Green hair

Last year for Christmas, my mom got me 2007 edition of The Best American Science and Nature Writing. In it is a stunning piece by Susan Casey about our plastic ocean.  She writes, "A vast swath of the Pacific, twice the size of Texas, is full of a plastic stew that is entering the food chain. Scientists say these toxins are causing obesity, infertility...and worse."  The online version of the piece has some photos of the heartbreaking effects plastics are having on animals--a turtle whose shell has been grossly deformed by the constraints of a plastic band, a dead seabird with a stomach full of plastic.  Casey writes that every year, each of us throws away about 185 pounds of plastic and that in 2005 the US alone produced about 120 billion pounds of plastic.  Unfortunately, both numbers are increasing and only a small percent of the plastic created gets recycled (partly because a lot of plastic doesn't recycle well or at all and partly because a lot of it just gets tossed and ends up elsewhere, like the ocean).

After I read that article, I vowed to get serious about using less plastic.  Besides the obvious ways like bringing my insulated mug with me everywhere (doubles as a water bottle and coffee cup, not to mention a replacement for plastic cups at events, on planes, etc.), switching to reusable shopping bags, skipping those clear plastic bags for produce, and cutting back on bottled soft drinks, I'm also trying out a shampoo bar as a way to reduce the number of shampoo bottles I go through.

Depicts two million plastic beverage bottles, the number used in the US every five minutes..  From Intolerable Beauty:  Portraits of American Mass Consumption by photographic artist Chris Jordan.

Right now I'm using a bar by Burt's Bees that I like, though I will likely switch to a brand that is not owned by Clorox for my next bar.  And to a product that fares better on Environmental Working Group's (EWG) Skin Deep:  Cosmetic Safety Database.  I just discovered Skin Deep and really like it because it also includes whether the product was tested on animals.  (Now, if only they'd include some information on the environmental impacts of the product, like the carbon created, and the sustainability of the manufacturing processes, I'd love the site... doesn't seem like too much to ask of an organization called Environmental Working Group.) Anyway, EWG rates the shampoo bar 4 out of 10, or moderately hazardous, because it contains ingredients linked to cancer, reproductive problems, allergies, and other health problems.  I did a quick search of other shampoo bars on the market and there are oodles and oodles that EWG rates as posing a low threat to human health, including all-purpose bars that can be used as soap and shampoo.  The bar came in a small cardboard box, but I've seen shampoo bar with just a little bit of plastic wrap or a band of cardboard, so I think it's possible to do better on that front, too.  I think it's also possible to eschew packaging altogether at places like Lush that just slice the bar off a larger bar (though it's probably not a bad idea to bring a reusable soap container or an old bag to keep the bar from rubbing off on other things on the trip home).

 

It was a little weird getting used to a shampoo bar at first, mainly because it leaves my hair feeling a little bit waxy when I rinse (for that reason, I still use regular shampoo every other washing).  I have thick, curly hair and find the bar leaves my hair a bit more manageable and maybe a little less dry (the jury's still out).  Other than that, shampoo in a bar is basically the same as shampoo in a bottle--it lathers the same and my hair feels the same when it's dry.  At a little less than $5, it's also cheaper by a couple of bucks than Burt's bottled shampoos and I would imagine other shampoo bars are also cheaper than the bottled equivalent.  I've had the bar for about a month and still have most of the bar left, so I think it will last as long, if not longer, than a bottle of shampoo.  Additional perks:  it's lighter to pack, can be carried on a plane (and won't explode all over everything as my shampoo always seems to do), takes less energy to ship without all that water, and takes up less room in the shower.

Because I'm a firm believer that buying more stuff isn't the answer to most environmental problems (though buying different stuff can help), I'm also going to cut back on how much I wash my hair in general.  Last year I tried the Curly Girl method, which calls for skipping shampoo and just washing with conditioner to keep from overdrying curly hair.  They also suggest skipping the blow dryer for the same reason (not a problem for me... I've never had the patience to dry my hair), but still a good idea for saving some time and electricity.  When I tried skipping shampoo, my curls looked better, but my scalp felt itchy, so I ended up shampooing after about four days.  They say it takes about two weeks for hair to really adjust, though, so I may try it again.  People lived for most of human history without shampoo and most people in the world today wash their hair far less than once a day with no problems (and probably healthier hair), so I think the main hurdle will be getting over the feeling that I need to wash my hair every day with shampoo.  And if I can't, I'll still have my shampoo bar to fall back on.

Next thing to try:  conditioner bars.