How Clean Is Clean?

When it comes to our fresh waterways and our oceans, clean means abundant naturally occurring micro-nutrients flowing into the tummies of wriggly slippery fish and water mammals.  For humans…it means scrubbing the heck out of anything that could possibly have a single microbe on it: our dishes, our floors, our cars, our counters, our toilets, our showers, and especially our own skin.

It is ironic that we are so obsessed with outward personal hygiene and home cleanliness — nasty streaks on shiny surfaces (for the love of shiny objects), stubborn stains from one too many wine glasses, evil odours from garbage we willingly produce — while at the same time sending all the chemicals right back at us through the water cycle as filth inside our own bodies, that of our fellow sea creatures, and a double-double through those we “love” enough to eat (hmmm food for a future post).

Gaea forbid that we might have the slightest hint of natural pheromones wafting through the air as we make our grand tour of the local fish market.  Fish scented perfume soap blend…lovely.

But what if we just say NO?

No to chemical beauty products.

No to polyethelene toothpaste.  That’s right. Those sparkly little bits that give our gums that extra twinkle when we smile are an added bonus for buying your child the “sparkly” toothpaste.  We sure love our shiny objects.

No to polyethelene scrub. For the adults who worship exfoliation as a means to have the perfect skin so as to attract that perfect match, if the plastic micro beads don’t get lodged in your pours they’ll sure make it to lakes, rivers, and oceans laced with all sorts of pollutants they suck up along the way.

No to chemical household cleaners.  

Instead, let’s say yes to health, clean water, and a sustainable life.

The most inexpensive and more than adequate cleansers are the ones our great-grandparents (or grandparents) used to use— various witches brews of vinegar, water, baking soda, food oils, grandpa’s scotch,… People still had teeth, had some good nooky (way to go grandpa), and shiny windows.  They even had a one-up on us today…clean water to drink.

So let’s get the plastic off our face and make our oceans a better place.

And in the meantime, let’s use clean up the mess we left with innovative ideas like this one.

Do you know of any other clean up solutions while we move to eliminate the plastic sources from our daily lives?  Please leave a comment below.