Rub-A-Dub-Dub

With all the hub-bub about ecology and conserving our resources, it really becomes necessary to look at how you and your household live. I, for one, have evolved over the years toward this end. I am living much more ecologically friendly since I made a mission trip to Africa where my eyes were really opened for the first time.

Prior to said trip, I was a serious bath person. I had candles lining every flat surface in my bathroom to add ambiance during my long, steamy soaking baths. I played soothing music, lit my favorite incense (Perfumes of Ancient Times) and had within handy reach a basket full of my favorite bath oils, salts, pumice stones, scrubbies, etc. I was picky about towels, too. They had to be big, soft, thick and beautiful. A glass of wine sometimes completed this picture of tranquility. I loved bath time! I always felt like I washed away the world and all her troubles, leaving only peace and luxury behind. Very self-indulgent.

Then I went to Africa and stayed in a village. Women and children made daily trips to the one village well carrying any kind of container they had. Most times they carried two or three at a time. Some balanced one container on their head while they had one in each hand. This was their water for cooking, bathing, washing clothes, any and everything. They did not take water for granted.

Our mission team was getting our water from the same well; we were respectful of their resource and conserved water for the precious commodity it is. Two to three inches of water in a dish pan for daily grooming was heated over the fire. I washed my hair using only the amount of water in a plastic drinking bottle. It can be and was done!

My eyes were open to a lot of things during that trip. The simplicity of life in that village really intrigued me. They washed clothes by hand in washtubs, cooked over an open fire and walked every where. No electricity or fuel required. Their little one room round huts were basically used for sleeping and/or getting out of the elements during bad weather. No A/C spinning a meter. Life was lived outdoors where they had constant interaction with one another. They actually knew their neighbors.

After returning home I found I could not take a bath, I simply could not! The thought of using that much water for one bath, for personal pleasure, made me physically ill and very remorseful. I became a shower person overnight and they are quick showers at that! To this day, I take very short showers. When asked how I could be so fast, I just say I know where all my parts are and they stay in the same place; it is not a hide and seek endeavor. This makes people laugh and I take those opportunities to challenge and encourage them to take shorter showers. No matter how long the journey, it begins with the first step.

Since that first eye-opening experience and the changes it inspired, I make a point of looking for other ways to be more earth friendly and responsible; just doing my part.