5 eco-friendly, zero waste bathroom swaps I’ve made so far (for beginners)

This post was originally published on 18th April 2022.

I hope you’re all well you lovely lot, and that you’ve had the best long Easter weekend!

Today’s post is all about sustainability, and more specifically zero waste bathroom swaps. I fancy myself a sustainable blogger, but I’ve barely written any posts about my sustainable journey! My eco-friendly, zero waste journey started years ago, once I realised how my choices impacted the planet and I knew I just couldn’t be a part of it any more. I started to research the impact of some of the items that I used in my everyday life and it was eye-opening!

Since then I have made different choices and swapped many, many items in my life for more sustainable alternatives. The ones I’m talking about today are definitely not new and are actually very basic, but they are the five swaps I decided to make at the beginning of my sustainability journey because they are super easy to implement! I have made many more swaps since then, so this post will definitely have a part 2. I talked about some of those things already in my Christmas gift ideas post and linked my favourites if that’s of interest to you!

Here are 5 eco-friendly, zero waste bathroom swaps I’ve made!

Makeup remover: from micellar water to avocado oil

I know that everyone has their own preferred way of taking their makeup off – micellar water, milks, gellies, oils… Personally, I haven’t used a “classic” makeup remover like micellar water to wash my makeup off with since I was about 15! I made the switch to oil, and specifically vegetable oil very early on in my makeup journey and I never looked back. Veggie oils are one of the best natural makeup removers out there: simply put, oil attracts oil, and because most foundations and other face/eye products are oil-based, using another oil based product is the best way to get rid of it and leave your skin as makeup-free as possible. I’ve never found that micellar water or milks worked particularly well, as there was always some leftover makeup residue on my face! I also am not a massive fan of makeup remover oils sold by traditional brands, their ingredients are often nasty for your skin so I much prefer using a cold pressed vegetable oil! And the reason they’re much more eco-friendly is because of the packaging: most oils come in a glass bottle which is much easier to recycle than plastic.

I have used different vegetable oils over the years, including apricot, macadamia and the well known coconut oil, but recently I’ve absolutely loved avocado oil. I use it all over my face and eyes, and it takes off even the most stubborn mascara! I usually just massage it into the skin and then use a wet cloth to remove it. I would never go back, it’s one of the best zero waste bathroom swaps!

Face cleanser: a bar of soap instead of a gel face wash

For years, I used a gel face wash from The Body Shop as a double cleanse after using my oil to remove my makeup. While I do still use gel face washes from time to time, I now have mostly switched to bars of soap that have minimal ingredients and are definitely one of the best zero waste bathroom swaps, since you are left with nothing but the cardboard packaging once the bar is gone! It leaves my skin feeling super clean and soft. Just like traditional face washes, you get different products for different skin needs and I usually use the bars formulated for sensitive skin as I get super dry skin all year round!

One of my favourite brands of soap to buy from and support is Alter/Native. Their products are high quality, free of silicones and parabens, and they are made in the UK! They’re also a co-op company which means that all the employees own the company! I love this and I’m so happy to support a brand like that. I’ve just used up the last of my bar though so I’m currently using one by Odylique and it’s just as qualitative!

Cotton rounds

I use cotton rounds all the time in my routine. From applying toner to removing any leftover mascara from my oil cleanse, they’re an essential accessory in my beauty routine and my one of my favourite zero waste bathroom swaps!

Cotton rounds are a very wasteful product, as they are single use and come wrapped in plastic, the production of cotton also comes at an environmental cost. To produce 1kg of cotton, we need to use 20,000 litres of water – can you believe it?! Pesticides are also overly used to treat the cotton, and around 10% of all agricultural pesticides are used only in the production of cotton. I just couldn’t wrap my head around the waste that cotton produces, and so I knew I had to make the switch.

The good news is, you can very easily replace your morning and evening single use round with a reusable alternative! I bought these cotton rounds from an Etsy seller, Silviya, and they are the best ones I have ever used! I chose for the material to be fleece and they are so soft, really gentle on the eyes. I wash them once a week in a 40°C cycle with a normal load and they come out good as new every single week, and I’ve had them for over six months now. They do not require any upkeep at all: once I’ve used my rounds, I put them in their washing bag (which I’ve also purchased from Silviya) and that’s it! They’re obviously a little bit of a cost to fork out at first, but in the long run you are saving so much money and helping the environment at the same time.

Deodorant

I stopped using traditional deodorants to switch to more natural, cleaner and zero waste deodorants in 2015. I feel like the debate about deodorants and their ingredients has been going on for a long time, primarily because of the fact that the different traditional ingredients and chemicals have been linked to skin irritation and more serious conditions like cancers and hormonal disruption. I knew as soon as I started looking into it that I couldn’t in good conscience carry on using a product that was causing harm to my body.

Switching to green deodorants is an experience, I’ll tell you that! You really need to be aware that natural, green deodorants are not made with the chemicals that prevent you from sweating (which is a natural, very important bodily function!) and focus more on the odours side of things, which means that you’ll feel a lot “wetter” during the day – super glamorous, sorry! It was very odd at first, but you get used to it pretty quickly and in the end don’t even notice it all. I have tried sooooo many over the years (a blogpost all about my experience is probably incoming!) but a couple of my favourites are the Evolve cream deodorant which is an absolute gem and then the We Love the Planet sensitive deodorant. In terms of zero waste bathroom swaps, they’re a great one to make because they come in all shapes and forms including solid deodorants and cream ones which come in aluminium packaging.

refillable/solid shampoo

This eco-friendly swap is one that’s very new for me! I recently went in a Body Shop shop and discovered their new range of refillable products, including shampoo which is what interested me most. I’ve been using their Ginger shampoo and conditioner for ages, and seeing that the company is so invested in reducing their plastic waste and has gone from using recycled plastic packaging to refillable aluminium containers and having refill stations for their products is really amazing! At this point, we all know that plastic is one of the most damaging items to the environment, switching to reusable/solid cosmetics is definitely one way of making sure we’re reducing our plastic waste. This is primarily why I decided to make my zero waste bathroom swaps in the first place, because of my plastic consumption!

I’ve now swapped all my plastic shampoo bottles for either solid bars of shampoo (this one from Lamazuna is a very good product!) and I’ve also now got a refillable container with the Ginger shampoo!

I’m really pleased with all the steps I’ve taken so far towards having a fully zero-waste, reusable and recyclable bathroom routine!

What are your favourite zero waste bathroom swaps?

Em ♥