growing up greener

For the past few weeks I have been on the hunt for apartment furnishings. (Yay!) I figure there's no better time for environmentally friendly home things than when you're moving.

I'm very happy to have found green bath options on Bed Bath and Beyond's website, namely, a shower curtain, shower liner and bath mat. The problem appears when the items aren't carried at the stores as well. I had to resort to ordering online, using boxes and packaging, plus energy for UPS to bring them to myself. And of course, my three items came in two boxes. I now can mummify myself in brown paper.

But, I was set on finding environmentally friendly items and that's what I bought. I am in love with my shower curtain and rug. I was pleasantly surprised to see the curtain came in a reusable zippered bag and is much softer than the picture lets on. The shower curtain liner is free of chlorine and odors. There may be a slight problem affixing it to the shower curtain as the buttons on the curtain and the grommeted holes on the liner are the same size. I may end up buying ribbon to tie the curtain to the shower rod.

And you bet I'll be using the brown paper to wrap breakables when I start packing. There's absolutely no sense to get rid of it.

So in addition to those three items, I have amazingly soft organic towels from Target and a nifty conservation illustration to hang on the wall. The next things on my list are a recycled glass toothbrush holder, soap dish and whatever else goes around the sink. And I will clean my green bathroom with safe cleaning products.

Now to see if the apartments use low-flow showerheads, and if not, how I could convince them to let me install one...