10 Ideas for a Greener, Zero Waste Bathroom
When I think about the bathroom, a lot of ‘use & toss’ things come to mind. Almost every standard bathroom routine consists of disposable items which together, adds up to a lot of waste in landfill. In recent times, a lot more eco-friendly and reusable options have hit the market, encouraging better shopping choices. Today, I’m sharing with you 10 ideas for a greener, plastic-free, low waste bathroom.
Before we get started, I want to note that when it comes to swapping to more eco-friendly options, it’s normal for it to take some time - months or even years. Zero waste is a slow journey and it’s important to use up what you already have so as not to waste those things. Once those items have reached their end of life, then consider replacing with a more greener option. And when it comes to creating a greener bathroom, even making a couple of changes is better than nothing. If some swaps don’t work for you, that’s okay, keep keeping an eye out and maybe something new and more eco-friendly might hit the market that works better for you.
1. REUSABLE MAKE UP REMOVER ROUNDS
Instead of using disposable cotton rounds and throwing them into landfill, you can opt for reusable makeup rounds or make up wipes. These reusable facial pads are from Ever Eco. You just use them like a regular cotton round and once it’s dirty, you can place it in a little mesh laundry bag and toss it in the machine when it’s full. I’m really excited to be incorporating these into my routine once I finish my remaining disposable cotton rounds and have a little wash bag in my bathroom where I keep all the used ones until I’m doing a laundry load.
2. BAMBOO COTTON BUDS
Bamboo cotton buds are a great eco-friendly alternative to your typical cotton buds which are made of little plastic sticks. I got mine as part of the CARE bundle deal which saves you 50% from Seed & Sprout but you can also buy them separately here. I personally still have plastic cotton buds to use up at home but once I’m out, I’ll be switching to bamboo cotton buds. However, as I typically use cotton buds to remove make up, I’m going to try use them as less as possible and opt for my reusable make up remover rounds instead.
3. LEAF RAZOR
Instead of using your typical drugstore razors which have plastic components, you can opt for plastic-free razor from Leaf Shave. These guys make eco-friendly stainless steel razors with a pivoting head and are stocked in plenty of stockists around the world including locally here at Biome. The razors come with lifetime warranty (they’re meant to be used for life!) as well as bulk blade packs which you can repurchase to refill your razor with. As for disposing old razor blades, you can get a little blade disposer tin to keep the blades in until you are ready to recycle them. For something that meant to be used for a lifetime, the upfront cost works out to be a great deal.
4. DIY SKIN CARE (BIOME)
If you love the idea of customising your own skincare, Biome stocks their own range of skin care products/ingredients in glass bottles which you can use to mix and match to create your own needs. So things like Hydrosol can be mixed with Clay to create an exfoliator, or used on its own as a toner. Jojoba oil or Rosehip oil can be used as a moisturiser, or mixed with clay to become a face mask!
5. BODY SOAP & HAND SOAP BARS
Instead of using liquid body wash and hand soap in a bottle, you can consider using ‘package free’ body and hand soap bars. I remember I grew up using bar soap and as I got older, I started buying liquid body wash (and I have no idea why). Maybe the fancy packaging and range changed my consumer purchasing decisions, compared to the boring looking bar soap that would always feel more drying on my skin. These days, there are so many more options when it comes to bar soap. They’re a lot more nourishing and you can find lots of local makers to support, as well as plenty of luxury and artisan options too. Plus the fact that you can get them package free - the most important! I’m getting back into these and have successfully switched our bathroom hand soap to bar soap instead of a pump bottle for a year now with no going back!
PS. You know when the soap bar gets really small and breaks up? You can pop it into a small mesh bag which doubles up as a loofah to help you use up those end bits. This soap saver bag was from Seed & Sprout and is made from natural sisal fibers meaning that it can be composted at its end of life. Oh and the bar soap pictured is their new hand sanitising bar which smells absolutely divine!
6. SHAMPOO BARS
Did you know that you can get shampoo bars as well? If you’re interested in transitioning into a plastic-free hair care routine, then you can consider a growing range of shampoo bar brands out there. These bars are just like body soap bars but are made for the hair and you can even get little travel tins for them so that you can bring them with you on your travels.
7. FACE BARS
Speaking of bars, I recently discovered that you can also get facial cleansers in soap bar form as well! This I personally haven’t tried before and I haven’t bought some yet as I’m still going through a lot of skincare products that I love and already have on hand. But I am intrigued at the idea and am keen to experiment one day. Seed & Sprout do both a facial cleansing bar as well as an exfoliating bar, and I’ve also see a couple stocked on Biome here as well.
8. KONJAC SPONGES (FACE & BODY)
If you haven’t tried konjac sponges, you should totally check them out! I’ve been using them for years now. These little round konjac sponges are great for your skincare routine and are a gentle way to exfoliate dead skin cells. Konjac sponges are plant-based made from the konjac plant root, so once you’re done with it you can cut it up and compost it.
PS I recently also discovered that you can get large konjac body sponges for your body soap bars which is a total game changer and the perfect zero-waste alternative to plastic loofahs and sponges.
9. BAMBOO TOOTHBRUSH
If you’re sick of using and replacing plastic toothbrushes, you can consider a bamboo toothbrush. Bamboo toothbrushes are made with bamboo handles and nylon bristles (the latter of which is not compostable but is generally the most low waste you can get for now). When you’re done with your bamboo toothbrush, simply snap it in half and compost the handle and throw the nylon bristles in the bin.
You can get bamboo toothbrushes at most zero waste stores, my latest one came as part of the Care Bundle from Seed & Sprout.
10. BAMBOO/NATURAL CARE PRODUCTS
When it comes to things like hair brushes, dry body brushes and the like, these days you find a growing range of plastic-free options such as ones made out of bamboo like this hair brush and dry body brush I found on Seed & Sprout. Also, things like foot files that might come on plastic handles can also be replaced by more low-waste alternatives like natural pumice stones!
Again, mine came from the Care Bundle from Seed & Sprout that I got for 50% off if I were to purchase individually.
A NOTE ABOUT..
A few things I haven’t mentioned above are:
TOOTHPASTE:
I know there are heaps of zero waste or DIY homemade toothpaste recipes out there, however I’m currently still preferring to use your typical fluoride toothpastes that you find in the supermarkets. I’m personally not convinced the zero waste alternatives for toothpastes are good for your teeth and The Australian Dental Association recommends fluoride in toothpastes based on scientific studies, so I’m personally keen to stick to that for now. Maybe one day a compostable toothpaste tube might be invented? Fingers crossed!
DENTAL FLOSS:
I’ve seen a number of zero waste dental floss options out there where the container is made out of glass and the floss is made of corn starch making it compostable. When you run out of floss you can simply buy refills to put in your glass jar. This sounds amazing and I’m so for it however most of these flosses have reviews stating that the floss is on the thick side so doesn’t work for everyone so I haven’t given this a go yet. If anyone knows a great tooth floss that’s thin and compostable + refillable, I’d absolutely love to know about it!
CHARCOAL:
The last thing I wanted to mention is charcoal in dental products like toothpaste, tooth whitening products and what not. So I’ve heard from dentists that on the face of it, charcoals looks as if it’s effective in whitening teeth. However, what it really does is that the roughness of charcoal wears down enamel in order to whiten your teeth and over time, causes permanent damage to your teeth. So that’s also something else to think about if you are shopping for products that contain charcoal.
Hope you guys found this post helpful in your zero waste journey! Remember, little steps make a big difference combined. So don’t be afraid to take a little step into a more sustainable future for our planet!
