Remove Toxins but Don’t Become a Toxic Crunchy

By Emily Morrow

“This is actually so toxic.”

That’s a response I never expected to receive in reply to a birthday gift. I mean, I knew my budget was only ten dollars, but I thought some top-shelf grocery store hand soap and a tea towel were pretty safe choices. I had that very hand soap tucked under my bathroom cabinet to pull out as my fancy soap when guests came over.

I looked around the room, stunned. What do you even say to that?

I finally mumbled a meager, “Oh, maybe you can just regift it?”

To which Amy replied, “I would never knowingly give someone toxins.”

I have never felt so small in my adult life. Here I was, trying to make a friend (a lifetime struggle of mine), and I gave her poison! Poison disguised as a lemon verbena–scented hand soap made with olive oil and aloe vera. I was so embarrassed.

As we were leaving the get-together, Amy told me my gift was a “nice thought” and that I should consider getting an app that could tell me on a scale of zero to ten how toxic products are so I could make sure I was getting the cleanest products possible (zero being the least toxic and ten being the absolute worst!). Wasn’t the very purpose of soap to be clean?

I downloaded the app as soon as I got in the car. My hands shook as I typed in the brand name of the soap I had purchased, followed by “lemon verbena” to see how toxic this cleansing agent really was. A little hand soap emoji blinked on the screen, taunting me while the app retrieved my results.

An eight. I’d given someone an eight! Should I follow her home and apologize? Should I call everyone who had washed their hands in my home in the last thirty days and let them know they had been exposed to an eight-out-of-ten toxic substance?

If the Chernobyl disaster was a ten out of ten on the scale of toxicity, how was it even legal to sell an eight-out-of-ten product? I was pregnant at the time, and I had definitely used the guest hand soap. Would my baby be okay?

If this soap was so toxic, what else in my home was killing me slowly? I’d used a Swiffer WetJet to mop my floors that morning. Was that okay? What about my dish soap? I used that on stuff I ate from! What about Windex glass cleaner? I was pretty sure I’d accidentally inhaled some of that. Was it only cleaning supplies? What about shampoo and conditioner? Body soap? Why wouldn’t the bottle come with a warning?

A Toxic Crunchy?

I didn’t understand why one of the nicest people I knew made me feel so small. As I’ve continued my journey, I have thought about this exchange a lot and realized it’s good to try your best to be unoffendable and also try not to offend. It’s best to meet people where they are and try to understand where they’re coming from, whether you’re the one giving the toxic hand soap or the one receiving it.

Sometimes I wonder whom I may have done this to without thinking about it. Whom have I looked directly in the eyes and said, “This is so toxic!” assuming we were on the same page when we actually weren’t? Having been on both sides of this type of interaction, I can see how important it is to assume the best in people, be quick to forgive, and know that most people aren’t out to tear you down. Amy probably should’ve opened the gift and just said, “Thanks!”

Our world is full of toxins; this is not new information. Our bodies were created to be able to filter out and detox most of what the natural world has to throw at us. But now we are exposed to more and more toxins through things like hand soap and glass cleaner and candles and shampoo and so on.

Because of this, our toxic load is heavier than it has ever been, and when we aren’t able to detox at the alarming rate we are being exposed to toxins, our bodies respond in different ways. Many people have found their way to the crunchy life because they’re trying to feel better.

For anyone already on a crunchy journey, it can be tempting to spew facts. And people are naturally curious, so don’t worry, there will be plenty of opportunities to share information you’re passionate about. But this should be done in the proper time and place. Vikkie was someone who handled my ignorance with grace. Our first encounter involved me offering her and each of her three beautiful children a slice of rainbow cake. Yes, it is what it sounds like: a cake pumped full of every color of food dye imaginable for the sake of looking pretty.

The icing on the outside is white, so you think you’re about to get a plain piece of cake, then you cut it open and, bam, you’re shocked and delighted to see a spectrum of colors. Such a fun cake! Vikkie just smiled and said, “No thanks.” Later, with a gentle demeanor, she told me there’s a lot of evidence that food dye isn’t great for your health and that it’s linked to a bunch of different behavioral problems in children—some dyes are even known carcinogens. Many of the common dyes used in the US are banned in European countries. She didn’t mention the rainbow cake. I was grateful.

Taking the Crunchy Plunge

My journey started before there were influencers as we know them today. In some ways I think it would be easier to start a holistic journey now. There are blogs and people putting themselves in front of a camera to tell you exactly what you’re doing wrong and how to make it right.

The problem is, there are tons of those people—hundreds of thousands of blogs, Instagram accounts, and YouTube accounts all freely sharing facts, opinions, and opinions posed as fact. There are also legit research studies that are now just a click away. But those research studies can conflict with one another, and depending on the way you phrase your question, the search engine presents different answers.

With all this information floating around, different people come to different conclusions, and it’s hard to keep up with knowing all the things. Not to mention that it feels like the information is constantly changing. Remember back when butter was bad and margarine was king? We also don’t know the situations of the people giving the advice. Some seem to have an endless budget, or maybe they’re getting paid to push certain “life-changing” products.

The internet has a way of showing off the best in people but bringing out the worst, so sometimes being crunchy can have negative connotations. Health is a delicate topic, and the stance of educating others can come off as judgmental. On the flip side, it’s hard to unlearn habits you’ve had your whole life. Maybe you’re already crunchy, maybe you’ve had an Amy experience, or maybe you are an Amy. I believe that people (crunchy or not) are trying to do the best they can with the information they have.

At the root of humanity is a longing for peace, security, and happiness. We are all carrying the baggage of past experiences that have shaped and molded us into who we are. Our memories, stories, and family culture often define why we make the choices we do. People are the way they are for a reason, and it’s not right to devalue someone else’s experiences because you think you know more or better than they do.

Humility and Grace

A lot of crunchy people love to research and learn as much as they can, and I think that’s where the phrase “Know better, do better” comes from. I cringe when I hear someone use this phrase because it implies that they do, in fact, know better than you, which makes you feel inadequate—and that’s an awful feeling.

So as you read my book, I hope you don’t get a vibe of superiority from me. I am still on this journey of learning. I am not perfect in my choices, and I never will be. What is perfection anyway? Also, I’m well aware that I have been given blessings and opportunities that other people haven’t, and I try my best not to take that for granted.

I recently had a conversation with a mom who was questioning the hype around “healthy” food and why crunchy people put restrictions around what they eat. She said, “If it’s at the store, it can’t be that bad for you. Why would they want to sell you something that’s not good for you?”

Sadly, some people in powerful positions don’t care whether you’re making healthy choices; they care about making money. It is up to you to make the decisions that are best for your family. The beautiful thing about life is that we’re all different. My best won’t necessarily look like your best, and the only person you have to convince that you’re doing your best is you. I am not a trained nutritionist, and I don’t have a medical degree, but I do have a passion for learning and doing the best I can for my family.

I have come a long way in my crunchy journey, though not as far as Amy, who recently bought a family dairy cow. But I will buy raw milk from her so I can make a homemade version of a Pecan Mudslide. Remember, your journey won’t look the same as anyone else’s. Be open to learning some pretty weird things (why yes, there are benefits of drinking the leftover water from your boiled potatoes), but also know your limits and say no to the temptation to compare yourself with anyone else.

________

Adapted from Really Very Crunchy: A Beginner's Guide to Removing Toxins from Your Life without Adding Them to Your Personality, by Emily Morrow. Click here to learn more about this book.

Find your Inner Crunchy without becoming that person with this helpful guide from social media star Really Very Crunchy.

Are you tired of being bombarded by toxins at every turn? Do you want a more natural, "crunchy" approach to the world (with or without the beige aesthetic)? Well, grab your kombucha and join Emily Morrow on a journey to a more wholesome existence with Really Very Crunchy: A Beginner's Guide to Removing Toxins from Your Life without Adding Them to Your Personality.

Emily Morrow, creator of the viral "Really Very Crunchy" social media accounts, guides you through the ins and outs of starting and maintaining a crunchy lifestyle. With her signature humor and a delightfully sincere approach, she will show you how crunchy is a spectrum and how every little choice you make is one small step away from crunch-ifying your own life. From the basics of crunchy to the more advanced choices (beets instead of blush, anyone?), you will quickly say goodbye to toxic chemicals and hello to a healthier, happier way of living.

Funny, accessible, and encouraging—never judgmental or fear-based—Emily will help you:

• Learn how to make simple, mindful steps toward natural living
• Implement healthy, life-giving activities into your family's routine
• Navigate the challenges of adopting the crunchy way of life with sensible, easy-to-implement ideas
• Develop a new mindset when it comes to shopping for clothes, food, and cleaning products
• Discover natural remedies for just about everything

So what are you waiting for? Embrace your inner crunchy (or silky, if that's where you're starting) and dip your toes into a healthier, more sustainable life. Who knows? You may find out you're Really Very Crunchy after all.

Emily Morrow is the creator of Really Very Crunchy, a viral social media presence with more than two million followers. She and her husband, Jason, have traveled the world together, creating video content for the last fifteen years. Emily has a love of different cultures, people who think differently, and things that grow from the earth.