Q&A. The Close Shave
by Warren McLaren, Sydney on 07.30.05
Q. Greetings Treehugger. I was hoping that you could help me out with a concern of mine. I’m a relatively hairful man who requires a rather frequent shaving schedule so as not to overly irritate my girlfriend's sensitive skin. I have become more and more concerned about my impacts on this Earth of ours and was hoping that you could help me find the most eco-friendly way of shaving. Any advice you could offer will be greatly appreciated. Thank you very much for your time. Mark F.
A. Mark, it’s an issue I confront, whenever I find myself in front of the mirror all stubbleful. Stuck between the devil and deep blue sea. Don’t want to use an electric razor and add to greenhouse gas emissions but nor use chemical foams and disposable blade razors either. Twice though, I thought I had found the answer. First, was aeons ago, when I saw an image of Ross Lovegrove’s never-go-blunt ceramic razor (which we noted in our Top Five: Personal Care post) but, alas, has never been commercialised for bathroom use. Then I got excited about a wind-up razor that Real Goods were selling. Sounded just perfect. But they advised me they’d run out and had little chance of ever getting them again. Seems you can still trace such things, if you are prepared to scour the web. (the pic above shows the Brevete Monaco model, but in this case it’s motor has worn out!) Check out a cute selection of other non-electrical razors at Simply Switch On!, the museum of small electric appliances.
So, that pretty much left me considering the classic Straight razor, more ominously known as a ‘cut throat’. Mother Earth News have a lovely piece on these, that even includes detailed instructions and quirky illustrations on how to get a baby smooth shave that lasts the whole day through, while keeping your throat intact! I suspect this is your best bet, Mark. Combine one with a natural ingredient based shave cream, say something of the Tom’s Of Maine ilk, and your girlfriend and your planet will both thank you.
For those mere mortals choosing not to embrace a Straight razor, might I suggest simple eco-steps like: using a refillable blade razor, shaving less (maybe try a beard!) and/or just using water as your lubricant.
And if you really find yourself stuck, then use whatever razor works to keep your relationship cuddly and continuing. Sweat the small stuff less, in this one instance. Insulating your home, catching more public transport, eating one less meat meal a week, installing compact fluoro lights, avoiding that plasma TV purchase, will all help our little blue/green ball much more than whatever shaving regime we guys (and girls) opt for.
PS. I once posed this very dilemma to some uni students, as an ecodesign problem solving exercise. One solution offered, was for guys to ‘wax’ their stubble away. Maybe it was the look of horror on the faces of male students, that stopped the other half from deciding such an idea would meet with big commercial success!
Stropping a straightedge has always been the obstacle to performance. Check out the now-defunct "rolls razor" offerings on Ebay for a turn of the century solution that bridges the gap between straightedge and handled razors.
I've moved to electric shavers some time ago, but looked long and hard to find models with no batteries and no charging involved. THen I learned the hard way to buy extra shaving head parts in advance. Yes...this still uses electricity, and has a C02 burden. But so does running the hot water to soften one's skin for the razor, porobably moreso.
There is one tradeoff for electric that no amount of design will overcome. THe gausian field strength of the motor or solenoid device that moves the blades is high, emitting electromagnetic energy enough to drive my field strength meter off scale. If you don't like those miligaus from overhead lines you certainly should not ingnore that source.
You might want to go to your local outdoor farmers' market or craft fair and find a local soap vendor. Almost all soap vendors make at least one type of soap friendly for shaving without any of those nasty chemicals added to the product. You might even be able to find someone that sells it organicly. At the very least you will get a smoother shave and help out your community by buying local. My husband and I also sell a clay soap with bentonite clay that is great for shaving at: http://eccaia.com/.
That "Simply Switch On!" link has one-too-many "/" on it. Correct URL should be http://homepage.ntlworld.com/paul.linnell/sso/razorsmech.html
Don't shave for three weeks.
When your beard is long enough it is very soft.
You just have to get over the itchy phase.
Don't be slave to the razor.
Celebrate Diversity:
Beards come in all different shapes and sizes
Haven't tried it on my face (I have an electric razor I bought years ago and am not about to just toss it into a landfill -- take good care of batteries and they'll last for ages), but my wife has discovered that (hair) conditioner makes a great lubricant for shaving her legs. No nasty propellants or foamy crap, just pick whatever organic-friendly hair product you'd use on your head.
Simply Switch On! link is now fixed in the body. Thanks for pointing that out, Andrew. Was sure I'd checked them, but there you go! Ta.
I agree with the "sweat the small stuff less" message. Sure, you can find a greener way to shave, but it's not hard to do something 100 times greener than that. The time spent writing to Treehugger about shaving could have been spent writing to a congressman about a pet eco issue, or to one's employer about ways to reduce waste in the workplace.
On the other hand, Mark F. didn't just write to one person, he wrote to a community. If we ALL took up grener shaving habits we'd accomplish something.
And yet on the third hand, if we all wrote to our congressman we might accomplish yet more. So, back to not sweating the small stuff.
For Shaving Cream, I was inspired a Re-use idea from my GrandDad, who has carried this idea from the WWII years.
He (and now I have one) has a mug in which he puts his soap bar ends. Which he works into a lather using one of those olde time shaving brushes. Nobody ever uses the little bits of soap bars and here's a VERY useful way of using them up!!!
I've found that I can get a huge lifetime (we're talking well over a year; maybe closer to two) out of a jar of good shaving cream (not the canned stuff but a 500 ml tub of cream) and a brush. It feels great besides. I don't rinse the brush off so it takes just a touch of hot water to 'activate' it and a tiny dip in the soap to freshen it up and I'm good to go. The brush has lasted me years as well.
Whole Foods carries non-propellant, all-natural shaving creams. I use one from Alba Botanicals and its great. More and more companies are coming out with all-natural shave creams, so you don't have to be shaving your face without lubrication.
Reading this has made me thing of using a straight razor more, because all those blades is just wasteful, and I never liked electric razors.
I use aloe vera gel instead of shaving cream. I bought a litre of it quite cheaply in Australia a year ago and I have still have about two thirds of it left. It's nice on the skin, and I think it helps get a closer shave (with one of those replaceable twin-blade cartridge things).
I still haven't found a perfect after shave. I currently use Aveda's after shave balm gel, it's a bit expensive, but a little goes a very long way--I find that I only need one squirt of the pump.
Ages ago there was a flywheel driven rotary shaver sold by Edmund Scientific, similar to ones used on the Apollo missions, and operated by pulling on a string. I haven't seen it in a long time, but I've seen a version that uses a hand driven flywheel - like the dynamo flashlights. You can find it here:
http://www.modernoutpost.com/gear/details/mo_shaver.html