In general I do my best to reduce my use of plastics and consider myself a low user of plastic and a diligent recycler with what I do bring into the house.  My goal is to not bring anything plastic into our home and to eventually eliminate all plastics from our home.  Kind of extreme to do it all at once so I continue my quest by replacing one plastic item at a time.

Today, I am replacing plastic and chemical dental hygiene kit with a more environmentally friendly one.  My concern with plastic toothbrushes is the time they take to degrade in landfills, toxic leaching once in landfills and ingesting toxins from the handle and bristles.I recently purchased two toothbrushes; one adult and one child.

Both are made from fast growing, renewable bamboo with plant based bristles.  Even the container is biodegradable as is the plant based wrap.  The big one will stay at base camp and the smaller child version will become my travel brush and stay in my day pack.  For now I will keep the brush in the packaging it came in.  If anyone has a suggestion for a natural pouch or bag I’d be happy to hear suggestions.

On a side note, my wife found a great floss made with cotton string coated in beeswax.  The container is still plastic, albeit recycled and recyclable plastic, but we do our best.  This is to replace floss made from nylon, or increasingly now with PTFE (teflon), so it glides easily between our teeth.  Look up PTFE/Teflon if you want to know how nasty it is for your body and the environment. They are also tricking floss out with all kinds of hot stuff.  Check out this description from a floss company patent, he summary of one dental floss patent reads: “Porous, high strength (PTFE) dental floss is coated with micro-crystalline wax. If desired, the floss may also incorporate one or more active tartar control, anticaries, antiplaque and/or antibacterial actives and/or dentally acceptable agents such as polishing and abrasive agents, coolants, flavorants and/or coagulants.”  And many studies show that plain old non-toxic floss works just as well.

And lastly, I have replaced the mainstream,chemical based, handy travel brush with Tom’s all natural toothpaste.  And before all the cynics get their knickers in a not and start spouting about “everything is natural” or “everything is a chemical” I refer to plant based ingredients that humans have been consuming safely for thousands of years.  I bounce between the fluoride free and fluoride added options depending on if I am more worried about my teeth that day or my general health.  Need to figure the whole fluoride thing out still.

 

As the box says, over 2 billion plastic toothbrushes go into landfills each year.  Bamboo grows quickly, is biodegradeable  and imagine all the happy pandas with more bamboo forests.

To start any trip the first thing you need to do is get your gear together.  In the spirit of simplifying my life and reducing the amount of “stuff” I have I thought it would be a good thing to figure out what equipment I really need to function in my environment.  I remember doing an exercise in school where you had to decide what things to take on a trip.  A couple classics were “What 10 Things Would You Take With You To Space?”, or “10 Things You Would Take If You Were Stranded On A Desert Island?”.

I thought I would start with the “10 Things You Would Take If You Were Lost In The Woods” version.  Here’s a link to a Parks Canada list of stuff to take camping that was helpful in getting some ideas but there are many more links on the web.

http://www.pc.gc.ca/eng/media/ltc-dlc/ltc-dlc07.aspx

I started with the assumption that I was dressed appropriately for the weather but had no food, and then I brainstormed a list and was pretty liberal with what an item was:

Matches, Swiss army knife, Tent, Sleeping bag, Camping Shovel, Tarp, Hunting knife, Canoe & Paddle, Pots, Bow and Arrow, Waterproof Pack, Grill, Hammock, Axe, Saw, Water Bottle, Water Filter, Mirror, Sewing Kit, Fishing Rod and Hooks, Rifle and Shells, Sharpening Stone, Flint, Bag of Rope, Fire Drill, Whistle, Flashlight/Lantern, Toilet Paper, Sleeping Pad, First Aid Kit, Stove and Fuel, Thermos, Mess Kit, Cooler, Compass, Map, Binoculars, Watch/Clock, Camp Chair, Toiletries, Sunscreen, Bug Spray, Snares, Edible Wild Foods Book.

Here’s the list I came up with and why:

Matches – obviously to start a fire for cooking, heat, emergency signal, keep wildlife away

Swiss army knife – always handy for a variety of things including fashioning wooden tools, accessories like tweezers, etc. can come in handy

Tent – important to stay warm, dry and out of the elements in bad weather

Sleeping bag – important to keep warm at night and get a good nights sleep

Camping Shovel– good for digging up roots, bugs and worms to eat, for digging a latrine or food cache, defense

First Aid Kit – to manage cuts, scrapes, infections, sprains, breaks

Pots – to boil water to disinfect it, cook soups and stews in, doubles as bowls to eat from

Water Bottle – safe place to store boiled water to drink when travelling

Waterproof Pack – need something to carry gear and keep it dry when travelling

Edible Wild Foods Book – to identify local edible plants to survive

There are no right or wrong answers to these exercises and the goal is to get you thinking about priorities, limited resources and what you really need to live.  Please feel free to share your “Top Ten Camping Items” in the comments section.

So now my task is to adapt this wilderness camping equipment list to my urban camping equipment list.  This first list of items I intend to create is my Day Pack List.  These are the items that as a general rule I will have with me while travelling away from the house to go to work, shopping or out.  These items are meant to be accessible from my back pack that I will keep with me or in the car.

Urban Camper 10 Things Day Pack List:

Day Back Pack – I will be using my camping day pack for this job.  It has a convenient zippered pouch at the top, a spacious single sac, strong comfortable straps and semi-flexible back construction.  Lots of room and strong enough to pack extra footwear, extra clothes, rain gear, lunch, laptop, etc. when on the move.

Swiss Army Knife – I like the standard SWK with a couple different blades, file, can/bottle opener, corkscrew, tweezers and toothpick.  Small, light, durable with everything you need to peel an apple, cut some cheese, open a can of sardines or a bottle of wine, gut a fish if you have to, pull out a sliver and clean your teeth.  What more do you need?

Metal Water Bottle – This one has been through the wars with me from interior camping to ultimate Frisbee.  I chose stainless steel to avoid ingesting plastic related chemicals.

Matches – strike anywhere matches in a waterproof container

Candle – A great item if the power goes out, helpful to start a fire in wet conditions so you don’t waste matches and you never know when you will need mood lighting for a romantic dinner with apples, cheese and wine prepared using your Swiss Army Knife.

Toiletries – Mini-kit with travel toothbrush, toothpaste, floss, mirror.  In most urban environments there is access to soap and water in bathrooms so oral care the only thing I need to carry.  Oh, and of course a mirror to do a visual face scan before an important meeting or to signal a plane if you are stranded somewhere.

Mess Kit – Stainless steel plate, camping utensils are light and easy to clean and help to avoid using one use plates.

Mug – Stainless steel mug to avoid throw away cups.  I have a stainless steel travel mug to swap for this one if I need a tea on the run.

Kleenex – An essential item for nose blowing/wiping in a crowded subway to avoid spreading your cold,  helping clot a cut or scrape and of course for when the toilet you are in has run out.  You can replace Kleenex for toilet paper as these items are basically the same thing presented in a different form.

Portable phone charger/cable – A reality of urban life is to have a charged electronic device.  I included a portable charger to complement my car charger and home power cords to keep my devices charged even when away from home or an outlet.

See the featured image at the top of this blog for a visual of my “10 Things”.

Stay tuned for more lists as I continue my adventure in simplifying my life, reducing my footprint and relieving my stress.  I’d love to know your “essentials” list for going out and about the city.  Please post in the comments.