eco bathroom

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Why buy a PVC free shower curtain?

October 23, 2009 in Green Your Home by Jennifer | No comments

You know that icky plastic smell that fills the bathroom when you get a new shower curtain liner or basic curtain? That’s PVC. Polyvinyl chloride or PVC is very hard to recycle and most products made with bunches of it end up in the landfills. However, finding a recycling center to take PVC products off your hands should be the least of your concerns.

PVC leeches like mad from products containing it. The soil and water near factories who make this stuff are terribly polluted, but it’s further reaching then this. If your child chews on a toy with PVC phthalates can jump right into in his system. If you have a shower curtain made with PVC, it’s in your home. PVC contains many more harmful chemicals then phthalates though including lead, cadmium, and/or organotins, which can be toxic to your health.

Dioxins are another baddie of PVC; given off when you make or burn PVC products. Dioxins are an environmental pollutant linked to skin lesions, such as chloracne and patchy darkening of the skin, and altered liver function. Long-term exposure is linked to impairment of the immune system, the developing nervous system, the endocrine system and reproductive functions. Fun!

Worse, PVC is very hard to escape. It’s in all sorts of products you use each day. That’s why starting with your shower curtain is a good plan. It’s easy and a good way to NOT support PVC products.

Find a PVC free shower curtain:

How To Choose Greener Body Products

February 24, 2009 in Healthy Green Home, Reduce, Reuse, & Recycle by Jennifer | 4 comments

When considering how to green your home, it pays to check out your bathroom habits. Body care products can cramp your green style in a major way, such as…

  • Many cosmetics and body care items are tested on animals.
  • Many of these products are over-packaged and often their packaging can’t even be properly recycled.
  • Most contain chemicals, artificial colors, weird fragrances, and more that you don’t need on your body or let out into our water supply.
  • Many antiperspirants contain aluminum salts; which yes makes them work (they clog your pores – thus blocking icky smells) but they’ve also been linked to health problems like Alzheimer’s.

To green up your beauty & body care routine try the following… Read the rest of this entry »

Green Toilet Paper Tips

October 29, 2008 in Green Your Home, Reduce, Reuse, & Recycle, Save Money by Jennifer | No comments

Green toilet paper has many pros, and one major con. The con – cost. Recycled toilet paper is a lot more than basic toilet paper; especially if you have a large family and go through many rolls a week. We’ll look at how you can save money further down. First the pros…

Green toilet paper pros:

Green toilet paper is actually recycled toilet paper. Seventh Generation, one manufacturer of 100% Recycled Bathroom Tissue, notes that if every home in America replaced one 12 pack of 400 sheet virgin fiber toilet paper with 100% recycled we could save 1.7 billion gallons of water annually and more than 1,000,000 trees. Also purchasing recycled toilet paper can reduce overall pollution and drastically reduces the chemicals in the environment and on our skin, (there’s chlorine in normal toilet paper).

What to look for in green toilet paper:

  • Chlorine free.
  • Made from 80-100% recycled content.
  • No added dyes or fragrances.
  • Safe for low-flow toilets.

How to save money on recycled toilet paper:

Seventh Generation offers coupons for their recycled toilet paper and other products. They change periodically though, so you have to stay tuned to their site.

Buy in bulk – places like Amazon.com and warehouse stores sell bigger packs of recycled toilet paper for less.

Look at size. Many recycled rolls have more squares than typical toilet paper, so the initial sticker shock may be uncalled for. Although this depends on brands.

Order online direct from a company vs. buying in a store. Check with various companies to see if you can get a deal for buying a lot at one time. Go in on the purchase with another family.

Places to buy recycled toilet paper

Read some green toilet paper reviews

What Uses Up the Most Water in Your House?

October 19, 2008 in Furniture & Appliances, Water by Jennifer | No comments

In most older houses the answer to this question is… The toilet.

Regular old toilets used to use a ton of water – up to seven gallons per flush. If you’ve remodeled your old house bathroom, or bought a brand new house it’s likely you have a new toilet, and that’s good news because newer toilets use far less water per flush (usually less than 2 gallons).

Options for older toilets… And by old, I do mean old. Models since the mid 90s have used less water. If you have a toilet older than say 1995 or so, that’s when you need to be concerned.

Replace it: Your best option, hands down is to replace your older toilet for a nice new model. You can upwards of 2000 gallons of water per year by changing out your toilet. Preferably you want to get a dual-flush model (available in the U.S. from Kohler and Caroma U.S.A), a water sense approved model, or an ultra low-flush. There are also some nice composting and waterless toilets available, which will save you even more money and water.

Besides water, there’s that additionally bonus that a water efficient toilet will save you lots of cash over the years. Costs to buy and install a new toilet (or 2 or 3) can seem high, but you’ll get back that money quickly. Visit Conserve Water Utah, to see a list of water efficient toilets.
Read the rest of this entry »

Hemp Shower Curtain

October 12, 2008 in Decor, Green Your Home by Jennifer | No comments

Each little green step you take adds up to a whole bunch of green living perks. Even something as small as your choice of a shower curtain can make a difference. With all the dangers of PVC, you’ll want to look for a PVC-free Shower Curtain Liner. If you can’t find a decent PVC-free liner, a second choice is to choose a shower curtain that needs no liner at all.

For example, a Hemp Shower Curtain can be used sans liner. Hemp is not only naturally resistant to bacteria and mold, but hemp is a sustainable, easily renewed crop. If you have a well-ventilated bathroom a hemp shower curtain will work fine for your shower – just remember to wash it every few weeks.

The Hemp Shower Curtain from are naturals, is made from 100% natural hemp canvas, is a tight weave for leak protection, and is machine washable; a much better choice than having a vinyl liner.