After talking about easy Zero Waste tips for the Kitchen and the wardrobe, today we talk about the most relaxing room of the house…the bathroom.
First, let’s debunk a myth. Zero Waste doesn’t mean to stop buying things once and for all, or to not have an impact on the Planet. That’s impossible. It means to stop buying what we don’t really need and, even more importantly, to quit single-use products.
6 easy tips to create a Zero Waste Bathroom
1. Use soap bars
Anything you might use to wash your body or your hair is available as package-free soap bars.
Why is this one of the most important changes you can do to go Zero Waste in your bathroom?
If you use one bottle of shampoo, one of conditioner and one of body wash every 3 weeks, that adds up to 52 bottles per person per year. Only in the city of Rome, there are 2,8 million people. That means that there’s a production of 149 million bottles per year.
And we’re talking about just the shampoo, the conditioner and the bodywash. Think about all the rest of the bottles you have on your bathroom shelves.
There are soap bars for all kinds of skins and hair, some of them are s yummy too. Just make sure they’re package-free…or the point might get a bit lost!
2. Homemade Scrubs and beauty Face Masks
You’ve probably already heard of the term “microplastics”. Microplastics are supersmall particles of plastics that generally come from the degradation of bigger pieces of plastic, like bottles (speaking of soap bars!).
These microplastics got to be so many that they are pretty much everywhere and are starting to be found in our bodies too. How do they get there?
- FOOD: There is so much plastic in the environment, that is entering the food chain.
- CLOTHES: read in my article on the sustainable wardrobe how it gets there
- PRODUCTS WE APPLY ON THE SKIN like for example scrubs.
The microspheres that make up almost all the scrubs are made of plastic.
This plastic not only gets released in the environment once you wash it away, but it also gets absorbed by your skin.
But we all need some scrub love! How to keep doing that then? Here’s a superquick and absolutely amazing scrub recipe that you can use for both your face and your skin.
Take some coffee grounds, a bit of salt and a bit of sugar, a splash of oil (olive or almond are perfect, don’t use too much, because otherwise it can become hard to take it off) and some honey. Mix it all and the magic is done! If it’s too many ingredients, then coffee and salt, or coffee and sugar will do! You can store it for a week in your fridge. The result is so great you won’t even want to go back to your plastic scrubs!
3. Homemade Deodorant and Toothpaste
A Zero Waste solution to save tons of thousands of packaging to the environment every day, is to make your own deodorant and toothpaste.
Many of these commercial products may contain substances that can lead to health problems. Especially when it comes to deodorants, more if they contain powders or if they last for more than one day.
On the internet there are many solutions, according to needs and preferences, so I won’t leave any link here, but if you want to know more about my personal options, feel free to contact me. I’ll be more than happy to help!
4. Reusable Swabs
When it comes to swabs, considering that it’s also been scientifically proven that they’re no good for your ears, the question is: do I really need them?
Swabs are definitely something that you can do without, like body sponges or straws.
However, if you really can’t do without, then there is a great Zero Waste alternative: reusable swabs.
5. Metal razor blade
A very common single-use object that populates our bathroom is the razor, but there’s a great reusable alternative: a metal razor blade.
The initial cost is a bit higher, however, it will be more convenient in the long run…and it will also save a lot to the environment!
6. Toilet paper
I’m not going to be 100% open about this but there are many countries in the world that don’t even use toilet paper…just saying!
I mean… water is the best toilet paper ever! In fact, we use it anyway, even if we used the toilet paper first.
However, if you don’t feel like taking the jump quite yet, there are a couple of tricks you might want to pay attention to in order to waste as little toilet paper as possible.
First of all, choosing the right kind of toilet paper can make a huge difference: it should be as natural as possible, recycled and without any kind of color or scent.
No multilayer and choose rolls that don’t have the cardboard tube, but another little roll of toilet paper in the center.
Where to start to go Zero Waste?
The most important thing to keep in mind when it comes to go Zero Waste is that no one is expecting you to become a Zero Waste champion overnight, or ever, for that matters!
You don’t have to do it all at once. You can pick the tip or two that you prefer the most and start from there. Small steps!
And if you’re looking for more solutions, feel free to check out Inspire’s Open Guide to a Zero Waste life
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