Sustainable Sex Guide: Staging
Actress Izabella Miko heats things up with her line of eco-friendly candles that pull double-duty as massage oil. Photo: EkoMiko.
Your body might be made for love, but is your bedroom a toxic dump laden with environmental hazards? Don’t invite over any potential paramours until you green up your boudoir.
Let’s get started with the foundation of your sex life: your bed, where even the everyday insomniac spends about a third of her life. Unfortunately, the surface upon which we have our playful romps—and rest our weary heads—is typically one gigantic ecological disaster zone. Along conventional paint products, petroleum-based polyurethane foam, the main ingredient of mattresses for the past 40 years, is the prime suspect of VOCs—those potentially poisonous chemicals that off-gas as you sleep. There is so much more to staging that we can’t cover it all here; if you want to get more scoop, check out Stefanie’s amazing book, Eco-Sex: Go Green Between the Sheets and Make Your Love Life Sustainable. It’s a must-have for every ecoista’s bedside bookshelf.
Eco-Sex: Go Green Between the Sheets and Make Your Love Life Sustainable ($14.99)
In the mean time, here are some Cliff notes: If you want to green up, look for natural latex mattresses, which have the support and give of a memory foam mattress, sans the chemicals. (Be careful when you shop, however, because synthetic latex is not the same thing.) Going all the way? Slap on some no-VOC paint, dress that bed with organic cotton sheets and voila! A safe haven that’s as ready for lovin’ as you are.
But what about the lights? Some of us like to do it in the dark, others with the lights blazing—whatever your preference, just make sure you do it green. Now that we know that energy-efficient fluorescent light bulbs are mercury-filled toxic time bombs, go for dimmable LED’s. If your plaything prefers candlelight, remember that petroleum-based paraffin, the most common inexpensive candle wax, may be carcinogenic. Greener alternatives include beeswax or vegetable oil candles made with organic cotton or hemp wicks.
We burn for EkoMiko candles, created by actress/ecoista Izabella Miko, who takes ecopreneurism so seriously she packages her product in repurposed wine bottles. (Look for our EcoCelebrity profile on her next month! EkoMiko candles have no nasty chemical fragrances but are instead scented with yummy essential oils. One you’ve unpacked them, the biodegradable boxes sprout wildflowers that you can then give to your honey as a gift, instead of buying pesticide-laden cut flowers at the store. Plus, EkoMiko candles are made with coconut butter wax that, when heated from the burning candle wick, doubles as a moisturizer or massage oil. The opportunities are endless.
EkoMiko Candles ($69). Hottie couple not included.
WEEK OF 5.16.11 TWO ECOSTILETTO SUBSCRIBERS WILL EACH WIN A $69 EKOMIKO SUSTAINABLE CANDLE!
Want more? Our sustainable sex guide covers safety, seduction, staging and, um, toys. Check back here next week!
Stefanie Iris Weiss is the author of Eco-Sex: Go Green Between the Sheets and Make Your Love Life Sustainable (Crown Publishing/Ten Speed Press, 2010) and eight other books. She writes about sustainability, sex and relationships for Above Magazine, TheDailyGreen.com, and many more. Learn more about the ecosexuality movement she started at EcoSex.net and follow Stefanie on Twitter @EcoSexuality and on Facebook.
