I’m not interested in those who disagree with my stance, I’m looking for kind helpful ways to express myself honestly.

We eat organic, we buy organic clothing for our children, we don’t have nasty chemicals in our home...

... people who know us know this, but for the most part, they don’t seem to care.

How we can we express, ahead of time the following without sounding rude:

“Please don’t buy us clothing with nasty dyes or cheap plastic toys, because we will not use them, they will only be donated. We don’t expect a gift from you at all, and genuinely appreciate the thought, but please respect our lifestyle.”

Anyone else in the same boat?

EDIT TO ADD: if you read again, you’ll see that I’m specifically labelling dyes & chemicals as nasty, not the items themselves. I’m not being judgmental about how others choose to live. And cheap plastics isn’t referring to me only liking expensive toys, it’s referring to what I am comfortable with my child putting in her mouth 🙂 I didn’t censor my vocab here as much as I would when actually talking with friends and family.

If you take the time to research what is actually in cleaning products or dyes etc you’ll see that they are downright nasty and harmful. Not from a snobby point of view, rather from a toxic harmful point of view.

Inorganic cotton is one of the crops that is most highly sprayed with chemicals... then add to that toxic dyes and flame retardants and you’ve got a lovely chemical cocktail that will seep into your child’s skin.

It’s truly not a “I feel better than other people” choice AT ALL - it’s a “I want the choices I make to reflect the kind of planet/future I want to leave my children.

To be honest it’s hard! It’s expensive and restrictive, but it’s the conviction we live by.