How Eco-friendly is your bathroom?

Every year the average household within the UK throws away at least 40kg of plastic. This plastic can take hundreds and hundreds of years to fully decompose.  

As a nation we use 7.7 billion plastic bottles per year, that’s an average of 117 bottles per person.

When we say throw away, what does that actually mean? It has to go somewhere right? In an ideal world we would like to believe that it is all recycled and turned into Eco friendly fleece jackets or lovely new carpets for our homes but the fact is a scarily high percentage ends up in landfill or in our seas and oceans as it is simply not or cannot be recycled.

“There is no such thing as “away”.  When we throw anything away it must go somewhere.”

Annie Leonard

I am very conscious of the excessive use of packaging, especially plastic, in today’s society and as a family we have really tried to cut down on things in our everyday life. For example, my boys all have refillable drinks bottles that they take to school and out with their friends, myself and my husband take our own refillable coffee mugs to our local coffee shop with us. We have replaced cling film with beeswax coated fabric wraps for wrapping sandwiches and packed lunches and last year I purchased a soda stream so I can continue to enjoy my favourite fizzy water, with zero waste and with out the need to throw away mountains of bottles. We are by no means perfect but we are making a choice to try and change and are constantly finding new ways to improve the amount of plastic we consume. 

“We don’t need a handful of people doing zero waste perfectly. We need millions of people doing it imperfectly”

Anne Marie Bonneau 

I have also tried, wherever possible, to ensure I run my business plastic free and with the smallest amount of waste as possible. My orders are all shipped in boxes or cardboard envelopes and protected by recycled shredded paper and I use paper tape to seal them. My glassine and bio film bags used to package my soaps are now fully compostable and will totalIy biodegrade in 180 days.  And I have also introduced many new products to my range to help my customers cut down on their own use of single use plastics. With the introduction of Solid shampoo and conditioner bars to soap nuts for laundry. I truly believe we need to all try to make changes in everything we do, we owe it to our planet.

“Look after the land and the land will look after you, destroy the land and it will destroy you” 

Aboriginal Proverb 

One of the easiest places to start to cut down your plastic waste is in the bathroom by ditching the plastic bottled liquid soap and bringing back the traditional solid bar. 

The good old fashioned soap bar has been around for a very long time with the Egyptians, Ancient Greeks and Romans all making them by mixing fats, oils and salts.  It was industrially manufactured from the early to mid 1800’s by companies still recognisable today like Pears and Palmolive. Although not really popular until the 1980’s liquid soap has actually been around for longer than you might think. It was originally patented in 1865, by a man named William Shepphard. However it was mainly used for industrial purposes or in hospitals and public places. If we could convince the world to make the switch back over to the traditional soap bar we could save thousands of bottles from ever needing to be produced. 

Soap bars are also an ideal replacement for shower gels and body washes which are more often than not packaged in plastic

My range of solid hand and body wash bars are great to use instead of body wash. They are in essence a shower gel in solid form, they produce any excellent lather and leave you feeling squeaky clean. They are made with a moisturising vegetable glycerine base that is produced here in the UK by a world leading British company that leads the way in the manufacture and supply of speciality personal care ingredients. A Company that pride themselves on being sustainable, responsible and ethical. Fragranced with only 100% pure essential oils, they contain no synthetic fragrance and are the perfect travel companion. They are packaged in bio film bags that is fully compostable and biodegradable. 

Available in the following blends :-

. Wakey Wakey (Lemongrass, Ginger, Cinnamon & Tangerine)

. De-stress & Insomnia (Lavender, Sweet Orange & Camomile)

. Peppermint & Tea Tree Oil

. Bergamot, Geranium & Rosemary

. Neroli, Grapefruit & Tangerine

. Juniper, Eucalyptus & Tea tree oil

How to keep your soap bars in tip top condition - Allowing your bars to dry properly in between washes will give you the maximum shelf life of your products. A soap dish with a raised, slatted design allows air to circulate around the bar letting it dry in between uses and because it is raised off the surface, the excess water can drain away. This prolongs the life of the soap bar.

Weight - minimum 100g

For more information or hints and tips on how to cut down your plastic consumption and become a zero waste household why not pay a visit to 

https://www.plasticfreejuly.org/campaigns/safe-ways-to-reduce-plastic-waste/