So you’re attempting to live a zero-waste lifestyle? GOOD! Mother Nature is truly grateful… but let me guess, you’re having trouble transitioning your bathroom habits into a more sustainable and eco-friendly lifestyle. The bathroom is, after all, where we leave the most waste. We’re here to make your zero-waste dreams a reality. 

Zero Waste Shower 

Scrub-a-dub-dub. I know you might not consider the wastefulness of taking a shower. Especially if you are conscious of the amount of water you use. If you do that, you are already a step ahead of the rest. With that said, there is ALWAYS room to improve your green bum.  

Replace Your Shampoo and Shower Gels with Soap Bars 

Let’s be honest! We don’t actually need a different product for hair, skin, and face. Use the same soap or shampoo bar for all three. This will not only reduce your disposable plastic use, but it will also prevent plastic microbes often found in shower gels from entering the sewers and eventually the ocean. If you want to take this a step further, you can DIY your own soap bars! Aren’t we all just dying to tell people, “I make my own soap.”

Replace Your Plastic Disposable Razors with a Safety Razor

They are made of stainless steel so they can be recycled at any point. But trust me, you won’t need to. It will last for-ev-er. 

Zero Waste Beauty Routine

Maybe they’re born with it, or maybe it’s sustainable products that aren’t harsh on their skin or the environment. 

Create Your Own Makeup Products

A great way to minimize and ultimately eliminate the amount of plastic and waste in your makeup routine is to create your own with many of the ingredients found in the pantry and reusing containers. Tapioca or arrowroot flour purchased from a bulk food store can be used in place of a regular store bought face powder. Search your local stores for package-free DIY ingredients. Many grocery stores that sell bulk foods also have some combination of things you can use in a project of your own: beetroot powder in the herbs and spices section can tint a blush or lip color, beeswax pellets can make balms. 

Find an Environmentally Friendly Beauty Brand

It may seem hard to find makeup and beauty brands that are truly committed to limiting their carbon footprint but that doesn’t mean you have to sacrifice a good face beat. It just takes a little research. Companies like Axiology use lipstick tubes that are made from recycled aluminum. The company is vegan and cruelty free. Same goes for Antonym cosmetics whose packaging is all made from bamboo! You know we love bamboo!

Here’s a list of a few other brands to check out. Each of them vegan, cruelty-free, organic / natural, palm oil free, have ethical ingredient sourcing policies and use thoughtful, (ideally) zero waste packaging (meaning it either has no waste at all, or waste that is ideally compostable.

• Dirty Hippie Organics
• Dab Herb
• Eco-Minerals
• Fat and The Moon

These brands offer a wide range of eco friendly makeup options: for eyes (including mascara, eyeliner, eyeshadow), face (including foundation, tinted moisturize, concealer, luminizer, primer, contour powder, cheek pinch, blush and color corrector), lips (gloss, tint and balm), and makeup sets and makeup tools made from vegan products. You can find many products that come in glass or tin containers and have refill options!

Remove Makeup with Reusable Cotton Facial Rounds

Cotton balls and rounds are a huge part of skin care routines. But unfortunately this obviously creates an excessive amount of waste. Luckily there are sustainable alternative to using cotton pads that won’t compromise your skin care. You can use these washable organic bamboo cotton rounds to cleanse your face or apply make-up. 

Zero Waste Potty

We’ve been conditioned and taught to use toilet paper for our entire lives, and I’m sure we don’t have to explain to you the catastrophic impact that the toilet paper and pulp industry has on the planet.  Did you know the pulp industry destroys 270,000 trees per day? Yes. Per DAY!

10% of that is attributed to toilet paper, so math tells us that 27,000 trees get chopped down for the sole purpose of wiping your butt just to be flushed down the toilet. And that is just in the U.S. Globally over 15 billion trees are destroyed annually for the purpose of paper products. According to the National Resource Defense Council, Americans use close to 8 million tons of toilet paper every year and forests are being destroyed to keep up with this demand.  

Let’s consider the numbers for a moment:  Approximately 810 rolls of toilet paper can be produced from an average single tree. A single person uses at least 57 sheets of toilet paper per day and 100 rolls of toilet paper a year. It’s been estimated that it would take about 384 trees to wipe the ass of one man within his lifetime.

That’s an entire ecosystem being shoved into your ass crack, dabbed around a bit, and then flushed away. The pulp and paper industry may contribute to more global and local environmental problems than any other industry in the world.

If that doesn’t blow your mind, consider that it takes 37 gallons of water to make a single roll of toilet paper. Or the effects that wet wipes have on the ocean. The Marine Conservation Society has seen a 400% increase in wet wipes found along coastlines over the past decade. As they fragment, they will release microscopic fragments of plastic that harm sea creatures.

Invest in a Bidet or Bidet Attachment

Cool. So what do we use instead? History has taught us that we’ve come up with some clever, if not absurd ways of how to clean your butt. Well, lets just go back to the basics … WATER. Switching to a bidet attachment like TUSHY can reduce your toilet paper usage up to 80%. Not only is it the most environmentally conscious way to clean your ass, and bidets are the most hygienic.

Replace Your Toilet Paper with Eco-Friendly Toilet Paper

With that said, we know that toilet paper is a hard habit to kick. Use guilt-free bamboo toilet paper instead of the overly processed and bleached other stuff. TUSHY’s bamboo toilet paper is sourced from bamboo that grows up to 39 inches in a day. If every US household replaced even one roll of virgin fiber toilet paper with one made from 100% recycled fibers, 423,900 trees would be saved.

Zero Waste Periods

Tampons. Pads. Periods. OH MY! There are a number of reasons why people with periods should stop using tampons. The health risks are one of them but they are also an environmental and infrastructure nightmare. 

Consider Using Menstrual Cups, Period Underwear, or Reusable Pads

The great thing is, there are plenty of alternatives including reusable menstrual cups, period underwear and reusable pads. Don’t be freaked out by them. Remember how freaked out you were when you first got your period and the idea of inserting and removing a tampon was nightmarish but you got used to it. The same will happen with these products. 

Reusable sanitary products are on the rise and there are plenty of resources to teach you about how to keep them clean and best practices. In my opinion, they all make way more sense than using a wad of bleached cotton with a string at the end. 

Zero Waste Hygiene 

When it comes to hygiene, there are so many big brands that have attempted to monopolize the bathroom space. And though I’m sure some of these companies have expressed interest in offsetting their carbon footprint, it is well known that their packaging, as well as the products themselves, pose a threat to the environment. There are alternatives.  

Replace Toothpaste with Toothpaste Tablets or Toothpaste Powder

Replacing toothpaste tubes with toothpaste tablets or powder is another great way to transition into zero waste. Not only are you eliminating the packaging but also using the necessary amount. Also, using a bamboo toothbrush is a great replacement for a plastic toothbrush.

Stay Fresh with Natural Deodorant

A zero waste deodorant is something that you can make right at home. With this, there is no guessing because you know exactly what material is being used. There are many natural products including lotions and lip balms that you can make yourself for natural ingredients. 

Transitioning into a zero waste lifestyle takes a lot of time and effort, but it’s absolutely worth it. You are effectively doing your part to protect the earth and we’ve got your backside throughout.