Toilet Seat Etiquette + Germ Control

The other week I had a couple of male guests come through my little cottage of a home. During their visit, a bathroom call was also made. Of course, I obliged. Unbeknownst to me and my preconceived notions about the modern-day mannered man, I was shocked to discover both male guests felt it OK to leave the toilet seat and lid left in the upright position. Hmm. Beyond being a social sin in my opinion, when does a girl ever like having to rearrange opened toilet accoutrements after her male guests? And it turns out, this casual lavatory act is also not so good for your home environment.

Remember in school when you had to watch those 1950's atomic bomb films in history class? That exact thing is happening in your bathroom when you flush. As that 1950's video explains, "The explosion's radioactive fallout is almost as dangerous as the blast itself." When you push down on that unassuming little flush handle, a mushroom bomb made of microbial cloud of feces and bacteria explodes into your home's atmosphere. The only thing stopping that lovely image from alighting on everything like your soap and toothbrush? 


The toilet lid, closed down as a matter of fact.


Even the boys at Discovery Channel"s Mythbusters found the same results by using dry ice to film what gets shot up during this ill-advised practice of flushing toilets with the lids in the up position. 

Some of my favorite quotes about this lid-up flushing business:


"What they can't is the countless billions of bacteria and microbes that literally explode upward into the air [...] some of these germs can reach heights of up to 20 feet." 

"It doesn't take long for these tiny particles of poop to settle on everything in the room; faucets, towels, even your toothbrush." 

So there you have it, leave it the way you found it i.e. the seat down. And anyways, the amount of energy expended in arguing about this lid up or down business, far exceeds the simple etiquette required in just doing a girl a favor in leaving a seat down. 

What Habit Did You Shift Today?

Today unfolded into a beautiful Sunday spent in the sun at Coldwater Canyon. Tree People hosted the event, Celebrate Motherhood & Mother Earth, to ahem, celebrate both being green and the launch of pregnancy awareness month (PAM). The setting couldn’t have been more of a treat, with lush greenery and hiking trails galore. High profiles included actress/beauty entreprenuer Josie Maran, holistic author Anna Getty and Ricki Lake, who, along with dozens of Angelenos walked the area and sampled the vendors. 
One of the items discussed during the panel (see photo below) was what earth-unfriendly habit you shifted or changed lately. One woman on the panel, Elizabeth Rogers, author of "The Green Book," offered this small but smart tip. "I made my own at-home spa body scrub." Rogers, who professed she was  not a crafty person, combined olive oil and brown sugar -- and in less than an hour, voila, homemade body scrub. I found this simple recipe online. One recent thing I feel qualifies as a shift in my habits was getting more water conscious. Granted, I DO NOT pay for my water bill, so this was not out of saving $ - although that's usually a bonus when being more sustainable and conserving. Two months ago, I installed  this low flow Roadrunner showerhead by Evolve. Ever brush your teeth or do another activity, while the shower "warms up"? Bet you never realized about 8 gallons of water (per every five-minute shower) actually gets wasted going straight down the drain. The way it works is I turn on the showerhead and as it warms up to about 95 degrees its trickling mode kicks in, basically cutting off the water. When I'm ready to jump in, I just pull a little chord and presto! Hot water ready and flowing just for me. 
I think the whole event, regardless if you're a mommy-to be or not, provided great examples, tools and (locally made) products worthy of any eco-curious person to take note of. Yes, I did see A LOT of baby-lugging men around the event too!  Just goes to show, being green isn't just for the ladies. 
Below are some of my favorite vendors I checked out. 

The vendor scene at Coldwater Canyon.

Vendors were reachable via trails and steps in the area.

 

A garden sits atop the Treepeople lot.

The nearby conference building is LEED certified.

Treepeople's bathroom even had the dual-flush toilets.

Displays from SucculentLOVE were scattered throughout the event. 

Fishbowl fabulous. I am planning on purchasing one as a housewarming for a friend who just moved into her new place.

A wall of paper roses made for an earthy ambiance.

Goers walk to and from vendors at Treepeople.

Arcona Skincare's setup in the conference building. Arcona is L.A.-based and named after chemist and founder Arcona. They're ingredients are cold-processed leaving cosmeceutical-grade ingredients like enzymes and antioxidants, active. Most skin care products are heat-processed, loosing a loosing a lot of original nutrients.

Arcona was giving out sample kits like this, which include a cranberry toner The pink color is made from beets - something I've seen cupcake makers do.

Bellybuds are speakers that  plug into your ipod or digital music player and adhere to the belly. It sticks with an adhesive hydra gel (skin-safe adhesive). Sound-dampers help keep noise level down for passer byers if the mommy-to be is out and about.

One happy prego woman walked around to show off the ultra-cute Bellybuds. 

There were myriad children's clothing vendors. This little tee caught my eye because of the message, "Drive a hybrid." 

I stopped by the Compai table to say hi to its co-founders Faith and Justina Blakeney (yep, they're sisters). I've written on the line before and it's a great sustainable option if you still like a little eclectic funk in your eco-friendly clothes.

I snagged a little sample of vegan, Fair-Trade chocolate Nicobella. Some of the richest chocolate. For this event, they debuted their Nicobella Mama bar, made with 72 percent chocolate with candied walnuts and toasted flax. But all their bars are rich in antioxidants, Omega-3 and fiber. Above is their lovely line of truffles. 

The Coolhaus ice cream truck also made its way through the trails to treat Treepeople goers.  

Echo, the water sponsor, started on the premise that there was no need to ship water from long distances,  use filtered local, municipal water. The co-founders connected on Facebook after high school, decided they wanted to embark on a worthy project and the rest is history.  

I snagged a couple sample bags of Seasnax, a seaweed alternative to chips. There are tons of seaweed snacks out there, but how many of them are made with 100 percent olive oil? And if you're wondering, yep, they're delicious.  

 A couple of years ago, John Weaver, the master roaster for Pete's Coffee left his post to start a Fair-Trade, organic Weavers Coffee. 

Beautiful sustainable wood sculptures made for unique decor. 

This modern-ish pendant lamp caught my eye and made me wish they were on sale there.