Going old tech to save money and reduce waste (plastic, buying, natural)
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I’ve been shaving with a safety or double edge razor. Replacement blades are cheaper and sharper than disposable heads or disposable razors. Plus the only plastic is the Finley case that the blades come in and it acts as a protective case to dispose of the used blades.
Another old tech is to go back to bar soap and wash cloth instead of body wash and plastic material disposable bath poof.
It seems to me that a new technology should supplant an old one when it meets at least one of three of the following criteria, without any major negative effects on the other two: [a} improves outcomes (2) is easier/more convenient, and {C} is cheaper.
In regards the specific case of shaving: safety razors were a huge improvement over straight razors-- MUCH safer (in a day when there were no antibiotics and a nick from shaving could wind up killing you). They gave a faster, better shave and didn't require the larger capital outlay for razor & strop....Then came the double-blade plastic disposables ~40 y/a-- fewer nicks, closer shave. I don't know if they're any cheaper or not. I haven't bought a safety razor blade in 40 yrs.
Let's look at something more negatively impressive about technology: The Germans came up with the VolksWagen (Peoples Car) 85y/a. It got 20 mpg, sat 4, used exhaust heat to defrost windows & heat cabin. Four guys could pick it up and move it if you got stuck. Windows opened/close reliably with a hand crank. They were super-easy to keep tuned & to repair. We used to keep a rebuilt one in our shop as replacement. When one came in for major repairs, we could remove the old and replace it with the newly rebuilt one in 20 minutes, then take our time easily rebuilding the old one...oh-- and cheap to buy new or used.
What has technology wrought us: environmentally meaningless results from adding thousands of dollars of electronic sensors, computers & fuel injection systems driving the cost of a new car well out the reach of modest wage earners and ridiculously high maintenance & repair costs., while 20mpg still remains to be the norm. (Remember the Geo? It got 50mpg 30 y/s ago, but the govt regs put them out of production....The only advantage newer cars have is that they're easier to start in cold weather. That could have been accomplished with pretty cheap improvements in ignition spark. BTW- almost all of the improved fuel economy has been attained by making smaller engines and lighter cars, not the high tech engine changes.
Yes, newer cars have reduced exhaust emissions. Has that caused less disease or habitat destruction? No- it's meaningless govt diversionary tactics.
It seems to me that a new technology should supplant an old one when it meets at least one of three of the following criteria, without any major negative effects on the other two: [a} improves outcomes (2) is easier/more convenient, and {C} is cheaper.
In regards the specific case of shaving: safety razors were a huge improvement over straight razors-- MUCH safer (in a day when there were no antibiotics and a nick from shaving could wind up killing you). They gave a faster, better shave and didn't require the larger capital outlay for razor & strop....Then came the double-blade plastic disposables ~40 y/a-- fewer nicks, closer shave. I don't know if they're any cheaper or not. I haven't bought a safety razor blade in 40 yrs.
Let's look at something more negatively impressive about technology: The Germans came up with the VolksWagen (Peoples Car) 85y/a. It got 20 mpg, sat 4, used exhaust heat to defrost windows & heat cabin. Four guys could pick it up and move it if you got stuck. Windows opened/close reliably with a hand crank. They were super-easy to keep tuned & to repair. We used to keep a rebuilt one in our shop as replacement. When one came in for major repairs, we could remove the old and replace it with the newly rebuilt one in 20 minutes, then take our time easily rebuilding the old one...oh-- and cheap to buy new or used.
What has technology wrought us: environmentally meaningless results from adding thousands of dollars of electronic sensors, computers & fuel injection systems driving the cost of a new car well out the reach of modest wage earners and ridiculously high maintenance & repair costs., while 20mpg still remains to be the norm. (Remember the Geo? It got 50mpg 30 y/s ago, but the govt regs put them out of production....The only advantage newer cars have is that they're easier to start in cold weather. That could have been accomplished with pretty cheap improvements in ignition spark. BTW- almost all of the improved fuel economy has been attained by making smaller engines and lighter cars, not the high tech engine changes.
Yes, newer cars have reduced exhaust emissions. Has that caused less disease or habitat destruction? No- it's meaningless govt diversionary tactics.
At one store I can get a 10 pack of double edge razors for close to $7. If I go online I can get the blades for even cheaper per blade by buying a box of over a hundred blades. The razor handle never needs replacing
Yeah, I can't even imagine who thinks it's somehow better to use "bodywash" than "soap".
Back when I was restoring cars, sometimes I would get so greasy all over my body that I would have to take a shower with Tide laundry powder to get the grease off. Now THAT will tingle! Tide powder is about the best thing to get grease off your hands, other than the products intended specifically for that.
I am torn about the safety razor vs. three blade expensive doohickey. I basically never ever nick or cut myself with the fancypants one, and I have to be really careful with the safety razor.
I have never even heard of a "plastic material disposable bath poof". WTF?
I've been using a Gillette Mach 3 razor handle I got as a free sample by mail I guess close to 20 years ago. Every now and then Dollar General will have their version of the Mach 3 razor cartridges for $1. Last time they were that price I bought 10 packs of, I think, 5 cartridges. I don't change mine that often, mainly because I don't shave that often, so these DG cartridges should last me a long time.
A helpful hint I read in Hints from Heloise that used to be in newspapers a long time ago is, when you buy a bar of soap, take it out of the package as soon as you get it and let it dry out. (You'll see the cracks in it) A dried out bar of soap will last a lot longer than one right out of the package and it makes your bathroom smell fresher.
I don't know what "body wash" is either, but there's nothing new under the sun.
The ancient Roman were really big into The Baths. They would bathe by smearing olive oil all over themselves.- that would dissolve the body oils that provide us with our aroma- then scrape it off with a curved stick of wood or bronze, then jump in the heated pools.
Then someone came up with soap-- the salt of fatty acids-- made by combining lye- NaOH- with animal fat-- glycerin + 3 fatty acids. Does the same thing as the olive oil, but is itself more soluble in water than oil.
Body wash has got to be some variation of that- oily solvent + some water soluble moiety-- really just liquid soap.
So, if you really want to go low tech & natural-- go back to olive oil and a scraper.
Before the 1940s, the most common way to clean your teeth was to use a little Arm & Hammer baking soda and your finger. (Take note that the tooth brush was invented in Kentucky...If it had been invented someplace else, it would have been called the teeth brush.)
I paid $6 for straight razor in 1980. I used it until 2001 when my son was using it and dropped it on a ceramic tile floor, which shattered the blade. That was the year I retired, so I stopped shaving. Get a good razor and it can last you a lifetime.
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