The bathroom might not be as obvious a source of excess waste as perhaps the kitchen, but if you take a moment to have a good look into the products and their packaging that you use I am sure you will be able to identify a few easy swaps that will make a difference to your waste output.
Now I happily admit I am very low-maintenance in the bathroom department – you will not find a vast array of beauty products adorning my bathroom cabinet! But I still had plastic bottles full of shampoo, conditioner and shower gels that I was keen to eliminate. So, first easy swap – back to bars of soap! Find one in a cardboard box rather than wrapped in plastic (Thank You and Eco Store are good supermarket choices) and you are good to go!
I was super-keen to switch to using a shampoo bar, however the brands I was looking into were very expensive. As much as I love the low-waste lifestyle, I do feel the changes you make need to be practical to both your budget and time. I was very happy to find a shampoo bar from a soap shop in Dunsborough while on holidays earlier this year for just $5 and it has just been the best! It lasted 3 months – value for money and no waste to deal with once the bar has been used. Finding a suitable replacement for bottled conditioner is proving to be a bit more difficult, but I am still on the case.
Did you know over 30 million plastic toothbrushes get thrown away in Australia each year? The popular alternative to a plastic toothbrush is one made from bamboo. Whilst the bristles are still a source of waste, the heads can be snapped off and the bamboo component composted. I have tried several brands of bamboo toothbrushes and was hopeful that this would be a change we could implement, but unfortunately, I just don’t find they do a very good job of brushing! We have switched to electric toothbrushes, where just the heads are replaced
instead.TerraCycle also has an oral care recycling program and you can find your nearest drop-off location on their website.
There are some great plastic-free dental floss alternatives out there, made of silk or bamboo fibre, but they are nearly four times the price of regular floss, so again cost may make that a prohibitive switch.
One very easy product change I made was to start purchasing toilet paper through Who Gives a Crap to avoid rolls wrapped in plastic packaging. Delivered to your door in recyclable paper packagaing, the toilet paper is manufactured with environmentally friendly materials and 50% of their profits are used to build toilets in developing nations.
Keep an eye on our Facebook page where I will be sharing a discount code for the Who Gives a Crap toilet paper!
