Have you ever noticed that smell that new vinyl shower curtains have? It turns out that smell might be endangering your health, at least according to the LA Times.  In an effort the transform all areas of our life toward “eco”-ness, my husband and I decided when we moved that rather than buying a new vinyl shower curtain liner, we would try something else.

There are a number of alternatives to vinyl shower curtains, but non of them are an easy home run. PVC (polyvinyl chloride) has been shown to emit over 100 toxic chemicals during the first month you bring it home says a new report from the Center for Health, Environment & Justice. Some large stores like Target and Bed Bath and Beyond sell less-toxic vinyl curtains, that are PVC free, but we weren’t convinced that these were truly safe. Also, there didn’t seem to be a good way to recycle or dispose of the vinyl curtains, so we went in search of a deeper green curtain.

Bed Bath and Beyond (there is one near our house) sells Nylon curtains, but I still wasn’t convinced that nylong was fully recyclable or safe to manufacture. So we headed off to our local Eugene “Green Store” to find the perfect eco shower curtain. The “Green Store” had both organic cotton and hemp curtains available. The hemp curtains purported to be “mildew resistant” because of the natural characteristics of hemp. Unfortunately, the hemp curtain also cost close to $100 dollars, so we decided to go with the white cotton curtain.

We installed this curtain around Sept 8th and have been using it since. I have dumped it in the wash once since then. With three people showering daily in our house the curtain spends quite a bit of time wet and is starting to show signs of mildew again. The curtain cost $35, about $20 more than the inexpensive vinyl curtains available from the big retailers. If the curtain remains durable for a significant amount of time I will consider it $20 well invested. In the upcoming months I will keep you updated!

photo credit: evelynishere