Super Eco

Photo credit: sarah gilbert

I'll admit, I was a little freaked out by the news that antibiotics used routinely in animal feed as "prophylactics" could be the cause of many outbreaks of sometimes-deadly MRSA in farming communities. I immediately swore to avoid meat raised with antibiotics (which is hard). But news from Britain says antibiotics themselves, and their overuse, aren't only to blame; it's also our clean hair and sweet-smelling t-shirts. Hmmm? Yes, shampoos, fabric softeners, disinfectants, and other household products are exacerbating the growth of so-called "superbugs," antibiotic-resistant bacteria around Britain.

Scientists have learned that the same gene that makes bacteria resistant to ingredients in cleaning products—called quaternary ammonium compounds (QACs)—also makes them resistant to antibiotics. And when QACs are flushed down the toilet or out the shower drain, they dilute in the water and sewage slurry, lessening their ability to kill bacteria and helping inoculate the bugs against them (leading to the complete ineffectiveness of antibacterial cleaning products). What's more, this slurry is spread on crops as fertilizer, sticking it into the food chain along with the superbugs grown in hog farms. That's in addition to the treated sewage that spills back into rivers. One scientist calls it "extremely worrying" and all researchers predict the wide and nearly unstoppable spread of superbugs.

No 'poo is making more and more sense; Penny Weynberg (who seems to predate the no 'poo movement) hasn't washed her hair in well over a decade! Though I've begun no 'poo myself, I now may have to come up with even more "no" movements; no 'andwashing, no 'owny, no...