Spring Break
Good hygiene is eco-safe with a little effort
Amy Farnsworth
Issue date: 4/19/07 Section: Lifestyle
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Instead, she lathers up with hemp body wash and wears tea tree oil deodorant.
Golden, a sophomore communication studies major, Beacon opinion writer and secretary of Earth Emerson, is one of a handful of students at Emerson College doing her part to save the environment by using environmentally friendly beauty products.
The abundance of organic grocery stores and foods is growing, but organic beauty products are also emerging in places like Trader Joe's, Whole Foods Market and specialty stores around the city, such as LUSH, which sells handmade, organic soaps and cosmetics.
The commercial cosmetics available in drugstores and beauty counters often test on animals and include preservatives and chemicals.
That's one of the reasons Golden ditches mainstream makeup and opts for natural cosmetics. She's not shy about her occasional splurge purchase of a product from Chanel or Clinique, but most of the time, Golden spends a little extra cash on products that help save the Earth and rejuvenate her body without using harsh chemicals.
When Golden sported dreadlocks, she'd moisturize them using flax and hemp oil and an aloe vera hair gel.
Even though she's left the dreads behind for a shorter style, her cabinets remain stocked with organic beauty products.
"Every time you wash your face, the chemicals are going down the drain with the soap and water," Golden said. "As much as we take it for granted, water is something that really needs to be kept clean and needs to be preserved because we're running out of it."
Possible contamination of the water supply is one of the reasons Golden and her roommate use organic beauty products and laundry detergent.
Golden grew up in Bethesda, Md., with a great understanding of how pollution affects the environment. She watched the crab population decline in Chesapeake Bay as the algae and bacteria grew from people scraping their plates of leftover food in the garbage disposal, eventually ending up in the water supply, she said.
"For me it's something I've grown up knowing," Golden said. "If you put something down the drain, it has to go somewhere."
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