My pal Crunchy Domestic Goddess is hosting a great challenge this fall: Ditch the Disposables. Although she mentions things like paper napkins, plastic water bottles, and toilet paper, I’ve opted to participate by trying one thing off of her list and one inspired by Crunchy Chicken’s post on sustainable hair removal.
First, I will do what I’ve been planning to do for oh, so long, and try out a Diva Cup. I mean, I’m so sick about the amount of cotton/paper/cardboard that goes straight in the landfill for a week out of each month and I’m just not brave enough to throw used tampons in the compost (although I suddenly find myself wondering whether that would repel the skunks that seem to be visiting the compost of late…Hmmm…). Regardless, I really like the idea of reducing my waste in this way, and if I get really brave enough, I could make my own high-nitrogen fertilizer (I know several of my readers are preparing to barf, and I’m sorry, but you already knew I was weird, didn’t you?).
Second, I pledge to do away with the plastic and packaging of my heretofore beloved Venus disposable razor. That’s right, although I was looking like one hot mama at the Rocky Mountain Blogger Bash Thursday night, a close-up would have shown that a razor had not touched my legs or pits for nearly a week. Fuzzy as a peach, one might say!
Tonight I tried sugaring (think wax, but made with sugar and applied cool instead of hot) as an alternative to using a razor or petroleum-based waxing products and I have to say it was fairly painless, if a bit sticky. I won’t say that the underarms are as smooth as I’d like for tank-top weather, but I think with a little practice (and a little more hair growth–I’m only at about 11 days), this is a very do-able alternative to a disposable razor and will let me make my own stuff, reuse the cloth strips, and forgo the ridiculous amount of plastic non-recyclable packaging I encountered with the Venus.
Anyone else up for the challenge?
3 comments
1 ping
Jess says:
September 9, 2008 at 5:40 pm (UTC 2 )
Let me know how you find the Diva cup. I’m not sold 100% on mine after two cycles. It takes awhile to master the insertion, which requires some sort of panty liner (I’m sure you have reusable cloth pads all ready to go) because there will be some leakage. Also, when I’m away from the privacy of my home all day, and forced to remove it in a public restroom, I end up using ridiculous amounts of t.p. to clean out what doesn’t dump out so easily. If I had a water bottle with me all the time, maybe I could waste water instead of the paper to give the cup a rinse. My, oh my, this is becoming quite the gross comment! My apologies to your male readers. Anyway, my point, keep some tampons on hand for such days, toots.
And definitely, I want the sugar/body hair removal low down too–though an attempt at waxing with beeswax culled from a local hive may bee smart if one wants to stick to natural & local resources (and enjoys pain…).
Julie says:
September 3, 2008 at 11:04 am (UTC 2 )
You can count on it! I was actually going to take some photos of the sugaring strips (complete with my hair stuck to them), but decided that was too gross.
I’m hoping to post the full steps, a recipe, etc. for next week while I’m gone, so watch this space.
crunchy domestic goddess says:
September 3, 2008 at 10:48 am (UTC 2 )
hot mama, hot mama, hot mama!
i’ll have to read more about this sugaring stuff. will u blog it in more detail?
Confessions of a Dirty Girl : Terminal Verbosity says:
September 11, 2009 at 3:22 pm (UTC 2 )
[...] Last year, I blogged about giving up my razor & picking up a Diva Cup. Although my stint with sugaring instead of shaving only lasted a few months (long story short, I couldn’t make the sugaring very easily myself and the Moom is awesome, but cost-prohibitive), I still love my Diva Cup. [...]