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You may be able to bathe without soap, and can use a minimal amount for washing your hands. (Emily, Flickr)

By Linda Foss

Laundry Detergent and Clothing Care

You aren’t supposed to fill those caps. There are lines inside showing the amount the manufacturer recommends, and that is often still more than you need.  More is not better. Too much detergent reduces cleaning power and is leaves residue in your clothes. Try throwing a few of your towels into the wash without soap and see how much suds form.

Choose phosphate free detergents. Phosphates are causing harmful algae overgrowth in our waterways. Most of it comes from fertilizer, but chemicals used in the home are not helping. Try making your own eco-safe laundry soap or use alternatives such as soapberry nuts. Spot treat potential stains promptly and reduce the amount of detergent used in the rest of the load.

Don’t wash things that don’t need to be washed. Washing damages fibers and fades clothes. Hang things to air and wear again.

Antibacterial Hand Soaps

Antibacterial soaps are creating resistant germs.  And antibacterial or not, more is not better when it comes to hand washing or bathing.  What kills germs is the friction and the duration, not being doused in soap.  Wash for as long as it takes you to sing Happy Birthday twice, and be sure to get your nails.

Consider if you really need to use soap on the rest of your body. It’s not required. You are just stripping away the natural moisturizing oils. And alkaline soaps alter the natural acidity of the surface of your skin that protects you from bacteria and other microbes.  Why strip away these oils and apply moisturizers after?  The heat of the bath is going to do that as well, so don’t make it worse. I can’t sleep unless I’ve bathed, but I stopped bathing with soap two years ago and it still amazes me how much softer my skin is.  I’m just not that dirty most days.  If you aren’t, then you don’t need soap either.

Other Tips

Makeup can be removed with oils. There are commercially available cleansing oils, but plain old jojoba, almond oil, and even the olive oil you use for cooking work as well.  Check out this demonstation of the oil cleansing method.

Toothpaste

You are supposed to use a pea-sized amount, not the brush length swirl used in ad campaigns. Toothpastes are full of things that should not be digested and less toothpaste means less to accidentally ingest.  And, as with handwashing, duration is what gets your teeth clean.

© 2012 SCGH, LLC. 

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31 Bit Designs is a socially minded business designed to give internally displaced women in Northern Uganda an opportunity to counter poverty. (Courtesy of: 31 Bits.com)

Blog post by Erika F. Washington
November 24, 2011

Admittedly it can seem difficult to stay in an eco-friendly state of mind during the holiday season with the rush of sales and Black Friday approaching at high speed. Today, more than ever, however, we need to celebrate what we have and protect it by being conscious of what our actions can do to the earth.

Before you grab “the greatest deal,” think about whether the true costs are accounted for in the sticker price—for example, the environmental costs of producing and transporting the product, your costs to drive from shop to shop in traffic. Many consumers out there are supporting the OCCUPYXMAS or Buy Nothing Day. And it is true that if stores did not open at midnight Friday morning or stay open late to satisfy the rush of hungry consumers, we undoubtedly would save energy and natural resources, but this to me doesn’t seem like a successful protest. Black Friday has been around much too long, and the powers behind it spend a lot of money pushing for this to be the American way.

Instead of protesting against the idea of shopping at un-godly hours, let’s focus on shopping smarter and not lose sight of the ultimate goal. Businesses that are completely conscious of the earth, creator, and consumer are not as hard to find as many think. A host of Web sites and boutiques offer vegan, organic, and fair-trade products.

Here are a few to start your shopping season off:

31 Bit Designs is a socially minded business designed to give internally displaced women in Northern Uganda an opportunity to counter poverty. Beautiful beaded jewelry pieces are all hand strung with love and care. The program equips women by providing literacy education, financial and vocational training, holistic care, and strong support systems, empowering individuals to further their careers and attain social equity.

How we define “style” is shifting with the growing awareness of pollution, deforestation, global warming, and resource depletion. Cri de Coeur, a completely animal-free shoe company, seeks to educate people about a vegan lifestyle. Its philosophical mission states that the company believes that “taking personal responsibility for not only what goes inside our bodies but for what we put on the outside of our bodies is crucial to our survival.”

Coyuchi sells not only sheets, towels, baby bedding, pajamas, and robes but a whole host of home textiles rooted in nature. The signature bedding is made from 100-percent certified organic cotton. All of its cotton products are certified to the Global Organic Textile Standard (GOTS) and produced using fair–labor practices.

Rosie Hippo sells handcrafted wooden toys and toys made from organic fabrics. Its toys come from individuals, companies, villages, and cooperatives around the world. All of the toys are produced under conditions that are fair to workers and kind to the environment.

While shopping for the ones we love, we must keep in mind that we all occupytheearth so don’t just be “eco-friendly.” Love it—by respecting it.

© 2011 SCGH, LLC.

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Leading health and parents’ groups asked Johnson & Johnson to reformulate its baby shampoo to remove a chemical that releases formaldehyde. (Wikicommons)

By Erika F. Washington
November 16, 2011

More than two years ago, leading health and parents’ groups asked Johnson & Johnson to reformulate its baby shampoo to remove a chemical that releases formaldehyde, a known carcinogen. The company still is using the formaldehyde-releasing ingredient in its baby shampoo sold in the United States, while making formaldehyde-free versions of the shampoo in several other countries, according to a new analysis conducted by the Campaign for Safe Cosmetics.

“Clearly there is no need for Johnson & Johnson to expose babies to a known carcinogen when the company is already making safer alternatives. All babies deserve safer products,” says Lisa Archer, director of the Campaign for Safe Cosmetics at the Breast Cancer Fund.

A carcinogen is any substance known to cause cancer. The International Agency for Research on Cancer has classified some 60 substances as probably or definitely carcinogenic to humans. Formaldehyde was recently added to the U.S. government list of known human carcinogens by the National Toxicology Program, under the Department of Health and Human Services. Formaldehyde and quaternium-15 are also potent allergens that can trigger rashes and other skin inflammation problems.

For its new analysis, Baby’s Tub Is Still Toxic, the Campaign for Safe Cosmetics purchased bottles of Johnson & Johnson’s baby shampoo sold in 13 countries to the Campaign’s home office to see if the products contained quaternium-15, a chemical preservative that kills bacteria by releasing formaldehyde.

The baby shampoo sold in the United States, Australia, Canada, China, and Indonesia contains quaternium-15, while its formulas sold in Denmark, Finland, Japan, the Netherlands, Norway, South Africa, Sweden and the U.K. contain non-formaldehyde preservatives. The difference is perhaps due to the lack of laws regulating toxins in cosmetics and personal products in the former countries, particularly the United States.

Johnson & Johnson launched a new “natural” version of baby shampoo that does not contain chemicals associated with formaldehyde. The original Johnson& Johnson’s baby shampoo, however, which is priced at about one-half the cost of the new “natural” shampoo, has not been reformulated for the U.S. market.

Johnson & Johnson then released a statement saying it is no longer introducing new products with formaldehyde-releasing preservatives and that it has reduced its use of the chemical by 60 percent in the U.S. market and 33 percent globally over the past few years.

“We know that some consumers are concerned about formaldehyde, which is why we offer many products without formaldehyde-releasing preservatives, and are phasing out these types of preservatives in our baby products worldwide,” reads the statement on Johnson & Johnson’s Web site.

Johnson & Johnson’s questionable baby shampoo still is on the shelves and, unfortunately, it is far from the only questionable personal care product.

© 2011 SCGH, LLC. 

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Chico bag starter kit offered by Greenfeet. (Courtesy of Greenfeet)

By Debra Atlas

Online retailers generally are not known for great customer service. Instead, they build their reputation on offering quality products and prompt delivery, and many carry a variety of eco-friendly or sustainable products.

(Photo courtesy of Greenfeet.)

One online retailer has figured out how to put all this together. Bucking the norm, Greenfeet strives to offer online shopping that is easy, fun, and steeped in customer service. One of the original online retail stores, Greenfeet features thousands of sustainably sourced healthy-living and food products. The company seeks to offer products which are well made, built to last, and produced in a fashion that is not detrimental to people or to the planet—all while providing customer service.

This last criterion recently earned Greenfeet a STELLAService award. STELLAService is an independent, third-party company that identifies and awards online retailers that demonstrate excellent customer service.

“We think customer service is a simple idea. We’re champions for companies treating customers right,” says Jordy Leiser, CEO of STELLAService.

Launched in 2010, STELLAService is about transparency in the marketplace. “This is an important thing for online commerce,” says Leiser. “Businesses really want to improve. They’ve never really been able to benchmark what their performance is before.”

STELLAService provides insight for companies on how well they are doing from a customer’s perspective. It gave Greenfeet an “excellent” rating for customer service. Greenfeet did not know it was being scrutinized for this award, says Valerie Reddmann, Greenfeet’s co-founder and “Chief Yoo-hoo.”

STELLAService evaluates companies in three overall categories:

1. Customer online experience;
2. Company shipping and return policies and practices; and
3. Customer support (any interaction that a customer would have with the business).

STELLAService utilizes what it calls “mystery shoppers on steroids”—people who work 40 hours a week for STELLAService evaluating thousands of companies large and small. This year, Leiser says the company plans to evaluate 4,000 companies. To do so, STELLAService contacts nominated companies and interacts with them—by phone and online.

“[The mystery shoppers] evaluate [the company] as if they were the manager of their call center,” says Leiser.

“They want to see how Greenfeet reacts, how they treat their customers,” Reddmann adds.

STELLAService has three levels of rating. First is the basic “approved” level.

“Less than 50 percent of the [thousands of] companies that go through the process make that,” says Reddmann. “It tells me there’s a big problem with [delivering] good customer service these days.”

The next level is the “excellent” rating. Reddmann says Greenfeet received this high rating.

You can see Greenfeet’s rating on STELLAService’s site. Among the factors that Greenfeet received an “outstanding” rating on are its return policy, friendly knowledgeable support, and outstanding gifting options.

The third and highest rating any online retailer can receive is STELLAService’s “elite.” This rating is very difficult to get to, says Reddmann. But she is determined that Greenfeet will achieve it.

Companies such as Amazon and Zappos have achieved this level. “It’s a high echelon of service that I’m sure we’ll get to,” Redmann says. “It’s a coveted seal, a badge of honor.” And it is one rating that award winners proudly display on their Web sites.

To ensure that award recipients maintain their rated level of service, STELLAService revisits companies a minimum of once a year. Customers can visit company profiles and leave feedback and comments about their own experiences. STELLAService makes sure to take this information into consideration.

Winning the award has motivated Greenfeet to “up our game even more” and exceed customers’ expectations, Reddmann says. “We try to be fresh, true, and we don’t overcomplicate things,” she says, noting that green living is going back to basics.

“It’s about relating to customers as people,” says Reddmann, “treating them as we would want to be treated and adding a sense of humor.”

Check out more articles by Debra Atlas.

© 2011 SCGH, LLC.

Let’s talk toilets. They use more water than anything else in our homes, accounting for as much as 40% of indoor water consumption. Since 1994, federal law has mandated that new toilets use no more than 1.6 gallons per flush. All toilets sold in the U.S. are low-flow toilets, although in the toilet trade they’re actually called “ultra low flush toilets” or ULFTs. If you go toilet shopping and the salesperson tells you a ULFT is something special, don’t be fooled. It merely meets the minimum legal requirements for a john.

The government has gotten tough on toilets because freshwater shortages are looming, especially in the western United States. But it’s not just Westerners who are worried about where tomorrow’s water is going to come from. The U.S. Government Accountability Office reports that managers in 36 states expect shortages in the next 10 years, even under normal, non-drought conditions.

If you want to help preserve our finite freshwater supplies–and bring your bills down–you can do better than just meeting the government’s minimum low-flush standards. Look for what’s called a “high efficiency toilet” or HET for short. HETs use no more than 1.3 gallons per flush–20% less than the federal standard.

Top Tips

When shopping, look for

• WaterSense. The government’s WaterSense program is similar to its Energy Star program, except it covers water instead of energy. Toilets with the WaterSense label use 20% less water than the federal standard while providing equal or better performance. WaterSense-labeled toilets have been independently tested and verified to meet the program’s criteria for efficiency and excellent performance.

• Dual-flush toilets. Popular in many parts of the world since the 1980s, dual-flush toilets are a great way to save water that is still unknown to many Americans. They use no more than 1.3 gallons per flush (gpf) on average and have two buttons or levers for flushing: for liquid waste and paper, there’s a low-volume flush (typically about 0.9 gpf); and for solid waste, there’s a standard flush (no more than 1.6 gpf). Replacing a regular 1.6-gpf toilet with a dual-flush toilet can save a family of four about 7,000 gallons per year. The savings will be even greater if replacing an older toilet.
• Performance. Some of the first generation low-flow toilets from the 1990s didn’t work well–and truth be told, a few of the low-flow toilets sold today aren’t up to snuff. Double flushing, blockages, and too much “streaking” on the bowl have made low-flow johns the butt of jokes and even prompted federal lawmakers to attempt, unsuccessfully, to repeal the low-flow mandate. Fortunately, toilet technology has advanced and there are many low-flow and HET models that offer excellent performance. Look for the WaterSense label–those toilets have been tested to meet the program’s criteria for flushing performance as well as water efficiency. If you have your eye on a toilet that doesn’t have the WaterSense label, look up the toilet model on the MaP testing report. MaP stands for Maximum Performance, a toilet testing protocol that measures how good the toilet is at bulk removal, in other words, how likely it is to clog. Download the MaP testing results from the California Urban Water Conservation Council’s website.
• Better bowls, trapways, flush valves. Better toilets typically have redesigned bowls, so that there’s a larger surface area of water in the bowl. They also have improved trapways (the S-shaped drainage pipe) to prevent clogging. Some models have a larger flush valve between the bottom of the tank and the bowl (3 or 3 ½ inches wide rather than the usual 2 inches), which provides a more forceful flush. And smoother porcelain surfaces keep the bowl cleaner.

Other Considerations

• When shopping for a new toilet, you’ll discover that there are three flushing technologies used: gravity (the most common), pressure-assisted, and vacuum-assisted. All are available as HETs, and there are good (and sometimes bad) performers in each category. Pressure-assisted toilets tend to have a more powerful flush than gravity toilets, but they’re much noisier. They can make a startling “whoosh” when flushed. Gravity toilets work well even if the home’s water pressure is low, while pressure-assisted models require good water pressure (at least 25 pounds per square inch). Vacuum-assisted models tend to flush very quietly, a plus if your home is small or the bathroom is located near public areas of the house.
• Urinals aren’t common in homes, but they can be savers if you choose a high efficiency model. These use as little as one pint (0.125 gallons) per flush. Even better, choose a waterless urinal. They’ve been used in commercial buildings for more than 15 years and are starting to turn up in some homes. Waterless urinals typically have a low-density sealant fluid that sits in the urinal’s drain, letting urine pass through while keeping odors from coming back up through the drain.
• You’re not alone if you don’t know what a bidet is. Common in some cultures but relatively unknown to Americans, bidets are used for a sit-down wash after you’ve used the toilet. It doesn’t use energy, but could be a small drain on your water resources (unless it allows you to take fewer showers). More frivolous yet are toilet add-ons like heated seats and automatic air dryers.
• A few of today’s greenest homes use rain or greywater for toilet flushing instead of clean drinking water. If you’re the first in your community to take this step, you may have some local permitting obstacles to overcome. Another option is going waterless with a composting toilet. Rare in cities and suburbs because of permitting issues but more common in rural areas, composting toilets convert human waste into compost that can be safely used to fertilize plants. Most experts advise against using composted “humanure” to fertilize food plants.
• If buying a new toilet isn’t in your budget or you can’t convince your landlord to replace your old toilet, try modifying it to use less water. Place a water-filled plastic bag or bottle or a brick in the tank to displace water volume, install toilet dams to hold back some of the water during a flush, or install a flapper that closes before the tank completely empties. Some old toilets won’t work well with a reduced water volume, but these modifications cost little or nothing and are easily reversible, so it’s worth a try. Savings range from 0.5 to 1.5 gpf. That won’t make an older 3.5 gpf toilet as good as any new toilet on the market today, but it’s better than nothing.

Benefits…

…to your wallet
The U.S. EPA says that if a family of four replaces its older toilets with WaterSense models, it will save more than $90 each year in reduced costs–that’s $2,000 over the toilets’ lifetime. If you use well water instead of municipal water, reducing your use will reduce the energy used to pump water.

More and more manufacturers are offering HETs, including dual-flush models, so you don’t necessarily have to pay more for water savings. Nor is a higher price necessarily an indicator of better performance. Many utility companies offer rebates for purchasing high efficiency toilets.

…to the Earth
The U.S. EPA says that if every U.S. home replaced its older, inefficient toilets with WaterSense labeled toilets, it would save nearly 640 billion gallons per year. That’s more water than flows over Niagara Falls in two weeks!

Common Mistakes

Making do with an inefficient toilet. If you can afford it, make the change to a more efficient toilet now. Government rebates can help lower the cost.

Getting Started

Low flush, ultra low flush, high efficiency–the nomenclature can make your head spin. When shopping, remember the number: look for a toilet that uses no more than 1.3 gpf. And look for the WaterSense label.

Related Articles

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Water heaters – conventional

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Greywater-Going Grey to Get Green

Air and Water: A Right or Privilege for all Citizens?

Sierra Club Low-Flow Showerheads

The Early Bird Saves Water 

When your bathroom mirror fogs up after a shower, it’s more than a personal grooming challenge. It’s a reminder to turn on the fan. You say it’s already on, and there’s still fog? Then it probably isn’t big enough to protect your bathroom from the ravages of moisture. In the long run, a fan is your most potent tool in keeping your bathroom from developing the mold and rot that, if left unchecked, can be your bathroom’s downfall.

Bathroom fans send damp air outdoors. They can be installed in outside walls and vented directly outside or, using ducts, in a ceiling. To do their job well, they need to be the right size for your bathroom. If your fan is too small, it won’t expel enough humid air. If it’s bigger than necessary, it will waste money and energy.

Top Tips

At home

• Leave fans on for 20 minutes after use of the bath or shower. You may want to use a timer. But don’t leave them on any longer than this, especially in the winter, because they will move warm air out of the house.

When shopping, look for

• Certification from the Home Ventilating Institute. This trade organization’s seal of approval ensures that the fan’s air-volume and sound ratings are reliable.
• Energy Stars. Energy Star label products use up to 70% less energy than others.
• Cubic feet per minute. For bathrooms with an area of 100 square feet or less, the fan should be rated to move 1 cubic foot of air per minute per square foot of floor space. So if the bathroom is 10 by 10 feet, you need a product that is rated to move 100 cubic feet of air per minute. If the bathroom is only 4 by 10 feet, you need 40-cubic-feet-per-minute. For bathrooms larger than 100 square feet, there are two approaches, depending on the configuration of the room, position of the walls, and ease of installing ducts. Option one is to install several fans: 1) a 50 cubic-foot-per-minute one in the shower or above the tub; 2) a 50 cubic-foot-per-minute one near the toilet; or 3) a 100 cubic-foot-per-minute one above a tub with jets or in a steam shower. Option two is to simply install one 150 cubic-feet-per-minute fan.
• Sound rating. If you are sensitive to sound, check the rating for “sone,” which is the measurement for loudness. A typical bathroom fan is 3 or 4 sones. Energy Star products are 50% quieter than ones that haven’t earned this label.
• Outlet size. If a duct is already installed, make sure the outlet size matches the size of the duct.
• Combination ceiling light/fan. These will usually be simpler to install, especially if wiring is already in place and a duct can be installed without difficulty.
• Positioning. Try for an outside wall, but if that’s not possible, install it on a wall or ceiling where it’s easy to add ducts to the outside.

Benefits…

…to you
Mold and other tiny organisms that grow in damp places can cause allergies, itchy eyes, runny noses, headaches, fatigue, and flu-like symptoms. A good fan makes your indoor air healthier.

…to your wallet
Energy Star products can save you $120 over the life of the fan. More importantly, they can save you the cost of repairing the rust, peeling paint, damaged wallboard, warped wood, loose or stained tile grout, and even structural damage that can occur in poorly ventilated bathrooms.

…to the Earth
The 70% less energy used by Energy Star products means less global warming gas and other pollutants are emitted into the air.

Common Mistakes

• Faulty duct installation. If ducts are twisted or improperly attached, they can increase the noise level and leak moist air into the building.
• Improper sealing. If the fan isn’t sealed to the wall or ceiling it won’t move the air as well, and cold air can leak in from the outside.

Getting Started

If you’re having an installation done by a handyman or contractor who is providing the fan, check for proper sizing.

Shower curtains are all about bathroom preservation. Without them, water can wreak havoc. The area around the edges of the shower stall–where the tile meets the wall–needs particular attention. That’s where water can easily get under the tile and cause dry rot inside the walls, forcing you to replace tiles at the very least, and rebuild the bathroom at worst. Inside the walls, the damage is often not noticeable until tiles start falling off or a nasty mold starts blooming.

Plastic shower curtains seem like a logical choice for keeping water at bay–it’s waterproof, convenient, durable, and inexpensive. But not all plastics are Earth-friendly. Other alternatives, such as fabric or glass, have their own pros and cons. Here’s how to make the best shower curtain choices.

Top Tips

At home

• Dry thoroughly. Make sure the shower curtain dries between uses by placing the bottom edge outside the tub. This is even more important if you have a cloth shower curtain.

When shopping look for

• The right plastic. If you are short on time for laundry, you may want a plastic shower curtain. But be selective. Most are made from what’s commonly called “vinyl,” which is polyvinyl chloride or PVC. When it is manufactured or thrown away the chlorine in PVC can produce highly toxic dioxin. A new, inexpensive chlorine-free plastic called polyethylene vinyl acetate or PEVA is a better choice.
• A sturdy fabric. If you can wash your shower curtain frequently and use extra care when showering, you can go greener by using a fabric shower curtain. Possible choices range from polyester to cotton to linen to hemp, and blends of these. As renewable resources, heavy-weight cotton and hemp are best, and will dutifully block water when used without a liner. However they tend to mold, so they need laundering every other week. Hemp is the more durable fiber and will stand up to mold better.
• Gleaming glass. If you have a spare hundred dollars or so you can purchase a glass shower door that’s even better. With a water-tight seal around its edges, glass offers better protection against moisture leaks, and lasts as long as your house. Beautiful, crystal-clear glass is high maintenance; if you want to keep them sparkling, you’ll have to use cleaning products more often. Frosted glass, while less sexy to look at, may be friendlier all around.

Other Considerations

Shower curtains are a relatively recent invention. In times past, and in places like Japan today, the entire bathroom is tiled, with a drain in the middle of a sloping floor. No shower curtain needed. Often these traditional ways are best of all. Some modern showers go halfway: they are made with walls that partially surround the shower for the same effect. If you are remodeling and have the space, this is a great way to go.

Benefits…

…to your wallet
Over time, you’ll spend less on a glass door than you would on a succession of cloth or plastic shower curtains. But any good barrier will make your bathroom last longer, and help you avoid expensive remodeling.

…to the Earth
PEVA and cloth shower curtains help keep dioxin out of Earth’s ecosystems. But glass doors or fully tiled bathrooms are the most effective and long-lasting solutions–and will dramatically reduce your long-term consumption of shower curtains and bathroom remodeling materials.

Common Mistakes

Forgetting the fan. Make sure your bathroom is well-ventilated during and after every shower or bath to lessen condensation and mold.

Getting Started

One of the first steps in bathroom preservation is checking to make sure that the spaces between your tile, tub, and (if you have one) shower door are well sealed. Use a bathroom sealant with the lowest possible amount of volatile organic compounds (VOCs).

Related Articles

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Bathroom Fans for Home Health

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Is the Leading Baby Shampoo Toxic?

Towels

Top Tips

At home

• Wash carefully. To keep your towels looking nice longer, wash white towels separately to avoid discoloration. Wash dark-color towels separately for the first few washings because colors may bleed. Use warm water, not hot.
• Dry separately. Other fabrics will dry faster without thick towels in the mix. Remove towels as soon as they are dry; overdrying wastes energy and degrades the cotton fibers. Ironing wastes energy and reduces absorbency. And don’t wash towels after each use. That wastes energy, too, and wears out your clothes.
• Find new life for old towels. When a towel is too worn, recycle it. Use it as a rag for cleaning, or if you want to get creative, find higher uses. Make it into a bath mat–just fold it in half and put it on the floor. Make it into a small pillow. Add some cotton for the filling and then sew it up. Or use it as the filling in a pillow. Roll it up and use it as a neck roll pillow. Take it to your local veterinarian or animal shelter. They always need towels, sheets, and blankets.

When shopping for environmentally friendly towels, look for

• Organic cotton. Because of its absorbency and strength, cotton is the fabric of choice. But conventional cotton is grown with toxic pesticides that taint the soil, air, and water where they are grown. Choose organic cotton instead to be environmentally friendly.
• Natural blends. Some environmentally friendly towels mix cotton and other natural fibers, including bamboo and hemp, to make a better towel. Hemp gives the towel more strength and bamboo makes it more absorbent.

Avoid

• Fabric softeners. Their purpose is to reduce static cling on synthetic fibers. They are not necessary for natural fibers, and they reduce absorbency.

Other Considerations

When selecting environmentally friendly towels, use weight as a measure of durability. The heavier the towel, the longer it will last. Super-thick luxury towels are usually around 800 grams per meter. Cotton quality can affect durability, too. “Longer-staple” cotton, such as the varieties grown in the delta regions of the United States, has longer cotton fibers. Towels made with it are softer and have more supple loops, resulting in better wear and less lint.

Benefits…

…to you
Organic cottons are a joy to use–they are oh-so-soft against all that bare skin.

…to your wallet
If you buy good-quality towels, they will last longer and won’t need to be replaced as often.

…to the Earth
Cotton uses even more toxic pesticide per acre than growing food, so it’s even more important to buy organic cotton than to buy organic food.

Common Mistakes

• Softer may not be better. Manufacturers sometimes add silicone-based fabric softeners to towels to create a silky feel, but they coat the fibers and actually reduce absorbency. Since these additives are not mentioned on the label, you might not know the towels are less absorbent until you get home. To play it safe, buy a single washcloth and test it before you buy a whole set of towels. That will give you a chance to check the color in the light of your bathroom as well.
• Bigger? It depends. Towels come in many sizes today. While a supersize bath sheet may be luxurious, it’s not needed to dry your body after a bath–the standard size will do just fine. On the other hand, if you’re buying a beach towel, the extra length serves a purpose.

Getting Started

Keep your bathroom looking clean and serene with a minimalist approach. Only purchase essential bath linens: towels and a bath mat. Decorative linens like toilet seat covers use resources without much benefit.