“Eco-Sex” Offers Tips for the Bedroom and Beyond

Stefanie Iris Weiss offers thought-provoking eco-tips that extend beyond the bedroom.

We recycle and try to make environmentally sustainable shopping and dining choices. But we have to admit, the bedroom — specifically between the sheets — isn’t usually a place where we  think about greening our lifestyle.

Stefanie Iris Weiss, author of Surviving Saturn’s Return (McGraw Hill, 2003) and Everything You Need to Know About Being a Vegan (Rosen Publishing Group, 1999), tackles the topic of an environmentally sustainable sex life in her new book, Eco-Sex (Ten Speed Press, 2010).“If you haven’t thought about greening your sex life, you’re still a total environment disaster,” she writes in the intro, citing flushed condoms in the ocean and roses raised with pesticides as a few environmentally harmful byproducts of romance. The object of the book is to minimize your impact on the earth, while maximizing the action in the bedroom, with thoughtful tips for savvy lifestyle changes.

The first section deals with basic information, such as greenwashing caveats such as the vague term “all natural” and irrelevant labels — “CFC-free,” for example, doesn’t mean much considering ozone-destroying cholorofluorocarbons are banned worldwide. Included are green beauty/date-preparation tips and preparing nonsynthetic, enticing fragrances (for both her and him) using essential oils. The art of ecophile romance includes eco-fashion, recipes with aphrodisiac ingredients and buying friendly gems and sweets. (Check out VIVmag’s guide to cruelty-free diamonds and chocolate here.)

The sexy stuff is in the next section, with natural alternatives to the little blue pill (and the counterpart for women), plus yoga and pelvic exercises to keep you fit and limber. There’s also a guide to the greenness of birth-control methods from the pill to natural contraception methods. We were surprised to read, “The birth control pill should be an eco-sexual’s last choice”; while crediting the pill as a big step for feminism, Weiss argues that it’s not only bad for women’s bodies in terms of impairing fertility and raising stroke risk, but after years of being expelled into the ocean by waste-treatment facilities, it’s causing hermaphroditic fish. The IUD is the eco-best, but condoms made without oil-derived, nonbiodegradable polyurethane can be an acceptable option — just don’t flush them!

In the final section, you’ll find advice about choosing sex toys made without phthalates, which are suspected of having carcinogenic and mutagenic effects. Under the heading “Sex Leads to Babies,” Weiss talks about the high environmental impact of children and the problem of overpopulation, with some eye-opening statistics: 129 million babies are born annually and 90 percent of the 18 million diapers sold per year end up in landfills. Here, in the final section, there’s discussion of the decision not to have children as the ultimate carbon offset, as well as adoption, which also can save the life of a child. For those who do have kids, however, there’s information about the green parenting movement and sex tips for pregnant women.

Below is a natural bath-oil recipe, recommended for date preparation or an evening in with a partner. (For bulk organic roses or petals, Weiss recommends fiftyflowers.com.)

1 cup rose water
2 tsp light sesame oil
1 tsp vitamin E oil
5–6 drops essential oil of roses
Fresh rose petals

In small bowl, stir together rose water, sesame oil, vitamin E oil and essential oil, then pour into a clean bottle or container. To use, shake the closed container gently to combine, then pour under the running water while filling your bathtub. Scatter fresh rose petals into the bath and indulge.

Makes 8 ounces, about enough for one bath.

Weiss notes, “Amost anything that’s bad for Mama Earth is bad for you and vice-versa.” We agree that green practices in the bedroom can benefit you, your partner and the Earth. What green practices make you feel sexy?

Tags: author, birth control, contraception, Cooking oils, drops essential oil, Essential oils, light sesame oil, natural bath-oil recipe, oil, Optical materials, Rose, Rosen Publishing Group, sesame oil, Stefanie Iris Weiss, stroke, Sustainability, Ten Speed Press, Vegetable oils, VIVmag