How to Create Your Own Plastic Free Bathroom

The bathroom can be one of the most challenging rooms to rid of plastic, from haircare and body wash through to toothpaste and beauty products. While eco-perfection can be hard to master in the bathroom, it is possible to upgrade some of your daily rituals to at least minimise pesky plastics. Read on for our tips & tricks for creating your own plastic-free bathroom.

Plastic Free Body Wash

Showering and washing hands are rituals that most of us do numerous times each day. The majority of supermarket-bought body and hand washes inevitably come packaged with at least some plastic. Factoring in daily use of these can add up to a lot of plastic waste. There are a couple of alternate, plastic-free options to consider here. One option is to use solid bars of soap instead of their plastic-packaged liquid counterparts. For simple bars of soap to keep next to your bathroom (or kitchen) sink, or to use for daily cleansing, discover the beautiful range of flavours from Fair & Square Soap. Ethique also offer plastic-free body and hand wash bars, with a myriad of options from Body Wash through to Face Cleanser and even Body Polish.

If you are more of a fan of liquids in this department, we have an extensive refillery station in each GoodFor store that offers a full range of Ecostore home and personal cleaning products. All you need to do is BYO old bottles (or purchase a glass bottle from us if you’re starting from scratch) and refill over and over again. No replacement packaging required… Ever!

Plastic Free Shampoo & Conditioner

As above, single-use plastic tends to be the default packaging for shampoo and conditioner. Like the plastic-free hand and body wash options discussed above, you can also buy bar versions of Ethique Shampoo and Ethique Conditioner. Alternatively, if you find the switch from bottle to bar too tough on your tresses, call by your local GoodFor to refill with Ecostore liquid shampoo & conditioners.

Plastic Free Toilet Paper

Finding recyclable toilet paper that doesn’t come in plastic packaging can be tricky. Many supermarkets offer “eco” toilet paper that promises green credentials, but the irony is that it comes wrapped in plastic. Smartass Toilet Paper is your new plastic-free toilet paper alternative, produced to have little (if any) impact on the environment. Smartass Toiler Paper is made with a combination of bagasse (a waste product from sugarcane) and fast growing bamboo, which can be grown year on year with just rainwater and lots of sun, and little wear and tear on soil quality. It is soft but strong, and free of bleach, inks, dyes and perfume. Yes, please!

Bamboo Toothbrush

Maintaining your pearly whites can be a challenge for the plastic-avoider. Try a biodegradable bamboo toothbrush, made with a natural bamboo handle and an edible wax. Bamboo toothbrushes are for the whole family! To differentiate your bamboo toothbrushes from one another, either use a pencil to note down names/initials on the handle or get creative and decorate your toothbrushes. Once you’ve finished with your toothbrush, it can be put to another use, like cleaning your bike or jewellery, and once it’s really done its dash, shave the bristles off and recycle the handle, which will eventually break down in compost.

If the bamboo toothbrush isn’t for you, rather than using a conventional toothbrush, an electric toothbrush is a better option with a replaceable head (rather than throwing away the whole thing) to reduce single-use plastic consumption.

Biodegradable Cotton Buds

Cotton buds are made primarily of plastic thanks to their polypropylene stem, and are one of the top 10 plastic items found on beach cleanups. Most of the time they are only used once before being wrongly flushed down the toilet or thrown away with household waste, eventually ending up in landfill. Rid your bathroom of plastic cotton buds and opt for Go Bamboo Cotton Buds instead. These plastic-free buds have a natural bamboo stick, pure cotton tips and elegant, recycled cardboard sliding box, which means they are fully biodegradable. The added environmental benefit of bamboo cotton buds is that by planting more bamboo, we can help to cut global levels of carbon dioxide and reduce global warming.