Dropping Disposable Cotton Balls From My Daily Routine
I, like most American women, use cotton balls on a daily basis. Twice a day I squirt a little salicylic acid astringent on a white puffy cotton ball and then wipe down my face with it. Unfortunately, vanity and a nasty case of rosacea keep me from ditching my whole facial routine. However, I have found a substitute for the disposable cotton ball.
While on my recent shopping binge (you know, when I fell off the Compacting wagon) at Target, If found a package of 12 reusable facial buff sponges. According to the care instructions, I can simply rinse thoroughly with warm water and let air dry. Surprisingly, these little suckers weren't manufactured in China either, which is a little added bonus.
The down side to these thing is that they have the texture of your basic Brillo Pad and, when combined with the astringent, leave me feeling like I have poured gasoline on my face and then lit it on fire. I may end up Freecycling them in search for something a little less "buffy". But, I will definitely not be going back to my disposable cotton friends.
Savings:
Savings are minimal, for sure, but with this small change I am finally to the point where I am ceasing to create daily trash waste in our bathroom. To calculate the numbers, I'm saving 2 cotton balls per day, or 712 balls per year, plus the 7 plastic bags they would be packaged in. I'm also saving the energy to produce the cotton, bleach it, process it and transport it.
Difficulty Level: 1 out of 5
Easy, but not very comfortable. Again, if I run across a similar product that isn't quite so.... abrasive, I'll definitely hop on it. In the meantime, I'm just gonna grin and bear it. I'd love to know if you have a solution.
Monday, August 13, 2007
Day Forty-Six - Facing Another Issue
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4 comments:
Careful with the abrasives - anything rough like that can trigger a rosacea outbreak. For me, even a simple washcloth can trigger it, and the bad part is that it won't show up for about a week or two.
ok, so I don't know if this is earth friendly or not, but why not use a soft wash cloth with your astringent? Couldn't afford cotton balls when you kids were growing up, so that's what I used.Or what about cutting up some old cotton diapers into squares and using them? Just a thought...
Yeah, I thought about washcloths but they kind of fell apart when I cut them up that small. However, I really like the diaper idea... Very soft, very absorbent and I KNOW I've got some of those hanging around here somewhere! Thanks for the tip -- I'll give it a try!
What about tiny squares of polar fleece? Pretty dang soft, won't fray when cut into little squares, you could even find recycle them from old fleece clothing or a blanket.
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