ECOfreak: An ECOnundrum

By Desiree Parker Tuesday, August 10, 2010

A friend of mine said to me last week, “you’re always talking about chemicals and additives in food and beauty products and stuff – why not stop using shampoo?”

Stop using shampoo? What kind of madness is this she’s talking about?

Apparently, there’s a bit of a movement towards ditching harsh chemical-laden shampoo (and conditioner) forever. These folks are using baking soda to clean their hair and then vinegar to condition it and rebalance the Ph levels (since baking soda is has a Ph on the base side of the scale).

There are long lists of chemicals in shampoos that various groups don’t think are good for you – sulfates being one of the biggies, along with fragrances, diethanolamine, various dyes,  and methylisothiazolinone, to name a few. They do everything from screwing up your hormones to possibly causing cancer.

I have to admit, I don’t like the idea of slathering my head in chemicals every other day. I try to get sulfate-free products. But you know what? I don’t WANT to wash my hair with baking soda. I just don’t want to do it.

I thought about trying this experiment all weekend. I mean, I have no problems talking about the chemicals I think people should avoid, but here I am not ready to give up my foamy, scented, chemical-laden shampoo.

I went out and bought the baking soda, and I have some apple cider vinegar, and I even moved the two products to the bathroom to start using them. But each time I step in the shower I look at them I then proceed to ignore them completely and reach for my pink plastic bottle.

I read this blog http://www.naturemoms.com/no-shampoo-alternative.html by a woman who ditched shampoo to try to inspire myself to do the same. I mean, her hair looks nice, everything worked out just fine, so it must be okay, right? But that didn’t convince me.

I think it comes down to this: I don’t want to drench my body in chemicals, but also I don’t want to give up the things I like. But then I got to thinking, why bother doing any of the things I’m doing to be a little more conscious of what I put on and in my body, and the earth, if I’m only going to do it half way? I mean, should I just move into a cave, weave my own cloth and scrub my face with dirt?

Maybe I’m exaggerating.

But this is where I’m stuck, folks. Is it better to do some good things, but not all of them? And if I am at the point where I’m not ready to go the extra step, should I just say, forget it, and go back to the old ways?

You might think I’ve gone off the deep end over something as silly as shampoo, but that’s not the only part of my life where I’ve come to an eco-crossroads. My husband and I are also in the process of building a house, and I’m feeling a whole lot of eco-guilt about it.

We’re building a house that just isn’t Green with that capital “G.”
If I were really eco-conscious, I wouldn’t have wanted to build a new house in the first place. Sure, I can soothe myself by saying we’re putting in energy-efficient and water-efficient appliances and insulated windows and the house itself will be super-insulated to keep heating and cooling costs down, but you know what? All the new items used to build the house have to be manufactured, processed and carted over to this area. There will be more construction debris in a landfill, more pollution thanks to yours truly, and one more house to plug into the taxed power grid and water supply.

We took one look at the cost of recycled flooring and counter materials, and said, nope, we can’t afford it. My recycled glass tile backsplash? Costs way too much. Cork floors? Too easy to damage and more than wood. Then it was goodbye eco-friendly house, hello suburbia.

It’s enough to make a girl want to throw up her hands and say, I’m a total hypocrite.

I’m open to advice at this point. I’ve been writing this blog for a year now, I do believe, and I don’t know if I’ve done anything much to protect the world or myself or my family from man-made harm. I ditch one bad thing and recognize five more. Ugh.

Well, I still have the baking soda and vinegar on hand if I convince myself to try it. If not, I can at least clean some pennies.

Website for the week
If you’re like me and not ready to go all the way and pitch your shampoo, take a look at the Environmental Working Group’s site to see a list of safer brands. Their lists on all cosmetics are pretty detailed, and very helpful in finding good, better and best choices.

Tip for the week
Maybe you’re braver than me and are willing to try to forgo shampoo? If so, let me know how it goes!