A bathroom is intended to be a space for cleansing, and relaxing; a room important to your overall health and well being. Why is it then that we use this room as a place to douse ourselves daily with over ten different chemical filled products (on average) and then proceed to swathe the rest of the space with other chemical-filled cleaning products? Beats us.
Take the rituals of the bathroom back to the basics. With a few changes, you can create a room that really is good for your health and in turn, kind to the environment.
Water go down the hole. Most household water consumption comes from the bathroom; whether you’re showering, taking a bath, flushing the toilet or brushing your teeth. Install a low-flow shower head, a low-flow faucet aerator and a dual flush toilet (or dual flush retrofit on your existing toilet) to cut down on your water consumption. Turn off the tap when brushing your teeth or shaving and watch for a dripping tap when you leave the room.
The Lucky Loo. Toilet paper is the only disposable item that should be found in your bathroom! Remember to recycle the rolls when they’re used up and buy toilet paper that is made from post-consumer recycled product. And no, we don’t believe in disposable, one time use, flushable toilet brushes.
Sparkling Surfaces. Vinegar and baking soda are truly the best cleaners you could use. Not only are they non-toxic, they are cheap! Vinegar doesn’t leave streaks on your mirrors and baking soda will remove scum found on the sides of your tub. Don’t snub it, until you rub it! There are also a myriad of green cleaners out there today but be careful of green washing. Read the fine print and if it’s the scent you’re looking for, find something that uses essential oils instead of perfumes.
Towels and Linens. For cleaning, use re-usable rags, brushes and microfiber cloths for glass. Microfiber is also great for removing eye make-up, just dab some water on a cloth and wipe, no product necessary, we swear! There are ‘biodegradable’ wipes out there, but avoid them if possible (they’re costly, packaged and still a waste). For drying off, look for towels made from organic cotton or bamboo. Bamboo is naturally anti-microbial so it’s great for a humid environment. Lastly, skip the cotton balls and makeup remover pads for a face cloth. It’s great for removing make-up and also naturally and gently exfoliates. Who would have thought?
Volatile Vinyl. If you need a new shower curtain steer clear of the PVC plastic. That new shower curtain smell is filled with chemicals that you breathe in every time you step into the room and even more when you’re in your steamy shower. Canada’s environmental defence hopes to ban PVC from all shower curtains for its health dangers including respiratory problems, kidney and liver damage and headaches. If you already have an old vinyl curtain, don’t worry, it has probably lost most of its toxins over time and isn’t a danger.
Let your skin glow. While green skincare is a topic in itself, it is a significant part of the bathroom ritual. Our skin absorbs whatever we put on it, so we are exposing our bodies to chemicals every time we lather up. No one really knows how certain chemicals affect us as time goes by, but if we can refrain from using so many, the safer we’ll be. More than 1,000 ingredients have been banned for use in cosmetics in the EU where only 10 of those are banned in the US. Keep it simple when cleansing and don’t get sucked in by advertising. Many cleansers and moisturizers have ingredients put into them just to make them sound like the best product out there, when really, the special ingredient either doesn’t do anything or is simply not concentrated enough to give a result. And if you can’t say it, don’t use it!
Sources: Planet Green, Don’t go to the Cosmetics Counter without me, Granville Magazine
