Seen on Amazon VdH page

[miguel]

Right, so I guess you can't recycle a can that you opened with a can opener, either? That has sharp edges and is much more likely to injure somebody working recycling than my blades in the Altoids tin.
People who work in this industry understand that it is inevitable that there will be potentially injurious items in the recycling. It's part of the job.

you could use a service like TerraCycle to recycle used blades.

 

[GaryTha]

The difference is that can doesn't routinely come in contact with human skin.

Razor blades can carry all sorts of germs, including MRSA.

Seriously, I'll start worrying about razor blades when people stop introducing raw meat into kitchens where my vegetables are cooked.

 

[kingfisher]

The difference is that can doesn't routinely come in contact with human skin.

Razor blades can carry all sorts of germs, including MRSA.

Generally speaking, germs don't live forever outside the body, on an inanimate object like a razor blade. I did not sleep in a Holiday Inn Express last night, but I am a Pediatric Infectious Diseases physician with 30 years of experience.
Besides, the point was that since there are other sharp objects likely to be found in any lot of recycling waste, people who process recycling waste protect themselves from cuts with specialized gloves.

I agree with you that car-pooling would do much more to reduce a person's carbon footprint than DE shaving does, but I don't think it follows that disposable razors are not a huge problem or that because it's a more minor point that we can or should ignore it.

 

[xiletero]

And how is all this environmental policy related to the add, QVC video on VdH products.... OMG it started with the razor, then went to the soap and now degradable razors and infectious risks....

 

[FireDragon76]

And how is all this environmental policy related to the add, QVC video on VdH products.... OMG it started with the razor, then went to the soap and now degradable razors and infectious risks....

Some people are overmarketting double-edge razors and traditional shaving gear, leading to something that resembles more of a fad.

But the good news is that means there's plenty of barely-used gear on eBay and at discount stores for the rest of us to choose from.

 

[FireDragon76]

I've never tried VDH soap. I told myself I'd buy one sometime since they were readily available at local stores--but they disappeared before I got around to it. If they want to position themselves as an alternative to Gillette, then they really need to hire a marketing department who can portray how to use the product properly. What they're doing reminds me of the Quilted Northern ads that had a bunch of ladies knitting instead of quilting.

Not all shavers ride the cap, some ride the bar, and I've seen guys on youtube holding a Weishi like that. It's not how I shave, but some do that.

VDH isn't directly competing with Gillette. Is Subway really competing with McDonald's? They both offer food, but other than that, their approaches are very different.

If you use shave soap, VDH shave soap is worth trying out just because it's inexpensive and works decently (at least for face lathering, I've never gotten bowl lathering to work well with this soap, for some reason). It doesn't hurt to stash some away as it will last for years. It performs just as well, if not better, than soaps like Col. Conk, but costs less, and the scents for all their shave products are subtle and refined and will not make you smell like an old man.

 

[beddington]

It's a highly manufactured product with industrially produced surfactants, but Van Der Hagen does contain sodium stearate and glycerin.



Not a good idea. Most recycling programs have human beings or fragile machinery sorting through the recycling, and a container full of blades could easily pop open and present a sharp hazard. Consequently, most recycling programs do not accept razors as part of their curbside recycling.



Perhaps. I just don't see them as a viable solution for most people who shave, and there are likewise hidden costs to ownership, such as sharpening the blades, that are not environmentally neutral.

Most people would be far better off doing things like car-sharing or giving up eating beef if they are interested in a positive imapact on the environment. How you shave is a relatively trivial choice, in comparison.

recycling programs get sharp metal and glass every day. Last time I used a recycle bin system, it was designed to SHRED the metal cans as they went into it. THATS a hell of a lot more dangerous then two or 3 razor blades getting loose.

All the systems for glass have the glass shatter when it hits the metal bin bottom.