Getting Back on the Path

Do you ever get derailed from your path? Happens to me all the time. This last time, it was a perfect storm of events. I just keep reminding myself that getting derailed is just part of life and the trick is really to get back on the path as quickly as possible.

So what derailed me most recently? Well... we decided to get new carpets installed in the three bedrooms, which meant we had to move all of the furniture out of those rooms... into the living room and dining room. That included taking everything off of the walls (don't ask me why...). Given the upheaval, we thought that would also be a good time to get the three bedrooms repainted. Oh... and might as well get new baseboards put in as well...

All of this meant that the house was is a high state of chaos for a good week, and in mild chaos for much longer. My office was dismantled and I set up the computer at the dining table, a tiny nook of sanity in a sea of stuff. We had a small... very small... sense of what hoarding might be like. Neither one of us is keen to repeat this anytime soon!

On top of all that, I came down with a nasty sinus cold during all of this. My energy tanked while the carpet guy, carpenter and painters were busily working on the house. Flopped on the couch, napping, sipping chicken noodle soup, and generally trying to rest. Ugh. A few days after I got sick, my partner started feeling the inevitable sore throat. Double ugh.

Oh, and to top it all off... our healthy eating went out the window. We caved and started inhaling junk food... and roast chicken from the grocery store. We could say that cooking became too much... which is true, given I do most of the cooking, but... the junk food is another thing. Mind you... with the roast chicken in hand, I did make some chicken soup which is always good for a cold, right?

Soooo... stretching, meditating, journaling, blogging... all of it fell by the wayside. I am finally feeling a bit better and give a lot of credit to the nasal sinus rinses that I've been doing several times a day. Nothing more satisfying than evicting several large accumulations of nasal secretions!

As I reintegrate with my To-do list, I'm focusing on the priorities - things like getting the Airbnb cleaned after a guest check-out, buying groceries, getting some meal-planning on the go, revisiting our veggie bed planting plan for the spring.

It's amazing how dropping off the path for a week can create such a backlog of tasks, projects, etc. I could rail against it, and berate myself for getting sick but... really... it was a perfect time to get sick - work was slow, the office was torn apart anyhow, we didn't have a urgent Airbnb turnover and... that's actually pretty good.

Now, it's just to pick up the threads... and realize that life is fully of these unexpected detours. While it's amazing and wonderful to have a plan and a path all mapped out, that's not how life works. There are always going to be unexpected road blocks, detours, and pauses. It's not to rage against them... but to work with them. Sometimes the unexpected detours lead to some lovely vistas and places we normally wouldn't have gone.

So settle back and enjoy the ride.

The Art of Waiting: How eBooks Can Turn Boring Moments into Productive Ones

My smartphone follows me wherever I go. It's always in my back-pocket, ready to be whipped out at a moment's notice.

If I'm getting bored... or waiting in line... or sitting in a waiting room... or slouching in the car waiting for the store to open... I'll mindlessly pull out my phone and start scrolling the news sites or through my social media feeds.

It's monstrously annoying to me and not all that good for my mental health.

The news cycle doesn't change all that much from hour to hour... nor does my social media feed.

So all I'm really doing is scrolling old news and just looking for that next hit of dopamine... "ooohh look... a new post... a new news article!" No one needs to stay that connected to the news! And the news really isn't good news... which just contributes to a low level of stress for me.

But what else to do while waiting? Bringing a book or a journal is an option for some things... like waiting in the doctor's office where you know it might be a long wait. But sitting in the car in the dark... waiting for Starbucks to open... reading isn't really an option. Nor journaling.

The Solution to Mindless Scrolling

And then... I had a bright light-bulb idea... I read a lot of ebooks. Some of them are through the library, some of them are on Kobo and some of them are on Kindle.

I have the library ebook app on my phone (Libby) but I'm not in the middle of a good library book right now. I'm actually in the middle of a good book on my Kindle.

Why don't I... just... download the Kindle app onto my phone??

So I did. And it was super easy. I logged into my Kindle acct and all of my Kindle books showed up in the app, including the latest one that I am reading. I opened the book and it picked up right where I had left off earlier on my ebook reader.

Oooohhh... I like this!!!

So now... instead of mindlessly scrolling through the news, or Facebook or Feedly... looking for something new, something exciting... and not really finding anything... I can read my book.

Even if it's only for 5 minutes... it's something... and I get some stimulation for my mind... plus I'm thinking I might actually read more books this way! Because my ebook reader isn't always with me... but my phone is always there. And it's soooo easy to just open the app and start reading. Love it!!! Small steps... always the small steps. Five minutes here... 10 minutes there and... more books read and more good stuff feeding into my mind!

A Movie for Procrastinators - Long Story Short

Don't wait. Do it Now. That's the basic message of a cute movie we watched a few weeks ago. The Australian film - Long Story Short (2021) - weaves a love story in with a bit of time travel, resulting in a wake-up call for us procrastinators.

I'm not going to spoil the movie for you but... if you get a chance to see it... it's on Netflix Canada. The basic idea is... a "I'll do it later" type of guy, Teddy, is advised by a stranger not to wait and gives him a tin can for his wedding. A can that he is told not to open for 10 years. The next morning, after his wedding, he wakes up and is completely befuddled. Everything is different... the house is fully furnished... his wife is 18 weeks pregnant. A year has flown by. And then a little while later, another year flies by. Teddy gets a fast-forward view of how his tendency to procrastinate has impacted his life, his marriage, and those of his friends. What happens at 10 years? Well, you'll have to watch the movie!

Heads up... this is not a deep movie. It only got 50% on Rotten Tomatoes from critics, although viewers gave it more like 6/10. But it did get me thinking about how life is short. Really... in the grand scheme of things, it is incredibly short. And we never know what is coming down the pipe. Will we be here in a year? Will our parents, friends, coworkers be here in a year? We don't know. We assume they will be. We assume that we have all the time in the world. But all we need to do is read the news to know that... it's a big assumption.

As a procrastinator... the words "later", "tomorrow", "next week", "next month", "next year" show up a LOT in my internal (and even external) conversations. I don't feel like. I don't want to. Now is not the right time. It's too hard. I don't know how to do it. I don't have time. Always pushing whatever it is out into the future.

As if I will have more time in the future? Seriously? If I don't have time for it now... what makes me think I will have time for it in the future? The idea that life will somehow magically calm down in the future? When the reno is done... then I'll have time? When the trip is done... then I'll have time? Nope.

Or, that somehow, it will get less hard, less confusing, less uncomfortable in the future? Whoo boy... that's a big one. Because oftentimes the opposite is the case. Things get MORE uncomfortable the longer we push them out. And they get more confusing because they are still hard... and we are filled with more uncertainty because we were so sure it would get easier but it's not and... what the heck!

And then there's the excuse that "now is not the right time"... I'm really not sure what the "right time" would look like. When I feel like it? Or I want to do it? That might have worked when I was a kid... when you could scream "I don't want to!" and you might get away with it. But as an adult... there are literally a gazillion things that we don't want to do but we actually HAVE to do. Like prepping taxes and paying taxes. Or vacuuming the house. Or taking the car in for an oil change. I mean... really... we don't HAVE to do any of those things... but then we can pay the price for those later with a busted car, the tax man on our heels and rampant health issues and allergies due to a filthy house.

There are also the bigger things... on the scale of dreams and visions of what we want to do. Things like take that trip to England. Learn Spanish. Walk the Camino. Drive across Canada. Start our own business. Write a book. Next year. When the time is right. When we have the money. When... when... when... Sometime... just not now.

I wonder sometimes what my Long Story Short movie would look like. If I jumped forward a year every 10 minutes. What would I find? Would I find regrets? Would I find unfulfilled dreams? And if I could see that... would I do anything differently now?

I just did a little exercise where I mapped out my life over the last 10 years - what was happening in April each year. And what would I be thinking as I made that jump 1 year forward... repeatedly. I think I'd get whiplash! There have been big shifts in my life. Moving cities. Changing jobs. Deaths in the family. Illness and injuries. Dreams unfulfilled. A lot of life-changing events.

At the same time, there were trips, house purchases, dreams coming to fulfilment, books being written and published. Gardens planted. Despite everything else that was going on... some dreams did still come to fruition. And for that I am grateful.

Now though... what would my next 10 years, in 1 year jumps look like? What are the dreams that I have now that... if I ended up 10 years in the future with them undone... I would wonder what the heck I had been doing!?

I guess that is the question... because we don't know how long we have. Or how long the people in our lives have. So seize the day. Seize the moment. Don't put off till tomorrow what you can do today. Tomorrow never comes.

The Power of Saying No: Making a Sustainable Choice at the Dentist

When I left the dentist last week, I walked out the door carrying a little paper bag with the usual freebies - a toothbrush, a small box of toothpaste and a little pack of dental floss.

I was a big grumbly though... because once I got home, I took the stuff out of the bag and then promptly tossed the bag into recycling.

Now this was partly on me, because when my hygienist asked me if I wanted a toothbrush and stuff, I said yes.

I watched her open the drawer and select the brush, the toothpaste and the dental floss. I was thinking to myself... "No, I don't want the dental floss". But did I say that out loud? No, I did not. And while I was musing over that inability and trying to get my mouth to work, she handed the stuff to me in a little paper bag. "No, I don't need a paper bag." Did I say that out loud? Nope, I did not!

And so I came home... tossed the paper bag in recycling and threw the dental floss into the back of my bathroom drawer where it will sit for a very long time, nestled in with a whole host of its cousins. Oh, I do use floss on occasion, when I get something stuck in my teeth, but I'm more of a water-pik person. Sometimes I'll use those little tooth-pickers with the bit of floss in a plastic handle, but dental floss... not really.

I do have to admit, the dentist has at last switched from plastic bags to paper bags, so that is a step forward. But still... aren't all of these little bags a cost for them? No... probably not. I'm sure that the toothpaste, toothbrush and floss companies give them all this stuff for free. And the bags are probably sponsored as well.

I'm not sure why I'm unable to voice my preference when I'm there. I think it's because I have to have the whole conversation in my head first... about not wanting the floss. 

And to be honest, I wasn't expecting it to come in a bag. I think I've walked out of there before with no bag. So part of it was me being caught by surprise but... this inability to say "no" is perplexing to me.

Is it because the stuff is free? Don't want to look a gift horse in the mouth? I mean I do use the toothbrush... and the toothpaste. So those are cool. Maybe next time I'll say... "Hey, can you keep the floss and give me two of those little toothpastes instead?"

Or maybe I'm afraid of her frown of disapproval as I decline the dental floss? You know dental folk... they always want to know if you're flossing! That might be closer to the truth. Ugh! I don't want to get into a discussion about whether or not I floss regularly. I don't want to see her frown of disapproval (behind her mask). I want to keep pretending that I'm a good dental patient who flosses regularly. But whyyyyyy????!!!! Enough of this pretending!

Next time I will be prepared!

Hygienist: "Do you want a toothbrush?"
Me; "Thank you, yes! Could I please have a toothbrush and two toothpastes. No floss. And no bag please."

Forewarned is forearmed! Small steps... one word at a time.

Navigating Life's Maze: How the Tube Map Metaphor Can Help You Find Your Way

When I made my first trip to London, England in 1991, I was an immediate fan of the Tube system. It went everywhere. It was so convenient to use and the Tube Map was my new best friend. I also had a regular map of London, one of those fold out ones. But it was always so annoying to stand on the street corner with the map wide open trying to figure out where I was going to go next. Much easier to sit in the youth hostel the night before, look where I wanted to go, figure out the nearest tube stop... and then use the tiny little Central London tube map to navigate! Sooo much easier.

The thing with the tube map is... it's a schematic diagram map (like electrical circuit diagrams). It looks really pretty and colourful, but in order to get all of those lines into a reasonable amount of space... things like scale and distance are sacrificed.

Over the years, as I returned again and again to London, I followed my pattern of using the Tube map to navigate my way around London. Which... now... seems a bit weird. I mean, London has a huge network of buses that go in every conceivable direction. But... they are also soooo confusing, at least to a newcomer. Which bus goes where? Is this bus going close to where I want to go? Ugh!

Of course, there is also walking... and I did a heck of a lot of walking in London... but it was often underground. Walking into a tube station entrance... then going down a gazillion escalators... finding the correct platform (it's a maze down there)... and then doing the reverse at the other end of the journey.

There are Many Ways from Point A to B

But here's what I have discovered on some of my most recent trips to London. What looks far apart on the Tube map is often... actually much closer than you would think.

Let's take High Street Kensington, my base stop when I stayed at the Holland House Youth Hostel. It has both the Circle (yellow) and District (green) Tube lines passing through (It's on the left hand side of the map at left). Let's say I wanted to go to... Knightsbridge which is on the Piccadilly Line (dark blue) - just down and to the right of High Street Kensington.

You can see that there is no direct connection between High Street Kensington and Knightsbridge. I'd need to either transfer at Earl's Court, Gloucester Road or South Kensington. But... what does it look like in real life?

The Tube lines are marked in grey above and the red line is the bus route. Do you see??? With the Tube, depending on if it was the Circle or District Line, I might go down to Earl's Court, then over to Gloucester Road, then South Kensington and finally to Knightsbridge. It could take 15 minutes... of Tube time. That doesn't include the time it takes to walk down all those stairs and roam around looking for the correct platform. So let's say 20 minutes, but it might be even longer, with wait times and what not... So more like 25 minutes.

And the bus... that would take 14 minutes. Plus wait times... but still... that seems a heck of a lot quicker than the Tube.

Oh... and if I wanted a lovely walk... I could actually make the walk in 30 minutes... through Hyde Park, no less! What the heck? I mean... when it's bucketing rain, that might not be the driest option but... when it's nice out... there is no reason why I couldn't save myself some $$, get some exercise, and likely beat the Tube traveler. We'd have to do an experiment like that some day. And... during rush hour in London... I've often sat on a bus and watched pedestrians get along the road faster than the bus!

The thing with the Tube map is this... it looks like the only way to get from High Street Kensington to Knightsbridge is... via those Tube lines. It doesn't show me that there are actually many many ways to get from A to B... they just aren't on this map.

Look at the bus route map for that area...

There are at least 3 buses that run along that stretch of road between High Street Kensington and Knightsbridge. And my own two feet can do that stretch as well...

Many Ways from A to B in Life

Which makes me think... this is actually kind of a cool metaphor for life. We get trained from a very early age to use the Tube Map of Life... you go to elementary school and then to middle school and high school. You choose your course work in Grade 11 and 12 based on your plans for the future - vocational, university, etc.

You graduate from Grade 12 and then move on to vocational training or college and university. You usually get a job when you are 16. You get an apartment with friends (cause it's too expensive in many places to live on your own anymore!). You eventually get a job, make some money and start paying off your student loans or credit card debt. You meet someone nice and then and you get married and have kids. You buy a house and get a mortgage. Yay!

But what if... there are other routes? What if you don't have to pass through the college/university station? What if you can just take a direct route? Or another route? What about these teens who create some hot app that makes $$$$ right off the bat? Or what about Greta Thunberg who has taken a very unconventional road??

And is it the worst thing to take the "wrong" bus that takes you on a roundabout tour of London and requires you to change buses several times to get to where you want to go? Whether the destination is success or fame or fortune for fulfilment or whatever... 

The Game of Life (not many choices!)

Heck, the journey is often most of the fun!! As long as you're not sitting there on the bus thinking... "I'm lost... I don't know what I'm doing with my life! I'm on the 'wrong' path of life!" Are you?? Really?? Maybe not. Maybe that path IS your path of life.

Sometimes, we think we want to get somewhere... like fame or fortune or family... but as we go along, we find more interesting paths... more interesting destinations. Are we derailed and side-tracked? Maybe not.

There is more than one map to life... and the Tube map is not it! There are way more paths out there than we can ever imagine. There are more life destinations than we can dream of. Find a different map... find a different route... choose a different destination... heck... make your own map as you go along!

Puzzling it Out: Why Your Local Library Should be Your Go-To Destination for Entertainment

Back, before the pandemic, I'd visit my local library to pickup some books that I had reserved. And there was usually a 1000 piece puzzle spread out on one of the tables, in various stages of completion. I thought it was pretty cool... that you could go to the library and work on a puzzle. Maybe with other people, maybe just by yourself. I never sat down there... always being in too much of a rush to get my errands done.

Of course, all of that stopped with the pandemic. No sitting the library. No browsing the stacks. And definitely no communal puzzle to work on! But now... things have opened up again. Did they bring communal puzzles back? I haven't seen them... but I did see something else!!

What I Let Go of During the Last Three Days of the Minimalism Game

Right then. The last 3 days of the 30 Day Minimalism Challenge!!

If you've been following along, you can find my earlier blog posts here:

• Week 0 - Playing the 30 Day Minimalism Game
• Week 1 - What I let go of...
• Week 2 - What I let go of...
• Week 3 - What I let go of...
• Week 4 - What I let go of...

This post got a bit delayed because I came down with a nasty sinus cold and just conked out for 10 days but... it is done! I had to dive into the shed and the tool closet to find the 28, 29 and 30 things to declutter. This was brutally hard, these last few days but... it 's done!

Day 28

2 fabric planters - one of which was chewed to pieces by rats, so is not pictured

1 wand watering thing we have never used...

1 very old, very sad patio umbrella (broken)

2 broken saw horses

1 broken plastic container

4 thrashed gloves

1 bag of dead scrubbies

1 bundle of rusted wire

1 rope ladder

1 old goblet

1 broken faucet protector

2 - hammer head and ax head

2 old gloves (found the other one after this pic taken)

1 yogurt container

1 boating emergency kit

2 balls

1 broken compost bucket

1 kite

1 old patio cushion

1 thrashed entrance mat

Day 29

These last 2 days were super hard but... with the help of the tool closet... I got there...

2 broken zero-gravity chairs

3 packages electrical and light switch weather-proofing bits

3 baggies with screw cap thingies

3 bits of bike helmet padding and clips

3 sets of closet door bits

5 thingies - bag with string, handle with string, package of wires, package of small bungy cords, 1 loose bungy cord

5 thingies - bag with closet feet bits, bag with electrical plug, package light socket thingie, baggie with curtain rod bits, baggie with piece of drywall for paint comparison

5 thingies - pile of rando bits, pile of wooden bits, some window track locks, baggie with drywall plugs, baggie with old doorbell

And that's 29!

Day 30

More things from the tool closet!

3 yellowy outlet covers

2 sets pegboard holders

5 thingies - cover, package drywall plugs, baggie curtain bits, package with hinge, over the door hook

5 thingies - weird electrical extender, old faucet cap, envelope with felt protectors that are no longer sticky, water-saving shower head, saw hole kit

5 electrical covers

5 thingies - 3 dead rags, 1 package cabinet screws, 1 package with 2 GFCA outlets

1 wall mirror

1 roll of various poster sheets

1 picture

1 bulletin board (not pictured - already in car)

1 outdoor solar light (broken - in garbage already)

CONCLUSION

Well, this has been very interesting. The first 2 weeks, into week 3 were very doable. But the final week, particularly the final 3 days were brutal! But... we did get rid of a lot of stuff. The shed and tool closet were very fruitful areas for decluttering. Some of the stuff in the tool closet... I didn't even know what that stuff was!

There is more to declutter too... I could spend a bit more time in the tool closet and let go of various old tools and other things that we have no use for. And there is the behind-the-shed space which is also very fruitful.

Oh... and we let go of a bunch of pampas grass plumes! Forgot to even mention those...

I think we will keep doing the decluttering... slowly... over time... it's the small steps that make the biggest difference.

Essential Equipment for the Camino

I've stayed in many youth hostels during my European travels. I have learned, from sad experience, that the most essential pieces of travel equipment are... ear plugs and a sleep mask. Without those... sleep is a virtual impossibility in a shared dorm room!

From the people who clatter into the room at 2 am after a night out at the clubs... giggling and whispering and stumbling into things and turning on lights... to the groggy travellers staggering into the room at 1 am after a delayed flight, massive suitcases in tow.... to the stentorian snorers who gasp and snort and sound like they are about to expire. Noise... lights... more noise... and yet more lights.

You see... travelers have this annoying habit of packing everything into separate plastic bags. And... in the middle of the night, they rustle through their myriad plastic bags, seeking their toothbrush or their pjs or... who knows what... rustle, rustle... more rustle, rustle... an eternal symphony of rustling! ugh!!! 

On my last trip to London in May 2019, my sister loaned me one of her sleep masks. One that has cupped eye coverings, so it's not pressing down on your eyes. It was blissful!! Super duper earplugs and an eye mask... I actually slept pretty good. Except... of course... when people were climbing up and down off the bunk bed... that shakes the whole bed and isn't restful. Sometimes it's better to be on the top bunk so you're the one doing the climbing!

It's not perfect, but it works. And from what I've been reading about the Camino... shared dormitories are de rigeur. Unless you want to pay $$$ for a private room. And... with 40 days (or so) to cover... I don't know that I want to spend $100 a night... every night. Maybe once in a while...

But for the regular run-of-the-mill stay in an albuergue (hostel/dormitory)... I'll be packing a serious sleeping mask and multiple sets of ear plugs... just in case some get lost along the way. It's these small things that make a difference. And I definitely want to have a good night's sleep while trekking the Camino.

Hand Dryers - Replacing One Form of Pollution with Another?

Do you prefer paper or air? When it comes to drying your hands in a public restroom?

Paper Towels Rule!

I generally prefer paper towels as opposed to blow dryers. I hate the noise of the air dryers and I find that my hands don't really get dry unless I stand there for a long time. While the line-up gets longer behind me. "Oh heck, I'll just dry my hands on my jeans..."

Whereas with paper towels, you can usually grab 2 or 3 at once and then step aside to dry your hands in peace. Except for those automatic paper towel dispensers... where it dispenses a tiny strip and you have to wait and wave your hand in front of the sensor so it will extrude more... and just one more...

Paper Towels Not Eco-Friendly

Yes, I know... paper towels have a HUGE eco-footprint. They come from wood pulp and while many manufacturers are now using recycled paper to make paper towels... still. Plus you have all the garbage generated. I know some bathrooms have two bins - a green one for the paper towels and another one for everything else. Humans being what they are... I don't know how well that works. On top of that, paper towels are expensive to make, to transport and you need someone to refill the dispensers as well. How many times have we stood in front of a paper towel dispenser with dripping hands and... nothing gets spit out. It's either empty, jammed or broken. Argh!

Alright... I admit it... they aren't the greatest from an eco perspective, but they are pretty good from a hygiene perspective. Everyone gets their own little piece of paper towel and can then toss them. Much better than those rotating towel dispensers. Remember them?? Are they even still a thing? Probably not with the pandemic!

Air Dryers Rule!

Enter the air dryer... ta daaahhh!!! They've been around for decades, in some form or another. The ones I remember from the old days had a silver nozzle that could point down to dry your hands or rotate upwards to dry your face. Not sure who would wash their face in a public restroom but... hey, to each their own. These dryers would blow a gentle stream of warm air over your hands and you'd stand there vigorously rubbing your hands together trying to get them dry. They never really worked all that well... at least in my experience. Or maybe it was just me... maybe I didn't know the right technique to use to get dry hands out of the deal!

But in the last decade or so, Dyson has taken hand dryers to a whole new level. Super fast air streams, some in a very thin line (Dyson Air Blade) have left us standing there in awe as our hands are dried in mere seconds. Or so they claim. I admit the Air Blade, where you move your hands up and down vertically, does dry my hands fairly well. Much better, at least, than those traditional air dryers.

If that wasn't enough, the air dryers are also more eco-friendly. They don't use wood pulp, just a bit of electricity. You don't need to refill them every day so they are more likely to be available. Although... they could break down in which case you need a technician to come and fix them.

Air Dryers are Noise Polluters

But here's the thing... they are darn noisy. Like... seriously loud. Most manufacturers claim that their air dryers run at around 100 dB. At that level, you could listen to an air dryer for about 9 minutes before permanent damage to your ear occurs. As a comparison, a rock concert usually runs at 103 dB. And if you are in a workplace, your employer needs to provider hearing protection for anything over 85 dB.

The thing is... as the air dryers get faster... they also get noisier. So those old-fashioned ones with the silver nozzle actually run relatively quietly. 

Those Xlerator ones... are super noisy... as are the Dyson AirBlades. Because... as it turns out... a lot of the hand air dryers actually run much louder than the levels claimed by the manufacturer. How much louder? One study found that a lot of hand air dryers typically run at over 100 dB and one even got as loud as 121 dB (the same as an ambulance siren). At that level, hearing damage occurs in less than 2 minutes.

A lot of children complain that hand air dryers hurt their ears. Maybe we should be listening to them! I'm not a child, but I would say the same thing. I hate using the air dryers because they are soooo noisy. If there is an option between paper towels and air dryers... I choose paper towels every single time. Particularly if I see an Xlerator looming on the wall.

Studies have shown that hearing continues to develop in children and that exposure to excessively loud noises can damage their hearing and set them up for hearing loss later in life. The Envrionmental Protection Agency says that any noise over 85 dB is dangerous to a child's hearing.

Xlerator claims that their dryers run at 70 to 80 dB. Although they admit that when hands are held perpendicular to the air flow and close to the outlet, the noise can jump to 90 dB. Dyson claims that their Airblade runs at 81 to 85 dB. But is this actually true?

A 13 year old student from Alberta, Nora Louise Keegan, decided to put these claims to the test. She conducted a bunch of tests on hand air dryers at various distances from the devices, particularly keeping in mind that children are shorter than adults and that their ears are therefore more likely to be closer to the devices.

What she found was quite stunning... the Dyson Airblade and Xlerator run at over 100 dB, sometimes exceeding 120 dB. That is LOUD! Like ambulance siren loud.

Paper or Air?

So where does that leave us? Paper towels are more hygienic (hospitals use them instead of air dryers) but have a large eco-footprint and cost more to source and maintain.. Air dryers are cheaper, contact-less but are extremely noisy and less hygienic, leaving your hands damp unless you use them properly. It's enough to make my head hurt!

Or opt out entirely... as much as possible... carry your own towelette with you and use that! Which is exactly what I've started doing. I have a little microfibre towellette that I carry around in my office backpack. When I go into a public washroom, I'll pull the towelette out and dry my hands.

Then, if I'm sitting in Starbucks, I'll just hang it off the back and let it air dry for a while. This little towel dries my hands really well and also dries very rapidly. Win-win.

And... I don't need to hurt my ears with the air dryer... nor feel guilty for using the paper towels. Small steps... just small steps.

Resources

National Institute of Health - Noisy Air Dryers and Kids

Paediatrics and Child Health (just the summary) - Children who say hand dryers ‘hurt my ears’ are correct: A real-world study examining the loudness of automated hand dryers in public places

National Library of Medicine (full article) - Children who say hand dryers ‘hurt my ears’ are correct: A real-world study examining the loudness of automated hand dryers in public places

 Hear Smart - Decibels and Damage

 The Guardian - Hand dryers v paper towels: the surprisingly dirty fight for the right to dry your hands

Standford Mag - Paper or Air: Which Method is Greener? 

McGill University - Hand dryers or Paper Towel? That is the question