The bathroom is one of the easiest places to find plastic free swaps – here are our top 5 to get you started…..
Shower Gel
The quickest way to cut back on single use plastic in the bathroom is to kick your shower gel habit. There are so many amazing soaps now available without plastic wrapping too – Faith in Nature is one that is readily available in supermarkets and in Silver Lane Health Food shop (and Annabel at All Good Market reminded me about Alter/Native soaps too, available locally). But there are tonnes of independent shops online selling all natural soaps too. Conchus is a favourite.
If you really can’t ditch the shower gel – why not try refill instead. All the refill shops in Stamford (All Good, The Eco Shop and Refill Revolution) all offer shower gel which smells amazing from brands such as Faith in Nature again or try Miniml.
Shampoo & Conditioner
There are now some really good shampoo bars which are super easy to use – just like a bar of soap and they are readily available in supermarkets or even Holland and Barratt on the high street. Eco Warrior shampoo bar is great as are the ones from Ethique. Again you can look online to find independents producing beautiful shampoo (and conditioner) bars.
But if a shampoo bar is a step too far, definitely give refill a go as a very handy alternative to buying new bottles every time. Just take your empty shampoo bottle to a local refill shop and fill it up. Fill do lovely options and they’re made in Northamptonshire. Job done.
Toothpaste & Toothbrushes
Toothpaste tubes – we get through so many of these each year! Instead of buying the plastic ones, you could look at pastes that come in a jar or toothpaste tablets. There are plenty of online stores that stock these (and lots of other plastic free items). Or if you’re just heading to the supermarket you could try euthymol which comes in a recyclable aluminium tube.
Bamboo and recycled plastic toothbrushes are now available all over the place. If you prefer an electric toothbrush there are now options here versus having to chuck out the plastic head. There are ones made of bamboo from LiveCoco that are worth a try.
Razors
If you haven’t already, why not give a metal safety razor a go. They’re an expensive outlay but they last a lifetime and perform really well. Plastic Freedom have a good range….
And finally….loo roll
And finally, there’s toilet roll. Why all brands feel the need to wrap the loo roll in plastic bags is beyond me, but they do….however, again there are options. You can buy in bulk and have toilet roll delivered to you in a box without any plastic. If this is not an option (storage may be an issue or the cost), there are companies like Green Cane that use wrappers that can be recycled for the 4 packs of toilet roll. The Eco Shop sells them or you could go in with friend and order a big box of them.