Last Updated on August 27, 2024
Organic products make up most of my home because my zero waste journey actually started with a health journey. I know that having an organic home and being zero waste aren’t directly related, but they often go hand in hand when you think about it.
Aside from being healthier, organic products also tend to harm the environment less than wasteful, chemical-laden products. So, I’m sharing things to buy organic, from food to beauty products, to improve the health of the planet as well as your own health! These organic items are high quality, safe, and eco-conscious to create a home you feel good about.
Table of Contents
organic products to buy
You can read more about my health journey here. I started with avoiding plastic first and foremost for personal health reasons.
I don’t know if you’ve read Cradle to Cradle* — I highly recommend it if you haven’t. The first couple of pages detail many of the hidden toxins in our homes from flame retardants in chairs and couches to the off-gassing of synthetic carpets.
There are a lot of hidden and not always thoroughly tested additives in objects we come in contact with every day.
And while having a small exposure to these things might not be worrisome, we’re constantly bombarded with them and that builds up in our system.
Cancer has affected Justin and me both personally, and we truly believe switching to an organic or safer alternative for some items to be very important.
Going zero waste and minimizing our possessions has allowed both of us to save a lot of money. You can read more about that here. It’s also allowed us to focus our funds on what we think are important purchases for our health. Learning what to buy organic has improved our health and overall well-being.
benefits of an organic home
An organic home can feel daunting. After all, making the move to organic products can have a hefty upfront cost and can feel less sterile than comparable products thanks to their clever marketing tactics.
However, prioritizing an organic home comes with many benefits including:
- More cost effective in the long run: organic cleaners, for instance, tend to use natural, cheap ingredients like vinegar and baking soda.
- Improved air quality: toxins can pollute the air, but organic items prioritize safe, toxin-free ingredients that keep your air, and your lungs, healthy.
- Environmentally sustainable: producing, harvesting, and manufacturing organic materials uses less energy than non-organic farming or creating cheap, chemical-laden products out of raw materials.
And while it would be great to have everyone buy everything organic, doing so simply isn’t possible for many households at this time. This is where learning which things to buy organic and where to start is super helpful to get the most bang for your buck (and see the biggest effects!)
what to buy organic
mattress:
The mattress we first bought when we moved out to California was a $100 mattress from Walmart. Obviously, we got we paid for there. Most all mattresses are made from polyurethane foam (a petroleum product). Then, they mark it up at an exorbitant rate. This foam offgasses for the first several years, and you’re constantly breathing it in.
We sleep for a third of our lives, and our bed is also our couch in our new place. I knew that we would be spending almost half of our daily lives on this piece of furniture. I did not want it to be on plastic or to have fire retardants.
Fire retardants have polybrominated diphenyl ethers or PBDEs which interfere with our thyroids and are very persistent. PBDE has even been found in polar bears! I’m not sure how often polar bears lounge around on couches… so this is alarming.
So when we started looking into what to buy organic to improve the health of our home, a mattress was at the top of the list.
We could not be happier with the one we chose from The Futon Shop. We chose the organic latex moonlight mattress which is four pieces of natural latex. This mattress is so cool.
Natural latex will also last a lifetime. They did a study where even after 20 years the latex hadn’t budged an 1/8th of a millimeter. I can’t wait to report back to you in 20 years to see if my findings support the study. Keep an eye out for a full post on this mattress later.
I feel very passionately about getting a good night’s sleep!
food:
We have always tried to buy organic food, or at least stick to the clean 15 and the dirty dozen. When we first started dating, we would go on dates to get groceries. We met while living in actor housing. You can read more about us here.
Every Tuesday, there was a huge farmers market called Roots. We’d always make a trip and buy our groceries together. We’d cook our meals together, and it was so much fun. We still buy most of our food from the farmers market.
It’s always really nice to chat with the farmers. Sometimes, it’s organic, but they’re not certified. Other times they grow sustainably but aren’t certified organic.
Buying food can really be taken on a case by case basis. I’d really encourage you to chat with your farmers.
Starting with the food in our organic home has been one of the best decisions for us because we try to avoid atrazine. It’s a highly toxic herbicide that has been linked to breast tumors and prostate cancer.
We also try to avoid organophosphate which is a neurotoxin that affects brain development and fertility and can mess with your thyroid. Talk to your farmers — even if the food isn’t organic, ask if they use these chemicals.
sheets:
Buying an organic mattress is expensive! If it’s not in your budget right now, I’d at least look at changing your sheets. Our skin is our largest organ, and it absorbs everything. It’s important that they’re comfy and non-toxic.
We wound up getting linen sheets. Linen is organically grown, naturally hypoallergenic, and antibacterial. We LOVE these sheets. Organic cotton is another good choice when looking into what to buy organic. But, I would definitely avoid polyester (plastic) sheets!
Conventional cotton sheets present a problem because the pesticides used in farming (like Deltamethrin) are known endocrine disruptors. Parathion, another pesticide, is extremely hazardous as it lowers red blood cell counts. Over time and multiple washes, this becomes less of an issue.
If buying organic cotton or linen isn’t in the budget right now, just buy second-hand cotton sheets. Wash them in very hot water and line dry them in the sun. They’ll be good as new!
Olive + Crate is another company that makes sustainable organic sheets.
Their Eucalyptus Tencel is sustainably and responsibly made, utilizing a closed-loop process. Non-toxic solvents and water are reused at a rate of more than 99%. Plus, their packaging is plastic-free.
Tencel is also a cruelty-free alternative to silk since it’s made from several types of wood pulp, though it’s mostly sourced from eucalyptus trees.
Olive + Crate Eucalyptus products carry the OEKO-TEX Standard 100 label, ensuring that their products have been tested for harmful substances and proven safe.
Their sheets are a 2-in-1 when it comes to health benefits. The sheets are temperature regulating, and their naturally cooling feature can help lower body temperature for quicker and longer sleep. Additionally, these sheets are also hypo-allergenic and antibacterial, making them great for anyone with acne-prone, sensitive skin.
cleaning products:
Better cleaning products are one of the most simple changes to make! Plus it’s wayyyy cheaper to use a repurposed bottle, some vinegar, and baking soda. Drip in some essential oils so it smells nice and voila! Check out some of my favorite cleaning products and recipes.
I guess cleaning products are less of a thing to buy organic, and more of a thing to make organic! I like to make my own cleaning products because they work, they’re affordable, and I can control what I put in them.
The natural ingredients are known to be antibacterial, antimicrobial, and antiviral, so there’s really no need to fill your home with toxins.
skin care:
I just wrote a huge post on my favorite skin care items. Phthalates and parabens are common toxins found in commercial skin care products.
I also make a lot of my own skincare products, and you can get some of my favorite recipes below.
cookware:
When I first went zero waste, we donated all of our non-stick pots and pans. These pots and pans use perfluorinated chemicals which can be found in the bloodstream of 99% of Americans.
One particularly notorious compound called PFOA has been shown to be completely resistant to biodegradation. It will never break down. Even though PFOA was banned in 2006, it will be showing up for generations to come.
Exposure to PFOA has been linked to a number of health issues including interrupting the endocrine system and thyroid issues.
All in all, it’s something that we wanted to avoid in our cookware. We now very happily own 2 cast iron skillets*, one enamel coated Le Creuset Dutch oven*, and one enamel coated Le Creuset pot*. We happily found all of these items second hand! Woot woot!
further reading on organic products:
Each of these is an educational article from a reputable source such as cancer.org, UC Berkley, and the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences. I’m not just making this stuff up! You can read the official articles by following these links, should you feel so inclined.
Assessing and Managing Chemicals Under TSCA
Pesticide Atrazine Can Turn Male Frogs Into Females
PFOA, PFOS, and Related PFAS Chemicals
faqs about organic items
why are organic products more expensive than their non organic counterparts?
Ah, the age old story of supply and demand. Because the demand of organic products is less (for now!), companies make fewer of them. Plus, the production cost is higher, which ultimately gets passed on to the consumer. The only way to make these items cheaper is to increase the demand for them.
If you don’t believe me, look at how expensive new technologies are when they first come out vs. just a few years later. When a lot of people want something, the manufacturers figure out a cheaper production cost.
which things to buy organic should i prioritize first?
If you’re not able to take the plunge and move everything over, I suggest going with the easy swaps first. Ditch the Clorox and switch to homemade cleaners. Then, move to the items you use a lot (like your sheets) to get the most out of that investment. Small changes over longer periods of time lead to big changes!
how do you know if a product is truly organic?
They’ll have all kinds of certifications that they’re proud to show off! They may have a USDA Certified Organic sticker or another recognized organic logo. Trustworthy certifying agencies include the Quality Assurance International Certified Organic logo or the Canada Organic logo.
Have you opted for any organic purchases over buying second hand for your home or have you managed to find any good organic items second hand?
This post contains affiliate linking. It’s denoted with an asterisk. This means if you choose to purchase one of these items I will make a slight commission for referring you. You can read more on my disclosure page.
This article is such a great resource. Thanks, Kathryn! You’ve inspired me to finally change my cookware.
I’m very much looking forward to your mattress post! I’m sleeping on my great-grand mother’s mattress, so I clearly need a new one but am overwhelmed and don’t know where to start.
Great article on such important topics. However, I really had to gasp when I saw the price of the mattress you chose, right after you noted how much mattress makers mark up their prices. Only the wealthy can afford to spend $1800 (queen) on an organic latex mattress.
I agree wholeheartedly on all your other top organic choices. One thing that has stymied me is what to do about sun screens. While titanium oxide is supposed to be safer, I dislike the white sheen left on my screen. It’s hard to rub in. The other choices are also endrocrine disruptors if I recall directly.
For now, I use these sunscreens on a limited basis on arms and face when I can’t avoid going out in the middle of the day. Otherwise, I try to stay indoors during the heat of the day. Call me crazy, but I even wear leather driving gloves to avoid further sun damage to my hands. I remember hearing a dermatologist recommend that.
I’ generally wary of any cream/lotion that stays on my skin and is not rinsed off. So while I may slide on shampoos and soaps, I use Tom’s deodorant and natural dry skin lotions. It’s amazing how little manufacturers care about the health of their customers.
Do you think nuts should be organic?