Super Eco

Photo credit: permanently scatterbrained, flickr

The no 'poo method refers to using alternatives to shampoo to clean an individual's hair, typically infrequent applications of diluted baking soda and vinegar. No 'poo-ers frequently are motivated by both environmental and health concerns (as well as financial ones); shampoo contains many synthetic and petroleum-based ingredients, as well as parabens, which end up in the groundwater and have been blamed for disrupting aquatic life, and sulfates, eye and skin irritants that are included in almost every commercial shampoo formulation. In addition, shampooing strips hair of its natural oils, and one's sebaceous glands must work overtime to produce sebum oil to replace what was lost, thus making hair "dependent" on frequent shampooing.

Shampoo is a decidedly modern development, and until the turn of the 20th century, those who did shampoo only did so about once a month. It wasn't until the 1970s that shampoo companies started encouraging consumers to use their products daily. Going no 'poo often takes a "weaning" period of about six weeks until an individual's body adjusts.

The Livejournal no 'poo community is the most widely-used source for information on dealing with different hair types, using dry and wet solutions of other natural products, and general support and no 'poo humor. The typical no 'poo practitioner washes his or her hair with about two tablespoons of baking soda to 16 ounces of water, once or twice a week, and, sometimes in alternate showers, rinses with a vinegar solution of about a few tablespoons vinegar to 16 ounces of water.