My Biggest Green Sin
May 7, 2008 by Gabrielle
Filed under Green Living
This morning, I added my vote to TreeHugging Family’s newest poll which asked the question, “what is your biggest green sin?” And by noon, I showed myself to be a liar.
I had confessed that I used the printer way too much and probably more often than I actually needed. Yes, I blamed my boss for this in a previous post. I do it too. But then I took a shower and learned that my drain was clogged. Since the drain was clogged I also learned just how much water I was using during my long, hot shower. Yikes. As I stood ankle deep in my shower stall, I realized, hmm, I’m thinking this is probably my biggest green sin. Can I vote again?
So now, I have a small but relevant step take to reduce waste in my own home. I need your advice on some next steps:
- I am in search of an eco-friendly drano-type product. Any ideas?
- In the meantime, I am thinking about using the run-off water to water my plants – does anyone have any experience with that? My soaps and shampoos are natural, but its still soap. Will my corn plant hate me forever, or will it be grateful to use water that would otherwise be wasted?
Thanks for the link
We posted about natural drain cleaners – homemade I think before. http://www.treehuggingfamily.com/25-safe-non-toxic-homemade-cleaning-supplies/
But most of the time all you need to do is unscrew the plug and get the hair out.
Jennifer, I am trying your solution as soon as I get home (visiting my folks this weekend). Thank you for the link!
I’ve tried to unscrew the plug but it is beyond my upper arm strength – it is that icky.
Gabs – I’ve used the vinegar and baking soda as well.
On your drain, my old one actually had two tiny screws – one on each side – that I found by accident and armed with that knowledge, a broken chopstick (the broken part for better grabbing) and some needlenose pliars I triumphantly retrieved all sorts of unfriendly things from my drain. Pretty much, it was awesome. And no chance of passing out or killing my kitty kats. Let me know if your exploration worked – or if I can make a house call! =)
Melis, you are so right. I tried the baking soda and vinegar and while it was fun to watch it fizz, it became obvious that I needed some more direct intervention. I found those screws too! So, I pulled my drain apart and dug on in, gagged a bit, and in the end, sorted out the stopped drain manually.
No chance of passing out. No chance of searing my skin with awfulness.
In the end, I think any product (drano, etc)that can eat through human hair can’t be a good thing to wash down your pipes and into a water supply, right? I’m glad I did it.
But I always love a house call.