8 weeks of clean living

Way back when I was first thinking about starting a blog (called On Efficiency, with some similar themes but a less environmental bent) I wanted to tackle the subject of optimal (male facial) shaving. At the time, I was convinced the answer would be a straight razor, given that one never throws away blades, but now I realize the calculation is a bit more complex.

My grandfather gave me an electric razor for Christmas noting that he felt it was a good fit with my environmental goals. At first this seems unintuitive—shouldn’t something that uses electricity be worse for the environment than something you power yourself? After thinking about it for a while, however, I think one can make a pretty strong argument for an electric razor. Here’s how I see it breaking down.

Electricity: The electric razor obviously has a disadvantage here, but the amount of power it draws is quite small. Charging the razor after taking it out of the box only drew 4 watts from the outlet. After completely charging, the total power draw didn’t even show up on my Kill-A-Watt’s meter (it still read 0.00 kWh). The razor may have come partially charged though, so I’ll update if the subsequent charge produces different results. My grandfather says he gets about a month’s regular use out of a charge.

Water: Here both straight and safety razors have a substantial disadvantage—they require quite a bit of water (normally hot) to get the job done. Besides just the use of water (which in San Diego we’re always trying to conserve), heating and pumping the water probably takes more energy in one shaving session than the electric razor takes for a month’s worth of charge.

Shaving Cream: Electric razors don’t use shaving cream, a product that takes materials and energy to produce and ship.

Waste: Electric razor blades are supposed to be replaced every year (though my grandfather says he’s never replaced his, but I’ve also heard he had a cavity filled without anesthetic…). This replacement rate is much less than safety razors, but the item replaced is slightly larger. Straight razors just need to be sharpened and maintained. Both straight and safety razors create waste through discarded shaving cream canisters, a problem electric razors avoid. The real stinger for electric razors though is the replacement of the whole unit. Obviously there’s quite a bit to electric razors, including a toxic battery, which is a knock for them in this category (though highly dependent on how often you replace them). Due to the battery they should probably be disposed of as household hazardous waste and not just thrown in the trash.

Cost: This isn’t an environmental factor, but one to consider. Up front a high quality straight razor and a nice electric razor can both be around $100, with the electric razor having greater recurring costs for occasional blade replacement (vs just buying shaving cream for a straight razor). Safety razors are normally very inexpensive or free up front, but as we all know, the blades can be pretty expensive. Lifetime I’d guess the straight razor has the advantage.

I looked in to getting a straight razor during my first eight weeks and ran in to lots of horror stories about people cutting strips off of their faces due to nicked or bent razors. That and the high cost for a quality kit dissuaded me from taking the plunge. I still haven’t fully adjusted to the electric razor, but I think when you take into account water, shaving cream, shaving cream canisters and blades, electric razors actually make more environmental sense than safety razors.

In addition to some of the larger changes that I’ve been making, there are a host of little things I try to do that also have environmental consequences. Time for my first list!

I:

• Turn the water off while soaping my hands, brushing my teeth, and doing dishes (and generally try to waste as little water as possible)
• Turn the lights off whenever I leave a room
• Shop for groceries with a reusable bag, and when I do end up with a plastic or paper bag I use them as trash and recycling bags, respectively (I never have to use actual trash bags)
• Recycle everything that is recyclable, including electronic waste
• Unplug chargers and other electronics while not in use (also, I’ve turned off the circuit breakers for my electric heaters, since they draw power even when not in use)
• Use my cell phone in lieu of having an alarm clock
• No longer initiate or renew subscriptions to magazines or newspapers (they are painfully wasteful and obsolete these days)
• Never buy non-rechargeable batteries (they are awful for the environment, classified as household hazardous waste, and way more expensive in the long run than simply using rechargeables)
• Collect any extra unused napkins given to me at restaurants, etc. for later use, and use cloth napkins for dining at home (I never have to buy napkins)
• Take the stairs
• Reuse packing materials myself, or take the peanuts back to UPS/FedEx stores for reuse
• Pay bills online, and cancel all paper statements from financial institutions
• Try to stop as much junk mail as possible (see this helpful article)
• String as many trips together as possible if I have to use the car (and carpool when possible)
• Let my dishes air dry instead of using heated dry
• Buy environmentally friendly personal care products such as 100% recycled toilet paper, paper towels and facial tissues that are whitened without chlorine bleach, phosphate free dishwashing soap and laundry detergent etc.

There may be some small things that I should be doing that I’m not doing. Feel free to share some small green tips!

I saw over on AutoblogGreen that the city of Ann Arbor is now banning the sale of bottled water at city events. Based on our previous coverage of this topic, I’d say that this is a good thing. Whether it’s the government’s place to tell people what they can buy is certainly debatable though. I’d lean towards heavily taxing bottled water at city events and providing reusable bottles and tap water (which they are doing now) as a much less expensive alternative. In any event, Ann Arbor is protecting its citizens from an expensive, unhealthy and environmentally damaging product.

The very first guest writer here at 8 weeks of clean living is my good friend Lauren. Lauren is about to start a PhD at UC Davis in the ecology department, with a focus on environmental policy. Hopefully she’ll be a recurring contributor, and to start she’s going to consider the environmental impact of bottled water.

Last time I dropped off my recycling at the local center there was someone ahead of me in line depositing a strikingly large number of empty plastic water bottles. As suggested by this thirsty person (or perhaps her thirsty clientele), bottled water has become a very popular drink choice. Unfortunately, it comes with its share of environmental problems. Purifying bottled water takes large amounts of energy, as does transporting full bottles thousands of miles to be sold. In addition, the fossil fuels required to produce enough plastic bottles to satisfy America’s annual demand for bottled water could fuel 100,000 cars for a year. Finally, once bottled water has been consumed, as few as 14 percent of the bottles get recycled.

Early this summer San Francisco mayor Gavin Newsom issued an executive order banning the city government from using city funds to buy its employees bottled water. This is a smart way for the city, whose municipal water is readily drinkable, to save the approximately $500,000 it spends annually on bottled water and reduce its generation of waste, in addition to helping wean its city employees from bottled water. The city of Los Angeles has instituted a similar policy.

Anyone who lives in an area with safe water can make the switch from bottled water by acquiring a reusable, washable water container such as the environmentally friendly ones made by Klean Kanteen. I like to keep my bottle in the fridge–the cold water tastes better and I get the added refreshment factor. In places with suspect tap water, one can get a water filter that fits in the fridge. Switching from bottled water to tap water is an easy change to make that saves money, energy and the environment.

One of my daily habits involves taking a nice long hot shower. Needless to say, using tens of gallons of gas-heated water doesn’t jive with the environmental goals of this blog. Since there’s no such thing as a nice long cold shower, I figure I can reduce my water consumption and my energy footprint by always taking cold showers. Luckily, here in San Diego the cold water that comes out the tap can actually be quite warm, relatively speaking, but it’s still a little startling.

According to Flex Your Power’s handy little data sheet on the topic, one can spend quite a bit of money on water heating, so I figure to save myself (or a least my homeowners association) a couple of dollars. Also, in an effort to view my cold showers as “refreshing” I’m going to try to take them directly after a jog or some other body-temperature-raising exercise.