At #PlanetPatrol we are big believers that little changes can make big differences. A great example of this is reducing plastic in the bathroom. Does your bathroom have shelves littered with little plastic containers, plastic toothbrushes, razors, and shampoo bottles? How many of these personal care products do you really need, and can you reduce the plastic in the bathroom? The tips below outline simple ways of reducing the plastic footprint of your bathroom routine. You may own a few products that you ‘can’t live without’ and making changes can be difficult, so experiment and try out some of these eco alternatives to see what works for you. Or take the leap and go completely plastic free!
1. Use shampoo bars
You may well have heard of shampoo bars, which are all the craze right now. Shampoo bars are a form of solid shampoo. They have zero packaging and zero waste (an instant win to reduce plastic in the bathroom!), unlike bottles of liquid shampoo and conditioner. As shampoo bars are more concentrated than liquid shampoo, you need to use less for each wash. This makes it a very cost-effective purchase as it lasts much longer. Lush produces a large range of colourful shampoo bar varieties, and claims that the solid alternative has saved nearly six million plastic bottles a year. Other companies to look out for include Soapnuts, which uses natural soaps found in dried fruit shells, The Funky Soap Company, and PureChimp. You can purchase these products easily and conveniently online.
2. Brushing your teeth
It’s recommended that you change your toothbrush every three months. If you follow this advice you will have used 320 toothbrushes by the time you reach 80 years old! This part of our daily routine sees billions of plastic toothbrushes headed to rubbish dumps or waterways every year. Using an electric toothbrush whose detachable heads are half the size of a normal toothbrush, will help to reduce the problem, but it won’t solve it. Could you go one step further and use plastic free bamboo toothbrushes? These are totally biodegradable and you can dispose of them on your compost heap. Beware of nylon bristles – you’ll need to pull these out before composting, but they can be recycled.
3. Stop using exfoliating scrubs!
You may not know that the gritty particles in exfoliating scrubs that remove dead skin and leave your skin feeling lovely and smooth, are in fact plastic. Commonly known as ‘microbeads’, these tiny pieces of plastic wash straight down the drain. Their small size means water treatment filters cannot remove them, and they invariably end up in the ocean. Filter-feeding marine life like plankton and some fish mistake them for food, which is bad news for the food chain. Luckily for you, and marine life, you can exfoliate without rubbing yourself with plastic. Flora & Fauna International have developed ‘The Good Scrub Guide’, which lists products that are free from microbeads and currently available in the UK. If you’re on the go, the ‘Beat The Microbead’ app allows you to scan the barcode of a scrub to see if it contains plastic – very handy! Avoid anything with ‘polyethylene’ listed as an ingredient. This means plastic.
Instead of using an exfoliating scrub, try a body brush, which does the same job and improves circulation at the same time. A bonus is their wooden handles and zero packaging!
4. Make the switch from plastic to metal razors
This is an easy choice that we can all make to reduce plastic in the bathroom. Using endless disposable plastic razors makes lots of plastic waste. Stainless steel razors however can be recycled, last longer, and will also save you money in the long run. Seems a no-brainer to us!
5. Shave with soap, not canned foam
Perhaps not as easy to do as giving up your plastic razors, but think of all the packaging, bottles, and lids you could save! Using a solid soap bar can work up just as good a lather as the popular foams and gels, and they’re readily available (and cheap!) both online or in stores.
6. Buy toilet paper without plastic packaging
We all go to the loo – it’s a fact of life. But why is it so hard to go to the toilet plastic free? Finding toilet paper that doesn’t come wrapped up in plastic is a bit of a nightmare, and you’ll probably have to order it online. You can order Greencane toilet paper by the case from www.ethicalsuperstore.com. As well as the packaging being plastic free and 100% biodegradable, there are also no inks, fragrances, or plastic in the products themselves. If sourcing these loo roll packs proves tricky, buy it in bulk, to reduce the quantity of plastic packaging.
7. Have a plastic-free period
Ladies, did you know that in your lifetime you’ll use an average of 12,000-16,000 disposable feminine hygiene products, of which 90% of the materials used contain plastic? A plastic pad or applicator can take 100 years to degrade. The UK alone buys more than three billion sanitary items every year, so by going plastic-free at your time of the month, you could make a real difference. Alternatives include re-usable cotton pads, tampons with cardboard applicators, menstrual cups and discs. The latter may seem uncomfortable to some, and perhaps messy. But this toxin-free, easy-to use, and money-saving alternative is gradually converting the masses. It’s a good step forward in the battle to reduce waste, and cuts your personal plastic footprint substantially.
8. Buy in bulk, or refill containers
If plastic packaging or containers are unavoidable, go super-sized. The bigger the container, the longer it will last, and the less packaging you’ll throw away over time. Some stores will let you take back containers and refill them – if you are going to use plastic, make it last.
9. Recycle
It may seem obvious, but according to ‘The Recycle Now’ campaign, only 50% of packaging is recycled in the bathroom. This is compared to nearly 90% in the kitchen. Much of this difference is due to confusion over what can and can’t be recycled. In fact, you can recycle empty shampoo, conditioner, shower gel and moisturiser bottles, aerosols for deodorant and shaving foam, bathroom cleaning bottles… the list goes on. Recycling does not solve the problem, but can dramatically reduce landfill waste and energy. For example, making a plastic shampoo bottle from recycled plastic rather than virgin materials uses 75% less energy. We all forget sometimes, but to help you remember, put a recycling bin in the bathroom.
10. Cut down on your bathroom products
Less is more! Perhaps the simplest way to reduce plastic in the bathroom is to use fewer products. Are your shelves lined with different creams, gels and salves, of which some you rarely use? Think about what products you can do without, or double up on. Do you need a separate face wash, shower gel, hand soap, or could one good quality block of handmade soap do the job? By gradually reducing the number of items that you use, and just sticking with the essentials, you can save time, money, and of course the plastic that they come in.
To find more plastic-free products or ideas to re-invent your bathroom cabinet, check out ‘The Plastic Challenge Shop’ by the Marine Conservation Society. This site has lists of many plastic free items, from natural deodorants, to bamboo cotton swabs and cotton pads and panty-liners, plus where to buy them.
What else can I do to help tackle the plastic crisis?
At Planet Patrol, we organise community litter picks that unite people. Our free app is an innovative tool where people can log litter to help us understand patterns in the type, material and brand of litter they find – and this helps us to influence solutions. Our community also tests water in their local rivers and lakes and uses our app to upload the results. This helps us to monitor any changes in water quality over time so that we can demand better policy for cleaner waterways. Find out more about what’s going on and get involved.