06.05.18
0600
I’ve talked about what I don’t buy, but I thought I’d tell you about what I do buy in relation to my daily bathroom routine. When I go grocery shopping, there are items I do keep an eye out for. These items are the items I will use on a daily basis and keep stock of at home. So here it is…
What I stock up on:
- Baking Soda
- Sunscreen
- Toothbrush
- Face Moisturizer
- Eyeliner (used often)
- Mascara (used often)
- Eye Shadow (used often)
- Lip Balm
- Dental Floss
- Night Cream
- Apple Cider Vinegar
- Toilet Paper
Not used often:
- Essential oils
- Liquid Foundation (Vegan Makeup)
- Matte Bronzer (Vegan Makeup)
- Lipstick (Vegan Makeup)
- Angled Blush Brush
There are other investments that I bought a while back, which did produce some form of trash, but they were only a one time investment.
One time investments:
- Cornstarch
- Cacao Powder
- Crystal Deodorant
- Pumice Stone
- Set of Dental picks
- Set of stainless steel ear pick tools
Morning: Before Workout Routine: In the morning I will wash my face with soap and brush my teeth with baking soda. I’ll then apply sunscreen before heading out, because skin cancer is real and the exposure to the sun’s rays can be very dangerous, so I take precautions.
Morning: After Workout Routine: After working out, I’ll wash my face again and apply some dry shampoo (combination of equal parts cornstarch and Hershey’s Cocoa, here is the link to my blog post about DIY Dry Shampoo). I’ll then apply my makeup, and depending on the occasion, it might be more or less. My makeup is cruelty free and not tested on animals, but it does come in packaging that is not recyclable. The good part about my makeup routine is that I don’t use excessive amounts of it so I don’t use up my makeup quickly.
When I do decide to get more dressed up, my makeup packaging includes all of the following packaging below. All of my makeup will come with the makeup container as well as the makeup packaging as well.
Evening Routine: My evening routine mimics my morning routine, where I will floss my teeth, brush my teeth, wash my face with soap, and then apply my evening cream.
Non-Daily Use Items: There are a few “one time purchase” items that I did invest in, which did produce some form of trash that was not recyclable. However, these were one time purchases and they’ve lasted a very long time. These items include my deodorant crystal, pumice stone, dental pick set and my set of stainless steel ear pick tools. (The Visine is rarely used and I doubt I’ll ever purchase it again.)
For the Bathroom: Products I use to clean my bathroom or need to stock up on, include Apple Cider Vinegar, paper wrapped toilet paper and essential oils. The essential oils does get used, but not often. I always buy toilet paper wrapped in paper so that I don’t produce any extra plastic trash.
Living a zero waste lifestyle can never truly be completely zero waste. Trash will be produced at one point or another; whether it’s in the beginning of the production line or at the very end where the consumer is left with it. When you purchase products in bulk, a lot of the packaging is left for the distributor to deal with.
This post was a transparent view of the reality of my own bathroom trash. Even though I do still produce a bit of trash, I have significantly reduced the amount of my bathroom trash since I began this zero waste journey. Still, to this day, I know I can reduce it even more, but that means I have to give up using certain products or try to find alternative products.
That’s great to hear! It sounds like you found a good company to buy products from. The struggle with knowing how many air miles are needed to ship a product is a dilemma I know I’ve thought about. We can only do what we can to our avail. Hopefully more local vegan and sustainable companies will open up near us and the air miles won’t be as big of an issue for these types of products.
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Hi. I’m finding similar challenges to yours here in the U.K. I don’t have a lot of make up products but I do use them everyday.
Luckily I managed to find an online provider who sells concealer and foundation in bamboo cases, and refills in a metal case to go with them.
They are cruelty free, and the refills do come in a plastic case (which I’m 99% sure can be recycled).
Some people may not go for an option like this because of the air miles, which I can completely understand. But as you’ve said it’s not perfect, and I guess it’s about doing the best that we can under the circumstances for our planet?
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