Prevent plastic soup in your bathroom
If you look around your bathroom, it is probably full of plastic jars, tubes, spray cans, and bottles. Even your multiblade cartridge razor contains plastic. Some toothpastes from well-known drugstore brands strangely contain so-called microplastics. "Huh," yes you read that right: plastic in toothpaste. After use, it all ends up in the waste or the sewer. More and more men want to get rid of all that plastic. In this blog, we have 10 super handy tips and product recommendations to reduce plastic use in the bathroom.
Some people will most likely say: "Not shaving or grooming at all prevents 'plastic soup' in the bathroom." But we will conveniently assume that our customers do take care of themselves.
Tip 1: Shave classic
Throw away the can of ready-to-use shaving foam and switch to classic wet shaving. Although a spray can is not plastic, it does create a whole lot of waste.
What you need for classic wet shaving:
The only thing you throw away after several shaves is a single blade. If you maintain your shaving brush well, you will enjoy it for at least 5-10 years. A shaving soap or shaving cream lasts much longer than aerosol shaving foam. On average, you can shave for 3 months with a shaving soap. Moreover, shaving with a classic shaving soap shaves much more pleasantly and smoothly. In short, better for the environment and it makes you happy.
Tip 2: Shave with the straight razor
The straight razor is the most sustainable razor system. After use, you do not throw it away. After use, just clean it, sharpen it on the strop, and it's ready for the next use. If you maintain the straight razor well, you can pass it on to your grandchildren. We regularly speak to customers who have recently inherited the straight razor of their deceased grandfather.
Another advantage is that the straight razor is the most cost-effective shaving system. It is a one-time investment. You can get good straight razors from DOVO and Böker starting at € 90. In addition, you also need to purchase a strop and sharpening stone for periodic maintenance.
Tip 3: Shave with the safety razor
If you find the straight razor a step too far, you always have the safety razor with the corresponding double edge blades.
The modern cartridge razors from Gillette, Boldking or Raz*War consist of metal and plastic. Double edge blades consist only of metal. In the waste processing process, all metal is extracted with a large magnet. Because these blades contain only metal, they are easy to recycle. Many men switch to the safety razor because it has several major advantages, namely:
- price;
- less shaving irritation;
- lots of choice;
- and more sustainable (environmentally friendly)
Tip 4: Shaving soap with refill
Many hard shaving soaps come in a beautiful luxury wooden pot or a simple (hard) plastic pot. After 3 or 4 months of shaving, the shaving soap is used up. Fortunately, many shaving brands offer refills. You put this refill back into the pot and can continue shaving. Especially the classic English shaving brands, such as Truefitt and Hill and Geo F Trumper, have a huge range of shaving soaps with refills in a beautiful wooden pot.
The German Muhle has shaving soaps in a sturdy white porcelain pot. Here too, you can refill a shaving soap.
Besides sustainability, a shaving soap or shaving cream in a pot is also convenient because you can easily lather it up. You always have enough fresh warm shaving foam at hand.
Tip 5: Shaving cream in a metal pot
Do you hate plastic? Then use a shaving cream in a metal pot. Various artisanal soap producers sell their luxury shaving cream in beautiful sturdy metal pots. After use, you can optionally use the pot as a luxury storage box for screws and nails in your workshop garage. The shaving creams from the French Le Pere Lucien come in tough sturdy metal pots.
Tip 6: Use bath soaps
Instead of a shower gel in a tube, you can of course also wash and cleanse yourself with a hard bath soap. We sell various luxury bath soaps on a rope daily. Super handy. You always have your soap at hand in the shower. A bath soap is more economical to use than a shower gel. The bath soaps from the Portuguese Antiga Barbearia de Bairro and the English DR Harris are very popular.
Tip 7: Use shower and shampoo bars
Most bottles in your bathroom are shampoos. More and more manufacturers are selling so-called shampoo bars or pucks. It is shampoo in solid form. Existing men's brands, such as DR Harris and Meissner Tremonia, also have an extensive range. There is a shampoo available for every hair type. The bars from DR Harris are packaged in a small metal tin. The Meissner pucks come in a cardboard box.
A shampoo bar is very easy to use. Just wet it, rub it between your palms, then distribute the shampoo foam well and massage it into your hair. After use, you can dry it a bit and put it back in the container.
Tip 8: Use toothpaste without microplastics
Various toothpastes from major brands contain microplastics, such as Polyethylene (PE) and/or Polyethylene glycol. We have always been surprised by the use of plastics in toothpaste. Fortunately, there are alternative oral hygiene products without these plastics, such as the Italian Acca Kappa and Marvis.
In addition, Marvis has an impressive range of toothpastes with fantastic and exciting flavors: mint, licorice, anise, jasmine, and ginger.
I hear you thinking: "Yes, but then you still have toothpaste in a plastic tube." Fortunately, there are 100% plastic-free tooth cleaning products. Meissner Tremonia produces tooth powder in a glass jar and in a paper bag as a refill. When the jar is empty, you refill it with tooth powder from the refill bag. This mint-fresh tooth powder contains only natural ingredients and minerals, such as: chalk (calcium carbonate) and mint oil.
You press your toothbrush into the powder and you can brush nicely. The added chalk removes dental plaque, food residues, and yellow stains from coffee, tea, and cigarettes.
Tip 9: Use deodorant cream
Many deodorants come in a spray can or a plastic container. The commonly used deodorant sticks come in a plastic container with a plastic twist mechanism inside. The German Meissner Tremonia has various deodorant creams in a small glass jar. They are natural deodorants based on baking soda, plant-based organic oils, and natural essential oils.
Tip 10: Use pommade without microplastics
Without you often knowing it, pommades or hair gels also contain microplastics, such as:
- Acrylate Copolymer, Acrylate Crosspolymer (ACS)
- Dimethicol
- Methicone
The above list is a limited overview. There are dozens of different types of plastics that you can encounter in pommades and shampoos. Microplastics or microbeads are not harmful to health but eventually, you wash them away through the sewer and they end up in the environment. These plastics do not break down and accumulate in our rivers and oceans. For some time now, a handy app has been available: www.beatthemicrobead.org. In this app, you can easily check whether your favorite hair gel or shampoo contains microplastics.
Many of our customers want to know which ingredients are in their care products. More and more people are concerned about these plastics. As best as we can, we have researched this as much as possible based on the list of microplastics per item. We also indicate with various pommades and shampoos whether the product contains microplastics. Especially hair styling products from the American barbershop and hairdresser brands contain microplastics: American Crew, Layrite, and Suavecito. Note, not all products from these brands contain these ingredients.
Because of this notification, customers can decide for themselves whether or not to continue using their favorite pommade.
Of course, there are plenty of pommades and shampoos without microbeads, for example:
