By Beth Ann Knowles, BSc, P.T.S., N.W.SWhat is wrong with you? You know who you are. You ruined my walk on the beach this morning. I took the dogs for some fresh air but everywhere I turned I kept seeing your tampon applicators! I bet you didn’t think they would end up on your local beach a few weeks after you flushed them. I can’t even imagine the pile of pads you are contributing to the landfill each month.
“About 12 billion pads and 7 billion tampons are used once and tossed in the trash each and every year in the U.S. alone!...Horrifically, tampon applicators and other plastics were found in the stomachs of Hawaiian Laysan albatross chicks that had died in their nests.” (Ecoholic, Vasil, A., 2007, p. 54) You can help prevent this. You can cut down or even eliminate your monthly menstrual product contribution to landfills. Options include tampons and pads made from certified organic non-chlorine-bleached cotton and biodegradable plant-based bioplastic. You can also try out reusable cloth pads, sustainably harvested sponges, and my personal favourite...reusable cups. For convenience, comfort, and cost-effectiveness, I choose reusable cups. I bought The Keeper in 2000 and replaced it only recently with The Diva Cup. In almost 10 years I’ve spent only about $100 and contributed no waste!
And what’s with this fancy thick toilet paper, paper towel, and facial tissue? Does your toilet paper really need to be scented? Does there really need to be designs in your paper towel? Did you know there was a time before facial tissue? It is amazing how many trees, forests, chemicals, and waste go into ensuring we all have extra-cushy disposable paper with which to clean up spills and wipe away our bodily excretions. Why are we cutting down our precious and vital forests for this?
There are options for us however; and they don’t have to involve wiping our bottoms with the pages of old catalogues. As far as toilet paper goes, “[i]f each household in Canada switched just one roll of the virgin bleached stuff with one roll of the recycled kind, we’d save almost 48,000 trees and prevent 4,500 kilograms of the air and water pollution that comes from making it.” (Ecoholic, Vasil, A., 2007, p. 157) Be savvy when choosing a brand and be sure to select one that uses at least 80% post-consumer content.
Why do you even need to use paper towel to clean up a spill? I’m sure you have old rags or dish clothes/towels that have seen better days. Why not keep these under your sink and use them to clean up your messes?
“Back before disposable tissues, a cloth handkerchief was up everyone’s sleeve. In fact, its replacement, Kleenex facial tissues, had trouble catching on until 1926, when they were peddled under the catchy new slogan ‘Don’t carry a cold in your pocket.’ Wouldn’t you know it, germ-phobia took hold, and 80 years later, the thought of a reusable cloth hanky makes most of us wince.” (Ecoholic, Vasil, Al, 2007, p. 168)
Let’s step out of the cushiony five-ply bubble we all live in and ‘rough it’ a bit. Just a few days even. You might discover that your bottom can in fact survive wipings with one- and two-ply tissue; and your nose will not fall off if you don’t use facial tissue ‘infused’ with scents and lotions. I know you can do this...we can all do this. If not, how will we ever survive the guilt of wiping out Canada’s boreal forests for the sake of our pampered tushies and killing off animal species by choking them with our tampon applicators?
About the Author:
Beth Ann has a degree in Sciences from Dalhousie University and is a Personal Trainer and Nutrition and Wellness Specialist. Additionally, Beth Ann has a personal interest in holistic wellness and sustainable environmental practices and enjoys being the Canadian Sales Manager for Naturally Nova Scotia Health Products.
“About 12 billion pads and 7 billion tampons are used once and tossed in the trash each and every year in the U.S. alone!...Horrifically, tampon applicators and other plastics were found in the stomachs of Hawaiian Laysan albatross chicks that had died in their nests.” (Ecoholic, Vasil, A., 2007, p. 54) You can help prevent this. You can cut down or even eliminate your monthly menstrual product contribution to landfills. Options include tampons and pads made from certified organic non-chlorine-bleached cotton and biodegradable plant-based bioplastic. You can also try out reusable cloth pads, sustainably harvested sponges, and my personal favourite...reusable cups. For convenience, comfort, and cost-effectiveness, I choose reusable cups. I bought The Keeper in 2000 and replaced it only recently with The Diva Cup. In almost 10 years I’ve spent only about $100 and contributed no waste!
And what’s with this fancy thick toilet paper, paper towel, and facial tissue? Does your toilet paper really need to be scented? Does there really need to be designs in your paper towel? Did you know there was a time before facial tissue? It is amazing how many trees, forests, chemicals, and waste go into ensuring we all have extra-cushy disposable paper with which to clean up spills and wipe away our bodily excretions. Why are we cutting down our precious and vital forests for this?
There are options for us however; and they don’t have to involve wiping our bottoms with the pages of old catalogues. As far as toilet paper goes, “[i]f each household in Canada switched just one roll of the virgin bleached stuff with one roll of the recycled kind, we’d save almost 48,000 trees and prevent 4,500 kilograms of the air and water pollution that comes from making it.” (Ecoholic, Vasil, A., 2007, p. 157) Be savvy when choosing a brand and be sure to select one that uses at least 80% post-consumer content.
Why do you even need to use paper towel to clean up a spill? I’m sure you have old rags or dish clothes/towels that have seen better days. Why not keep these under your sink and use them to clean up your messes?
“Back before disposable tissues, a cloth handkerchief was up everyone’s sleeve. In fact, its replacement, Kleenex facial tissues, had trouble catching on until 1926, when they were peddled under the catchy new slogan ‘Don’t carry a cold in your pocket.’ Wouldn’t you know it, germ-phobia took hold, and 80 years later, the thought of a reusable cloth hanky makes most of us wince.” (Ecoholic, Vasil, Al, 2007, p. 168)
Let’s step out of the cushiony five-ply bubble we all live in and ‘rough it’ a bit. Just a few days even. You might discover that your bottom can in fact survive wipings with one- and two-ply tissue; and your nose will not fall off if you don’t use facial tissue ‘infused’ with scents and lotions. I know you can do this...we can all do this. If not, how will we ever survive the guilt of wiping out Canada’s boreal forests for the sake of our pampered tushies and killing off animal species by choking them with our tampon applicators?
About the Author:
Beth Ann has a degree in Sciences from Dalhousie University and is a Personal Trainer and Nutrition and Wellness Specialist. Additionally, Beth Ann has a personal interest in holistic wellness and sustainable environmental practices and enjoys being the Canadian Sales Manager for Naturally Nova Scotia Health Products.
2 comments:
I am convinced! I just recently started using the shamwow towels, which are also a great replacement for paper towels. This morning I washed my dishes, wiped the oil out of my wok, hand-washed the cloth, rung it out, then dried my hands. All with the same cloth. And it smelled fresh after I rinsed it. As for the Diva cup, I am convinced!! I will try it. Thanks you for getting the point across...
This covers all the bases = saves you money, helps the environment, helps your health, makes you feel better, it's so easy to do and it costs less than $50.00; Save money and the Earth and be clean at the same time! Add Bathroom Bidet Sprayers to all your bathrooms. I think Dr. Oz on Oprah said it best: "if you had pee or poop on your hand, you wouldn't wipe it off with paper, would you? You'd wash it off” Available at http://www.bathroomsprayers.com with these you won't even need toilet paper any more, just a towel to dry off! Don’t worry, you can still leave some out for guests and can even make it the soft stuff without felling guilty. It's cheap and can be installed without a plumber; and runs off the same water line to your toilet. You'll probably pay for it in a few months of toilet paper savings. And after using one of these you won't know how you lasted all those years with wadded up handfuls of toilet paper. As for water use a drought is always a concern and must be dealt far exceed the water use of household users and in the case of toilet paper manufacture it is huge. The pollution and significant power use from that manufacturing process also contributes to global warming so switching to a hand bidet sprayer and lowering your toilet paper use is very green in multiple ways. Blog; THE BUTT OF TOO MANY JOKES;http://jeff9.livejournal.com/1603.html
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