Sustainability in gear?

One word, Bushcraft You will spend more time and effort. But both those are free.

Right on! On the soap thing, it is really important to make sure you maintain fecal hygiene… I'm with you on using leaves/snow etc vs TP, but you've gotta wash your hands with soap afterwards. If you can find some alternate method from "the ancients", which will allow you to maintain good hygiene, publish it here!!! I don't know what that method would be… good luck, dude!

For toothpaste I use baking soda. I don't use soap in the woods, it wastes too much water for my liking. Some alcohol fuel or hand sanitizer can kill off the nasty stuff on my hands. I sanitize my pots by boiling water the next time I cook.

I don't consider the medkit something that you use up that often. The only thing that I regularly use is a safety pin if I need to drain a blister and it doesn't get worn out. Also trying to find a medical solution using plants could put you in a much worse situation if you don't know EXACTLY what you are doing.

I have a cartridge for my katadyn filter that I have used for over 800 miles and it is showing no signs of slowing down. For the life I get out of the cartridge I don't think it is too much garbage created or too much trouble to get a new one. If you are comparing against chemicals then I can see where you are coming from; just suck it up and carry the weight of the pump.

Have you read "The Last American Man", a biography about Eustis Conway. You might get some ideas from reading this book. I think he did the AT wearing a loincloth and killing most of his food (or if he didn't it sounds like something he would do).

I stopped carrying CampSuds years ago. (I do still take them when the kids are along.) I just try to get in the water every afternoon and scrub with my shirt, rinsing it later. For hygiene I use sand from the creekbed as a scrub.

I understand that some people don't use soap in the woods but when you are out for many weeks you need to use something. I remember reading somewhere where you can use dirt to clean your hands after the leaves and also use it on your cook pot instead of soap. Sand would probably work great also.

Baking soda is good to use on your teeth also but it is not found in nature.

The medkit could probably stay as an emergency backup.

“Baking soda is good to use on your teeth also but it is not found in nature.”

Er, well actually it is.

You know what I meant. Got a map with all of the naturally occuring deposits in NA?

Here is your new sustainable "mountain man" toothpick for dental hygeine.

http://www.chichesterinc.com/Baculum-Raccoon.htm

So, perfectly in agreement on cleaning pots with sand/bush etc, and for normal non-fecal hand washing. I think we'd need a scientific opinion about fecal washing with sand. You know, HYOH and everything, but I'd be really cautious of this particular issue (no pun intended)!

I think using a broad grass would probably work better.

There are a lot of reasons why aboriginal man did not routinely achieve long life; unreliable food supplies, inadequate shelter, insufficient clothing, disease, etc. His life was an exercise in survival, 24/7.

We, on the other hand, have overcome most of the challenges presented aboriginal man and, completely bored with the safety of our accomplishment, seek limited quasi-survival experiences.

Contests with pathogenic microscopic organisms should not be among these adventures. We have soap.

So, like your mom told you, wash your hands. If you want to play Survival Man, have at it, but make sure you wash your hands. Barfing up a lung can kill you just as surely as falling off the mountain.

Make sure you understand the game before you play it.

John

Ditto what John said.

it cannot be said enough that the primary reason for prehistoric/early-history low life expectancy was the lack of dental hygiene. Abscesses and teeth infections can kill you (but more likely just cost you a lot of money.)

Which is more "unsustainable"? Spending a few bucks on a toothbrush and floss now and again or shelling out hundreds of money filling cavities and getting root canals.

You could get a piece of light wood, rounded at one end, for using instead of TP. The piece of wood would allow you to avoid getting your hands anywhere near your do-do (much more easily than, say, using stones). You would need to clean the stick afterwards, perhaps with dirt and then water.

The good thing about wood is that it is naturally anti-bacterial (which is why wooden chopping boards are much better than plastic ones). Apparently when the wood dries out it absorbs the bacteria and kills them.

But that still leaves you with the problem of washing other dirt and grime from your body. How long are you out for that a few soap flakes are a problem to carry? A little soap will last a very long time so I doubt it is worth the inconvenience or hygiene risk of getting rid of it.

i just figure that about the time humankind finally reverses the destruction of the environment, the aliens will show up and blow us all to kingdom come.

This is interesting because there is another thread floating around here that talks about using wood ash instead of soap. Might look into that.

It was so nice to read the title of this thread! Sustainability is something I think about often. I think your plans are awesome and I wish more people thought like this.

But then when I do think about sustainability… I keep coming back to the elephant in the room, which is the fact that no matter what (unless we closet ourselves away like hermits)… our lives are unsustainable. We rely on fossil fuel to get to where we are hiking. We need food produced by massive industries (again powered by fossil fuel) to survive our hikes. We also have gear that is produced by fossil fuel dependent factories. So unless we ride a bike to the trail and dehydrate all of our meals from our gardens and buy only used gear… we aren't really sustainable.

That isn't really a moderate way to look at things, nor is it particularly feasible… but I do think about it when I think about sustainability. It can be pretty depressing. Sometimes I feel like any action a single person can take isn't even a drop in the bucket, in terms of making a difference. But I know making the conscious decision to consume less is definitely a start.

I usually end up buying used gear but the financial considerations you are the the basis for that. Every little decision can be a step forward.

I do take a toothbrush with me and when it is no longer usable I do recycle it. Don't know where or how to recycle floss.

I guess I could take a little soap with me and still use other techniques to stretch it out.

Wood ashes were used to make soap in old times before the advent of commercial lye being sold. Water was run through the ashes, which were quite caustic.

Soap in itself is actually quite pure. It is lye, water and fat. Once cured the caustic nature of lye goes away. (You have to be careful with dogs and homemade soap. They will eat it if they have worms. Well, heck they will also eat it NO matter what if tallow based.)

If you want pure, make your own soap. It is neither hard nor difficult. You do need to be very careful with the lye stage though. If you would like advice, just ask. I made soap for years and taught classes on it back 10 years ago.

As for dental hygiene? After watching my husband plunk down what he has on my maw I choose to carry a proper toothbrush, toothpaste, floss, dental pick, dental Xmas tree brush, dental wax and a repair kit. He has spent about 10K at this point on me. I am missing 3 molars due to being unable to save them – every molar had severe decay when they opened up my mouth starting in 2006. I am grateful, he paid for white fillings (no metal mouth). After taking care of the decay, having one full root canal/cap put on, the 3 molars removed I had braces put on. I am 1 3/4 years into those. When those come off he is paying for 3 implants to go in. Two of which will need bone grafts.

I figure by the time we are done he will have sunk 25K into my mouth.

So yeah, feel free to brush your teeth with water and chew on twigs. Just realize your dentist will be waiting to do some fillings!

And dental health is SO important! There is a direct connection to bad dental health and heart issues, stroke and diabetes. It can also cause real issues in females who are pregnant (fetal and maternal health is affected).

The number one thing most people on this forum could do to promote sustainability is…wait….wait for it…wait….

Stop buying so much gear, d@mn it. Over consumption is an ecology wrecker. Buy reasonably light and very durable gear and then use it until it falls apart. Better yet, if you picked out the right gear you should be able to pass it on to your kids. Learn to make your gear yourself. And, like Ken said, learn Bushcraft skills so you don't need so much gear.

Stop buying stuff. Just stop. No more.

Gear fetishes are bad for the planet.

Is Dr. Bronner's just as good a toothpaste as Tom's of Maine or Crest then to prevent tooth decay?

Any recyclable or natural/biodegradeable floss?

Is there a lighter out there that is cheap, lightweight, possibly refillable and has a recyclable body?

Yeah, I feel you on the dental problems. I worked delivering pizza for about 10 years an drank nothing but free soda. Had 4k worth of dental work done about 3 years ago.

The gear I buy I buy with the intention of getting at least 10 years out of it or it is fully recyclable. Not to knock the site but I don't know how some people can keep affording to buy the same stuff over and over again just for a few ounces. Personally I will not even use synthetic insulation because it goes out after a few years.

Sure, you can get it! Go to any well stocked natural food grocery store and they will have it.
You can also get dental safe wood picks as well.

My dentist told me that it's perfectly fine to brush your teeth with water and cleans your teeth just as well as if you used toothpaste.
However, this could just be because they pump fluoride into our water systems.

I rarely use toothpaste. Occasionally I use mouthwash and I use a water pick (no floss). Never any problems with my teeth.

I am grateful I grew up on well water, even if it did affect my teeth. I have only lived where they treat water for a shy 2 year period. The water tasted horrible.

I did though have every adult molar in my kids mouth painted with the anti-cavity sealant as they came in.

A water pick is a good device, it definitely cleans your teeth. I use one at home with my braces and it is very good for your gums.