July 2018.
Summertime brings us outdoor adventures. Be it camping, hiking, biking, swimming and being in nature. It’s so helpful to include tea tree in your first aid kit.
Some of the outdoor uses for tea tree
*Blisters
*fire ant bites
* Insect bites and stings
*Poison ivy/poison oak/poison sumac
*Sand fleas
*Splinters
*Sprains
*Sunburn
*Ticks
A letter from a Camper on Use of Tea Tree Oil
As an avid rafter and camper, I have found Australian tea tree oil to be indispensable on many yearly outings. Not only do I use it for the typical scrapes, sunburns, muscle soreness and abrasions that go along with this lifestyle, I also use it for personal hygiene as well.
Any person who spends time camping, etc. with a group of people, is aware of the absolute necessity of antiseptic measures ritual under these circumstances. We all share a portable toilet, and we all take turns cooking.
If proper care is not taken in the area of personal cleanliness everyone can suffer, and the trip can be ruined. Therefore, it is imperative that each time one uses the toilet, one immediately uses an antibacterial hand wash. I add 15-20 drops of tea tree oil to each ounce of liquid soap, such as Dr. Bronner’s, and put it by the portable commode that is required when camping in National Forests. In this concentration it is known to kill 99% of bacteria on contact, and is ENVIRONMENTALLY SAFE to rivers, streams, fauna and flora.
Long ago, I quit using store- bought antibacterial soaps. I just found out their active ingredient was a compound of AGENT ORANGE.
Also, I never felt comfortable about the use of chlorine as a disinfectant in dish water, as the typical protocols for dumping this water back into the river. I have found that using tea tree oil as an alternative, is effective and safe for the environment.
I add 5 drops of tea tree oil to each ounce of dish soap, and 20-30 drops of tea tree oil to a regular size bucket of river water for rinse. This disinfects cutting boards, kitchen utensils, etc.
Australian tea tree oil is not only a ‘first aid kit in a bottle,’ but an environmentally safe and effective agent for disinfectant use in the wild.”
~ Cindy Harrison, Pagosa Springs, Colorado