Plastic free bathroom swaps

Over a year ago I decided that plastic free living was necessary.

I quickly realised that although this is virtually impossible, there was a LOT we could do to reduce the amount of plastic consumed in our house. Determined, but overwhelmed, I decided to start small. To take it to the next level from leaving the house with reusable shopping bags, water bottles and bamboo straws.

So I started in the bathroom.

It was scary how much plastic was hidden there. From shampoo bottles and dental floss, to razors and cotton buds. Not all of it was bad; there was the refillable hand soap bottle and small glass bottles filled with oils for every injury or bath mood. 

I choose a few items to find plastic free alternatives to. Looking for bottles that were about to run out, trying to shop as locally as possible (though Amazon did help us out), and searching for natural ingredients.

Here are a few affordable, easy and stylish bathroom swaps that can reduce your use of consumable plastics in your bathroom.

HAIR

The girls in our house are enjoying this activated charcoal + lime shampoo bar from LAVE, bonus for being locally produced in Durban! This used weekly with a conditioner bar was an easy start and leaves our hair well moisturised and manageable.

TEETH

I’m yet to convince my kids that the black toothpaste from Back 2 Nature is worth the switch! It’s 100% natural, but ingredients such as charcoal are apparently for fires and not teeth, (we’re big BBQ-ers in this house). Once the kids are passed the chewing toothbrush stage, they’ll also get their own Bamboo toothbrush.

EAR BUDS

We get through a LOT of these, so finding a reusable version that washes up well, is stored in a small container and doesn’t spill out into the drawer, makes me happy! The best bit about these silicone buds is that they have a variety of textures, making them slightly more multi-functional.

CLOTH WIPES

When Little G was born she wore cloth nappies, and I made a ridiculous amount of flannel wipes to use along with a home-made cleansing spray to clean up her messes. These came in very handy during her lockdown toilet training and we still have a basket of these in the bathroom for any spills and mishaps.

This post is not sponsored but I’m grateful that local shops like good source make shopping plastic free and local easier. 

(These swaps didn’t take place all in one go, so it’s possible over time to adapt our living to something more sustainable for the earth).

NEXT TIME: PLASTIC FREE KITCHEN SWAPS

#plasticfree