Ever considered transforming one of your most-used rooms into an eco-friendly bathroom? Many people are wondering, what are some ways to be more eco-friendly? Because it’s typically associated with a lot of single-use plastics and water waste, the bathroom is a good place to start! Answering some common questions, here’s a guide for an (almost) perfect eco-friendly bathroom.
How Can I Make My Bathroom Eco-Friendly?
Here’s a question to ponder while brushing teeth: how can I make my bathroom more sustainable? From ditching plastic bottles for products we know we’ll never use to being more resourceful with water, there’s a lot we can do to make our bathrooms more eco-friendly.
As you begin to transition towards an eco-friendly bathroom, here are some things to keep in mind:
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Consider what you do and don’t actually use. How often do we wander down supermarket or pharmacy aisles only to pick up a product we won’t actually use? Start your sustainable bathroom journey by clearing out any products that won’t be used. Learn how to recycle like a pro or donate these items so that they’re disposed of responsibly.
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Turn off water while brushing teeth or shaving. The vast majority of Americans don’t remember to turn the tap off while brushing teeth or shaving—which can have a huge impact. Leaving the water on while brushing alone can waste around 8 gallons of water! If we remember to turn off the water while doing these tasks, an average person could save around 5,700 gallons of water a year, according to the EPA.
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Don’t use the toilet as a trash can. If it isn’t biodegradable, it doesn’t belong in a toilet. When trash and other items are disposed of in a toilet, it not only wastes water, but also can cause sewage blockages which can lead to environmentally disastrous overflows.
- Only flush if it’s necessary. If you live alone or have a bathroom that isn’t shared, consider only flushing when it’s necessary (i.e. only after #2s). “If it’s yellow, let it mellow” is something people say for a reason! Urine is sterile and poses no health or disease risk when left in the toilet. However, because the toilet can’t handle huge volumes of fluid, still consider flushing daily.
How Can I Make My Shower Eco-Friendly?
Taking steps toward a zero waste bathroom often starts with our showers. Between body wash, shampoo, conditioner, shaving gel, and loofahs, we tend to use a lot of plastic in our daily hygiene routines.
But we don’t have to! In addition to switching to plastic free products for the bathroom, here are some ways to make each shower a little greener.
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Cut your shower time down. Every five-minute shower uses about 10-25 gallons of water. Try to keep yours as short as possible and consider using a timer or stopwatch to help. Additionally, use of a high-pressure shower head also results in higher water consumption, so you may want to switch to a low-pressure one.
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If you take long showers, switch to a bath instead. If long, luxurious showers are one of your favorite self-care practices, switch to taking baths. While a full bathtub requires about 70 gallons of water, taking a shower that’s 15-20 minutes long can use an equal—or higher amount.
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Wait for hot water—and water your plants. Sometimes, the water required by a bath or shower isn’t even used for bathing. While waiting for the water to heat up, we can use recycled juice bottles or milk jugs to fill up water for our plants.
- Get rid of single-use plastics. Clean up plastic pollution by making one sustainable swap at a time. Read below for some ideas.
6 Eco-Friendly Bathroom Products to Stock Up On
Filling a bathroom with sustainable products is one of the easiest ways to make a positive impact. Our zero waste bathroom collection has everything you need to reduce plastic waste. Here are some top eco-friendly bathroom products to consider:
1. Essentials for a Planet-Loving Lather
Plastic loofahs aren’t just bad for our planet, they can also harbor nasty bacteria. That’s why a Natural Sea Sponge is a far better option. In addition to having antibacterial properties, it will gently exfoliate before it can be composted at the end of its life.
Use your sea sponge with Plaine Products’ Refillable Vegan Body Wash or Jack Henry’s Multi-Use Cleanse+ for a consciously clean body.
2. Better-for-Earth Oral Care Products
Take a bite out of plastic waste with Natural Toothpaste Tablets. They work just like a conventional tube, but are significantly less waste. Add some Oil Pulling Mouthwash for truly planet-friendly pearly whites.
If we adhered to recommendations to replace our toothbrush every three months, the average person would use around 320 throughout their lifetime. When most toothbrushes are made of plastic, this ends up consuming a lot of fossil fuels—while producing something that will take thousands of years to degrade!
Brush with Bamboo provides a better option with their Bamboo Toothbrush. After the bristles are removed, the handle can be composted. Use their long-lasting Stainless Steel Tongue Scraper for an extra clean mouth.
3. Plastic-Free Shaving Essentials
Ditch the disposable razor and replace it with a Safety Butterfly Razor. Made of durable stainless steel, it can last a lifetime—and will save you tons of money as it does!
For a softer, smoother shave, try the hand made and zero waste Unscented Shaving Puck from Lovett Sundries.
4. Earth-Friendly Hair Care Products
The shampoo and conditioner bar sets from HiBar, Corvus Botanicals, and Long WKND are perfect for anyone trying to create a zero waste bathroom. Be sure to use a Bamboo Soap Dish to extend the life of the bars and keep your shower cleaner.
Now you’re probably wondering, are solid shampoo and conditioner bars good for your hair? They are! Not only do they help to curb the more than 550 million shampoo bottles Americans throw away annually but they’re often packed with organic hair-boosting ingredients.
After washing, detangle and reduce frizz with a compostable Bamboo Hair Brush.
5. Planet-Friendly Period Products
Make the switch to Menstrual Cups and Organic Day Pads and save our planet—and your body—from the toxic chemicals often found in single use tampons and pads.
6. Sustainable Cleaning Tools
Sure, we’ve talked about all the items we need for a clean body, but how do you clean sustainably when it comes to the bathroom itself?
Start with Fair Trade and FSC-certified Natural Rubber Gloves, then you’ll be ready to use Full Circle Home’s Scrub Queen Toilet Brush, which is made of recycled materials and has a replaceable head to cut down on waste.
Instead of using forest-clearing paper towels and single-use plastic trash bags, make the switch to Marley’s Monsters UNpaper Towels and their trash bag-replacing Washable Pail Liner!
Make Your Eco-Friendly Bathroom an Oasis
A bathroom is one of the most important places for relaxation and self-care. Every shower or soak in the bathtub can serve as an important way to show ourselves a little love. With these sustainable products, we can show earth some love, too! Green Eco Dream will be here to help you transform your bathroom into a planet-friendly oasis.
Explore our sustainable bathroom collection below and save 10% on your first order with us with the code: BLOG10.
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