On mini-dilemmas

On mini-dilemmas

05 Sep 2007

Got questions about the environment? Ask Umbra.

Dear Umbra,

Unfortunately, my nose runs a lot even when I am not sick. I've always wondered about the disposal of tissues and hope you can help calm my environmental nerves. Is it best to use a standard tissue and throw it in the trashcan, or blow my nose with toilet paper and flush it in the toilet? I know that an extra flush is not reasonable, but what if I am going to the bathroom and need to blow my nose as well? Should I opt for the TP?

Shannon
Elizabethtown, Pa.

Dearest Shannon,

You may have read my limp New Year's column, the one where I had lost my folder of odd letters, and tried to paste a jolly note together despite? I receive oodles of funny letters about the minutiae of the eco-day. You all are working hard to make the world better, but I think you already know what to do with these laborious dilemmae. In honor of relaxation (and my laziness) this Labor Day week, herein are collected a few concepts that baffle so far in 2007.

... but bless you for asking.

Photo: stiickler

I lead off with your letter, dearest, because at least one tissue-dilemma question arrives each fortnight, it practically seems. I hesitate to venture seriously into the fray, for fear of encouraging the nose-blowers. Perhaps if I merely point you all toward a few well-proven guidelines: reduce, reuse, recycle. Nothing in there about flushing or the garbage. I know you can connect the snots yourself (sorry -- irresistible!): use a hanky.

What else is small and vexing this year? Souvenir refrigerator magnets. Follow the three R's on that one too, I think. Silicone wristbands. In a brief foray to divine information -- any information -- about silicone wristbands, I discovered the existence of a vendor site called awarenessdepot.com. What a perfectly oxymoronic emporium. Enough said.

Other plastic quandaries include shower loofas -- do they come in recycled plastic? I don't know, but natural loofa is a type of squash, dried out after long life and compostable, so that sounds better. How to recycle sex toys, especially without embarrassing the neighbors? Enough about the neighbors -- after all, the brown paper bag was practically invented for this purpose. What about the poor folks at the recycling center? It's unlikely the toys are recyclable, particularly because of their purpose. Don't make other people pick them out of the trash.

Ask Umbra continues below

ADVERTISING POLICY

Hand warmers, used inside mittens during cold weather, should not be disposed of in the garden. It is not vinegar and baking soda hidden inside, after all. Peeing in the sink will never become a mainstream activity, but feel free to do it in the privacy of your home.

Finally, yes, your plastic didgeridoo is just a noisy dioxin bong.

Thank you for the hilarious notes, everyone.

Day-offly,
Umbra

Yours is to wonder why, hers is to answer (or try). Please send Umbra any nagging question pertaining to the environment -- but first check out her FAQs!

The claims made in this column may not reflect the views of this magazine. Neither the magazine nor the author guarantees that any advice contained in this column is wise or safe. Please use this column at your own risk.

Umbra Fisk is Grist Research Associate II, Hardcover and Periodicals Unit, floors 2B-4B.

Comments: (13 comments)

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Runny nose

I have found that eliminating all foods/liquids containing high-fructose corn syrup from my diet has reduced my runny nose problem considerably. Most days, I now have no need to blow or wipe my nose at all.

by gmpicket at 7:50 AM on 05 Sep 2007

Impractical answer, for some

Sorry, but the hanky solution is a lame answer (as well as the high fructose corn syrup one, since we never consume the stuff). Some of us have chronic allergies to environmental allergens and there are days when we'd probably need about 50 hankies a day to blow our noses and soften our sneezes. Laundering that many hankies can't be a good thing.

I personally have tried two years of allergy shots, every allergy medication out there and every preventative. The only thing that helps is anti-histamines that make me so sleepy that I can only take them at night or the type that don't make me sleepy but raise my blood pressure (not a good thing) and cause dehydration, despite drinking a lot of water. My husband has similar problems and uses even more tissues than I do, so again, is it better to flush or throw them in the wastebasket?

The one solution I've come up with is to take the used but dried tissues (allergies produce extremely watery fluid) and use them for, well, toilet purposes, thereby reusing them once before they go down the drain.

by estark at 10:57 AM on 05 Sep 2007

Handkerchiefs

I must disagree with the "hankie" suggestion. While I suppose it is more eco-friendly to re-use a handkerchief instead of disposable tissues, the disposables are far better in terms of sound sanitation.

I am constantly amazed at the kinds of insignificant questions that come across your desk. I realize that we all have a duty to the environment, but there must be better places to direct one's energy than comparing the ecological impact of facial tissue v. toilet tissue. Obsession with a righteous cause is still obsession, and that's not healthy.

-- A.

Taking accounting to the extreme since 2004.

by akbeancounter at 11:23 AM on 05 Sep 2007

Drops in the bucket

If you blow your nose OFTEN even though your are NOT sick, use a cloth tissue and wash it (with cold water) with the other laundry once in a while, not after every times you use it. Just let it dry in between. You can use it for a long time. Just don't tell anyone in order to keep your friends.

If you are sick, use disposable ones to decrease the risk of re-infection. I wonder if there are tissues made from recycled paper. Why do they have to be bright white anyways?

Every time you flush your toilet, 5-10 gallons of drinking water go down the drain, so don't flush every time. Flush in the evenings (so it does not sit there overnight) and flush solids everytime (again to keep friends). Even better, pee on your compost pile and create your own human fertilizer with the rest. Be kind to your neighbors though and consider their feelings about this. It is not everyones cup of tea.

And to address the sanitation idea: If you really, really want to pollute less, you need to consider that getting sick and dying is good for the environment especially if you live in North America. I understand that this concept is hard to follow through. I have a hard time living with this myself.
However, getting sick without dying probably pollutes more. Due to other priorities, our emergency health care system does not care about its impact on the environment. Tricky thing.
If you do die you also need to consider your embalmed and toxic body's impact on the environment. Join a natural burial ground before you are dead.

But I fear I drifted away from the topic of blowing your nose and its horrific impact on our environment.

Karsten PolluteLessDotCom

by PolluteLessDotCom at 12:17 PM on 05 Sep 2007

Composting

For both tp and tissues, composting them works well, if you have a compost bin.

Tissues don't flush very well, btw. If I am having a miserable time with a runny nose, I use tp, but I don't flush unless I actually use the loo for the purpose for which it was intended.

by trix at 6:39 AM on 06 Sep 2007

recycled paper tissue

Of course there is recycled paper tissue! You won't find it at Kmart or Walmart (at least not yet) but it's definately at your local health foods store, Whole Foods, Trader Joe's Etc.

NRDC compiled a paper guide that provides the recycled paper content of common household brands. To view the guide or download a Pdf check out http://www.nrdc.org/land/forests/gtissue.asp

by Courtney at 12:54 PM on 06 Sep 2007

Allergies

For the person with Allergies, look into local bee pollen and propolis. Add them to your diet and it will reduce your allergy symptoms naturally. You may experience an increase in symptoms at the start since the pollen and propolis will contain the very allergens that cause the problems but the body can adjust naturally and deal with this over time.

Other than that, I would suggest composting your used tissues instead of flushing them. If your compost pile gets to 140 degrees naturally then great. If not, put them in boiling water and let that cool before dumping the mush on your compost pile so as not to kill beneficial bacteria and worms inside it.

by wayneluke at 10:49 PM on 06 Sep 2007

tissue disposal

Dear Umbra d'Grist

I feel that your response to concerns about disposing of tissues is a little flippant and a tad condescending; it truly is a topic of tremendous concern when you think about the amount of used refuse being flushed away generally into oceans all over the world. To add to the humble little snot rag there must be an unbelievable amount of sanitary napkins,incontinence pads as well as a number of other 'hygiene' products clogging the system. The mind boggles! I believe all these little unmentionable environmental hazards really need to be discussed in full.
Grist is great!

by Claire Glen at 11:07 PM on 06 Sep 2007

You are kidding, right?

Right?

I hope.

Seriously now.

"Tremendous", "unbelievable amount", "The mind boggles".

If you are kidding, good one. You got me there for a second. If you are not: Get your priorities right. You are worried about the mosquito while the elephant is running wild.

Karsten PolluteLessDotCom

by PolluteLessDotCom at 4:29 AM on 07 Sep 2007

The 'unmentionables'

G'Day
No I wasn't kidding...but I'm pleased that you have paused for a moment to consider 'the world within a grain of sand'. At least we can see an elephant charging around clearly but not so the zillions of little unmentionable acts committed daily by none other than we the 'dominant species' affecting most of the world's 'other species'.
Adding to my horror list of rarely discussed 'disposables' could be:-
condoms, disposable nappies, cigarette butts, chewing gum just to name a few...
I could sleep better at night if I could be convinced that all 'this stuff' is being taken care of by a responsible 'global committee'.

Cheers C.G

by Claire Glen at 8:25 PM on 08 Sep 2007
[ Parent ]

Don't blow off the hanky idea so quickly

Handkerchiefs work well. They are far more resilient, absorbent and soft than any ground up tree ever will be. When I occasionally have a cold, or alergy, I use one. With proper folding, you can get a handful of sneezes on one before it's time for a good rinse under some hot water. Or a new one, if you are a snooty snotter.

I think this is a case of people overcoming pre-conceived notions of what is "sanitary", which I think may have largely been created by an industry looking for ways to sell paper.

Yes, it would seem to make sense that something you sneeze upon should be immediately jettisoned, perhaps in a yellow bag with a nuclear waste symbol printed on it.

But if you have a cold, the most compelling scientific evidence available (which is frankly not very compelling) indicates that having a place to sneeze into at the ready, thus avoiding transmission of aerosol sneezage into the air. When done, fold the hanky so a new un-snotted section is available, and put it in your pocket. Wash your hands, and rinse the hanky if you feel so inclined. As long as you don't wipe the company coffee cup with it afterwards (sorry, is that too gross?), it's not like the hanky immediately becomes a blob-like swarm of germs that will soon be able to walk out of your pocket and self-locomote itself up someone else's unsuspecting nostril.

And if you have an allergy, forget the whole infection thing. A simple fold will do.

All we're talking about here is what to do with occasional sticky, gooey substances spewed forth from our bodies from time to time. It's not the end of the world, it's just not as nice as the scent of spring flowers on a misty Irish Spring morning. It's not a big deal (sorry, had to get the 5th grade "it's not/it's snot" pun in here somewhere).

There is no medical evidence I am aware of to support the idea that paper tissues have any benefit. Or anti-bacterial soaps. Or that alcohol stff people rub on their hands. There's plenty of evidence to suggest they are harmful to our environment, as well as mounting evidence to suggest that our bacteria-phobia has actually made us more susceptible to them.

No one really know how colds are transferred anyway, and our obsessive/compulsive society still has been conditioned to think we need a high-tech solution and complete purity and cleanliness at all times. Even if it is useless and wasteful.

Rethink those assumptions, folks -- "facial tissues" are a great example of a little thing many of us take for granted. I do every day, and still find myself doing things that upon reflection are just plain pointless.

Tom H http://www.fivepercent.us/

by tharrison at 6:31 PM on 10 Sep 2007

Priorities

I guess, we each need to find what we think is most important to be done to cause change.
I believe that worrying about tissues, toilet paper, and condoms (all biodegradable by the way) should be WAY below worrying about the amounts of water and energy used for products that pollute or are completely unnecessary. Transportation, heating, and cooling energy in a "civilized" society use are so huge that it is difficult to call such a society civilized.

Of course there are issues with disposable diapers, and other dispoable sanitary products. I do find the use of the language you used counterproductive though. We have to reserve big words for big issues. Otherwise we will not be able to talk about big issues in ways that make them big. Which adjectives remain to emphazise concerns in regard to industrial meat production or household energy use in North America if disposable tissues are a "tremendous concern" and the mind already boggles?

If anyone living in a high-tech world worries about the habits that make very little difference in each individual's life, nothing will change. If ten million people do not enough, it may make a difference but it is still not enough. I fear too many people do not continue after they did just very little. Especially if small issues are blown to such proportions.

Karsten PolluteLessDotCom

by PolluteLessDotCom at 9:13 AM on 11 Sep 2007

on hankies

Trust me, I tried hankies. Tried em made from all sorts of different fibers (the softer the better). They all ended with me having a very sore, painful nose. I am resigned to having to use Puffs tissues, since those are the only tissues I can use without getting that sore, painful nose.

For some people, hankies are just not an option. :^/

by redambrosia99 at 11:39 AM on 06 May 2008

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Nothing to Sneeze At