Environmentalist's Dilemma: The Shower Curtain
Peeps, I have angst.
Dictionary.com defines angst as "A feeling of anxiety or apprehension often accompanied by depression" and that is exactly what I feel every time I think about my shower curtain. The vinyl shower curtain was purchased in 2003, and it is dying. I have tried running it through the washer. I have scrubbed it by hand on the driveway. I have scavenged from plastic packaging to cut small rectangular bits, punched holes in them, and taped them over where the hole for the shower curtain ring used to be before it was finally torn through.
At this point, though, I cannot get it satisfactorily clean and it is disintegrating faster than I care to maintain it. We need a new one.
So, my friends who care about the planet, what do I get?
After the flap about how many VOCs are emitted by regular vinyl shower curtains made with PVC, I definitely do not want to go there. I know there are now PVC-free plastic curtains, and I wish I could justify buying one, because my vision is so bad without my contacts that I crave all the light I can get when showering.
But honestly, less toxic plastic is still plastic, and we have made significant efforts to cut down on that around here. We're due for another round of improvement (*cough* why are plastic bags getting brought home exactly dear people who are not me? *cough*), but it's something we care about. Is a plastic shower curtain really a need? Or is it a want?
When I lived in Austin before, c. 1995 to 1997, I had a canvas shower curtain. It went from off-white to off-white with decorative mildew stains quicker than you can say boo. Our current bathroom is so humid that our "pewter" shower curtain rod from Target has rusted after 2.5 years in this house, and I'm pretty sure there is no metal in it.
(Kind of like the time I got stopped for an extra security check on my shoes after I went through the metal detectors at the Newark airport on my way back from Paris. THEY WERE FROM PAYLESS, PEOPLE, THERE WAS NO METAL!)
Maybe I'm wrong, maybe I would do a better job maintaining it this time. We certainly do enough laundry around here that laundering it twice a week would be an option. So something like these organic cotton ones might be lovely.
However, I am remembering the time when water started dripping from the kitchen light fixture because C-Man loves to spill water outside of the shower and the grout in our tile floor up there is a mess. And that was with plastic.
Perhaps I should just have the bathroom remodeled? A shower door doesn't need a curtain, right?
But what's the carbon footprint of one bathroom remodel versus 10 plastic shower curtains (my lifetime supply if they last 6 years and I live to be 95 in this house)?
We'll see you next time on the continuing adventures of trying to make my house look decent without feeling like I burned down 300 square feet of rainforest.
It's not a perfect solution by any means, but here's how I justify (to myself, anyway) my plastic shower curtain:
I bought the last one...five years ago or so? I probably won't need a new one for at least another five. I got the expensive kind, relatively speaking - it was $11.99 as opposed to about $5.99. It's the kind that has the metal grommets at the top for the shower curtain rings so it won't tear as easily.
I launder it pretty religiously about once a month or so. I wash it in the washing machine in cold water with environmentally-friendly laundry detergent and about half a cup or so of white vinegar (cuts the detergent residue, I think).
It's still plastic. It still contains VOCs. But as far as its environmental impact? I think once every decade with regards to plastic-buying is pretty good.
That said, I will probably go with canvas or something like that when it's time for a replacement.
Try this:
http://thereifixedit.com/2009/09/15/epic-kludge-photo-frankensteins-home-accents-line/
Goodwill. Find one that some sod already bought. No plastic blood on your hands.
Came to your site from S. Le's. I applaud your endeavors to lead a more green life. These little issues keep coming up as I try to be environmentally considerate. It's nice to see I'm not the only one with these thoughts.
We have a washable shower liner like the one they have in hotels. I love it and it is totally reusable unlike the plastic ones. If I do use a plastic one, I save it when it gets too grungy for use as a drop cloth or cover for outdoor furniture.
I like to think of myself as the maven of greening your home, but even I faced this dilemma recently. We actually showered with no shower curtain at all for about a week when we moved in to our new apartment because I refused to buy one that wasn't made of organic cotton. That, and I couldn't find one that fit the style I was trying to create in the bathroom. Eventually, my husband got sick of waiting, and I wound up buying a fabric (polyester...ick) liner and a 100% cotton shower curtain from Target.
Not exactly green, but definitely better than vinyl or EVA, in my opinion. Looks like the cotton curtain is going to hold up pretty well with the washable polyester liner backing. Sometimes you just have to pick your battles, right? At least the cotton curtain is stylish :)
Oh, dear. To live is to consume (and to leave a carbon footprint.) And being green is a VERY complicated proposition, with many standard greenie things actually turning out to be worse than the originals.
You could always stop showering altogether, and grow nitrogen-fixing legumes on yourself which you could later dry in the sun and eat...
Hemp. I bought one 3 years ago. It's great. I wash it regularly (like once every 6 weeks. Or when I forget, I bleach it. I know, not "green," but I've only had to do it twice in 3 years, and once was to get purple dye out of it. Long story.), then hang it back up. Our bathroom is VERY damp, but so far, so good.