The realities of carrying everything you need in your pack when you hike forces you to look closely at what you bring along. Unless it has a use that is so integral to wellbeing or safety, it’s out. Tissues are not heavy, it’s true, but they do add to the amount of rubbish that you have to carry. Reusability counts. When Ms L flourished a hanky the solution was clear. I’m carrying a handkerchief again!
When I look back it surprises me to realise I haven’t owned a hanky in decades. I was brought up using them. Nan always had one tucked under her cuff that would fall out when she absentmindedly rolled up her sleeves. Mum tried tucking one in her bra but the act of reaching for it was always awkward. I remember ironing hankies, the first thing I learned to iron, just before pillow cases. The pleasure of getting them perfectly straight! They were pretty pieces of fabric, floral, lovely. How did I stop using one? I do not iron pillow cases anymore, logical, but somehow along the line, the hankies disappeared as well.
Old school, that’s me. You know I pick up a pen before I go to a digital device and you know I’d rather send a postcard than an email. Driving a manual car is my preference and I’ll climb the stairs before taking the lift. Oh, I’m not ridiculous with this habit, I’m never rejecting technology. For goodness sake, handwashing the laundry? Getting off the couch to change the TV channel? I don’t think so! No, this one is informed by far more important factors. If it’s easy to do and good for the planet then the choice is clear.
I found an old hanky in my drawer leftover from a surge of energy towards homesteading I went through a while ago. On the trail it was a godsend, on cold mornings I seem to have a constant drip. No, that’s not what I call my friends! Once home it went into the wash with all the other hike gear and it was ready for the next one. Too lazy to sew my own from the enormous stash of patchwork fabrics I began to keep an eye out for more. As I browsed it also dawned on me just how much money I spend on tissues AND just how much waste they create, not to mention the trees that are sacrificed so that I can blow my nose without having to deal with the consequences.
The sudden realisation of my environmental sacrilege was a lot! I’ve become sensitive to ads about facial wipes and body wipes and tissues that make it easy on the go. I’ve recently heard advertising for a, wait for it, water wipe. It’s free of all chemicals and essentially is a tissue that’s wet… We’re back to the face washer in a bag, surely??? Yes, I AM travelling with a face washer in a plastic bag. Yes, I have a Kula cloth. And, yes, I found some beautiful hankies at the shops. I love them. They’re floral, pretty and useful and environmentally friendlier than the old tissues ever were.
The kids are horrified.
Apparently the very idea of carrying such a disgusting piece of fabric is unhygienic and likely to be the cause of the next plague on humanity. At least, that’s the gist of the responses I’m getting. I mean, I wouldn’t advise leaving a well-used hanky in your pocket or your purse. Not because you might get sick from their existence but because you just might vomit from sticking your hand into it. There are some obvious user rules. Sharing isn’t advised but offering someone a clean handkerchief is chivalrous. Change and wash them as you do your underwear – daily or earlier if they’re dirty (just I case you weren’t sure). Wash your hands after you blow your nose (that one goes for tissues and hankies alike).
Nope, everyone has to blow their nose sometimes and the tried and true handkerchief is firmly back in my top drawer.
A couple of weeks travelling in the van and the limited space quickly refined our definition of necessities significantly. Other lessons from the hike have translated into practical solutions for our everyday living in here. Keep cups for coffee/wine/Bircher muesli/trifle, if it has more than one function it’s a winner! Reusable shopping bags are a given, they double as laundry bags and going-to-the-showerblock bags and I-have-no-idea-what-to-do-with-those-throw-them-in-a-bag bags.
I don’t know about you but I fell hook, line and sinker for the ease of single-use everything and spared no thought for the impact it had on the environment (or my budget). More fool me!!! Not one of these are revolutionary ideas. They’re all things my Nan used without a second thought and kept alongside her hankies.
How about you? What do you use that’s an old school planet-saver? Any other hanky carriers out there? Why, bless you!