Our Polluting Soaps
Since the beginning of civilization man has wanted to understand and explore his environment – some 250 years ago he discovered and developed leading to industrial revolution – geared by the trade and empire monies from the colonies the European Countries and then North America embarked on a journey of making machines – huge ones at that which would gouge the earth’s womb for coal, petroleum and minerals. The vicious cycle of more from more began – and here we stand.
The second ritual of the day bathing too is polluting to the Gaia! The foaming agents - Ammonium Lauryl Sulfate and Sodium Lauryl Sulfate; the coloring agents to make our soaps appealing to the eye; the perfumes added to make bathing a pleasurable experience. The bathing gels contain silica, perfumes and detergents too which add to our daily contribution of pollution to our environment. Imagine – each one of those drains in your locality pours gallons of bactericides, fungicides, detergents, perfumes, coloring agents and other chemicals like vitamins, etc to this toxic soup – where does it all go? Into the rivers, lakes and seas – causing eutrophication of these water bodies – there will come a time that they will be loaded with nutrients and weed plants, totally choked of all life as everynight the weedplants take up all the dissolved oxygen in the water killing the fauna in the waterbody. Then, No fishing and angling for you!
How did we wash ourselves 250 years ago? Don’t we have those options even today – yes the soaps and gels are a quick, hassle-free commodity we have become addicted to – but do we care of the world that we are to hand over to our children?
Bathing is meant to be sacred and healing – a time when we connect with ourselves in body, mind and soul. The use of rose petals softens the skin, arrowroot, fuller’s earth, chickpea flour cleanses the moist skin by a scrubbing action, addition of milk, honey and turmeric to the water of the paste used to mask and scrub - kills germs, moisturizes, gives the skin the essential proteins and fats. The use of aritha (soapnut) is prevalent even today. Thereafter a grounding and soothing warm oil massage in the warmth of the sun would relieve tired muscles and the wonderful smells delight the mind. The finishing touches to the bath were the application of scented oils and sandalwood paste.
Does today’s bath do following for us? Improve our energy levels and clarity of mind? Does it really remove the daily grime, sweat and environmental pollutants? Does it balance our emotions and relax our mind? Don’t we zip through our baths, hardly ever practice deep breathing? Do we enjoy a laidback evening with nothing but the flame of a lamp and fragrance of an incense stick or an aromatherapy lamp?
Polluting the Earth and Ourselves – in a hurry. To achieve? The Fulfilling Life We Are Missing?
Ecofriendly Products – Toothpastes
Here is your introduction to environmentally friendly tooth-cleaners. Twigs of bay, neem, eucalyptus, oak, juniper certain other pines and fir were used as their volatile oils (the benefits of which have given us the field of aromatherapy) are bloodwarming causing better circulation to the teeth and gums – boosting the immune system from within to protect and nourish the teeth. The tannin in the bark of the twigs helped tighten the Gums, they are further enriched with Vitamin C, which boost the immune system and is essential for maintaining healthy gums. The chewed-up bark would be used as a brush which polished the teeth, flossed the teeth and massaged the gums for better blood circulation. Roots of marshmallow, alfalfa, horseradish and licorice were also used as brushes.
The toothpastes and powders made were made out of minerals like alum, rocksalt, fuller’s earth with herbal principles like clove, pepper, turmeric, prickly ash(North America), myrrh gum (in the Middle East) – to warm, promote circulation, tighten gums, astringent in nature, detoxify, remove food debris and plaque. The circulation of blood is the basic principle of herbal medicine/ ayurveda. The simple act of brushing one’s teeth can lead to a healthy heart and circulatory system by unblocking arteries, dissolving clots.
Tea tree oil (take one drop in 500 ml of water) is a stimulant and antiseptic. The calyx of the aubergine or eggplant when burnt to ash and applied to the teeth, relieve toothache, gingivitis, and other diseases of mouth and gums.
Brushing teeth and flossing between the gums is half the job done – the color and cleanliness of the tongue reflects the health of the digestive tract. The process of scraping the tongue stimulates the digestive system by jumpstarting the process of peristalsis – the contractions and relaxations that take your food down and ahead into the intestines. This peristalsis also causes bowel movements and clear bowels everyday give you a clear pink tongue – an indicator of a healthy digestive system, hence preventing bad breath and plaque too. The tongue can be scraped by using a silver, copper, steel or plastic scraper – applied at the base of the tongue slowly pulled outwards towards the lips, this scraping causes the nerves of the tongue – attached to the brain and the digestive system to be stimulated and also removes the debris from the tongue’s surface.
Then there are rinses made out of herbs, mushes to be tucked next to the teeth – one such mush is the Indian Paan , a triangular packet stuffed with herbs and spices, meant to be digestives, teeth cleansers and breath-sweeteners. The paste of slaked lime called chunna is an astringent to kill germs, the Kattha or Cathechu is nothing but tannin and the betelnut too, tighten gums, the clove, fennel seeds, cardamom, the betel-leaf not only sweeten the breath, they warm and detoxify the blood; further rose leaves can also be added. The herbal pharmacopeia of the world is rich with its remedies – we would discuss it to infinity.
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Welcome to Eco-friendly-zone.com - The Greener Side of Life
