Can there be anything green about tattoos besides the color of the ink?
Nope. Well, at least not yet anyway.
So if you are going to shoot toxic and permanent colorants into your body (which I desperately want to do, by the way) why not go with a green theme?
Or of course you can always insert a digital and programmable tattoo device under your skin so you can sport a new design daily. More on that in a minute…
I don’t have a tattoo… yet.
The ONLY reason I don’t have one is because I want to make sure that whatever I get is both meaningful and something that I know I won’t regret in the future.
Any ideas?
If you’d like to see some of the most beautiful and the most awful green themed tattoos, check out GreenDiary’s green-themed tattoos. The tattoo collage you see above is one from GreenDiary’s wonderful post.
How Dangerous Are Tattoos?
As the FDA says, “Many pigments used in tattoo inks are industrial-grade colors suitable for printers’ ink or automobile paint.”
Here’s a list of the heavy metals used for tattoo ink colors.
That said, according to Treehugger, the typical tattoo green and black colors are the least dangerous, while reds are the most dangerous.
Everyday Health says that it may not be the toxicity level of tattoo inks that you should be concerned with, but the possible long-term skin irritations that can be a result… even from henna tattoos!
Are There Eco-Friendly Tattoo Alternatives?
Not really. But there is a supposedly eco-friendly method of tattoo removal.
Of course, if you don’t want to go the ink route, you can just insert a digital tattoo interface under your skin.
Unfortunately this device is still just a conceptual design, but as our friends at Ecorazzi put it, “The ability to erase your ex-girlfriend’s name in favor a new one might be a Godsend.”
Ha ha, true that!
But wait. It goes on to earn even more cool points… The top surface enables touchscreen (or skin) control! Oh, and did I mention that the source of power is actually your blood? Yeah, chew on that one for awhile.
So if you’re not going to wait around for a digital tattoo interface to come to fruition, would the toxic nature of the inks deter you from getting one?
If you plan on getting a tattoo (but haven’t yet), what are you going to get? If you already have a tattoo, what inspired you to get it?
One thing is for sure about tattoos: most people usually have very interesting reasons for deciding to get one.
I think every little step toward living green is an awesome one… but eco-snobbery sucks! My goal is to help newbies learn the most important steps toward living green — individually and collectively. Personally, I strive to have as little impact as possible on Planet Earth while I'm here.
