Running Out

My "environmental awakening," as I like to call it, took place about midway through this year, so there are vestiges of my former life lingering around my home. Specifically, products remain that I would not now purchase, but which I feel compelled to use because, well, here they are. As my partner said about our plethora of paper towels, they're garbage either way. Unless we can find some way to use them for ... food? Fuel? Home insulation? Right now we're using them for coffee filters, as the two packs of filters we had have run out and we don't want to buy more. The paper towels work just as well, as I'm sure many coffee drinkers know. One half of a towel, folded in half again, does the trick. After coffee brewing we put them in the compost with the grounds. The only thing I'm not sure about is whether the decorative flowers on the towels are made of toxic inks that actually shouldn't be put into the compost. Now that I just put that down in writing, I'm more worried and I should contact the company and find out what those dyes are made of. I'm not sure what we'll do for coffee filters when the paper towels run out. Can I re-use a piece of cloth?

The other day I had a painful case of running out. For the last few years I've been using a specific facial cleanser, which I had been feeling guilt-free about because it's "all-natural." I've developed quite an attachment to this product and its positive effect on my skin. I thought I had one more container of it on hand (it comes from Canada so I tended to buy several at a time) ... but the other day when I went looking for it, I learned that I have indeed used the last beloved drop. I can't justify ordering a product to be shipped all the way from Canada, and I certainly can't at this point stomach a purchase based purely on vanity. Can I get my face clean without this stuff? Yes. Do I miss the stuff? Yes. I still have some cheap cocoa butter facial scrub, which I'm now using in tiny amounts so I feel like I'm at least doing something for my face. I don't know what I will do when I run out of moisturizer ... that's a whole other issue. My partner is baffled by all of this as he doesn't use soap or lotion on his skin ... and of course it's lovely and soft. Enough said.

I'm also well-stocked on feminine hygiene products but preparing for post-Tampax life. I don't want any more bleached rayon inside my body, or any more of these products flushed into our sewer system or rotting in the landfills. Umbra of Grist.org had some good suggestions, and is a personal fan of The Keeper, which I'm researching as a possible solution for myself. I was also intrigued by Lunapads, and I did encounter some sea-sponge tampons at the natural foods store recently ... but I couldn't quite take that leap yet. Dr. Joseph Mercola (a holistic doc with some popular opinions on healthier living) had some good information on feminine hygiene products here.

Sustainable living requires a revisiting of values, and a willingness to make personal sacrifices. Luckily it doesn't all happen at once. I'm thankful that for most of my adult life I've rejected (in theory, at least) the idea that beauty necessitated a bunch of products and upkeep ... but I'm still a woman in this appearance-based culture and my earthy inner self sometimes feels challenged by the standards. In the long run, the Earth and her inhabitants are more important than how I feel, and certainly more important than how I look.