A few easy changes require a small effort from each of us but can have a massive impact on the environment. These tips will make your bathroom habits more eco-friendly.
The pursue of a sustainable lifestyle should touch every aspect of our lives – that includes creating a sustainable bathroom. Once we look into it, it seems crazy to discover how many little things we could change that seem insignificant to us but could make a difference in our daily waste production.
An average of 30,000 tonnes of recyclable bathroom waste ends up in landfill every year. A whopping 1.8 billion plastic-stemmed cotton buds are used and thrown out each year after just one use – which makes them one of the most significant ocean pollutants today. And these numbers only include waste produced in UK – imagine how much bathroom garbage the entire world must produce. sustainable bathroom
We constantly hear people preaching how we should buy better clothes, embrace a vegan diet and ditch the plane when we travel – but what about all the little changes that sound a lot less sexy but are an enormous part of everyone’s daily waste? sustainable bathroom
Every small change is essential, and the only way to modify our habits is to know that there is a valuable alternative out there. But how can you easily create a sustainable bathroom? We are here to help you change your self-care habits, including the yucky, the stinky and the bloody parts of it. sustainable bathroom
Switch to recycled toilet paper
Toilet paper is a problem when we want to move to a more sustainable way of life. There isn’t a proper substitute for it, and we can’t live without it. If you have a bidet, maybe you can when you are in your own house, but you will eventually be confronted with the fact that toilet paper is a necessity.
If there isn’t a complete solution to the problem, there are ways to limit the waste produced by the use of toilet paper. Instead of buying your usual supermarket choice, move towards cleaner solutions that use recycled paper to make their rolls and limit the use of plastic in the production. A prime example of ‘good toilet paper’ brand is Who Gives A Crap. Not only their toilet paper is completely recycled and their packaging is both recyclable and plastic-free, Who Gives A Crap also donate 50% of their profits to help build toilets where is needed. Plus, it arrives at your doorsteps – you don’t even have to go out to get it. What’s not to like?
Switch to solid bars of soap
The amount of plastic waste created in the bathroom is shocking, and a lot of it is due to the number of products we need and how many time we re-purchase them. sustainable bathroom
Most of us will have at least a shampoo, a conditioner, a shower gel or multiple types of all the above. That makes up to a lot of plastic waste that repeats itself every month, if not every week. Scale it to a family of four or six, and you have a mountain of plastic waste at the end of the year.
It might require a bit of research and a few product tests, but swapping to solid bars of soap instead of bottles of liquid products is possible, and it makes a big difference. Lush has been providing all sorts of great products for years. Still, there are so many new, amazing brands to discover that make absolutely everything, from toothpaste to fantastic conditioners and moisturisers. Getting rid of plastic is so easy, you need to try it to believe it.
Bamboo toothbrush sustainable bathroom
Probably the easiest thing to swap, a bamboo toothbrush is a must if you want to make your bathroom sustainable. If until a few years ago only specific brands and organic (and pricey) stores stocked them, now even big brands like Signal have their bamboo toothbrush options.
We, of course, suggest you choose a brand that is small, sustainable and possibly local, but if a big brand is the only option you have, whichever the maker is a bamboo toothbrush is always better than a plastic one.
Ditch the wipes sustainable bathroom
If it can’t be reused multiple times, it can’t be sustainable. There is no swapping you can do to make makeup removing wipes better – they are just terrible for the environment and, honestly, for your skin as well.
Ditch the wipes and purchase a soft reusable cloth. It’s gentle on the skin, removes makeup better than the wipes, and you will do the planet a massive favour.
Ditch cotton swabs for reusable ones
We know what you are thinking, how can a reusable cotton swab be hygienic? Yet, we are in 2020, and humans are resourceful! There aren’t many options to switch from a classic cotton swab, but there is one, and a very valid one indeed.
A fantastic Danish company, LastObject, has created a reusable cotton swab that looks exactly like a traditional one. Instead of being a wasteful and disposable object, LastSwab is reusable up to 1000, saving an incredible amount of waste. It comes in a biodegradable case that keeps it protected and makes it easy to carry on the go, so you can always take it with you when you go on holiday. It comes in two styles, one for cleaning and one for makeup – which is just plain (woman) genius.
Buy the classic LastSwab here.
Buy makeup LastSwab here.
Use less water sustainable bathroom
Everybody loves a nice bath, but if we want to be truly sustainable, we can’t avoid the problem of water waste. It goes without saying, we should all be mindful when we brush our teeth and take showers: always switch the water off while you brush or use soap.
But do we have to give up baths? If you want to go all the way, then the answer is yes. But for a lot of people – we think about you, mamas – having a sporadic bath is the only self-care time they get. If you are one of these people, just reducing the number of baths you take per month would already make a difference.
Try to switch to menstrual cups
Tampons are bad, period. They are terrible for the environment and, a lot of them, even for women’s health. And, of course, they are pretty expensive considering we need them every month for a considerable part of our lives. sustainable bathroom
Tampons, pads and their wrapping generate more than 200,000 tonnes of waste per year. An average woman uses 528 tampons in just two years. There are a lot of women in the world, which mean that there are a lot of sanitary products that end up on our beaches.
There are many options to choose from when we are looking for a more sustainable solution. Reusable cotton pads, period pants and a lot of new, organic and more eco-friendly types of tampons have been around for a couple of years now and they are constantly improving. The reality though, is that nothing is more sustainable than a menstrual cup. They are hypoallergenic, they last for more than a decade, you only need one and you don’t have to do anything else but boil it to sterilise it. The only waste they produce is a pot of boiling water once a month. You can’t beat it.
Use reusable cotton disks
The use of reusable cotton disks has grown exponentially. However, there are still certain cases where people might feel the need to use classic disposable cotton or people that don’t like the feeling of certain textile materials on their skin. sustainable bathroom
We get it; it’s not the same. It can be harder to apply certain products with a disk made of a bamboo, but different solutions are there, for any need you might have.
If you are not a fan of bamboo, cotton or hemp disks, LastRound is made with a new technology that uses 70% of wood (yes, wood) and 30% of cotton – it might sound a bit strange, but the result is much closer to the feeling we might get from using a disposable cotton disk. The round can be used 1000 times, it’s wholly compostable, and it’s made of 100% sustainable materials.
Buy LastRound here.
Use natural products (even to clean)
When the list of ingredients is too long, usually there is something unhealthy in the mix. Whatever you are choosing something for your skin, makeup or even cleaning products, try to keep an eye on the composition and always prefer natural options.
Not only you’ll do your skin a favour, but you will avoid flushing toxic chemicals down the drains, straight into our waters (and fish stomachs).
No samples, no problem
We know, getting a few samples after spending lots of money in a makeup store gives us the sensation that we have got a better deal. The problem is we didn’t really, and those samples are more plastic than they are product. sustainable bathroom
The same thing goes for hotel miniatures. It’s tempting to take them with you, especially when the brand is particularly luxurious, but those miniatures will soon become just another plastic bottle to throw away. You don’t need it.
Lead image: Karolina Grabowska
