Short Quick Plastic-Saving Tip

Pardon me while I get the smell of bleach out of my nose. I hate bleach and I try to avoid using it, but one bottle a year isn't really that much, I suppose, considering.

But I digress. In between my bleach-fest in the bathroom, I revitalized my vinyl shower curtain instead of throwing its nasty-ass away and getting a new one. It's so funny how we just discard those and get new ones when they get gross. Which they do. Often. Since I really can't stand the smell of bleach and bleach-based mildew cleaning products, my shower curtain suffers.

You don't have to replace them all the time. That's a lot of plastic waste. Just toss it in the washing machine. This can be done multiple times with the same curtain before it really just wears out. Toss it in on gentle cycle with white vinegar. That will also be great to ... er ... well, for lack of a better term, douche your washing machine too. It'll come out a little wrinkly but nice and clean and ready to go.

It doesn't matter that they are cheap to replace. It isn't a big deal if they don't look as crisp right afterwards. What matters is it's clean and functional and you didn't toss something.

These aren't getting recycled, no one reuses them, they just go. Let's have them go a little less frequently. And before someone blathers that it's a waste of water, think about the waste of resources that went into making it from scratch, and shut up.

Hugs!!!!

Wasting Water is Weird

Have you seen this ad campaign? Here's the gist: "Wasting water is weird. It really is when you think about it—and that’s the problem. We don’t. You see, there’s this moment when using water becomes wasting water. That’s when things start getting weird. But don’t take our word for it. Just watch Rip..."


http://www.wastingwaterisweird.com/


I couldn't have actually said it better myself. I love these ads. They are so true. We don't think about it. We don't think about it at all. Why is that?

Is it because water usage is so far removed from the water bill? If there were a little meter ringing up dollar signs on your faucet, would you pay closer attention? Should we start doing that? Is it too easy to turn on the faucet and zone out? Why do we take this precious resource for granted so badly?


I never complain about rain, because I know I use water, and, duh, it needs replenished. Rain means clean. Rain means life. Rain should be captured and returned to the Earth, not collected just to run off uselessly to the ocean, like it does here in Los Angeles. Flowers bloom, grasses bloom, dog-pee smells get washed away when it rains. Do you take a shower? Flush a toilet? Then trust me, you want it to rain sometimes. Next time someone complains about rain to you, tell them that they smell pretty good for someone who never showers. 


So I love this campaign and I love Rip the Drip and I hope more people see this. If just a few people think a little bit more about it, and make other people think just a little more about it... well, maybe then we won't be AS screwed as we probably will be anyway. Maybe not as soon. 


Eh. Maybe. Pass it around anyway. 

Big Oil and Big Corp Out of My Life

Big oil is all over our lives in ways we rarely realize. Petroleum products abound in the most subversive places. Just look in your shower: petroleum in your shampoo bottles AND your shampoo. Big corporations that care nothing for the environment make your liquid soap in more plastic bottles. Disposable razors. Scrubbie poufs of plastic. That little tiny area in your bathroom is full of the worst of it, when you stop to think about it. Forget the rest of that room; the shower has enough horrors. Right down to the toxic chemical cleaners you use to clean it, the detergents on your towels, the frequency with which you wash said towels... (Seriously, anyone who uses a towel ONCE and puts it in the wash needs to leave the planet. Seriously. If you know someone like this, please feel free to push them off during the next rotation.)

I feel pretty good about my shower area. I've done away with shampoo and conditioner, having replaced them with baking soda and apple cider vinegar, neither of which come in plastic containers. I will NOT use liquid bath soap. I'm not sure why this particular product is so incredibly popular.  (Please tell me if you know!) Full of petroleum products and other chemicals. And fake fragrances. I've thought about it, and really I can't see why bar soap is not just plain good enough. It's surely cheaper. We do pay a little more for ours, because we just love Dr. Bronner's Castile Soap in bar form, especially in tea tree or peppermint. We are OK paying a little more for this all-natural soap because, frankly, we are saving so much not buying shampoo that it's basically a wash. (HAH! No pun intended.)  I make sure to use a razor that only replaces the head. I use them forever, and I've had the same handle for, I think, 4 years now. That comes out to be cheaper than the disposables, too. I use a natural loofah instead of a scrubbie-pouf. Those bug me. They work great with liquid soap, I suppose, but, see above. And I've done away with moisturizers in plastic containers with suspect ingredients: I have a little container in my shower with a bit of olive oil. I put some on my face after washing it, and the remaining time in the shower lets it sink in SO nicely. Turns out I really don't need to spend $20+ on something that only sort of works. Thank you, Mother Nature. Hugs.

So, I feel pretty good. I am not giving money to companies like SC Johnson and Dow; instead supporting the smaller companies. I am not throwing away countless plastic bottles every year. And I am not using petroleum on my hair and body. What can you do?

It's the little victories. And they add up.

***Aside anecdote: I have a few little hotel bottles on the sill of my shower window for just-in-case times. (And because I prefer to eventually slowly use them than throw them out!) I recently had surgery, and one of those very same just-in-case times came up: I dropped the soap, and could not bend over to pick it up! Ack! No worries - I used the liquid soap from the little sill-bottle. HOLY CRAP did that stuff dry out my never-dry skin. I love being given irrefutable evidence that I am doing the right thing. Nice reinforcement. But luckily I can bend over again, in case I drop my Dr. Bronners again. Shew.