Is Feeling Refreshed Worth Chemicals on Your Hoohah?

One place I have yet to go in our eco-fication is using cloth squares for the unmentionable number one and number two. I know one fantastic person who has taken that step and have even seen her really clean and neat system in her home.

Although we still use toilet paper here à la maison EcoYogini, recent adverts have boggled my mind. Have you seen them? The- Cottenelle 'Ultimate Fresh Care' combo of using toilet paper and flush and wipes. If you haven't, it consists of  different actors trying to name what the 'flush and wipe' combo would be.

I gotta say; my name for this is 'gross and environmentally damaging'.

Who honestly uses these?

If you've considered it, or are considering adding 'flushable wipes' to your toilet-care routine, here are a few extra thoughts to consider:

1. Adding a whole other set of wipes to your routine is double the wastefulness. Which also happens to equal a significant extra cost. For what? If you'd like an extra moment of freshness after you've used TP, wet a piece of TP, or use a cloth. 
2. No matter what companies claim, flushable wipes are not likely to truly 'biodegrade' in your septic systems (and a quick google search reveals quite a few testimonies claiming the opposite). 
3. Flushable wipes have chemicals. According to Cottonelle, they have anti-microbial ingredients, as well as emollients and mild skin cleansers. According to EWG, they contain some pretty sketchy chemicals (bolded make Ecoholic's Mean 15): Water, Propylene Glycol, DMDM Hydantoin, Disodium Cocamphodiacetate, Polysorbate 20, Fragrance, Iodopropynyl Butylcarbamate, Aloe Barbadensis, Tocopheryl Acetate
4. I don't know about you, but who in their right mind would slather chemicals connected to hormone disruptors and immunodeficiency on their hoohah or doodad? Umm... no thank you.
5. Finally, these chemicals don't biodegrade.. they just slip through our processing systems and get dumped in our oceans and rivers... ick.

I know as a fellow yogini that it can get pretty darn humid and feeling fresh can be a lovely dream... but there are so many other ways to accomplish this without dousing your private area with nasty chemicals:

1. Using a wet cloth, give yourself a refresher. If this is a daily thing, perhaps having some small cloth squares specifically for this purpose wouldn't be a bad idea. They won't be as dirty, since you've already used TP and would be super easy to wash. 
2. Wet a bit of TP after your regular routine. Sometimes that's all you need.
3. If you're in a public washroom and the TP is falling apart when you wet it (which isn't a bit deal if you've already used TP in the first place), wet a small piece of paper towel. No really, if you are that desperate it's not going to be the end of the world. 

Honestly people, adding chemicals to an already sensitively balanced eco-system is pure silliness.

article copyright of EcoYogini at ecoyogini.blogspot.com