Bubble Trouble

Whoever would have thought that something as gentle and soft sounding as baby wash could not only harm the environment but increase your carbon footprint, contribute to global warming, dirty the water and maybe, just maybe, cause cancer.

We know that all processed and over manufactured products have large carbon footprints because they use synthetic materials that take time and precious resources to make. Manufacturers produce their products either at a low wage in unhealthy conditions or abroad, hiding their pollution and chemical use on foreign soils. Elaborate processing takes place to make multi syllabic chemicals into pink fluffy bubbles that smell nice. Processing release carbon, carbon overheats the planet. Overheating causes global warming. Global warming melts the glaciers. Melting glaciers change the natural environment and threaten all our lives.

All for a bit of bubble in the bath tub.

Personally I think if you want to buy this type of bubble bath, shampoo or soap (anything that bubbles and is not certified organic) you should consider buying a carbon credit for every bottle. This stuff is harmless looking poison. Let me get off my green soap box and explain.

Traditional shampoos and their chemical make-ups come under very vague USDA guidelines which pretty much state that the beauty industry (hair treatments, makeup, facial scrubs that sort of thing) is capable of self regulation. Sorta kinda make sense because who would buy something full of dangerous untested chemicals? Well if it’s by a brand we’ve trusted since we were kids, or a family tradition, or worst of all, on sale at the local made anywhere but here mart, we would. We as a nation are only just starting to buy smart, to read labels and realize what we bring into our homes.

It’s called sodium lauryl sulfate or SLS and it’s the stuff that makes the bubbles in our shampoos and baby wash and bubble bath and…well you get the point.

I’m not making this up. Just go in the bathroom and look at the ingredients listed on the back of your shampoo. Even better, grab a traditional shampoo and a certified organic shampoo off the store shelf and compare the ingredients. You’ll soon see that shampoo that cleans and softens your hair (and even has bubbles) can be produced using organic products in sustainable packaging printed with soy inks that doesn’t have the potential to kill you with long term use do exist. Look for some scary ingredients such as formaldehyde (the stuff they use on dead things), parabens (toxins), dioxane, diethanolamine (DEA) and the ever dubious sounding “fragrance.”

Yes it’s a bit more expensive than the old stuff. That’s because in our currently skewed world, chemicals are cheaper than plants. But is not outrageous and the more who buy the cheaper it will get. We the consumers control what gets produced and what falls out of favor.

Plant based products release oxygen into the air and reduce the amount of carbon dioxide in the environment. They make your hair feel wonderful (I can testify to this fact) and if you have a small child, you don’t have to worry at bath time that you might be poisoning your child (I can also testify to that).

Piece of mind? Priceless.

Now go buy some carbon credits and change shampoos. The planet thanks you.