Where does it go, and who cares?
This morning I decided it was time to conform. My hair was steadily getting grayer and grayer. I had bought the box of color a few months ago and kept putting it off because I was so busy.
I have dyed my hair before. Last time it turned black and I had to go to the hairdresser to fix it! 
Not very economical. I assume the batch was faulty, because that had never happened before! Today it turned out just fine, much to my relief. My nightie ended up with a big dark stain on it, however, where I dropped a big bit of gloop on it… oh well…
However, the reason for this post is this. As I was rinsing out my hair, I watched all that brown dye go down the drain. For the first time in my life, I wondered where it was going. It is nasty stuff. It made a stain on my nightie, can you imagine what else it does? Well, I reasoned, it doesn’t matter, because I can’t see what it does when it leaves my shower and disappears down the drain. Out of sight, out of mind.
Where does that mix of chemicals go? Where does it end up? Is it so diluted by the time it gets to a river or sea that it won’t harm any of the fish or animals that are there? Does it affect anything else along the way? I don’t know, because I can’t see it.
I thought about not dying my hair, but growing gray gracefully …. That really isn’t acceptable in today’s society. We have the options to stay young - why not use them? Makeup makes you look nicer for your husband, as does hair without gray in it. Our husbands might run off with someone younger if we don’t use these products, someone with less gray hair and wrinkles! At least that’s what the tv tells us….
The dye disappeared down the drain, and I got out of the shower and got dressed. Then I went to clean up the rest of the stuff from my hair renewing experience - the cardboard box and four little plastic bottles. Once they are in the bin, they are out of my sight and I don’t care where they go.
What if, I wondered, we all had to dispose of our waste ourselves, ie no rubbish collectors, but a part of our own block of land where we had to take responsibility for the things we buy. I know I would be more mindful of the packaging things come in and also the products themselves. But because I put it in a bin and it disappears magically each week, it is easy not to care.
Of course the point of this post is that I should and do care about where my waste goes, but do I care enough to make real changes in my life? Do I try to reuse as much as I can, and avoid buying things that end up in landfill - be they food packaging or clutter? Am I brave enough to not dye my hair? Because even though my dye may not affect anything on its own, along with everyone else using it to try to look artificially young, our rivers and seas might eventually reach saturation point…..
1. If your hubby doesn’t love you just the way you are, he isn’t worth keeping.
2. hair dye seeps into the skin and can cause all sorts of havoc with your body or so I’ve heard. I tried dying my hair once and it turned out bright orange and I’ve never tried it again.
Comment by Louise - November 14, 2007 9:45 am
Thankfully, my hubby does love me the way I am, so I’m not worried on that account, but I know many who are…
I should do a search on the internet about hair dye… I wouldn’t be surprised that it wreaks havoc with our bodies.
Thanks for dropping by, Louise!
Lv,
Joy
Comment by jam - November 14, 2007 1:59 pm
Hi Joy,
It is so easy to stick our heads in the sand and pretend that what we do has no impact. Your message here reminded me again, that we all have an impact and we can all do more, we all make a difference. Have been debating the whole hair dying saga with myself too! Still not sure what to do. I tried holding out, but I reach a stage in the growing out process, where I just start to feel so terrible and feel so old! I guess my vanity still stands in my way! I was reading something the other day about the top 10 carcinogenic products used in most homes - some that I can remember - VO5 shampoo, Crest toothpast, Listerol, Nice ‘n Easy hair colourant! Was actually something of a shocker to see how many products that we use so frequently and without thinking, are so harmful! Thankfully we now have an Organic shop here and they sell a lot of household cleaning products etc that are not harmful to the environment or to us! But I need to figure out what I am going to do about the whole grey hair situation?
I so enjoy your blog!
Lv Jacqui
Comment by Jacqui - November 14, 2007 7:19 pm
Hey Jacqui,
Yes, I have the same problem with vanity… and peer pressure I think. I am becoming more and more aware, however, of all the rubbish that we are putting in and on our bodies. I do really want to change, but I know I have to make small changes… I think support between friends is a major thing - shall we start a new club - “Gray is Beautiful”?! 
Glad you are enjoying my blog
lv,
Joy
Comment by jam - November 14, 2007 8:33 pm