Shower curtain dilemma

Posted on Sep 16, 2008 by Susie Collins in Blog, Products, Susie Collins

It’s time to buy a new shower curtain and it’s causing a dilemma.

envirocurtainLast June, I posted a report showing that vinyl shower curtains are highly toxic. In the post, I said that when my current curtain died, I might buy a nontoxic Envirocurtain made from recycled polyester materials.

It all sounded good when I was only thinking about toxicity. I’ve always had to hang new vinyl shower curtains out on the line for a week or so until they out gas, but the report made me decide that I don’t want them in the house at all. I’d tried a hemp curtain awhile back, but it was very expensive and rotted very quickly. I thought the poly was a good alternative: nontoxic, recycled and long wearing.

But now that it comes down to buying one, I’m having second thoughts. I’ve been reading Fake Plastic Fish, where Beth Terry talks about plastic materials NEVER breaking down in the environment. Well, doodie. Why would I only care about myself and not the environment on the back end, too? It’s bad enough carrying around the guilt of all the vinyl curtains I’ve added to our island’s landfill.

So the question is: Do I buy the recycled poly curtain or do I find a cloth alternative that is more expensive and won’t last as long, but is friendly to both me and the planet?

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4 Responses to “Shower curtain dilemma”

  1. Leslie

    16. Sep, 2008

    I bought thick hemp canvas material and made a shower curtain- it’s WAY cheaper then buying a hemp shower curtain (like 1/4 the price) and isn’t a hard project depending on how stylish you need it to be. Hemp is naturally mold resistant and doesn’t outgas or destroy nature…and it’s totally biodegradable.
    For the good of your health and the planet go with hemp – it will actually last long too…do not get any cotton fabric which will instantly mold!
    (bamboo is also mold resistant but more expensive).

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  2. Susie

    16. Sep, 2008

    I think that’s a super idea! Where would I buy the hemp fabric? And I guess put grommets for the rings? Hmmmm, I see a crafty project on the horizon.

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  3. Leslie

    17. Sep, 2008

    There seems to be alot of types of hemp fabric online (crafting a green world may have some ideas under the “fabrics” section) … maybe if your hemp gets yucky fast you could hang it out in the sun every few months?
    If you make one, please share how you did it!!! :)

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  4. Susie

    17. Sep, 2008

    I’ll hunt online for fabric. Thanks for the tip about hanging outside, great idea. Stay tuned.

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