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We covered What Crunchy Is in my first post of the Crunchy Defined series. Now we are going to look at the reasons for WHY someone becomes crunchy.
There are actually a few reasons and most of the time the reasons will overlap for doing one thing or another.
Why Would You Want To Be Crunchy?
Reason #1: Money
Not that you will become rich by being crunchy. I only wish that was the case! No, being crunchy can save money. At least in some areas it can. Getting back to the basics; simpler ingredients/products; cooking from scratch can all help save money.
Saving money is definitely one of the reasons why I am crunchy. For instance, washing my hair with baking soda and vinegar (called no ‘poo) costs me pennies as opposed to dollars on shampoo and conditioner, especially the more natural shampoos and conditioners.
Cloth diapers are another good example of frugal crunchy. What I spent on my cloth diaper stash would have been the equivalent to maybe 6 months in disposable diaper. Not to mention the fact that my cloth diapers can be used for subsequent children as well.
Reason #2: Health
There is actually two sides to the health reason. Basically there is the offensive and the defensive. Offensive is searching for the healthiest foods and incorporating them into eating habits. Such as adding chia seeds to your diet because they are high in Omega-3’s.
Defensive is avoiding certain things because of what they can do to your body. For instance, pesticides or BPA are both things that many crunchy people try to avoid because of their impact on the body. There is also the health reason of getting crunchy because perhaps you are suffering from some illness or disease and nothing else is working.
Many people start on the crunchy path because of this. I personally know that my son’s eczema influenced my reason for becoming crunchy. The only way to lessen his reactions was to avoid dyes, perfumes, and chemicals.
Reason #3: Environment
I’m sure we are all quite aware of the fact that we only get one Earth. Even if they do manage to colonize Mars, I don’t see that as a good reason for letting the Earth go to shambles.
I would like it if when my children or grandchildren grow up, they do not have to wear masks because the air is too polluted to breathe without one. Think about it! We are already well on the way towards it; city children have more asthma then rural children because the air quality is worse in urban areas.
As I said, there are many reasons to become crunchy. One reason might be the initial starting point for becoming crunchy and as you go along, you might pick up other reasons that you are crunchy. This is just another reason why crunchy is not the same for every single person.
So very true! Since starting to make a number of our household cleaners, I saw that we were saving on average maybe 5-10 dollars a month on cleaning supplies. Plus I do not have to worry about my toddler getting irritated from the cleaning fumes.
I was SO opposed to no poo at first. I just thought the entire idea was disgusting – because I really thought no poo meant no poo literally – not no shampoo – like no washing ever. Once I realized you were using cleansing agent (BS and ACV) I gave it a go and have not looked back since. I love how great my hair looks, but more importantly I love how much money I am saving on shampoo. My husband loves his poo, but his hair is much shorter than mine, and he doesn't demand salon quality poo. Just me alone we are saving over $450 a year from the no poo switch (I calculated it – $20 for poo and $20 for conditioner for 12 months). Now that I have started making my own beauty products we are saving even more. I really never even thought about how much I was spending on this stuff but it really adds up! Not to mention you are way healthier without all those harsh chemicals!