My name is Sandra. I live in Canada and I am committed to living more sustainably and would like to document my process and share with an online community inspired to do the same.
Where it all started
So there I was one night after a 12-hour shift, lying in the bath to relax. I’m waiting for the bath to fill to a level where most of my legs, but also most of my chest can be under water at the same time. As the water fills up I’m struck with guilt about the amount of water I’m using so I turn it off and settle for shimmying back and forth so either my knees are out of the water, or my shoulders. Every few minutes I switch. This pretty much happens every time I take a bath, by the way. I’m very curious if anyone else experiences this too.
So then I had a thought… Why was it that I could not take a bath comfortably without being a complete asshole to the planet? So I started running through the negatives of my bathtub. My biggest conclusion, it’s either too short and too deep or too long and not deep enough. Let me explain.
The way that it’s built is that it’s too short (and I’m not very tall so I can’t even imagine for anyone taller) so you have to sit up or bend your knees. There’s no way around that. So why is it not longer so the level of the water could cover me without being so deep? Is it a space thing? I’ve never seen a long tub…. Or it could be much shorter but deeper too. I’d comfortably sit in the tub with my knees more to my chest. I’ve seen more of these types of tubs, but they are usually marketed as luxury tubs and come at a high cost.
Then the second thought that followed was this: would I be able to save water with a smarter built tub? I started thinking about the different types of bathtubs I’ve seen in movies/tv shows or in other forms of media. I was in the tub and didn’t have access to my phone so I waited until after I got out to do a bit of searching. But that’s where the idea for this blog came from. A very thoughtful bath. I started thinking about many different things…
- Did I really use more water taking a bath than a shower? Maybe it just seemed like more because you physically see all the water in the same place at the same time. I figured it depended on the length of my shower.
- Then I looked around the sides of my tub. There were 6 bottles of various soaps (shampoo, conditioner, body wash, face wash, etc.). Above my head I remembered there’s a bar of soap that my boyfriend swears by, saying it washes better, makes less waste, and costs less. So should I really be buying soap in bottles? What about buying in bulk? What about shampoo bars?
- My mind wandered out of the bathtub. Toothbrushes are essential but also entirely wasteful. You need to change them every few months (or should) and the entire thing goes into the trash. What about my electric toothbrush? I only need to change the head so it must be better right?
- Then I thought about the toilet. Oh, how much water it must consume. And then the toilet paper. How many rolls of toilet paper do my partner and I go through? Enough to lose count, that’s for sure. It seems we are always searching for the best deal in town to restock. But what about using a bidet? Could that decrease paper consumption? But it would also increase water consumption.
- Before getting out I thought about the laundry. We must consume gallons of water to wash our clothes and then use the dryer for at least an hour, if not more. But is there any way around it? I can’t think of one.
So, I am embarking on this journey. I wanted to keep track of what I find and promote brands I discover or some that I already love. Feel free to share some ideas of what I should look into.