[at-l] soap

[freighttrain7@home.com (Abe)]

I realize ivory is 99.44% pure but it still smells perfumey to me.       And
do you mean all hiking publications, clubs, or whatnot are all incorrect
when they tell people to practice LNT by using bio-degradeable soap??  I
think not!!
please... millions of people use the trail each year... if everyone just
dumped their soap anywhere it would be one huge bubblebath out there
everytime it rained

another thing,   Deer.. just one of many many animals who react to strange
smells..... will not go anywhere near the scent of soap.. are we not living
in their home when we are in the woods?
 I do not mean this as an attack so ill just drop it here

freighttrain
----- Original Message -----
From: "Bob Cummings" <ellen@clinic.net>
To: <at-l@mailman.backcountry.net>
Sent: Tuesday, December 18, 2001 12:21 PM
Subject: [at-l] soap


> "...I don't know that the soap is such a good LNT idea."
>
>   A basic, perfume free soap is totally harmless to the environment. I
carry a
>   cake of Ivory in a bounce box and cut chunks off as needed. Soapy water
dumped
>   inconspiculously on vegetation a reasonable distance from water sources
>   disapears within seconds and serves as an extremely dilute fertilizer.
In
>   fact, no scientist using reasonable tests could detect soapy water from
a
>   sliver of Ivory used for hand washing dumped directly into a
free-flowing
>   stream, though I don't recommend the practice, mostly for aesthetic
reasons.
>
>   If we are concerned about leave no trace, leave the Leki and other
>   sharp-pointed poles and lug-soled boots at home. Soap is a million times
less
>   harmful to the trail environment.
>
>   The harm from soap is one of those urban myths kept alive by makers of
>  "biodegradeable" trail detergents. It's hard to imagine anything being
more
>  biodegradeable than the effluent from a sliver of Ivory soap.
>
>   Weary
>
>
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