Easy Environmental Bathroom Alternatives
May 19, 2020Being conscious of your surroundings, your actions and the consequences of your choices is becoming more and more important. New products are always becoming available that are biodegradable, more sustainable, vegan and are better for the environment. While cutting back on wasteful and harmful products is fantastic, it can be difficult to change every single thing about how you live to be more environmentally friendly. We aren’t all perfect, that’s for sure, but I personally do feel a little better about my choices when I take a moment to read a label or spend a few minutes researching alternative options that are better for the environment.
Here are a few things I have started purchasing to make better decisions as a consumer; hopefully I can inspire you to do the same!
1. Toilet Paper
If you haven’t heard of Who Gives a Crap you have probably been living under a rock. This company produces good quality 100% recycled toilet paper that gets conveniently delivered to your door (winning, toilet paper is bulky asf, I don’t always have enough arms for that at the supermarket).
Not only do they make cheeky bum puns and produce their products sustainably, they also donate 50% of their profits to non-profit organisations working to improve access to hygiene, water and basic sanitation in developing countries.
If you haven’t tried them out before, here is my referral link you can use to get a discount off your first purchase! (And perhaps, if you’re classically forgetful to reorder like me, check out their subscription service so you’re never caught with your pants down again!)
2. Tissues
I also buy my tissues from Who Gives a Crap. The packaging is colourful, cute, and the tissues themselves are made from 100% bamboo (bamboo is an environmentally sustainable timber). These also get delivered to your door which is always the ultimate convenience.
(Fun fact: the tissue boxes do contain a small piece of plastic to keep the tissues hygienic and free from moisture BUT, this plastic is oxo-biodegradable, so you can remove this piece and pop it into your normal rubbish bin - it will degrade naturally before too long. You can read more about it here.)
3. Facial Wipes
Some times the last thing you want to do when you get home is to spend time taking off your makeup, we have all been there. That is when emergency facial wipes come to the rescue, because no matter how tired you are, you should never sleep in your makeup (hello, clogged pores). JAK Organics Facial Wipes are made from 100% sustainable and biodegradable bamboo and they contain beautiful cold-pressed organic oils to not only remove makeup and dirt but also to nourish your skin. Their products are also cruelty-free and vegan!
4. Toothbrush
How many toothbrushes do you think you have already used in your lifetime? 30, 50, 100? Most toothbrushes are made from plastic - too much plastic is not our friend. On top of that, generally speaking, you should also be replacing your toothbrush approximately every three months. If you do the math, that’s a lot of toothbrushes. Well I can tell you now that there is in fact a better option to solve this dilemma: bamboo toothbrushes!
Bamboo is a biodegradable timber, which means it will decompose in landfill, or even in your compost heap, without pollution. If composting your toothbrush, you can remove the bristles and recycle or bin them separately.
I order in bulk which means I only need to re-buy maybe every year and a half or so (you can even buy bulk and split the cost with a friend or family member, even better!). It also is super handy to have spares in case someone staying at my house forgets theirs at home, or to gift a few to raise awareness and to get people on the bamboo toothbrush bandwagon.
5. Floss
I once asked my dentist if I reeeally had to floss. He told me I only had to floss the teeth I wanted to keep. I thought about it for a moment and decided I need all my teeth so I bought some floss from the supermarket. I didn’t realise that floss is either made out of nylon or teflon, both of which do not degrade. I am yet to run out of the floss I currently have but when I run out I will be buying a biodegradable floss instead! This Dental Lace is made from mulberry silk with no added plastic fibres. It also comes in a compact glass jar so when you run out, you can just purchase a refill!
(Currently there is no vegan + biodegradable floss available, here is another blog outlining a search for a vegan + biodegradable floss.)
6. Hand/Body Wash
Regretfully I used to buy whatever hand/body wash was cheap. Not the best choice for my bod or the environment but hey, I wasn’t aware that I could be making better choices. I now use Thankyou hand and body wash in my bathroom. These products are cruelty free, vegan, and contains no nasty chemicals. You can buy these products pretty much at any supermarket.
The Thankyou brand donates 100% of their profits to fund sustainable development projects such as building toilets and providing safe water to people in need. Pretty cool, huh?
7. Body Exfoliating Scrub
Do you use an exfoliating body wash or scrub? Did you know that many mainstream products contain micro-plastics? Because these tiny plastic exfoliating beads are so small, they do not get caught by filters so they end up polluting the ocean. These plastic micro-beads are starting to be phased out however there are brands you can use like Mr. Smith who already use alternative natural exfoliants. Their Exfoliating Body Wash is PETA certified vegan, cleansing, moisturising, and contains pumice, a type of volcanic rock. This ingredient exfoliates your skin instead of micro-plastics. Much better for the environment and your skin!
Will you be purchasing something different for your bathroom next time? Do you already use some of these products or something similar? Let me know your favourite environmentally friendly brands, I would love to know!
Thanks for reading,
J x
