It’s often the smallest room in our homes, but it’s also the room which has the biggest environmental impact on our Earth and oceans.
Here are 10 easy sustainable switches that you can make to clean up your act in the bathroom.
Switch to soap / Bar or bottle? It’s soap simple
Who would guess that something as simple as the humble bar of soap would be a great way to battle climate change without leaving the house? A bar of soap uses less packaging than liquid soap or shower gel, takes less water to produce, and – being lighter and smaller to transport – has a lower carbon footprint. Plus, it cleans as effectively, smells as good and frequently costs less! You can even buy shampoo and conditioner soap bars. Make sure the soap you choose is sustainable, by checking in with companies like the WWF that list all the companies who use sustainable palm oil and scrub your conscience clean.
Use a bamboo toothbrush
Did you know that it can take up to 500 years for a plastic toothbrush to degrade? This means that every single plastic toothbrush that has ever been made is currently still in existence! With most of us using up to 300 toothbrushes in our lifetimes, that’s a legacy the earth won’t thank us for. Ditching your plastic brush for a biodegradable bamboo one and switching from ordinary nylon (i.e. plastic) dental floss to a biodegradable alternative is a great way to make a positive change. Use an electric toothbrush? Try recyclable electric toothbrush heads to keep them from landfill.
Ditch the wipes
Wet wipes cause 93% of sewage blockages in the UK, while fatbergs – the congealed lumps of fat, wipes and hair that fill our pipes – are the thing of nightmares. You probably know not to throw wipes down the toilet – even the ‘flushable’ ones don’t break down enough to not cause harm wherever they end up. Waving goodbye to wipes altogether (and single-use cotton pads/balls) and switching them for washable bamboo pads or a washcloth will take the dirty look off your cleansing routine and put more green in your cleansing routine.
Pack-in the plastic
You just have to look around your bathroom to see how many single-use containers there are in there. Choose cleaning and personal care products that come in recycled or biodegradable packaging and always remember to recycle where you can. Bulk buying products will reduce sending waste to landfill (or the ocean) and save you money too – just decant the product into your own smaller, reusable containers. Many shops now offer the ability to fill up directly into your own reusable bottles – see if there’s one in your area. Or go one better, pack-in the plastic altogether and…
Make your own…
Many household products come in single-use plastic containers and contain harmful chemicals. You’d be surprised to find that you probably have the ingredients to fulfil a lot of your bathroom needs in your house already in a green, non-toxic way: * Mix your own multipurpose disinfectant by combining 200ml of water with 12 drops each of tea tree oil and lavender oil. Cleans like a dream on every surface but glass. * Make window cleaner by filling a spray bottle with 130ml club soda and one big squeeze of lemon juice * To keep mould away after your shower, blitz your tiles with a mist of 260ml water and a few drops of tea tree oil. * Distilled white vinegar in your toilet bowl is tough on stains and kills 80% of germs.
Article courtesy of BBC Earth