Note: This is a guest post from Redbudsuds fan and friend Caylie Mindling Grubbs. Caylie approached us this spring, asking if she could share her story. We said yes! We’ll be following Caylie and her hubby Joshua on their cross-country road trip as they travel and share their experiences with Redbudsuds and thoughtfully clean living on the road. Follow her on Instagram @cayligraphy #redbudroadtrip.
Caylie, tell us how you found out about Redbudsuds.
I’ve known Redbudsuds for a little over a year and a half now:
First, as a grateful and astounded customer with a nose ring that healed in record time (thank you, Kickass Lemongrass) and a clear face for the first time since well, puberty. In the past few months I started doing graphic design for Redbudsuds, at which time I was still oblivious to the full potential of the shower bar.
What have you learned about the shower bar and Redbudsuds that you were "oblivious" to before?
I really only jumped full in at the beginning of this year when my Suave shampoo ran out and I was mid-shower. Ah,what the hell, was my spurring thought on the path to Redbudsuds changing my shower--and then mindset--forever. Really inspirational, right?
I recycled my Suave bottles (you can’t switch to an environmentally friendly bar of soap and then not recycle your old bottles--literally, I dug them out of the trash) and within two weeks, my husband did the same. We’ve been a one-bar family for a few months now and it is AWESOME.
An unexpected ripple effect occurred from that Extra Medar Cedar bar. I didn’t just recycle the old shampoo bottles, I started recycling throughout the rest of my house--and my housemates began to follow suit. I carpooled and walked as much as I could. My husband and I started thinking about where we buy items and where they came from. We are making an effort to make educated decisions in our everyday life.
Which is why when we started planning a two-and-a-half month cross-country road trip, it became important to us to immerse ourselves in the idea of Leave No Trace, or at least as little of an impact as we could. Both of us are still newbies and still learning about how this all works but that’s part of the adventure, right?
We’re taking our eager minds and Redbudsuds bars of soap on the road this summer--Ohio to the West Coast and back. An estimated 150 hours on the road and 9,633 miles under our tires. There will be a lot of pit stops, a lot of detours, and a lot of lessons learned.
How can we follow your adventures with the shower bar?
We’ll be checking in a few times to share our thoughts from our station wagon (Swaggin’ Waggon), but to come along with us, search the hashtag #redbudroadtrip (bonus level: we’ll be sharing more of the unfiltered moments on our Instagram stories, so follow the accounts that check in at #redbudroadtrip to really feel like you’re a part of the adventure).
Talk to you soon!
Caylie & Joshua
In a few weeks, we'll hear a mid-summer update on how things are going for Caylie and Josh. Don't miss it.
Wondering what Thoughtfully Clean Field Notes are all about? Read the first post here.
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Thoughtfully yours,
Lisa