Capetonian’s water-wise solution for hygienic hand washing

While the Upper South Coast’s feeder dams are brimming at 100% of capacity currently, Cape Town specifically is languishing amid one of the worst droughts in recent history.

READ: Upper South Coast feeder dams at healthy levels

With the frightening prospect of #DayZero looming large, Capetonians have been working towards reducing their usage of water for close on a year already.

One Capetonian’s ingenious solution to a vital point of hygiene – regular hand washing – is as simple as it is effective.

And her humble Facebook post on the subject should be shared until well after the drought breaks in the Mother City. In fact it’s a brilliant water-wise method for everyone.

As a Body Stress Release (BSR) practitioner in the Cape Town suburb of Edgemead, Maria Mackenzie is comfortable with finding alternatives to the norm. Dismissed by the uninitiated as quackery, BSR is a health technique developed back in the 80s by a South African couple, which uses bio-feedback to target muscle stress and contraction through gentle pressure and monitoring to promote self-healing throughout the body.

Faced with the prospect of less available water to cleanse her hands between clients, Maria turned to her studies in aromatherapy from 30 years ago to find a solution. She knew that tea tree oil was renown for its antiseptic properties and lemon oil for its healing, cleanliness and fresh scent.

Using these, she concocted her own healthy and effective solution that combines the best of both worlds, using a fine-mist, spritz-spray bottle to deliver it in small doses.

“Even before the water crisis, because of the location of my practice, I found it rather difficult to wash hands between each and every client. So what I have done and still continue to do is I bought two spray bottles that have a very fine mist spray. In the one bottle I added one teaspoon of hand wash liquid soap, one drop of lemon essential oils and 3 drops of tea tree oil and filled with water. I spritz it on my hands then “rinsed ” my hands by spritzing with plain water spray. It works so try this instead of the harsh hand sanitizer or wasting our precious tap water”

There you have it, as simple as that. Maria stressed that essential oils pack a powerful punch, and because of this, its use is contra-indicated in pregnant women.

As #DayZero creeps closer, Capetonians should collectively share Maria’s passion for embracing innovation to ensure they minimise use of their scarcest resource. Facing a world without water is not a pretty prospect. Maria’s savvy suggestion will ensure every drop is made to count.

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