, for some reason or
another has been so shielded from us but also has
(37:16):
been sold to us as safe ingest it, breathe it,
wear it. And only now are we kind of like, okay,
but are the things that worked in the fifties still
what we really are now? We want to well, it's
(37:39):
a good point.
Speaker 5 (37:40):
Yes, it's such a good point.
Speaker 4 (37:42):
And when I give talks, my question to a parent
audience is often, okay, put your hands up. If you
remember when you were a kid more than one kid
in your class who had allergies exomas, risis, dermatitis, hives, asthma,
and like one hand, two hands might go up. And
(38:03):
this is like parents who let's say around forty, so
they were at school in the nineties. And then I say, now,
think of now and your kids now and organizing a
birthday party, and how many kids do you now know
who have allergies, asthmasteria, systematized hives, food allergies, And all
(38:27):
the room's hands go up. And so that's just a
twenty thirty year difference, and we have to look at
what we've changed in twenty thirty years. Like when I
was a kid and I went to McDonald's on the weekend,
my fries were fried in beef tallow until about nineteen
eighty four, my kid if they wanted to go to McDonald's,
which I'm sincerely try and avoid, but I have a
(38:51):
you know, we do what we do most of the time,
so we can go with the flow summ of the
time philosophy, which is that social cohesion overlap often where
you're just like, if you're at a friend's house and
that's what they're doing, don't panic. You know, the bookends
of what we're doing are really good at home, like
it's okay. But the reality is that fry has up
(39:11):
to nineteen ingredients in it. That fry represents potatoes that
are sprayed with a herbicide so potent that the farmers
have to stay inside their house for days before they
can come out and it's safe to breathe the air again.
So it's a very different world that we are in today.
Our microbiomes are kind of a bit stuffed, and that's
(39:33):
what we pass on to our kids, and so it
stands to reason that we need to then start tending
to what humans need to feel healthy and they need
to not be so stressed out. And that includes not
just our thoughts and how much we're trying to pack
in a day and all of that stuff, which of
(39:53):
course is really valid, but it also includes the things
in our environment and the thing we're putting in our
mouths that are really confusing our biology and stressing it out.
So For me, it's really just about like thinking, Okay,
where do I feel comfortable starting, what do I want
to remove?
Speaker 5 (40:12):
What am I.
Speaker 4 (40:13):
Excited about looking into? It doesn't have to be doom
and gloom. It's actually an incredibly exciting journey if you
start where you're excited to start, Like if you love makeup,
start there and go, oh, I wonder what I can find,
and I wonder what might be different out there, And
I wonder if I went to like I know, when
(40:33):
I went to La there was this beautiful store called Credo,
I think, and I think they're online as well, giving
them a shout out or cat Beauty. There's some beautiful
US places. But even now low tox is quite accessible.
You'll probably find some great natural brands in Target. It's
really not what it once was in terms of like
(40:58):
either super super hippie or super alchemist expensive potions. There's
like a ton of stuff in between now. It's quite exciting.
Speaker 3 (41:07):
I appreciate your approach to this, Alex, especially because you've
been in it so long. It can be easy, probably
for someone like yourself to kind of forget the common person.
But I don't get that sense from you, and there's
not this message of fear. Either there's a recognition of Okay,
here's what's going to happen if I eat these McDonald's fries.
(41:30):
But you're also not so fearful about what might be
out there trying to get you. Your mattress is trying
to kill you, Like that's not what you're saying.
Speaker 4 (41:41):
Like stress will kill you faster than any like environmental toxin.
It really meant yeah, And so we have to approach
this with joy and curiosity. Maybe you have a really
pressing health challenge that is quite stressful. I've had mold
toxicity and illness, for example. I would never wish that
on the person I like the least in the world,
(42:04):
and I don't really hate people, but if I did,
I would never wish it on them. And I think
it's there's that balance of Okay, you really need to
do some very urgent work to get better or to
get out of your house or whatever. Or you're the
person who's recognized that this stuff doesn't make sense to
(42:24):
use in the quantities and ways that we're using them,
and you're excited to see what you might phase out
and change. And both groups are completely valid situations and
recognizing and honoring where you're at is really important, and
then start with what you're excited about. I can't say
it enough, and I can't say enough what I said
(42:47):
just earlier, which is we do what we do most
of the time to go with the flow. Some of
the time, leave a part where you just throw caution
to the wind and go with the moment the fish
and chips, and don't worry about the vegetable oil because
you're with your friends on the beach and it's summer
and it's such a special moment, you know, don't worry
(43:07):
about why that ice cream is so blue that your
kid is eating acrossing you with them at the party
if they're otherwise healthy, like obviously if you have a
kid with a neurodivergence or an allergy, you need to
be more mindful. There are also a lot of kids
who can handle the odd knock if they're having a good,
healthy breakfast and dinner and it's okay. And I think
(43:30):
as soon as we relax into that, you know, our
body is a pretty amazing detoxifying machines. It's just that
we're giving the onslaught of crap twenty four seven right
now and that's what we need to address, and then
that looks different for everybody based on what your curiosity
and interests.
Speaker 3 (43:48):
Are beautiful and well said and speaking of starting with
what excites here and leaning into it that.
Speaker 1 (43:59):
This is so healthy and so pure.
Speaker 3 (44:02):
The bill of.
Speaker 7 (44:03):
The week, that's right, it's time for the best minute
of your entire week. Maybe a baby was born and
his name is Williams. Maybe you've paid off your mortgage.
Speaker 2 (44:24):
Maybe your car died and you're happy to not have
to pay that bill anymore.
Speaker 7 (44:28):
Duck bills, bffalo bills, Bill Clinton, this is the bill
of the week.
Speaker 4 (44:35):
I'm excited.
Speaker 5 (44:37):
I've heard about this.
Speaker 1 (44:38):
Oh gosh. Every week we yell at our guests to
share with us their bill of the week, and we
leave it vague because we really want you to be
able to flex your creativity. And it's like a bartending champion.
Speaker 3 (44:53):
I am.
Speaker 4 (44:54):
It's quite a check a post, I've got to say.
Speaker 5 (44:57):
But everyone's got a story, right.
Speaker 3 (44:59):
I love it.
Speaker 1 (45:00):
We would love to hear your bill for the week.
Speaker 4 (45:04):
My bill of the week was my son his godmother
who's my bestie, and I went and saw a show
and we saw and Juliet, which is out in Australia.
Now they're doing a production and apparently it's won like
Tony Awards. It's totally cleaned up in the Broadway world
over your side of the world.
Speaker 5 (45:25):
And I love musical theater.
Speaker 4 (45:27):
And this is kind of like this mash up between
Shakespeare and pop music, Max Martin's pop music, and so
it's a rework of what happened after Romeo committed suicide
and then like what Juliet does to move through that
grief and become like her best girl champion. Like it's
(45:48):
super modern and fun. And then every time a pop
music's lyrics accurately fit into the story, they break out
into that song and sing it. It's so weird and
excellent and just fun and joyful. I think we need
a whole lot more of that, just total escapist joy
for joy's sake. And I got the play bill. That's
(46:12):
my bill of the week. You get to look, you know,
and they've put in the extra for that character tonight.
Oh wow, they were in this that's my bill of
the week.
Speaker 1 (46:25):
Oh my gosh. Well, I think there's an extra Billa
in there that it's uh, you know, off of like
a Billy Shakespeare h story.
Speaker 3 (46:34):
Right, I love it and you don't mind paying for buying.
Speaker 4 (46:41):
Yeah.
Speaker 3 (46:44):
Wow, there's so much here and you are our first
to weave in a play bill and I especially like
you as what a jen? What exo? You love? What
is it? What is it?
Speaker 4 (47:02):
I'm definitely ex.
Speaker 3 (47:07):
Oh, well well done. You were original. You gave us
the first.
Speaker 1 (47:11):
Day you did it.
Speaker 3 (47:12):
And if any of you listening have a bill you
want to submit, even though it probably won't be original,
somebody else has done it. Okay, but what hasn't been
done before is a person named Bill calling us, so
please do that, but also any other bill that you
want to talk about Fribal Friends podcast dot com slash Bill.
(47:34):
We are so looking forward to hearing it. And now
it's time for the lightning round.
Speaker 1 (47:45):
That was totally organic sound effects.
Speaker 5 (47:49):
I didn't think it.
Speaker 1 (47:51):
Yeah, it's yeah, all natural right there. So for our
lightning round question, we will all answer this one. Your
simple and low cost strategy for a low TALX home.
So something home related, Alex, what's replace?
Speaker 4 (48:12):
Yeah, okay, yeah, I've got it.
Speaker 5 (48:13):
I've got it.
Speaker 4 (48:14):
Replace your dishwashing liquid, hand washing liquid in the kitchen,
hand washing liquid in the bathroom.
Speaker 5 (48:22):
Body gel with bar soap.
Speaker 4 (48:26):
Mmm, and for the dish washing liquid. People who go,
I ain't gonna get one of those little cages and
the scrubby thing, And that's not me. I'm not a homemaker.
I'm not a crunchy mom like that whole thing. If
you've just rejected that idea straight up, you can actually
cube up your bar soap, let it sit in water
for about four hours and then just put it on
(48:47):
a gentle blend and it makes a soap cream and
you can.
Speaker 5 (48:50):
Use that to wash your dishes.
Speaker 4 (48:53):
Whoa, yeah a big Lisa Brona taught me that one
from Doctor brown Yeah.
Speaker 3 (49:01):
Oh so g I gotta imagine it's not just any
kind of bar soap, right Like Dr bren is a.
Speaker 4 (49:08):
Good brand, okay, a good olive oil soap. Like if
you go to a farmer's market, there's always a stallholder
who makes natural soaps in there in their little home
shared and then they come to the market's Like you
can support someone uber local like that. But yeah, if
you were buying a commercial one from say a Whole
Foods or your health shop or organic grosser, then Dr
(49:30):
Browns is everywhere.
Speaker 5 (49:32):
Uh.
Speaker 3 (49:33):
You did not ask for this, and I did not
prepare you for this, but since it's the one you
chose for your lightning round, I do have a follow
up question from follow up light Lightning Striking twice Sope. Yeah,
well ton, he can't stand soap that doesn't sud and
that's his number one complaint of these low talks soap
(49:58):
solutions is that it doesn't SuDS up.
Speaker 4 (50:03):
Does the husband have any skin issues?
Speaker 5 (50:08):
Has his skin?
Speaker 3 (50:09):
Are it fine?
Speaker 4 (50:11):
It's fine? No, it never gets x MEO dermatitis. It's
nothing like that. So I would make the soap cream
because that subs up.
Speaker 3 (50:20):
Okay, just add that water situation.
Speaker 4 (50:24):
Yeah, cube up like once one think of like you know,
the rectangle and in half and then in whatever to
make eight little cubes, and then put it in a
jar of water, say like half liter, and then put
that in a blender on low after because it really
will just either like it will overflow otherwise, and put
(50:47):
that in a little pump bottle and see how you go.
But that should be that gives you that like really
clean kind of buff gel vibe minus all the ingredients
that in the end can cause things like ex amount
dermatitis oriasis, which can hin you like if you're just
(51:08):
in a stressful period and you're using those sorts of chemicals.
It can just be the thing that snaps because that
system in the body is weaker at that time. So, yeah,
you don't want to put the thing that creates the
SuDS is sodium laurel sulfate. Really good for cleaning clothes
and dishes, not good for putting on your skin.
Speaker 5 (51:30):
That's good to know.
Speaker 3 (51:31):
Yeah, thank you, Jill.
Speaker 1 (51:34):
I want you to go next.
Speaker 3 (51:36):
I am I've been catapulted into this journey because I
don't want to stun money, not necessarily on things that
just don't feel super valuable to me. And I love
a good DIY, So for me, I don't buy candles, fraquances.
I DIY my cleaners. Now I started to which I'm
(51:59):
realizing can cross over into everything, so it's not money
wasted to be buying baking soda because it's what I
can also clean the glass in my shower with. And
then as far as like what I consume, beginning to
buy more local produce where I can kind of understand
the practices of the farm and that kind of thing.
But I am that person who I can't even walk
(52:22):
down the laundry detergent aisle at the grocery store, like
it's so overwhelming to me. And you were talking about perfumes, like,
I don't wear perfumes. It's hard for me to be
around fragrances, which does stink, because I also am one
who is allergic to cats and dogs. So it just
precludes me from being able to go to anybody's house ever,
(52:45):
like if they're doing laundry, if they're burning a candle,
if they have thats I'm just like, yeah, I'm the
one who.
Speaker 4 (52:52):
Yeah, let's can't do the rest an outdoor table, that's
that's always good for the sensitive papes.
Speaker 1 (52:58):
Yes, for me, it's definitely fragrance, like body fragrances. But
I didn't do that by choice. Actually, my husband hates them,
and so I stopped wearing them and then found then
after so long of not wearing them, found that they
bothered me. We actually went to somebody's house. I don't
(53:19):
know if you were there, but they were. They had
like some kind of oil, some kind of diffuser going
and it just by the end of the night gave
me a headache. And so we don't have like anything
any sense going off in our home either, just because
again it's a money thing. Honestly, I just don't like
want to spend money on them. I do love candles, though,
(53:42):
candles well, I love I don't burn them off it.
Speaker 4 (53:45):
Whitch to beeswax and just keepe them sparing for when
you really love that vibe.
Speaker 3 (53:49):
Yeah, And I don't know if you'll agree with this, Alex,
but I something I have done is just kind of
like boil different things that I want their aromas, like.
Speaker 4 (53:59):
Yeah, loves or that's what the grandmas did, all the
different spices, yeah.
Speaker 1 (54:06):
Yeah, and then cook the food, yeah, the brown but
I hate cooking. My favorite is my all purpose cleaner
is just and I know this isn't like totally low tox,
but there is no tox, but like a teaspoon of
dish soap with water and I clean literally.
Speaker 4 (54:31):
So your thing could then be like what could be
the low tox version of the dish So could you
get a castile soap that kind of thing.
Speaker 1 (54:38):
That's also an ungion.
Speaker 4 (54:40):
I mean with my bottle of castile soap, I clean
the floor with one teaspoon and water. The countertox multipurpose
spray the bathroom, I think I use castile soap for
most things, it's it's pretty versatile. And then just to
give everybody the but like, what is it with the fragrance?
(55:02):
Can I give them the nerdy reason we really want
to ditch these, you go for it, just I know
we're nearly done. But it is the thallates p h
t h A la tees for the nerds who are
going to want to go and research it. Like me,
I'm totally that person. And thalates are a sticky plasticizer
compound that make things stick. So in fragrance technology, it
(55:27):
makes that fragrance last and last. And so it's why
you give your friend a hug after the yoga glass,
you have coffee, and then you go off and do
your day and then your hair like kind of goes
in the wind and you smell there deodorant or perfume again,
like but eight hours later. So that's stickiness. And this
endocrine disruptive activity that these valates have can actually they've
(55:50):
been shown to block or mimic natural estrogen signaling in
the body. And I don't know a lady who doesn't
find it hard enough to balance their hormones on the
best day of the month. Let alone, having other stuff
coming in trying to confuse the show.
Speaker 5 (56:07):
So if you know you're.
Speaker 4 (56:09):
Always thinking, got period problems and this is wrong and
headaches and like try the fragrance ditching.
Speaker 5 (56:16):
I mean, what have we got to lose? Right?
Speaker 4 (56:19):
And it can be quite low.
Speaker 1 (56:21):
Yeah, it's low risk, it's it's.
Speaker 4 (56:23):
Money, it's money saving.
Speaker 1 (56:25):
Yes, and you know if it doesn't work, just you
can always add it back in. So man, Alex, thank
you so so so much for this conversation. And if
people are interested in more low talx life, where can
they find you?
Speaker 4 (56:45):
Funny, it's called Low Talx Life everything, So because I
did it first, everything that's low tox life. Those three
words like that, it's me. So the podcast is called
lowtox Life. The website lowtoxlife dot com and then from
the website you'll find everything books both on Amazon.
Speaker 3 (57:04):
Yeah, yay, well done, and thanks for being with us, Alex.
Speaker 4 (57:09):
Such a pleasure chatting with you both.
Speaker 3 (57:15):
What a good one.
Speaker 1 (57:16):
Yes, I'm glad. So that was a long, long one.
Speaker 3 (57:20):
It's hard to direct we had.
Speaker 1 (57:21):
I mean I think we just it was for us
such like a fun conversation to have, and so we
hope that you left encouraged to find the one thing
you love and see if there's a way that you
can simplify it by taking out some of the ingredients.
Speaker 3 (57:43):
Yeah, we even talk about that being a benefit of
load talks, but the simplification that can happen as a result,
Like I don't have tons of cleaning products, I have
too now because it works in a variety of different ways.
So there's just there's so many benefits and you kind
of start with an area that excites you or excites
(58:04):
you to solve a problem and who knows where it
can develop from there and no matter how you're entering
into that journey. So yeah, really grateful for that combo, yes.
Speaker 1 (58:16):
Or a place that you feel overwhelmed. Cleaning products honestly
are a place I feel overwhelmed, and that's where I
will be going next. So thank you so much for listening.
We love, love, love reading your kind reviews, and we
especially love this one from a juick fix.
Speaker 3 (58:32):
Uh.
Speaker 1 (58:33):
They say love this happens to be five stars and
they say, thanks ladies for being the best frugal friends
I have. Glad to be it.
Speaker 3 (58:42):
It's written in a way that might seem to indicate
we're the only frugal friends you have, and that's you
know where I'm here for it. Here for the five stars.
The best, Okay should be the best. Well, we appreciate
you listening. We appreciate that review. If any of you
who are currently enjoying this show also want to take
a minute to leave us a kind review telling us
(59:06):
that we're the best friends that you ever had, we'd
love that. But truly it does help other people find
this podcast know if it's right for them. So we
do appreciate every single writing and review we get that
are good. We love the good one.
Speaker 1 (59:21):
Men's see you next time. Google Friends is produced by
Eric Sirianni.
Speaker 3 (59:38):
Well, Jen, what's your first step?
Speaker 1 (59:42):
Well, it'll definitely be the cleaning products. I have dabbled
in natural cleaning solutions, but I always I go back
and forth, like I'm not a great cleaner, so I
think that the chemical will help me, and then they don't.
(01:00:02):
They just reiterate you are bad at this.
Speaker 3 (01:00:06):
Yeah, so I've bought tools.
Speaker 1 (01:00:08):
I've bought a Oh I forgot to mention this, but
I bought a steam cleaner. I was just going to
say that has actually made me feel alive again. Okay,
it works like it's natural and it works. It makes
me feel like I know how to clean.
Speaker 3 (01:00:26):
That's so funny because I was just going to reference
a steam cleaner being my low tox fail. I just
did buy a steam cleaner for on Clearance, thinking oh, yeah,
this is going to get me the clean I want
and it's not going to require any chemicals. And it
just didn't do a dang thing, and I had to
(01:00:47):
go back and reclean. I know, I know, Am I
doing it wrong? I don't know, but I already boxed
it up and I'm going to return it. I won't
get my money back. Okay, even though it was clearance
as you should, as you should, so glad it's working
for you.
Speaker 1 (01:01:01):
Yeah, well, our standards of clean might also be different,
so I take my successes with a grain of salt.
Speaker 3 (01:01:09):
I will say. Also, the steam really stressed Eric out.
He was like, this is way too much moisture to
be putting into the house. We can't be having this.
I'm going to turn on the dehumidifiers and all of
the mini splits like this can really cause damage to
the life of our base boards and blah blah blah.
Speaker 1 (01:01:30):
Yeah, I kept it in the bathroom, though I actually did.
I kept it on tile so that maybe, yeah, we'll see, Okay,
we'll see.
Speaker 3 (01:01:40):
We're on a journey were to fail. Yeah, more often
than not, we do. We do.
Speaker 1 (01:01:46):
It is more often than not
Episode three ninety two, Living a Low Talks Life Frugally
with Alex Stewart.
Speaker 2 (00:09):
Welcome to the Frugal Friends podcast, where you'll learn to
save money, embrace simplicity, and live a life here your
hosts Jen and Jill.
Speaker 1 (00:26):
Welcome to the Frugal Friends podcast. My name is Jen,
my name is Jill, and today we are having a
really fun conversation with a really fun woman.
Speaker 3 (00:38):
Alex is phenomenal. She had us on her show, which
I think is going to come out after this podcast episode,
but we just got to get a sense of how
approachable and kind and helpful and informative she is on this,
especially for someone just beginning to dabble with the idea
of low talks. So we love reducing barriers to entry
(01:01):
on especially things that can save us money. Absolutely like this.
Speaker 1 (01:05):
Yeah, and there's so many benefits to reducing quote unquote
toxins or whatever or just living a little more naturally,
and we cover some of the financial benefits. We also
have a little tangent during the episode, but it's definitely
one of those radical middle type episodes. It's take what
(01:29):
works for you, leave what doesn't uh, but try new
things to get new results.
Speaker 3 (01:37):
But first, this episode is brought to you by Granola,
Granola bars, granola and yogurt being granola. When all of
our country ways catch up to us and lead us
to low spend, let's put that extra bits of savings
into a high heel checking account. We really love ci
Jill personally have an account withs c it. They have
(02:01):
right now they're offering four point six percent apy on
their Savings connect account, So take advantage of that. Earn
money on your money. Put your sinking funds into a
high old savings account. If you don't have one, please please,
I beg of you. Even if it's not with CIIT.
Just get a high old savings account. But also frugal
friendspodcast dot com, slash c.
Speaker 1 (02:22):
Yes, it's a savings account, not a checking account. Maybe
we'll do an episode on the difference.
Speaker 3 (02:27):
What as I say, Oh, I'm sorry.
Speaker 1 (02:31):
It's fine. It's fine. They'll realize when they try to
write their first check from it. So if you're interested
in stuff like this, then we have several kind of
eco friendly episodes in our archives. Two of our favorites
not ego friendly, but but one of our favorites, Episode
three seventy nine how to get affordable quality versus cheap quantity.
(02:55):
And that's some of some of the talk about reducing
some of the toxins in our life, right is just
choosing maybe more it's more affordable and it's more quality.
So just kind of looking out for those things. And
then also episode two forty six Frugal Home Cleaning Tips,
(03:15):
we talk a lot about home stuff sense and stuff
like that, and so I mean, honestly, there are so
many ways that if you're just trying to do this
to save money, Like so much of the talk about
low Tals life is kind of veiled as you know
Crunchy or Granola's, but so much of it is about
(03:38):
saving money for us. And it's one of the reasons
we were so excited. We were so excited to have this
conversation with Alex. She's an educator, activist, change agent. She
runs Low Talks Life. She is a columnist for Well
Being magazine and a sought after speaker and consultant to
(04:00):
businesses committing to change for good. And she's just accessible
and relatable and she we fine, this is not in
her bio. She is also a like master bartender, so
if you need a good cocktail. Maybe she's also your girl. Yeah,
she's also your girl. So let's get into it and
(04:21):
chat after.
Speaker 3 (04:28):
Mmm.
Speaker 1 (04:34):
Alex, Welcome to Frugal Friends. We are both super excited
to have you on for this episode. It's just a delight.
I'm so excited. Thank you for being here.
Speaker 4 (04:45):
Me too, And I know we've chatted on my show,
and I feel like it is so lovely to connect
with communities who seem to be doing quite different things
and yet as humans talk more to each other. You
really how many beautiful overlaps there are in the things
that you care for. So it's it's awesome to be
(05:06):
here today.
Speaker 3 (05:07):
It's so true. I'm glad to have you. It was
an honor to be on your podcast, and I'm so
excited to share your wealth of wisdom. You've been doing
this work for far longer than us Brugal Friends over here,
which is really amazing to come across someone who has
been in the space for so long talking about low talks,
So thanks for being here.
Speaker 5 (05:29):
Welcome.
Speaker 1 (05:30):
All right, So let's start out what do you define
as low talks? Because I actually mentioned that we're interested in, like,
you know, reducing chemicals, and you were like, well, you don't.
You actually probably don't want to do that, And I'm like, Okay,
my mind's already been blown. Wait let's record. So like,
define for us what you see as a low TALS
(05:51):
life and how you see it benefiting your life.
Speaker 4 (05:56):
So to do that, I'm going to try and give
you the shortest backs story possible for how the whole
thing came about. Because I was just a regular person
who was on the antibiotic merry Go round of tonsaliitis
two three, four times a year, and you take the
pills and you get better for a bit and you think,
oh great, it's done, and then it's back, and then
(06:16):
I became antibiotic resistance. So I had to look outside
the box, which was quite terrifying because I'd grown up
super conventional, very normal, convenience driven eighties city family, right.
And I remember a girlfriend of mine was visiting me
bring me some soup, bless her when I was really sick,
like the pills weren't working, and she said, if you
(06:38):
thought about seeing a naturopath. I was like, what's that.
You guys call them nature pathic physicians for here, they're
not doctor qualified. It's just a completely different health science.
And while doing essentially the same thing, and so I
said no, but I found one because she really thought
that she could help, and she did. She gave me
(06:59):
this vaulting tasting herbal potion, which I've now come to love,
and vitamin C, zinc and a couple of other things
that are good for the immune system, and within three
days I was all better. And I was like, how
did you do that? I didn't even take medicine. It's
like you did. It's just the kind of medicine that
(07:20):
fortifies the body to take care of itself. And look,
I am a huge fan of how incredibly advanced our
crisis care system is for when the poop, it's the
fan and you've got to save lives. I'm definitely not
going to my natural path if my arm falls off.
But there is so much to be said for that
(07:41):
side of healthcare where we are actually addressing things that
might be missing in the body that are making it
not operate well. And if we look at the food,
the SAD diet, standard American diet, or we could swap
that with standard Australian diet, it's pretty much the same,
a lot missing. So it stands to reason that over
(08:03):
time our body gets less and less of what it
needs to operate functionally and let alone optimally, and we
get sick. So that whole journey took me down, starting
to look at packets and ingredient lists, and she said,
you know, be really interesting, there's some research on non
(08:23):
celiac gluten sensitivity. Because I'd ruled out celiac and strep
bugs overgrowing, so maybe try eliminating the gluten twenty years ago.
That was an incredibly difficult exercise. You couldn't just swap
everything that you did to gluten free versions because they
didn't exist. You had to ditch packets. And that was
(08:45):
a gift that I had no idea was a gift
at the time. I was like, oh my gosh, I've
got to cook everything from scratch.
Speaker 5 (08:53):
This is so awful.
Speaker 4 (08:55):
Everything has gluten in it. You know the special up
and go popper that I used to have like a
protein kind of shaky oat thing for breakfast. I was
a bartender, you know, I'm in my mid twenties at
this point, and it was just insane. So the gift
was I had to learn how to cook. Then I realized,
(09:16):
oh my gosh, everything tastes so bland. I got to
figure out how to do this better.
Speaker 5 (09:20):
So I did.
Speaker 4 (09:21):
And then I thought, well, I'm not going to miss
out on cake at birthdays. I'm going to figure out
how to make one. I was very creative.
Speaker 5 (09:27):
I was winning all.
Speaker 4 (09:28):
The bartender competitions for cocktails and working with chefs and
winning awards and being flown around. I mean, it was
a crazy life. Well but it did give me creativity
and creative license. So I just brought that over to food.
And what that taught me was, oh my gosh, I'm
not alone here. I was talking to friends and they're like, Wow,
(09:50):
how do you just magic up these things?
Speaker 5 (09:53):
It's amazing.
Speaker 4 (09:54):
This tastes incredible, And I realized none of my friends
knew how.
Speaker 5 (09:58):
To cook me.
Speaker 4 (10:00):
We knew how to appropriately heat a chicken until it
was safe to eat, and steam veggies until they were
kind of gray, but we didn't know how to cook,
you know. And it was it turned out to me
an incredibly exciting time. Demystifying these packets also made me realize, well, crap, like,
(10:22):
I know that's the gluten, but what is all this
other stuff? And then snowballs the education on our food
system and realizing how disconnected we are from where our
food comes from, and how bizarre it is that we
are eating all these things in packages? How does that
make sense? And then of course the personal care piece.
(10:43):
I'm pregnant with a giant baby and it's my ba
it's my baby shower, and all the friends, you know,
they give you those gifts and it's lovely. And I
was like, oh, I'm pretty good at food packets. Let's
have a look at what's on these. I didn't do
that in front of my friends, of course, but in
a time later, and I was horrified. I found these
(11:03):
chemicals that kept coming up in the research around either
endocrine disruption so fiddling with our natural hormone signaling, or
potential carcinogenic contamination. And I was like, this is babies.
And then I thought, well, if it's bad for babies,
isn't it bad for us too? Like we tend to
(11:25):
like coddle little babies. And then oh, you're old enough
to use the toxic stuff. Now I'm in where is
it the logic in that? So I had always been
a teacher and trainer in hospitality. I was always training
huge groups of bartenders. I worked for a very large
hospitality group Before that, I was in cosmetics, always teacher, trainer, motivator,
(11:46):
ran a whole team, and so it felt really natural
to think, well, can I help you? Like, could I
do something? And it was the real nascence of the
blog blogger sphere two thousand and nine, and I just
decided to start writing and sharing some simple swaps that
I'd made and resources people could find, and it built community,
(12:08):
eventually a Facebook page and then books, podcasts and all
the things that came after that. And so low Tox
for me, was a name that I came up with.
Being an exgenna, you were obsessed with original ideas when
the yeah, that had to not exist anywhere on the internet.
(12:31):
But I thought about my values as well, and I
thought about growing up as the Oprah generation, Like you know,
you'd watch Oprah if you were sick from school or
on holidays, and there'd be the next celebrity protocol that
you would try and ultimately fail. And I saw my
mom try and fail a whole bunch of diets, and
I just never wanted anyone on my watch to feel
(12:52):
like they were trying and failing and had this shame
spiral going on trying to be perfect according to someone
on the internet, just did not want to add to
the stress of you know, living our best lives and
actually living our best lives, not pretending to, and so
low tox me made space for people to define that
(13:15):
as what you want to do, where you're at, how
it looks for you. I didn't want to be, oh,
you have to di Wiatt like do it yourself or
you know you're not doing low tos. Conversely, I didn't
want it to always have to be about buying brands,
because a lot of people do want to make things
and love that creativity. So I wanted a lot of
(13:37):
flexibility and the realization that no toks doesn't exist, and
you know, it's just I felt like progress rather than
perfection was my real goal. So that's that's he was
all born beautiful.
Speaker 3 (13:53):
I can commiserate with what you're describing in different aspects
of your journey, what had led you to that and
be looking at the ingredients of things and demystifying. I
think that word in particular stands out to me. It's
been also a part of my journey in being better
in the kitchen is just kind of demystifying what's in condiments,
(14:18):
what are some of the basics of cooking and to realize, oh,
I don't have to get all of the salad dressings
and mayo and spreads in bottled plastic form, like I
can make it myself and every single time it's tasted
better than what's coming in the bottle, which then is
leading to understanding of these different products that are used
(14:41):
to keep it shelf stable that I don't totally need
and it's not going to be that great for my body.
But in all of this, something that I've realized is
it feels like so much to have to learn and
educate myself on, Like I've become more interested in tea
and herbs and the benefits that can have and things
that I can do when I'm sick just to help
(15:03):
my immune system. But it also feels like I'm opening
Pandora's box into this world of it. What can I
what's believable, what is true and right? How much do
I actually have to know what's going to be right
for me? And so with all of this, what would
you say to somebody, either from your own journey or
(15:25):
what you've come to understand now, like steps to take
in understanding your own journey? Of load talks and are
there things you might have done differently? Like what could
someone benefit from your expertise? And this feels overwhelming, but
I'm interested.
Speaker 4 (15:44):
I think I can do it. Okay, so funny story.
Of course, I had been researching things since I had
to go gluten free, which was what two thousand and seven,
So that's a while ago, now, can I have been
Yeah around then, and I therefore got to do everything
(16:07):
bit by bit. I therefore got to just bring in
a little thing, try another thing, research another thing. Ooh
tooth loss teflun coded a shocker. Let's see if there's
one that isn't. Oh, there isn't.
Speaker 5 (16:20):
There is.
Speaker 4 (16:21):
There's actually four brands brilliant and you know, formulating that
into a blog. And then once I'd gotten that habit
underway and changed it, moved on to the next thing.
So my advice is do the same. Do not make this,
do not make the mistake as I did when I
launched go lootox, which is our signature program of calling it.
(16:44):
And I'm still ashamed to this day that I called
this program this thirty days to your low tox life.
Speaker 5 (16:52):
It's not thirty days.
Speaker 4 (16:54):
I realized how important as an educator. Positive psychology was
in that round because people legitimately thought that they were
going to have to do it all in thirty days,
and we had to have like a team meeting, an
emergency meeting, me and three hundred and sixty women to say, please,
(17:16):
this is thirty days to receiving all the information you need.
The actual building of a lotok's life is probably more
you're looking at a decade.
Speaker 5 (17:25):
Relax.
Speaker 4 (17:26):
You know, if you just bought your new mattress last
year and right now you've discovered that it's you know,
a spring mattress or it's got petroleum memory foam or what,
that doesn't mean Oh my gosh, we're going to die.
I need to swap the mattress today.
Speaker 5 (17:41):
What a waste.
Speaker 4 (17:43):
There's always something you can do. And in that example,
just in case anyone is actually in that boat right
now and is thinking, is my mattress trying to kill me?
It's what you sleep against that's really important. So could
you get a cotton mattress protector and then you're sleeping again,
it's a natural fiber. Could you get a cotton mattress
(18:05):
topper or a wool or latex and then you're sleeping
against something much cheaper than the mattress replacement, but it's
a beautiful natural fiber. Just as an example. There's always
different levels of making swaps in this game, so as
we relax into what that then looks like on an
individual level, it becomes much easier. And I will also
(18:29):
say you're thinking about your makeup, your skincare, your cleaning products,
your laundry products, your bedroom products, linens, clothes, I mean,
on and on we could go. There's twenty two topics
in that course, never mind EMFs molds like bigger deal
things around your home. And so the question is what
(18:53):
are you excited to work on? What do you want
and really need to work on. Perhaps stop there and
absolutely forget every other category exists, don't worry about it.
You have to start where you want to stop and
where you feel naturally like you want to prioritize, rather
than playing to someone else's rules, because you're always going
(19:15):
to feel like a failure playing someone else's rules.
Speaker 3 (19:18):
That's so helpful. I'm also hearing that your reason for
entry and interest in load talks is valuable too, and
I don't maybe necessarily need to know all the things
about load talks that you do, Alex, depending on my
lifestyle and the things that I'm going through and experiencing
(19:39):
finding answers that are unique to my situation. I will
say for me, some of my interest in this topic
is first beginning with money saving. To be honest, it's
oh my goodness, I do not want to spend another
twenty two dollars on laundry detergent because I always buy
the big one, and yet it's so expensive. And I
(20:03):
also really hate waste. I hate food waste, and I
just hate all other kinds of waste too, and so
I'm hating to throw out this big, bulky plastic thing
that I know I'm not going to be able to
really recycle well because it's still full of such dense soap.
This is such a long example, but this is what
(20:24):
led me to why can't I make my own? Why
can't I demystify laundry detergent? It can't be that complicated?
And turns out it's not. And here I am diying
my laundry detergent, which then led me to diy my
dishwashing detergent. DIY What else am I diying? So many things?
(20:44):
But it's because it was primarily because of money. I
just don't want to spend the money, and then I
don't want to be throwing away the plastic. And now
I'm realizing, oh, and there's also like some benefits to
me as well here that I'm not engaging in some
of these chemicals and or in toxins that I don't
(21:05):
want to be having that I don't need to have
on my clothes and in my home.
Speaker 4 (21:11):
One hundred percent. It doesn't always mean you have to
swap a purchased thing for a purchased thing. It's kind
of like when you go gluten free, right, or you
go organic. Let's just say people who think, yeah, I
really want to do this. And if you go from
the regular oreos because that's what you eat for snacks,
not ideal, but if that's where you're at, and then
(21:33):
you switch to the organic oreos, which is crazy that
the world has organic oreos, but I do, it's going
to be more expensive. If you switch from the packet
cheesy puffs and you get the gluten free cheesy puffs,
it's going to be more expensive. There's a tax on
gluten free. On organic in processed food, there's way less
(21:55):
of attacks on switching from processed food to produce and
starting to actually eat less snacks that never fill us
up anyway, and actually investing that money into meals. You know,
like I laughed when you guys were on my show
about giving my son chili kon carne on toast for breakfast,
(22:16):
because that's what there was and it needed eating. But
the reality is is he's had this fantastic high fiber,
high protein, healthy fats breakfast. He had some avocado on
top that is going to carry him through to lunch.
He does not get recess food because he doesn't need it.
He feels great right through. If it wasn't going to
be the chilling conkhne, it was going to be the
(22:36):
three eggs, And like a lot of people think, gosh,
how can you eat that much at breakfast, It's like, well,
it's way cheaper than then providing two different packets and
a think of crudetes and all the extra stuff that
would take to fill him up till lunchtime otherwise. So
when it comes to things like personal care and cleaning
products and home products, people think, oh, you know, I
(22:59):
have to swe which my air freshener and my scented
candles and my fabric softna for the organic or the
essential oil based solutions. Actually you could here's a crazy idea,
but you could actually just stop using all of that stuff.
Speaker 5 (23:15):
Don't even need to swell.
Speaker 3 (23:17):
I know, I know when you're when you listen and
I'm like, I just don't even use that.
Speaker 6 (23:20):
Yeah, yeah, like that. You know people are using like
the little toilet duck thing that you hook into your
toilet because we can't handle natural smells in our modern
world anymore. Well, if someone's done a poop and you
use that thing, you can still tell there's been a poop.
Speaker 4 (23:38):
Lately, it's just covered up with a fake fragrance, Like,
just let it happen. It'll be gone in ten minutes.
It's fine. We're not gonna die people poop. I just
think we we have created so many so called solutions
for problems we actually never had. And when it comes
to the low tox game, it is about identifying those
(24:03):
and actually letting go of a lot of stuff that
we used to buy. And who needs a fifty dollars
cented candle? How do they get the apple and cinnamon
into the candle? Ask yourself? By crushing apples and minding cinnamon.
It's not it's very very processed and those chemicals are
(24:25):
hormone disruptive to us.
Speaker 1 (24:27):
So Saygabye, Oh, I okay, I want to stay on
this topic of what are the like financial benefits you've
seen by switching to a low tech flight. So we
covered a little bit about you know, the groceries, the
food was we could always go more there, the home
(24:49):
cleaning products just buy just totally eliminating like stuff. Let's
go like, what other financial like money saving benefits you've
seen directly, but also have you seen any indirectly?
Speaker 4 (25:03):
Ooh interesting? Well, obviously going low talks one tends to
have less hormone problems. From what I can see, I
have seen people's fertility challenges disappear. Now I'm not promising
that I can't, of course, but I can't tell you
(25:24):
the amount of people who've signed up to Preconception Ninja
or go low Talks thinking oh, I've just got to
try something, I've got to feel like I'm doing something.
Speaker 5 (25:32):
Here.
Speaker 4 (25:32):
A dietitian I met in a conference, I just had
this gut feel she had this sadness about her that
she was just going to stop trying with her husband.
They've done three rounds of IVF, and I said, look,
I have this course. I feel really drawn to just
give it to you, like, just let me just give
you a log in and password, just try because I
feel like there's a sadness around this ending for you
(25:55):
rather than a I've made the decision and it's happening.
And so if there's a sadness, there's still a desire
and if there's a stone unturned, maybe I can help you.
Speaker 5 (26:06):
She goes off. She does it.
Speaker 4 (26:07):
She pops up in the Facebook group about six months later,
and she's pregnant and it was a natural pregnancy. And
there was one household item she was using that she
was really really addicted to, and they had in their home.
It was one of those fresh air systems. They had
(26:29):
a dog, and she's the smell of dog in like
wet seasons. Just couldn't handle it. She got rid of that.
And then there was one thiroid test that her doctor
hadn't run for her, a more advanced kind of panel
from one of the doctors in the program. And those
two things she attributes to just being the two pieces
that were stressing her body out to the point where
(26:51):
it didn't feel safe to fall pregnant, so it just
kept rejecting pregnancy. The founder of the College of Environmental
Sciences here had ten miscarriages, realized it was actually the
smart meter that was on the other side of her
bedroom wall that she slept near, and then removed the
smart meter and felt pregnant and kept the baby to term.
(27:17):
So there are just so many environmental pieces that have
crazy benefits when you think about like our life goals,
Like if you want to be a parent, Not everybody
has to want that, That's not what I'm saying, but
if you did, and if it was freaking expensive going
through and the heartache of going through those rounds, and
(27:38):
did it take And like I'm not saying it would
work for everybody, but I have been invited to baby's
birthday parties as the lady who got them pregnant. I mean,
I'm just a health coach. I bring together a lot
of scientists and doctors, but I just help people make
some pretty basic changes and get the information they need.
(28:00):
That is my job. And like, imagine just ditching all
the things that stress your body out. Synthetic fragrance is
a huge environmental stress in our homes, and what does
that look like. It's the fabric softna, the scented candles,
the fresh air systems we're told we need when we
could actually open the window.
Speaker 1 (28:18):
The.
Speaker 4 (28:21):
Reeds, all the things, the perfume right there on our
throats and wrists. I could go on. What if we
just decided, I'm aston try and do without that. And
my favorite experiment is you box it all up and
you check it in your garage. You don't need to
throw it out. Just try and live for two weeks
(28:44):
without those things, and just use a plain bar soap
in your shower and for washing your hands. Most people, then,
when I issue them the challenge to bring it all
back and use it all back on the same day,
end up with headaches and asthma attack, just feeling awful
(29:05):
and a bit nauseous and feeling like they can't breathe well.
And it's because you've finally taken all of that stuff
out of your environment. You've never known an environment without it,
so your body's never really noticed that it was toxic,
and you bring it all back in and you.
Speaker 5 (29:23):
Go, WHOA, this is a lot.
Speaker 4 (29:26):
I can really notice it now, And then you become
that person who notices it at your friend's house when
they're running the dryer and the cuddly spring fresh kind
of fabric softness smell is permeating. I mean, it's estimated
that that represents a huge percentage of indoor air pollution
just the fabric softer alone. So I think you would
(29:47):
be saving twenty thirty bucks a month by not using
all that kind of stuff at least, and then that's
something you can reinvest as you ladies both put it
so well into something you really love, and then the
unintended beneficial consequences could be consequent. You didn't even realize,
(30:08):
like could your kid have less severe asthma attacks? Could
you know you end up not having a migraine problem
and needing ensides and other forms of medical care to
address that. So there are a lot of things that
are stressing our bodies out that when you remove them, yeah,
it helps your hip pocket, but it could end up
(30:29):
helping you in ways you didn't even sign up for.
Initially you could, you thought, yeah, let's save some money.
It was like, hold them, I don't get headaches anymore.
I remember I left the cosmetics industry because I had
this sense of feeling allergic to it at the time.
That's the only way I could describe it. But it
was more about being there and moving into a more
senior role, and administration is so not my bag. So
(30:53):
I left. And when I left that industry, in retrospect,
I left the world of headaches and migraines and buying
a full packet of painkillers every single month to address that, which,
never mind the effects on your liver and your hormones
and all that jazz. So the benefits are worth being
(31:17):
curious about how it might look for you, That's what
I can say.
Speaker 3 (31:21):
Knowing the landscape of just people's understanding and willingness to
try different things or certain things sounding like they're going
to go in a certain direction, I imagine that this
could kind of stir up this what's being said. We
have such this binary between science and kind of anything else,
(31:48):
anything else that you want to try and pursue and
try out. And it's reminding me in so my background
is in social work, and we would a lot of
times talk about and within texts the medical model, and
not trying to make any sort of like political or
otherwise statement about it. They were just describing the medical
(32:10):
model views humans in this way, and it's somebody comes
with a singular problem and we treat that singular problem,
and yet it kind of is to the exclusion of
the whole person. And so yes, there's gonna be lots
of different opinions on that, but I'm certainly tracking with
(32:33):
you on this idea that it doesn't have to be either,
or it can be both, and there can be all
of this whole person taken into consideration about environment and
experiences and circumstances, medicines and herbs, and to recognize that
(32:54):
many medicines are herbs or based off of our understanding
of herbs, like we only came upon the type of
medication that we have now within the past fifty to
one hundred years, and before it what you can find
from the earth.
Speaker 4 (33:10):
And I have an interesting story on that. Can I
share it quickly because it speaks to exactly what you've
just said about most medicines being to write.
Speaker 5 (33:19):
So we went on.
Speaker 4 (33:20):
I'm really passionate about if you get to live somewhere
that was once an indigenous place, you need to learn
that culture and respect it, like that is a given
for me. If you are on ancestral lands, and we
are here in Australia. You guys are too, And I
know different people have different feelings. People get triggered because
of the way they brought They were brought up in
a certain way, and I get that, but at least
(33:43):
paying respects and learning about that culture, I think is
a really nice. Well, we can all say that that
would be a lovely thing to do.
Speaker 5 (33:51):
So we go with this.
Speaker 4 (33:52):
Aboriginal guide and we're walking along the coastline and he's
pointing out different plants and I'm a nerd. I'm a
science nerd. I literally interviewed doctors every week. I love it.
And so I was asking. I was that question person
in the group who was like, so why and then
what do you like? What is it in the plant?
He's like, unfortunately, I can't actually say. And I was like,
(34:15):
why can't you say? And he said, because we found
that pharmaceutical companies were sending research agents to our indigenous
tools to try and find out what we were using
and why to then take back into being able to
turn it into chemical forms. And I was like, WHOA, Okay,
(34:40):
Now he had no need to tell me that there
was no financial benefit to him, explaining that but he
felt really compelled to just share what he could as
to why he couldn't be more generous with his information.
And I was incredibly sad about that. And I think
it's just the reality of the well we live in.
(35:01):
And so, you know, I love modern medicine. I love
how we can save people's lives, and I think there's
just so much incredible science there. And there's also so
much incredible science in other areas of science that bizarrely
get we get told a non science like that's just
(35:22):
weird to me. I really love the world where we
can just recognize the awesomeness of all of it for
what it is.
Speaker 1 (35:30):
There is a radical middle and in another life, Yes,
I was an acupuncturist.
Speaker 3 (35:36):
Oh that is what my degree is in.
Speaker 1 (35:38):
And I'm considered going to naturopathic medical school.
Speaker 3 (35:43):
So, like I, our listeners are learning just how hippy
dippy we are. I know, I know it all.
Speaker 4 (35:51):
I feel like my bartender days. People just kind of
tell me everything everything.
Speaker 1 (35:56):
I love it. But like even when I was practicing acupuncture,
we always look to hold the tension. It was never
just where practice like herbal medicine and acupuncture was the
way It's always about holding the tension between what can
Western medicine give me and what can it not? And
(36:16):
what can other types of you know, health care give
me and what can they not? And we say the
same thing about spending. So it's just opening up and
finding the boundaries and you know, the benefits to all
of these things.
Speaker 3 (36:35):
Yeah, and with that, I think I can appreciate your
pregnancy example, because there are certainly people who have diagnosable,
visible reasons that the parts aren't there, the parts aren't working,
they're not going to work, and that's s But if
you know this is happening and there's no real reason
that can be pinpointed, you know, even the medical community
(36:56):
will say that your stress levels, your sleep, what your
eating are going to play into your chances of pregnancy.
So then also why not potentially the things that are
in the environment as well, and what else can be
considered in all of this that, for some reason or
another has been so shielded from us but also has
(37:16):
been sold to us as safe ingest it, breathe it,
wear it. And only now are we kind of like, okay,
but are the things that worked in the fifties still
what we really are now? We want to well, it's
(37:39):
a good point.
Speaker 5 (37:40):
Yes, it's such a good point.
Speaker 4 (37:42):
And when I give talks, my question to a parent
audience is often, okay, put your hands up. If you
remember when you were a kid more than one kid
in your class who had allergies exomas, risis, dermatitis, hives, asthma,
and like one hand, two hands might go up. And
(38:03):
this is like parents who let's say around forty, so
they were at school in the nineties. And then I say, now,
think of now and your kids now and organizing a
birthday party, and how many kids do you now know
who have allergies, asthmasteria, systematized hives, food allergies, And all
(38:27):
the room's hands go up. And so that's just a
twenty thirty year difference, and we have to look at
what we've changed in twenty thirty years. Like when I
was a kid and I went to McDonald's on the weekend,
my fries were fried in beef tallow until about nineteen
eighty four, my kid if they wanted to go to McDonald's,
which I'm sincerely try and avoid, but I have a
(38:51):
you know, we do what we do most of the time,
so we can go with the flow summ of the
time philosophy, which is that social cohesion overlap often where
you're just like, if you're at a friend's house and
that's what they're doing, don't panic. You know, the bookends
of what we're doing are really good at home, like
it's okay. But the reality is that fry has up
(39:11):
to nineteen ingredients in it. That fry represents potatoes that
are sprayed with a herbicide so potent that the farmers
have to stay inside their house for days before they
can come out and it's safe to breathe the air again.
So it's a very different world that we are in today.
Our microbiomes are kind of a bit stuffed, and that's
(39:33):
what we pass on to our kids, and so it
stands to reason that we need to then start tending
to what humans need to feel healthy and they need
to not be so stressed out. And that includes not
just our thoughts and how much we're trying to pack
in a day and all of that stuff, which of
(39:53):
course is really valid, but it also includes the things
in our environment and the thing we're putting in our
mouths that are really confusing our biology and stressing it out.
So For me, it's really just about like thinking, Okay,
where do I feel comfortable starting, what do I want
to remove?
Speaker 5 (40:12):
What am I.
Speaker 4 (40:13):
Excited about looking into? It doesn't have to be doom
and gloom. It's actually an incredibly exciting journey if you
start where you're excited to start, Like if you love makeup,
start there and go, oh, I wonder what I can find,
and I wonder what might be different out there, And
I wonder if I went to like I know, when
(40:33):
I went to La there was this beautiful store called Credo,
I think, and I think they're online as well, giving
them a shout out or cat Beauty. There's some beautiful
US places. But even now low tox is quite accessible.
You'll probably find some great natural brands in Target. It's
really not what it once was in terms of like
(40:58):
either super super hippie or super alchemist expensive potions. There's
like a ton of stuff in between now. It's quite exciting.
Speaker 3 (41:07):
I appreciate your approach to this, Alex, especially because you've
been in it so long. It can be easy, probably
for someone like yourself to kind of forget the common person.
But I don't get that sense from you, and there's
not this message of fear. Either there's a recognition of Okay,
here's what's going to happen if I eat these McDonald's fries.
(41:30):
But you're also not so fearful about what might be
out there trying to get you. Your mattress is trying
to kill you, Like that's not what you're saying.
Speaker 4 (41:41):
Like stress will kill you faster than any like environmental toxin.
It really meant yeah, And so we have to approach
this with joy and curiosity. Maybe you have a really
pressing health challenge that is quite stressful. I've had mold
toxicity and illness, for example. I would never wish that
on the person I like the least in the world,
(42:04):
and I don't really hate people, but if I did,
I would never wish it on them. And I think
it's there's that balance of Okay, you really need to
do some very urgent work to get better or to
get out of your house or whatever. Or you're the
person who's recognized that this stuff doesn't make sense to
(42:24):
use in the quantities and ways that we're using them,
and you're excited to see what you might phase out
and change. And both groups are completely valid situations and
recognizing and honoring where you're at is really important, and
then start with what you're excited about. I can't say
it enough, and I can't say enough what I said
(42:47):
just earlier, which is we do what we do most
of the time to go with the flow. Some of
the time, leave a part where you just throw caution
to the wind and go with the moment the fish
and chips, and don't worry about the vegetable oil because
you're with your friends on the beach and it's summer
and it's such a special moment, you know, don't worry
(43:07):
about why that ice cream is so blue that your
kid is eating acrossing you with them at the party
if they're otherwise healthy, like obviously if you have a
kid with a neurodivergence or an allergy, you need to
be more mindful. There are also a lot of kids
who can handle the odd knock if they're having a good,
healthy breakfast and dinner and it's okay. And I think
(43:30):
as soon as we relax into that, you know, our
body is a pretty amazing detoxifying machines. It's just that
we're giving the onslaught of crap twenty four seven right
now and that's what we need to address, and then
that looks different for everybody based on what your curiosity
and interests.
Speaker 3 (43:48):
Are beautiful and well said and speaking of starting with
what excites here and leaning into it that.
Speaker 1 (43:59):
This is so healthy and so pure.
Speaker 3 (44:02):
The bill of.
Speaker 7 (44:03):
The week, that's right, it's time for the best minute
of your entire week. Maybe a baby was born and
his name is Williams. Maybe you've paid off your mortgage.
Speaker 2 (44:24):
Maybe your car died and you're happy to not have
to pay that bill anymore.
Speaker 7 (44:28):
Duck bills, bffalo bills, Bill Clinton, this is the bill
of the week.
Speaker 4 (44:35):
I'm excited.
Speaker 5 (44:37):
I've heard about this.
Speaker 1 (44:38):
Oh gosh. Every week we yell at our guests to
share with us their bill of the week, and we
leave it vague because we really want you to be
able to flex your creativity. And it's like a bartending champion.
Speaker 3 (44:53):
I am.
Speaker 4 (44:54):
It's quite a check a post, I've got to say.
Speaker 5 (44:57):
But everyone's got a story, right.
Speaker 3 (44:59):
I love it.
Speaker 1 (45:00):
We would love to hear your bill for the week.
Speaker 4 (45:04):
My bill of the week was my son his godmother
who's my bestie, and I went and saw a show
and we saw and Juliet, which is out in Australia.
Now they're doing a production and apparently it's won like
Tony Awards. It's totally cleaned up in the Broadway world
over your side of the world.
Speaker 5 (45:25):
And I love musical theater.
Speaker 4 (45:27):
And this is kind of like this mash up between
Shakespeare and pop music, Max Martin's pop music, and so
it's a rework of what happened after Romeo committed suicide
and then like what Juliet does to move through that
grief and become like her best girl champion. Like it's
(45:48):
super modern and fun. And then every time a pop
music's lyrics accurately fit into the story, they break out
into that song and sing it. It's so weird and
excellent and just fun and joyful. I think we need
a whole lot more of that, just total escapist joy
for joy's sake. And I got the play bill. That's
(46:12):
my bill of the week. You get to look, you know,
and they've put in the extra for that character tonight.
Oh wow, they were in this that's my bill of
the week.
Speaker 1 (46:25):
Oh my gosh. Well, I think there's an extra Billa
in there that it's uh, you know, off of like
a Billy Shakespeare h story.
Speaker 3 (46:34):
Right, I love it and you don't mind paying for buying.
Speaker 4 (46:41):
Yeah.
Speaker 3 (46:44):
Wow, there's so much here and you are our first
to weave in a play bill and I especially like
you as what a jen? What exo? You love? What
is it? What is it?
Speaker 4 (47:02):
I'm definitely ex.
Speaker 3 (47:07):
Oh, well well done. You were original. You gave us
the first.
Speaker 1 (47:11):
Day you did it.
Speaker 3 (47:12):
And if any of you listening have a bill you
want to submit, even though it probably won't be original,
somebody else has done it. Okay, but what hasn't been
done before is a person named Bill calling us, so
please do that, but also any other bill that you
want to talk about Fribal Friends podcast dot com slash Bill.
(47:34):
We are so looking forward to hearing it. And now
it's time for the lightning round.
Speaker 1 (47:45):
That was totally organic sound effects.
Speaker 5 (47:49):
I didn't think it.
Speaker 1 (47:51):
Yeah, it's yeah, all natural right there. So for our
lightning round question, we will all answer this one. Your
simple and low cost strategy for a low TALX home.
So something home related, Alex, what's replace?
Speaker 4 (48:12):
Yeah, okay, yeah, I've got it.
Speaker 5 (48:13):
I've got it.
Speaker 4 (48:14):
Replace your dishwashing liquid, hand washing liquid in the kitchen,
hand washing liquid in the bathroom.
Speaker 5 (48:22):
Body gel with bar soap.
Speaker 4 (48:26):
Mmm, and for the dish washing liquid. People who go,
I ain't gonna get one of those little cages and
the scrubby thing, And that's not me. I'm not a homemaker.
I'm not a crunchy mom like that whole thing. If
you've just rejected that idea straight up, you can actually
cube up your bar soap, let it sit in water
for about four hours and then just put it on
(48:47):
a gentle blend and it makes a soap cream and
you can.
Speaker 5 (48:50):
Use that to wash your dishes.
Speaker 4 (48:53):
Whoa, yeah a big Lisa Brona taught me that one
from Doctor brown Yeah.
Speaker 3 (49:01):
Oh so g I gotta imagine it's not just any
kind of bar soap, right Like Dr bren is a.
Speaker 4 (49:08):
Good brand, okay, a good olive oil soap. Like if
you go to a farmer's market, there's always a stallholder
who makes natural soaps in there in their little home
shared and then they come to the market's Like you
can support someone uber local like that. But yeah, if
you were buying a commercial one from say a Whole
Foods or your health shop or organic grosser, then Dr
(49:30):
Browns is everywhere.
Speaker 5 (49:32):
Uh.
Speaker 3 (49:33):
You did not ask for this, and I did not
prepare you for this, but since it's the one you
chose for your lightning round, I do have a follow
up question from follow up light Lightning Striking twice Sope. Yeah,
well ton, he can't stand soap that doesn't sud and
that's his number one complaint of these low talks soap
(49:58):
solutions is that it doesn't SuDS up.
Speaker 4 (50:03):
Does the husband have any skin issues?
Speaker 5 (50:08):
Has his skin?
Speaker 3 (50:09):
Are it fine?
Speaker 4 (50:11):
It's fine? No, it never gets x MEO dermatitis. It's
nothing like that. So I would make the soap cream
because that subs up.
Speaker 3 (50:20):
Okay, just add that water situation.
Speaker 4 (50:24):
Yeah, cube up like once one think of like you know,
the rectangle and in half and then in whatever to
make eight little cubes, and then put it in a
jar of water, say like half liter, and then put
that in a blender on low after because it really
will just either like it will overflow otherwise, and put
(50:47):
that in a little pump bottle and see how you go.
But that should be that gives you that like really
clean kind of buff gel vibe minus all the ingredients
that in the end can cause things like ex amount
dermatitis oriasis, which can hin you like if you're just
(51:08):
in a stressful period and you're using those sorts of chemicals.
It can just be the thing that snaps because that
system in the body is weaker at that time. So, yeah,
you don't want to put the thing that creates the
SuDS is sodium laurel sulfate. Really good for cleaning clothes
and dishes, not good for putting on your skin.
Speaker 5 (51:30):
That's good to know.
Speaker 3 (51:31):
Yeah, thank you, Jill.
Speaker 1 (51:34):
I want you to go next.
Speaker 3 (51:36):
I am I've been catapulted into this journey because I
don't want to stun money, not necessarily on things that
just don't feel super valuable to me. And I love
a good DIY, So for me, I don't buy candles, fraquances.
I DIY my cleaners. Now I started to which I'm
(51:59):
realizing can cross over into everything, so it's not money
wasted to be buying baking soda because it's what I
can also clean the glass in my shower with. And
then as far as like what I consume, beginning to
buy more local produce where I can kind of understand
the practices of the farm and that kind of thing.
But I am that person who I can't even walk
(52:22):
down the laundry detergent aisle at the grocery store, like
it's so overwhelming to me. And you were talking about perfumes, like,
I don't wear perfumes. It's hard for me to be
around fragrances, which does stink, because I also am one
who is allergic to cats and dogs. So it just
precludes me from being able to go to anybody's house ever,
(52:45):
like if they're doing laundry, if they're burning a candle,
if they have thats I'm just like, yeah, I'm the
one who.
Speaker 4 (52:52):
Yeah, let's can't do the rest an outdoor table, that's
that's always good for the sensitive papes.
Speaker 1 (52:58):
Yes, for me, it's definitely fragrance, like body fragrances. But
I didn't do that by choice. Actually, my husband hates them,
and so I stopped wearing them and then found then
after so long of not wearing them, found that they
bothered me. We actually went to somebody's house. I don't
(53:19):
know if you were there, but they were. They had
like some kind of oil, some kind of diffuser going
and it just by the end of the night gave
me a headache. And so we don't have like anything
any sense going off in our home either, just because
again it's a money thing. Honestly, I just don't like
want to spend money on them. I do love candles, though,
(53:42):
candles well, I love I don't burn them off it.
Speaker 4 (53:45):
Whitch to beeswax and just keepe them sparing for when
you really love that vibe.
Speaker 3 (53:49):
Yeah, And I don't know if you'll agree with this, Alex,
but I something I have done is just kind of
like boil different things that I want their aromas, like.
Speaker 4 (53:59):
Yeah, loves or that's what the grandmas did, all the
different spices, yeah.
Speaker 1 (54:06):
Yeah, and then cook the food, yeah, the brown but
I hate cooking. My favorite is my all purpose cleaner
is just and I know this isn't like totally low tox,
but there is no tox, but like a teaspoon of
dish soap with water and I clean literally.
Speaker 4 (54:31):
So your thing could then be like what could be
the low tox version of the dish So could you
get a castile soap that kind of thing.
Speaker 1 (54:38):
That's also an ungion.
Speaker 4 (54:40):
I mean with my bottle of castile soap, I clean
the floor with one teaspoon and water. The countertox multipurpose
spray the bathroom, I think I use castile soap for
most things, it's it's pretty versatile. And then just to
give everybody the but like, what is it with the fragrance?
(55:02):
Can I give them the nerdy reason we really want
to ditch these, you go for it, just I know
we're nearly done. But it is the thallates p h
t h A la tees for the nerds who are
going to want to go and research it. Like me,
I'm totally that person. And thalates are a sticky plasticizer
compound that make things stick. So in fragrance technology, it
(55:27):
makes that fragrance last and last. And so it's why
you give your friend a hug after the yoga glass,
you have coffee, and then you go off and do
your day and then your hair like kind of goes
in the wind and you smell there deodorant or perfume again,
like but eight hours later. So that's stickiness. And this
endocrine disruptive activity that these valates have can actually they've
(55:50):
been shown to block or mimic natural estrogen signaling in
the body. And I don't know a lady who doesn't
find it hard enough to balance their hormones on the
best day of the month. Let alone, having other stuff
coming in trying to confuse the show.
Speaker 5 (56:07):
So if you know you're.
Speaker 4 (56:09):
Always thinking, got period problems and this is wrong and
headaches and like try the fragrance ditching.
Speaker 5 (56:16):
I mean, what have we got to lose? Right?
Speaker 4 (56:19):
And it can be quite low.
Speaker 1 (56:21):
Yeah, it's low risk, it's it's.
Speaker 4 (56:23):
Money, it's money saving.
Speaker 1 (56:25):
Yes, and you know if it doesn't work, just you
can always add it back in. So man, Alex, thank
you so so so much for this conversation. And if
people are interested in more low talx life, where can
they find you?
Speaker 4 (56:45):
Funny, it's called Low Talx Life everything, So because I
did it first, everything that's low tox life. Those three
words like that, it's me. So the podcast is called
lowtox Life. The website lowtoxlife dot com and then from
the website you'll find everything books both on Amazon.
Speaker 3 (57:04):
Yeah, yay, well done, and thanks for being with us, Alex.
Speaker 4 (57:09):
Such a pleasure chatting with you both.
Speaker 3 (57:15):
What a good one.
Speaker 1 (57:16):
Yes, I'm glad. So that was a long, long one.
Speaker 3 (57:20):
It's hard to direct we had.
Speaker 1 (57:21):
I mean I think we just it was for us
such like a fun conversation to have, and so we
hope that you left encouraged to find the one thing
you love and see if there's a way that you
can simplify it by taking out some of the ingredients.
Speaker 3 (57:43):
Yeah, we even talk about that being a benefit of
load talks, but the simplification that can happen as a result,
Like I don't have tons of cleaning products, I have
too now because it works in a variety of different ways.
So there's just there's so many benefits and you kind
of start with an area that excites you or excites
(58:04):
you to solve a problem and who knows where it
can develop from there and no matter how you're entering
into that journey. So yeah, really grateful for that combo, yes.
Speaker 1 (58:16):
Or a place that you feel overwhelmed. Cleaning products honestly
are a place I feel overwhelmed, and that's where I
will be going next. So thank you so much for listening.
We love, love, love reading your kind reviews, and we
especially love this one from a juick fix.
Speaker 3 (58:32):
Uh.
Speaker 1 (58:33):
They say love this happens to be five stars and
they say, thanks ladies for being the best frugal friends
I have. Glad to be it.
Speaker 3 (58:42):
It's written in a way that might seem to indicate
we're the only frugal friends you have, and that's you
know where I'm here for it. Here for the five stars.
The best, Okay should be the best. Well, we appreciate
you listening. We appreciate that review. If any of you
who are currently enjoying this show also want to take
a minute to leave us a kind review telling us
(59:06):
that we're the best friends that you ever had, we'd
love that. But truly it does help other people find
this podcast know if it's right for them. So we
do appreciate every single writing and review we get that
are good. We love the good one.
Speaker 1 (59:21):
Men's see you next time. Google Friends is produced by
Eric Sirianni.
Speaker 3 (59:38):
Well, Jen, what's your first step?
Speaker 1 (59:42):
Well, it'll definitely be the cleaning products. I have dabbled
in natural cleaning solutions, but I always I go back
and forth, like I'm not a great cleaner, so I
think that the chemical will help me, and then they don't.
(01:00:02):
They just reiterate you are bad at this.
Speaker 3 (01:00:06):
Yeah, so I've bought tools.
Speaker 1 (01:00:08):
I've bought a Oh I forgot to mention this, but
I bought a steam cleaner. I was just going to
say that has actually made me feel alive again. Okay,
it works like it's natural and it works. It makes
me feel like I know how to clean.
Speaker 3 (01:00:26):
That's so funny because I was just going to reference
a steam cleaner being my low tox fail. I just
did buy a steam cleaner for on Clearance, thinking oh, yeah,
this is going to get me the clean I want
and it's not going to require any chemicals. And it
just didn't do a dang thing, and I had to
(01:00:47):
go back and reclean. I know, I know, Am I
doing it wrong? I don't know, but I already boxed
it up and I'm going to return it. I won't
get my money back. Okay, even though it was clearance
as you should, as you should, so glad it's working
for you.
Speaker 1 (01:01:01):
Yeah, well, our standards of clean might also be different,
so I take my successes with a grain of salt.
Speaker 3 (01:01:09):
I will say. Also, the steam really stressed Eric out.
He was like, this is way too much moisture to
be putting into the house. We can't be having this.
I'm going to turn on the dehumidifiers and all of
the mini splits like this can really cause damage to
the life of our base boards and blah blah blah.
Speaker 1 (01:01:30):
Yeah, I kept it in the bathroom, though I actually did.
I kept it on tile so that maybe, yeah, we'll see, Okay,
we'll see.
Speaker 3 (01:01:40):
We're on a journey were to fail. Yeah, more often
than not, we do. We do.
Speaker 1 (01:01:46):
It is more often than not
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