January's Stupid Plastic Crap

This month’s nominee for Stupid Plastic Crap is the nylon scrubber and its partner, the plastic bottle of body wash.  The scrubber or bath sponge is made of nylon or polyethylene.   Nylon is one of the first successful plastics, originating in 1938.  It was a substitute for silk, as in parachutes, and was used to make the bristles in toothbrushes, then to make women’s stockings (hose).  Depending on its form (thin fiber or thick solid) and the decomposition conditions, nylon can take many decades to decompose.  

The plastic bottles that hold body wash is made of various plastics. I found bottles made of #1 which is PET and others were #3 which is PVC.  PET or PETE is very common and usually recyclable.  PVC is one of the nastier plastics to manufacture and releases toxins in its final form.  It’s a plastic to avoid.

The Green Choice

These two plastic products are really common now.  They are almost considered THE way to shower.  The problem is that when the bottle of body wash is used up, there are 2 items of plastic waste leftover.  It is very easy to take your shower, get really clean and leave no plastic waste.  Simply use a cotton wash cloth and a bar of soap.  There are many healthy homemade soaps available that have no perfumes, no detergents, and no  sodium laurel sulfates. I usually buy mine at the farmers' market, but you can find them for sale in many places.