Where do you start if you’re trying to live a plastic free lifestyle? I see so many bloggers talking about living plastic free, but they already seem to have it under control – it’s not that easy to get started, so I’ve rounded up my top 5 tips to ‘getting started’ with focus on a plastic free bathroom.
I’ve just begun my journey toward living a plastic-free (or more correctly ‘low-pastic’) lifestyle and I’ve found that the bathroom is one of the easiest places to start – plus frankly it’s the most fun – finding new types of cosmetics is much more exciting than reducing plastic waste in the kitchen! Once you’ve nailed the bathroom, going plastic free will feel easier throughout the rest of the home too. Just take baby steps. Discovering how to live with a plastic free bathroom really does encourage simplicity and creativity – it also lends itself to great ideas for gifts. If you don’t have time to make your own cosmetics you can find lots of plastic free alternatives to keep you clean and smelling good from places like the Anything But Plastic shop and Soapy Fairy on the Ethical Brand Directory. It’s definitely more fun to try some DIY options first though…
5 Tips to Live Plastic Free
These 5 things you can do (almost immediately) to start cutting plastic from your bathroom.
1. Make your own body scrub and store it in a glass jar:
Here’s a seriously simple body scrub recipe:
- Take half a mug of brown sugar, add 2 tablespoons of granulated sugar
- Add half a mug of olive oil (pour it in slowly and then you can judge how solid vs liquid you want your scrub to be)
- Add essential oils of your choice
Et voila – enjoy!
2. Make you own shower cream and store it in a reusable bottle
Again, simple is the way forward here. I wouldn’t spend ages shopping for a bottle of ready made shower cream so I don’t want to the homemade version to take hours either – no one has the time for that!
- Half fill the bottle with organic castile soap
- Add 2 tablespoons of melted coconut oil (melt in the microwave on a low heat until it’s liquid with no granules left)
- Add 2 or 3 tablespoons of cooled boiled water
- And again, add some trusty essential oils – I especially like a lavender and rosemary mix for the shower
For this one – make sure you buy a foaming reusable bottle – the foam dispenser feels a lot more luxurious than a simple liquid soap dispenser, and I think makes all the difference.
3. Try a shampoo bar
I’ve been using bars and storage tins from Lush which are working really well for me.
There are some people who would prefer a fully organic shampoo bar with no SFS’s, which you can get from Living Naturally SoapNuts – but the benefit of Lush for me is that it’s on the high street so I can pick it up quickly whenever I run out. Or of course you can try the Anything But Plastic store on the EBD as they sell shampoo bars there too.
An added bonus with this one is that a shampoo bar lasts about as long as 3 bottles of shampoo, so you’re saving money too 🙂
4. Buy paper not plastic ear buds
Available from most high street chemist and supermarkets – just make sure to read the box. A nice easy win!
5. Get a more effective toilet brush (honestly!)
So this is a slightly more convoluted tip – but I’ve recently switched to a LooBlade.
They’re meant to be more hygienic as they don’t have bristles (I switched because I have a toddler who LOVES nothing more than picking up the toilet brush and swinging it around whilst ignoring all of her toys!!!)
The plastic reduction comes because apparently they require less use of toilet cleaning liquid, therefore you can cut down on the number of bottles of the stuff you buy each year (plus you have fewer chemicals being used in your home). Jury’s still out on this one for me – but I’m happy to test it….
The Plastic Free Lifestyle
I think that part of the challenge with cutting plastic in your house – is that you have to be willing to try a few things – try a few different products, invest some time to create a few different homemade cleaning recipes – before you find the perfect solution. But once you’re there – you continue to build on your plastic cutting and eventually cut plastic out of your life for good.
Good luck!!
Helen Brain
Ethical Brand Directory Guest Blogger
Founder of Be The Real Change
After investing lots of time and energy in trying to be a more conscious consumer and a more active and engaged citizen; Helen realised that for lots of people its actualy really difficult to figure out where to start on that journey, and how to fit it into an already busy life. So she set up ‘Be The Real Change’ for people who have a genuine desire to make positive change, but need an entry point, a way in, and a guide on how to become a changemaker.
You can connect with Helen on Instagram @betherealchange