One way to improve your bathing experience immediately is to get rid of your vinyl shower curtain. PVC, or polyvinyl chloride, is the fancy name for vinyl, a type of plastic. PVC creates dioxins during manufacture, use and disposal. Dioxin is a known carcinogen that can also disrupt hormonal systems and may cause reproductive and immune system damage. So don't bring any #3 plastic, vinyl or PVC into your life. Rip down that shower curtain (or hack it to shreds in the style of Norman Bates, whatever you please), and seek out a cotton or polyester replacement.

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Excerpted from:

Wake Up and Smell the Planet by Grist.org, edited by Brangien Davis with Katharine Wroth, © 2007 Skipstone.