There’s a touch of heresy floating around the double-edge-blade shaving web: you don’t really need lather to shave. It’s relevant here because double-edge blades can be had without plastic.

Heresy because some of the cachet to double-edge shaving is the equipment — the obvious, but also brushes, mugs, soap, lotions and mirrors — that makes it something of a hobby rather than a dreary daily requisite. And a cozy, masculine indulgence. And the quality of the shave is, in my experience, better than what I used to have with plastic cartridges and canned foam. (Yes, I have a beard but I have an equal surface area that does need shaving: neck and upper cheeks.)

I used to use a (plastic) bottled shaving soap, but wanted to phase that out. Most commercial bar (disc?) shaving soaps are overperfumed or leave me feeling greasy in D.C.’s hard water. Ordinary bar soap is too drying.

Folk legend suggests — I have no reliable citation — Albert Einstein used nothing but water because that — and not the foam — softens whiskers. That’s right. I shave right out of the shower, or in a pinch after softening my face with a hot towel. I use the washcloth to keep my face wet and rinse my blade frequently. I cut myself no more than before (that is, infrequently) and clean up is, of course, much easier.

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The District of Columbia’s shopping bag law begins today, and I’ve already been out to pick up a few necessities, cloth bags in tow.

Since I’ve heard some misinformation, I thought I would share some details about the new law.

• The financial impact statement for the bill compares Washington, D.C. to Seattle, Washington, which went though a similar process. From their stats, D.C. uses about 360 million plastic bags a year — in a jurisdiction of about 600,000 people — with about three-quarters being used in the stores affected by this law. The statement projects that by fiscal year 2013, there should be a 80% reduction in disposable bag use.
• This law effects the approximately 4,000 D.C. food retail establishments, which includes groceries, liquor and drug stores.
• Disposable paper bags used in restaurants are exempt from the legislation.
• There is, alas, only one enforcement officer budgeted for the law. The first offense fine is probably $100.
• It was passed by the D.C. Council unanimously.
• If you carry your own bag, not only will you not be charged the fee, but D.C. gives retailers an incentive to offer you a nickle rebate.

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Surely someone will call the five-cent fee on disposable bags a Bagocolypse, but I think it’s a great policy for the environment and against waste. And it starts January 1.

Intrepid local affairs and government blogger David Alpert has written today about the policy and where free reusable bags may be had.

More about this topic later.

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Some plastic items are very useful — or at the very least, they ought to be well cared-for so they can have a long service life.

Which begs the question — how do you care for plastic when (very often) its very cheapness meant it wasn’t intended for long-term care?

So, I’ll ask my scant readers: how do you keep hard plastic surfaces — the ones most likely to survive — clean and attractive? Plastic-free care ideas, of course, are preferred.

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The forthcoming District of Columbia plastic and paper bag restriction specifically excludes bags for fruit and vegetable — perhaps out of concern that D.C. residents need no discouragement to eat their greens.

But in France we saw an alternative — paper. Strong attractive paper bags — squared off, with a picture of a cheery market scene and big enough to hold a pound or two of apples or grapes — were the rule. I suspect they’re made of virgin pulp; kraft paper usually is

Bocca Sacs are the maker of the one I kept, if you’re an interested greengrocer.

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First, I enjoy IKEA for an outing — even though they inflict so much plastic on the world. Even the chair I’m sitting on. I’m not going to apologize for a faux-Swedish experience.

But last night, at their College Park, Maryland location, I noticed a sign in their cafe that said they no longer give out plastic straws and cited environmental concerns.

A small cheer, I thought. Not a huge amount of plastic saved, but someone’s listening. Then I wondered if they may be composting their trash. The straws might be the only un-biodegradable trash they produce in the cafe, apart from the odd bottlecap. In that case, the straws would be a considerable part of their waste stream, and ripe for removal.

Is there anyone out there who have some info?

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The International Telecommunication Union has approved a common cell-phone charger format, using what some of us already have — a mini-USB — as a global standard.

This standard means you don’t need a different charger for a new phone — changing phones frequently is a problem in its own right — so they needn’t be made, bought or discarded. Indeed, there’ll be little call to include a “free” charger with a new phone, so is likely appealing for manufacturers, too.

Less plastic and metal and waste. A good thing. (But hold on to your phone as long as possible and recycle it when it’s dead.)

BBC report

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Hubby and I got back from a trip to Paris and Cologne, and boy did I blow through some plastic. I even drank some bottled water — which I’d normally not do — because the available tap options were unclear and I don’t even want to think about plastic table wear.

But there are a couple of bits of good news for those who might follow.

1. Paris is trying to promote its own water. It’s quite delicious. While asking for a carafe of water is common knowledge in restaurants, it’s harder to find public fountains. I noticed that a potable water tap is included on the exterior of the new generation of sidewalk-side toilets now being installed in many neighborhoods.
2. All the fruit I bought came in thin paper — not plastic — bags.
3. Paris Metro was a wonderful value. We used carnets of tickets, bought at ticket booths. The tickets were not padded or packaged, but simply a pile of paper and magnetic-strip tickets. Nice.

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My husband and I used to get soup from the Chinese take-out across the street almost every week. But we moved last September, and changed our usual mode of eating well before that. So how old are those plastic tubs? A year, more?

They’re still fine: no cracks, stains or signs of damage. Why? A office mate once scolded me for microwave-heating up leftovers in one of them. He was more concerned about chemicals leaching into my food, but I realized that heating these tubs damaged them, ruining them and sending them to the landfill.

Now I also have a few durable, water-tight plastic containers I bought. These should last for years. But I also use the soup containers with one inalterable rule.

Don’t put them in the microwave

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Blast! I don’t recall the name of the new Indian place near the northwest corner of 19th and K St, N.W. here in Washington. It’s new-ish, and does have the word Spice in it. Being the BB&T bank, if you’re approaching from K Street.

For about $7.50, I got the rice-plus-two-curry special. Not greasy. Was tasty, but I doubt it’ll make anyone’s mind reel back to hot nights in Rajasthan.

This restaurant is two doors down from the eco-vegan Java Green Cafe, which uses some compostable take-away serving pieces. But I don’t care for the food and it’s much more expensive. So ecologically minded vegans are already heading to the area, explaining perhaps the conspicuous signs for vegan fare. (There’s plenty of meat and dairy options.)

I got my chana, palak paneer and rice in a sugarcane fiber clamshell carton. I declined the plastic bag and walked past the waxy-colored compostable plastic forks. I suppose if I had asked for pickle or chutney I would have gotten some plastic — these were pre-dished in little plastic tubs — and, to tell the truth, it would have benefited from the extra spice.

But I will go back.

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