Post-consumerist hygiene

As a youth, I adopted the phrase, "washing is a bourgeois affectation" with a bit of tongue-in-cheek desire to shock. But the notion of hygiene was essentially something I'd bought into from childhood – the Whig View of History which teaches that mankind's journey is a one-way path of constant improvement, that today was better than yesterday, and tomorrow will be better than today. In the past, lack of hygiene would condemn a large swathe of the population to premature death. Today, we know better; our understanding of germ theory has led to a lengthening of life expectancy. We wash, we don't smell, society is healthier and more fragrant than ever.

But has the pendulum not swung the other way? Are we now not weakening our immune systems with too much hygiene? And are we not harming the environment by all the constant flushing of detergents, washing powders and cleansing products into our water?

I noted in August the media fuss around US Olympic triathlete Seth Rider, about to swim in the Seine: "In preparation for this race, I knew there was going to be some E.coli exposure. So I’ve been trying to increase my E.coli threshold by exposing myself to a bit of E.coli in day-to-day life. It’s just little things, like not washing your hands after you go to the bathroom." So the question, Seth, is – are we talking number ones or number twos? The latter, well, just no. The faeco-oral route is a surefire way of getting severe diarrhoea. But few drops of wee on the fingers? 

Have you noticed how fast-food outlets, the ones where you eat food with your hands – burgers, fries, etc – do not post hygiene notices in their toilets? Saying, for example, "Now wash your hands before putting our food into your mouth?" This suggests that the restaurant chains aren't at all worried by the prospect of a customer suing them for punitive damages after getting food poisoning from eating a burger with urine-splashed fingers.

We wash too often, we bathe too often, we shower too often, we wash our hair and our clothes too often. I am not advocating kołtuństwo; I am, however, calling for people to consider their hygiene habits in the context of whether they are necessary; approach it consciously, wash when you need too, not automatically.

Working mostly from home with one or two trips to town a week, I'll always, but always, take a shower before getting dressed in smart clothes to go meet people. But the rest of the time, I'd be more relaxed about personal hygiene. Washing hands thoroughly after a poo – absolutely. After a wee? Not necessarily. After doing some gardening? Yes. After going for a walk? Not unless I've been handling something out there.

Oral hygiene is a different matter; I brush my teeth after each meal and always have a toothbrush and toothpaste on hand in my rucksacks. Even after eating an apple found upon my walk will be followed by brushing my teeth out in the fields; sugar + fruit acid not a good combination for dental health.

I'm comfortable eating home-aged food, way past its best-by or sell-by dates. Recently I found I'd consumed a pack of hummus that was two weeks beyond the 'consume by' date. No problem; robust gut flora microdosed on food no longer at the height of its freshness.

Overall, my spending on personal hygiene products is low. Sensodyne toothpaste, Head & Shoulders shampoo, generic store-brand soap in bar- and liquid form, and that's it! How much of my currently accumulated wealth is the result of spending 20%-50% less than average on personal hygiene products over a working lifetime? Ignoring the blandishments of the personal hygiene industry and not filling my bathroom with a vast collection of plastic bottles?

This time last year:
October's benign end

This time two years ago:
Disclosure day tomorrow?
[Next congressional UFO hearing: 13 November 2024]

This time three years ago:
Coping with time change (go to bed an hour earlier!)

This time four years ago:
A sustainable food system for rural Poland

This time five years ago:
Sifting through a life

This time seven years ago:
Throwing It All Away

This time eight years ago:
Hammer of Darkness falls on us again
[Again: avoid symptoms of seasonal affective disorder by going to bed an hour earlier and waking an hour earlier when the wretched clocks go back!]

This time nine years ago:
The working week with the clocks gone back

This time 11 years:
Slowly on the mend after calf injury

This time 12 years ago:
Thorunium the Gothick

This time 13 years ago:
Łódź Widzew or Widź Łódzew 

This time 15 years ago:
A touch of frost in the garden
[October 2024: no frost!]