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Writer's pictureSidewalk Pirate

Coconut charcoal

If you know me at all for any length of time, you know that reducing my family's carbon foot print is very important to me. We reuse, recycle and reclaim as much as we can, in daily life as well as my art.


We use reusable tea bags, switched to safety razors instead of plastic ones, no paper towels in our home going on 19 years now. Small things, but they quickly add up.


One area I had trouble fixing to my liking is the water filters. I can't drink tap water because there is so much chlorine in it. I used to use britta filters. But they are expensive and use a lot of plastic. That bugged me. I opted out and went for just letting the chlorine evaporate out. But the rest of the impurities were still in the water. I did research and read a bunch of things. While doing so, I stumbled across wood charcoal sticks for water filtration. Oh! Brilliant! I bought some. They worked like a charm! I stayed with those for about 2 years. Sadly the size I needed was $20. Sure, they last 3 months, but still....it is wood charcoal. This did not sit well with me at all.... a tree dies for me to clean my water. Just not the way to go...


So I researched some more, keeping my budget in mind along the way. I finally found bags of activated coconut charcoal. These come as pellets and in small grained form (like beach sand).

Coconut is a renewable resource, much better than cutting and burning trees. Only the coconut shells are used to produce the charcoal, not the whole tree. And bit more research taught me this: Activated coconut charcoal usually works better than regular charcoal as a filter because it outperforms regular carbon in chlorine removal and the removal of Volatile Organic Compounds.


A 1 pound bag of food grade, activated coconut charcoal cost me $11.99 . Heck yes! I'm going to try it!



I made oodles of handsewn, reusable tea bags one year, so I have a way to suspend the charcoal in my water dispenser.


Simply fill the bags up and rinse them. Since the charcoal is so fine, there is a lot of dust that needs washing off, but you can use the wash water for your plants later, so nothing gets wasted.

Once the water comes clear, I pop them into a pot with boiling water for a few minutes.. I am so used to doing that with the charcoal sticks,, and think it can't hurt with the baggies either.

Simply suspend the bags in your dispenser and leave them there.

I am going to boil the charcoal bags once a week, like I was doing with the charcoal sticks. Simply to freshen it all up.


Looking forward to giving this a whirl. I may try the pellets next. Thinking that maybe there would be a little less dust to wash out? If there isn't a whole lot of difference, I will go back to the grains. This is definitely a great deal.


Lots of filtered water and no plastic, other than the bag the charcoal comes in. (Wonder if I could.persuade the company to use biodegradable plastic for that?)

This one pound bag will surely last me a while and I can also mix it in with my soil for my plants, after it is done filtering the water, as well as use it for my son's turtle tank lol. I am thinking of making small bags for work shoes to absorb unwanted smells.... so many uses!!!!!

If you are planning on trying this as well, please make sure the carbon is NSF (National Sanitation Foundation) certified. This means it has undergone tests to make sure it is food grade.


❤Please. Always check for allergies before trying a new substance in your life. Activated coconut carbon is hypo allergenic from what I read, that does not mean there can't be complications for some people. So make sure to do your own research on which/if carbon filters will work for you. Coconut allergy is a thing. I don't suffer from it and I am not a doctor, so please make sure you do what's best for you. Talk to your doctor, read, research, talk to other people with allergies. Always better to be safe than sorry!!!!❤


I am always looking for ideas and ways to switch every day things over to more environmentally conscious products. So please share your ideas and ways with me! Together we can make a difference!!!


Have a great Wednesday!


Xo

B.🐝


Further reading I found interesting:

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