An eco-friendly bathroom is more than a fleet of bamboo countertop organizers. These are great if you genuinely need to re-furnish, but they don't tackle the reason why bathrooms are inherently one of the least-sustainable rooms in the house: disposable products.
You know how quickly that bathroom trash can fills up. Between toothbrushes, Q-tips, razors, and more, our morning and nighttime routines are built around items that are used for a few seconds, thrown away, and left to wreak havoc in landfills for literal centuries or join the 8 million metric tons of plastic dumped into the ocean every year.
We can't bank on recycling, either. Most relatively aware people will remember to recycle an empty juice container or soup can, sure, but while 90% of plastic kitchen packaging is recycled, only 50% of plastics from the bathroom make it to the blue bin. What's arguably even scarier is how little plastic is actually recycled after it's out of the consumer's hands.
In a world where single-use plastic has been made ubiquitous by the companies we have no choice but to buy from, even the most actively sustainable people aren't immune to excessive packaging or soap hand pumps that can't be recycled.
But we do have opportunities to be thoughtful about our bathroom habits beyond switching to organic cotton towels. There are a ton of zero-waste and low-waste swaps you can make that replace the single-use items you already use.
Colgate-Palmolive and Proctor and Gamble have made the list of the world's biggest plastic polluters for a few years now. They also happen to be the companies that own Colgate and Crest. Switching to environmentally friendly toothpaste, like these chewable tablets from Bite, is a big way to cut off support for such companies. Don't worry — they foam like regular toothpaste, taste perfectly minty, and come in a refillable glass jar. Grab a one-month supply for $12 or start a customizable subscription.
Writer's note: I have been using Bite toothpaste tablets for almost three years now and they are one of my all-time favorite discoveries. Letting a crusty, non-recyclable tube sit on my counter? Couldn't be me.
Though regular TP breaks down pretty quickly post-use, its real environmental cost was already cemented during production. Despite the Charmin bears' best efforts to convince everyone that less is more, our demand causes the cutting and pulping of 27,000 trees in a single day and 37 gallons of water for a single roll.
Bamboo is a champion carbon sequester and can grow up to three feet in a day (without a shit ton of water or pesticides speeding up the process). Reel isn't the only company that utilizes bamboo fibers to wipe, but it may just be the softest and most durable 3-ply bamboo TP on the market. Grab a 12-pack for $14.99.
Writer's note: I've gotten compliments from multiple guests about how nice my Reel toilet paper is. Because it's white like regular toilet paper, they're wow-ed when I say it's bamboo.
As many as 1.5 billion cotton swabs (all but guaranteed to be single-use) are produced every day — and though we only use them for a few seconds, even the ones that don't have plastic handles end up littering landfills and oceans, much like straws. Switching to LastSwab, a reusable silicone swab, can save you from tossing up to 1,000 Q-tips. Its cute, colorful case also nixes the need for a container to hold a handful of swabs.
Writer's note: My audiologist friends say we shouldn't really be cleaning our ears at all, but it feels... so... good. My LastSwab is even more satisfying than a regular cotton Q-tip.
Floss picks make the flossing process so much less annoying compared to those boxes that the dentist hands out. But throwing away so many plastic picks after 30 seconds of use isn't the move. These revolutionary picks from The Humble Co. are made with corn starch, come in paper packaging, and have double-threaded minty strands. This is also our way of insinuating that you should probably floss if you haven't recently. Grab 200 for $15.90.
Throwing away a plastic toothbrush once every few months may not seem like a huge deal. But, consider for a moment that your tossed toothbrush will take up to 400 years to decompose. Now think about the fact that one billion toothbrushes are thrown out every year, making it a habit that becomes problematic real quick. Cornstarch-based toothbrushes are biodegradable, offer the same soft bristles, and feel less splinter-y than bamboo handles. Grab a pack of five for $9.49.
If you thought the stats on plastic toothbrushes were bad, just know that double the amount of plastic razors (double as in two billion) are thrown away each year. Billie's reusable razors are encased in aloe flex to minimize prickles, and only require you to switch out the metal blade. Get the starter kit (the razor, a magnetic holder for the wall, and five blade refills) for $10, then $10 for each set of refills going forward.
Writer's note: That rose gold razor that you've probably seen on Instagram is by Oui. It's a little pricier at $75, but is made of durable stainless steel rather than plastic and looks rich in my shower.
After years of collective hating on the makeup wipe, many have moved on to cotton rounds. But their environmental impact isn't zero, either. The water wasted and pesticides used in the cotton growing process is the main offender, though the cheap bleached ones don't exactly biodegrade well.
These reusable cotton rounds by LastObject are the shape and size you're used to, but can be hand-washed with soap or thrown in the washing machine. For $14, LastRound comes with seven compostable rounds (with up to 1,750 uses in each) in a carrying case made from recycled plastic. The new LastRound Pro rounds are black instead of white, specifically for removing heavy makeup or nail polish.
Traditional synthetic loofahs are breeding grounds for bacteria. However, the solution of replacing them every four to six weeks sucks just as much when their plastic composition takes hundreds of years to decompose. The Boie scrubber's antimicrobial surface gets super sudsy and exfoliates skin, and can be rinsed clean. Boies are recyclable and can be sent back to the company for proper recycling.
Writer's note: Some reviews assert that the Boie is impossible to hold. The holes for your fingers may take a little getting used to, but it's certainly not so difficult that I'd stan a dirty loofah. Plus, there's also a Boie that features a loop on the back instead.
The sunscreen that seeps off of ocean dwellers' skin is contributing to the ongoing destruction of coral reefs. Oxybenzone, a main ingredient in traditional sunscreen, gets sucked in by the coral and seriously disrupts their ability to absorb UV light and reproduce (hence coral bleaching). An estimated 14,000 tons of sunscreen ends up in coral reefs each year. While regular chemical sunscreens without oxybenzone do exist, mineral sunscreen is completely chemical-free. Reviewers of this spray version from Sun Bum mention that it's the least residue-y mineral sunscreen they've tried.
The materials used in a classic Band-Aid seem innocent. Unfortunately, most of them are made from plastic, rubber, or latex, and don't naturally break down in the environment. These alternative strips by Patch are still single-use, but are made of 100% bamboo fiber and are 100% biodegradable down to the gauze, adhesive, and packaging. They're also hypoallergenic.
