While most environmentalists are focussing on the big issue du jour, climate change and the talks in Bali, the Royal Society of Chemistry (RSC) has flagged up the fact that we still need to take care on more parochial issues such as not poisoning our water supply. The study takes in a wide range of pollutants, although the PR has focussed on personal hygiene products to stay media friendly (when did you last see the RSC quoted in the Mirror?).

One of the recommendations of the report is for more eco-design of products to eradicate the problem in the first place. I love the following quote from Bill McDonough and Michael Braungart:

“we’ve got to take the filters out of the pipes and put them where they belong – in the designers’ minds”

Wise words – if we don’t use such materials in the first place, it simplifies everything that goes after. It is particularly pertinent for dissipative products such as cosmetics, cleaning products and personal hygiene products as these, by definition, are left to the environment to deal with.