Less Plastic in the Bathroom

Last time I visited a friend, we made homemade pizza. He asked me about how I manage to reduce my plastic garbage, as he does not know for a lot of goods plastic free alternatives. His example was tomato source, which he bought in little Tetra Paks. By chance, I used to do shopping in the same supermarket chain then he does, so I could point out, that he also gets the sauce in glass bottles there. A couple of days later, he texted me with a picture of tomato sauce in a glass bottle, with the message “Great, I never saw this before”. This feedback encouraged me, to share my plastic free alternatives with you even there are already a lot of great sources out there, which I will also mention in this blog for you to dig deeper.

The beginning

Before, I list my tips for less plastic, I would like to share with you the story of how this journey started. I’m a passionate traveler and visited already a lot of different countries worldwide. During my travel I recognized that in most of the countries, the garbage system is not as organized, as here in Germany. We Germans separate and recycle our garbage very diligent, and the number of landfills reduces every year. Only through my travels I realized that we have a worldwide problem. I also started dislike plastic bottles as I noticed that the taste changed when heated up in the sun. I was more causes on what I buy, however, I was not actively looking for changing my buying habits.

The final turning point, however, was triggered four years ago, when I watched the movie Plastic Planet. The Austrian director Werner Boote showed in impressing pictures and in critical interviews how deep our society is actually in the plastic bog and what price we have to pay for the convenient plastic brings us. At that time, I was also suffering from an autoimmune disease and was wondering why my body starts to fight itself. All these thought processes ended up, me finding my way to a plastic free life. On that journey, I found Bea Johnson and her book Zero Waste Home who introduced me to the 5R concept:

Refuse, Reduce, Reuse, Recycle, Rot.

So far Recycling was my top one initiative to save the planet but looking more closely on the lifecycle of the products, it makes sense to put it only on fourth place in the R series. Looking for inspiration to Refuse, I came across Fairyland Cottage, a Youtube channel about simple sustainable living. An inspiring example that shows refuse and reduce is not necessarily a sacrifice.

My five tips on how to reduce plastic products in the bathroom

Most people talk about the toothbrush when talking about plastic-free swaps. To be honest, I still use my electric toothbrush with the plastic heads, as it is hard to clean my teeth with a hand toothbrush due to my retainers. Therefore, my personal first tip is on antiperspirants.

#1 Natron

Sweating is something very natural. Everybody does it and you may also notice at yourself, that fresh sweat does not smell. Only when bacteria start their meal we start smelling. A lot of antiperspirants use aluminum to close the pores to reduce the sweat production and most deos overlay the smell with another fragrance. There are several studies and articles available which criticize the impact on our health. To be on the safe side, I decided to go with a solution which does not prevent the sweat, nor uses parfum but reduces the actives of the bacteria. After I washed my underarm in the morning, I but a small heap of Natron in my handball, solve it with a little bit of water, and put it in my axilla. As I have Natron for cleaning purposes anyway at home, and I get if from the packaged-free store, I basically do not need any packaging at all. I use Natron also as a toothpaste. Just put a brise on the toothbrush and you are good to go.

#2 Soap bars

In normal households you see on the bathroom shelfs plastic tubes after plastic tubes. Shampoo, conditioner, shower gel, face cleaner, etc. Lot of the products contain nowadays micro plastic which is more dangerous for the environment and probable also for our health than the plastic packaging, which can most of the times be recycled. An easy swap are soap bars. You get special bars for hair and skin. If you have a very sensitive skin or even neurodermitis, I can recommend the LIPIKAR Surgras bar from La Roche-Posay for the shower. For the hair and hands, there are a lot of great soap bars out there and you find them sometimes even in normal supermarkets with paper packaging. Be curious and test till you find the right bar for yourself.

#3 Coconut Oil

Coconut Oil is like Natron a multi-purpose essential. I get the coconut oil native in big glass container as I also use it for backing. I decant a smaller portion in a glass for the bathroom and use it as body moisturizer, lip gloss and to straighten the ends of my hair. As the coconut oil comes from the other end of the world, I make sure to buy it from sustainable sources, organic and fair trade as well as I reduce the consumption to a minimum.

#4 Tap Water

Sometimes the simplest things are the best. For me pure tap water works great for face cleaning. In the past I used facial soaps and makeup remover and very often the skin felt super dry afterwards. Now I use washable cotton pads with water to remove dirt, old skin and I just stopped using make up at all. My facial skin feels much more in balance, and I need less moisturizer. I also use tap water with some drops of essential oils as a mouth wash. I prefer Salviathymol as it supports a healthy oral microflora for me. Even though the bottle cap is from plastic, I stick to it as a bottle last easily a whole year.

#5 Corn Starch

It is quite a mission to wash and dry my long hair. Therefore, I love dry shampoo. A really easy swap is corn starch. I buy it anyway for cooking and decant a small portion into a saltshaker, which I then use to apply it fine over my hairs when I have the feeling the hair start to feel oily. I make sure to use only little of it at a time, otherwise my hair looks for some hours a little bit gray. Corn starch is also perfect as a face powder to make sure my skin stays matte over the day. If you like to vary the tone, simple chocolate powder which you find also for cooking helps to change the color of the powder.

As you can see from my list, I’m a big fan of multi-purpose natural products and minimal packaging. Let’s chat down in the comment section. I would love to hear your approaches on how to reduce plastic in the bathroom and your feedback on my list.