Shampoo pollution

I’ve been racking my brains to remember the name of the Swedish (?) scientist who gave that fantastic lecture about population growth. In actual fact birth rates are down to under 2.5 children in every continent except Africa. But more of us are living a heck of a lot longer.

I think a lot of the problem with countries such as India causing so much waste pollution is because until a generation or two ago mostly everything they chucked out would rot down. Or at least, in the case of pottery, not do any harm. Having to actually think about careful disposal of waste just isn’t in the psyche. It isn’t in the Western World either in a lot of cases!

And yet the most plastic-polluted rivers in the world are in Asia where living standards have only recently begun to improve and where there is still a lot of severe poverty (even if less than before).

I'm not disputing what you've said, suedonim, just having difficulty squaring two apparently contradictory facts.

It's people in countries who have the fewest children, such as the UK and the US, who are doing much of the polluting. Cars, household goods, prepackaged foods etc.

You won't find many of the large families in the Developing World who live on $1 per person per day contributing to the plastic mountain.

Perhaps if we started reducing the number of people produced by this disease, in other words, take active measures to reduce the number of children being born into the world, many of these problems of pollution would become more manageable.

Such measures are being taken and have been for some time. Reducing poverty is what reduces birth rates. It has succeeded in Europe and other areas with 'developed' countries; it is succeeding, slowly but surely, in developing countries.

Life is a sexually transmitted disease, which is always fatal.

Perhaps if we started reducing the number of people produced by this disease, in other words, take active measures to reduce the number of children being born into the world, many of these problems of pollution would become more manageable.

Plastics were developed and came into use because initially in so many cases a plastic product was easier to use and longer lasting and replaced using natural resources that were being depleted by over harvesting. There are too many people in the world to make everything they need from natural products.

The only solution is to reduce world population.

There

Thanks SueD. Will investigate. It's so difficult trying to dodge chemicals, plastic etc. I'm deviating from the thread a bit but I've read today that a synthetic chemical BPA can be found in 80% of teenagers. It is added to plastic to create polycarbonate plastic used in anything from food & drink packaging to DVD cases & medical devices. The effect on foetuses & young children is concerning. Another thing to worry about!

Lazigirl, I'm not sure how it differs from normal soap! It lathers more, though. Lush list their ingredients on their website so you could probably compare the two.

You can buy online which avoids going into the shops, although I don't mind the smell. They only use natural scents, as far as I can tell.

I’ve bought a teapot with a strainer so am phasing out teabags, just bought my next deodorant in a glass bottle. -what do I do with the roller bit? I sense a struggle coming on.
Am using bars of soap, I have psoriasis so can’t use lush shampoo bars, like a previous poster I can’t bear the smell of their shops so hurry past. I never use room fresheners or fabric conditioners.
I try to buy foods without palm oil and , on the whole eat fresh food, not ultra processed but, OMG it’s getting very tedious.
Took my GS to a party yesterday, the table was groaning with ultra processed food and the plastic straws were there in abundance. “They” blame us for the state of the world but it seems to me that the younger generation don’t seem to be too bothered ?

I think I may try the solid bar shampoo too but wonder how it differs from ordinary soap?

I've always had a good sense of smell and hate air fresheners of any sort, much preferring to open the window for a few minutes. And like SueDonim I don't wear deodorant. I wash instead (with bar soap). I didn't know about Lush bar shampoo as I rarely go into the shop as the smell is too overpowering! I shall make the effort.

It's a wonder we've survived this long but seriously I think there are far too many chemicals in domestic products, and artificial fragrances are added to most detergents and cleaning products. There is also a big market in air fresheners, which is apparent if you look in relevant supermarket sections. There was a tv programme about this a couple of years ago I think, so the knowledge is not new, but there is a huge advertising industry promoting them.

I caught the end of a bit on the radio the other day saying that a recent report maintains that using cleaning sprays is as bad as smoking 20 cigarettes a day. I think it was the Today programme.

I get them in Lush. I use a red one for shampoo and a green conditioner bar. I need to go and buy some more, actually.

May I ask "SueDonim" which solid shampoo you use? I'd like to try, but I've been looking at reviews and they seem to be rather negative, or mixed at best

Too many 'others'!

That is a good point about the relative rise of other pollutants as we've reduced others, suedonim.

I think we need to keep this in perspective. Obviously everyone needs to do their bit towards looking after our planet but we need to look beyond the headlines.

We are told above that about half of the air pollution in LA comes from home products, the same amount as from cars.

However, pollution from cars has dropped immensely in recent years so by comparison, other forms of pollution will seem to have risen. Maybe the overall amount of pollution has dropped because of the better performance of cars and I also see no mention of pollution from air travel. I haven't been to LA since 2015 but the air quality then was much better than on our first visits in the early 2000's so hopefully they're on the right track.

I'm not a great fan of sprays, I don't use deodorant (and no, no one has ever complained that I smell!), plus I have changed to solid shampoo and conditioner so I'm doing my bit, as well.

It certainly is hard to get away from everything that's bad and, yes, lucky, life is a fight, but we don't need to make the fight harder than it is naturally. Putting perfumes in everything from candles to vacuum cleaner air fresheners is simply and totally unnecessary.

I use the crystal type deodorant from the health shop, bicarbonate &lemons for bathroom etc. But it's hard to get away from everything that's bad!!

I hardly ever use deodorant. I apply a dab of roll-on if I'm going anywhere posh. I never use the spray on stuff. I haven't since CFC's were found to deplete the ozone layer. I agree with you Nfk, palm oil is a scourge and need not be in anything!!! The rainforests are the lungs of the world.

What is left?! Life is a fatal disease and everything we do carries risks. I do my best not to be a polluter; but I will continue to wash my hair!

No! I really don’t want to know this!

wanders off muttering ‘I’ve lost the will to live’

Not to mention the over use of palm oil in this things which is causing uncontrolled deforestation in so many countries.