Thursday, January 17, 2013

Surprise Stink

I meticulously read the labels of everything I purchase. Unfortunately, I still sometimes bring home items that are toxic.

A few weeks ago, we grabbed a package of Glad 30 gallon Strong Large Quick-Tie Trash Bags at the store; we had a full kitchen garbage can at home and absolutely no liners left. We also didn't have a lot of money, so we bought just a small package of 10 and it was a brand and type chosen more for price than any other reason. Unfortunately, when we got home and desperately changed out the stuffed garbage can, it became immediately apparent that this product had been mislabeled. Fragrance hit me square in the nose and made my head immediately rear up with a confusion/irritability combo, dizziness and nausea. We quadruple-checked the label, there was no mention of fragrance anywhere.

So, I emailed Glad's customer service and they sent me a coupon that I'm a little afraid to use. What if my next purchase of the brand is, again, surprise-stinky? It's not a gamble I can take lightly, but since I at least have a coupon to use and it's not my very spare cash going into the experiment, I'll give them another try.

Despite being fairly satisfied with Glad's customer service response, I emailed them again because I'm concerned that people without sensitivities to fragrance aren't taking these issues seriously enough. Must fragrances be in every product we buy? I already have issues walking past the detergent aisle's thick fog of Spring Freshness and Linen Overload, do we really need scented garbage bags, too?

It's exhausting, being so sensitive to scents, and it would be nice if the rest of the world would just turn it down a notch.



2 comments:

SavvyChristine said...

It really is physically tiring to be sensitive to fragrances. I run into this problem regularly at work, where people come in doused in perfume. I've asked my coworkers not to wear perfume, but they're like, "What, you want me to stink?" Sigh. They stink when they're wearing fragrance. They don't stink when they're not. It's not difficult to understand.

Migrainista said...

Isn't it terrible. There are entire sections that are hard to walk by. And these scents are not natural - you can tell they are just chemicals. And nobody seems to care. I feel your pain.