[SustainableTompkins] Sustainable Tompkins - Less bathing, healthier environment

[George Frantz]

Sponge baths are a "blast from the past," but only for a small minority of the world's people, almost all of whom live somewhere between Mexico and Canada. 
   
  Ditto the daily shower.
   
  Just another aspect of how the Great American Lifestyle is the anomaly (abberation?) in this world, and continues to be one of the biggest obstacles to evolution into a more sustainable world.
   
  George Frantz
   
  

Margaret McCasland <mmccasla at twcny.rr.com> wrote:
  Ah, yes, the "sponge bath." Another blast from the past, and 
definitely the key to once-a-week baths. Important tip: use a fresh 
wash cloth every day! it should go without saying that you start at 
the top and work your way down.

The French elevated "sponge bath" to a new level when they invented the bidet.

I agree with Jan's French friend that shampoo and soap companies were 
probably behind the assumptions that we need a "full shower" every 
day.

Another downside to daily hair washing is that this also means (for 
many people) using a hair dryer every day. Now that is a 
questionable use of coal-fired electricity.

Margaret


>My godmother, who lived to age 99 and grew up in CT, told me that when they
>were kids they were not allowed to wash their hair all winter long because
>their parents feared feared pneumonia, which was often fatal. They'd brush
>their hair and re-braid it every morning. They took a full bath only once a
>week, every Sunday morning before church -- by heating the water on their
>cast-iron wood stove, and pouring it into the clawfoot tub.
>
>When I lived in France in early 70s, one of my French friends told me he
>thought we'd been brainwashed by the shampoo and soap commercials into
>believing we needed full showers every day. He said most of the French just
>"sponge bathed" every day the necessary body areas, with a washcloth.
>
>- Jan
>
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