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Last summer I made a post about our waste-reduced lives and our experience going waste-free. In that article, I broke down the practical changes that Sharayah and I have made in our lives to reduce our waste, in hopes that you also found it useful.
Further to that post, I wanted to share some of our favourite waste-free products and companies that we actively use and support.
Shampoo and Conditioner Bars
I don't even know how we went so long without shampoo and conditioner bars; my hair has never felt so clean, moisturized, and healthy! Shampoo and conditioner bars are increasingly becoming more and more available locally, which is not only great for us but the environment and you!
There are a few places that you can buy shampoo and conditioner bars from:
Lush
Old Soul Soap
OMGoodness Soaps
The Nickel Refillery (carries products from both Old Soul Soap and OMGoodness Soaps)
I do have to say, our favourite shampoo and conditioner bars are made by OMGoodness Soaps, followed by Lush. I don't know what OMGoodness Soap does, but their conditioner bars are just out of this world AH-Mazing!
Tip: Keep your shampoo and conditioner bars somewhere that water can filter out from underneath the bar. This will extend the life of your shampoo and conditioner as they can completely dry and can last up to a few months (dependent on how frequently you wash your hair of course).
Bar soap
Honestly, you can find bar soap anywhere and there is no need to be purchasing bottled body wash.
While countless companies make and sell bar soap, our personal favourite would have to be soap from Old Soul Soap. Old Soul Soap offers a wide array of scents to choose from, as well as exfoliating soaps that will make your showering experience more uplifting and enjoyable! And if I am going to be honest, we hoard soap from Old Soul Soap like there is no tomorrow. One thing is for sure is that during this pandemic our hands will always be clean!
Lotion Bars
Another simple thing that you can do instead of using bottled lotion. Lush sells a variety of lotion bars and Old Soul Soap offers body butter that is packaged in compostable materials, which honest to gawd, feels like a cloud! You can also make your own lotion bars using a few ingredients or opt to purchase from your local waste-free store such as The Nickel Refillery where you can purchase regular lotion in bulk and place it in a glass jar.
Deodorant
I mean who wants to smell as though they've been sweating? I know I don't! We've tried numerous brands and have found several that work really well and some that don't or leave terrible stains on your favourite shirts.
Lush sells various deodorants, but my favourite would have to be their solid deodorant. While not the greatest to apply on dry armpits, it does lather right on when you've just gotten out of a hot shower and honestly, lasts a long time. We've also really come to enjoy No Pong, Meow Meow Tweet, and Routine Natural Deodorant, all of which are cream-based, have nice scents, work well, and don't leave any stains on your shirts.
Menstrual Cup
I have been using a menstrual cup since I was in college (over 8 years), and honestly, I will never go back to pads or tampons. Finding the menstrual cup, for me, was a godsend: aside from the obvious discomfort of having your period, the cup is so discrete that you can't feel it at all and it's as though you don't even have your period!
To determine if a menstrual cup is right for you, I would recommend checking out this blog post provided by the Diva Blog that covers the pros and cons of using a menstrual cup and finding your fit. Because we're all built a little bit differently and size does matter, you may want to do a bit of research of the different cups available, as there are many companies aside from Diva Cup who sell menstrual cups.
Toothy Tabs (toothpaste tablets)
Finding a waste-free toothpaste was a true challenge for us, especially finding one that contains fluoride.
For myself, I would have to say that my favourite waste-free toothpaste is those found at Lush. While these toothy tabs do not contain any fluoride, I absolutely love the foaming action of their toothpaste and they are pretty dang flavourful, which is why they top my list.
As for toothpaste tablets that contain fluoride, we purchase Non-Plastic Beach toothpaste from The Nickel Refillery. This brand of toothpaste, I have to admit, does not have very great foaming action, which is why I alternate between using the non-fluoride toothpaste tablets and the fluoride ones.
Bamboo toothbrushes
This is yet another easy swap as you're going to have to replace your toothbrush at some point. While we don't purchase from a specific brand, I do have to say that you won't even notice the difference when you swap out your toothbrush; the only difference, the handle is biodegradable!
Dependent on your sensitivity, you do still have the option for soft, medium, or hard bristols just like the plastic alternative.
Coffee Mugs and Water Bottles
Regardless of the brand, using a reusable coffee mug and water bottle is the way to go. Many coffee shops also offer a discount for bringing in your mug as a way to incentivize and encourage consumers to bring their own cups. And if you're not using one, I have to ask: Why the heck not!?
Using a reusable cup and water bottle is such an easy way to reduce your waste, especially if you are hitting up your local coffee shops multiple times per day or have been buying cases of water to get your daily water intake
Either way, your hot or cold beverage must be carried in something, why not make it reusable?
Reusable bags
While not recommended to use during a pandemic, if you aren't using reusable bags outside of the pandemic when you go shopping, please do! This is a simple way to reduce plastic from entering our landfills, but also, reusable bags are far sturdier and will not break when carrying your groceries to and from your car.
We keep our reusable bags in our car, as well as beside our entrance door in-case we are walking to a store nearby and need a bag on-hand. We also have made our own reusable produce bags and have also purchased some instead of using plastic bags to store our produce at the store.
Who Gives a Crap! (Toilet Paper)
Good for you bum. Great for the world. Who Gives a Crap! offers environmentally friendly toilet paper, tissue, and paper towel that are made with environmentally-friendly materials and are not packaged in plastic! Better yet, they donate 50% of their proceeds to non-profit organizations to help build toilets for those in need, providing access to hygiene, water, and basic sanitization.
To ensure that you never run low on toilet paper, paper towels, and tissues you can create a recurring subscription where they will send you shipment after your set duration of time.
Thanks to our recurring subscription, we have yet to run out of toilet paper!
Our Favourite Shops for Wate-Free Items
The following may not come as a surprise to you, considering that I have listed several of these companies throughout this post, but I wanted to talk further about each company to explain why we love them so much.
Bulk Barn
Probably the only company that I did not mention in this post, but they are legit our main place to go to purchase dried foods waste-free.
Bulk Barn offers a waste-free program in which you can bring your clean jars or plastic container and use those to place your dried goods in. For the most part, this can be very cost-effective as there are quite a few dried goods that are substantially less expensive as compared to their packaged counterparts that you can find in local grocery stores. Whenever we go shopping, Bulk Barn has become a staple to purchase most of our dried goods.
Old Soul Soap
I cannot say enough good things about Old Soul Soap! Since having met the owner at our local farmers market five years ago, her business has truly exploded throughout Ontario. Originally conceptualized to offer personal care products to busy mothers at an affordable price, Old Soul Soap has made their entire product offering waste-free and only uses packaging that can either be recycled or composted.
Our house is honestly never without soap, laundry detergent, and lip balm thanks to Old Soul Soap! We can't even bear the idea of seeing three lonely unused soap bars in our cupboard and have to instantly stock up and buy more (...we may have a problem). Old Soul Soap offers such a wide array of products and scents, that there is a mass appeal despite what your preferences are.
They also offer a wide array of bath products, body butter and deodorants, and even some products for your furry friends. I highly recommend that you check all of their product offerings here.
Old Soul Soup has been taking our community by storm, having penetrated various surrounding communities in our region and intends on opening their very own shop once this COVID-19 pandemic is over, for which I am truly excited about!
The Nickel Refillery
The Nickel Refillery is Sudbury's first zero-waste store and offers several products that you can buy waste-free that you can not find anywhere else in Sudbury (I.e., vinegar and olive oil).
Like Bulk Barn, you can also bring in your containers for products such as lotion, vinegar, oil, or dried goods, or they also have a bin of jars if you don't have a container on-hand so you don't leave empty-handed.
We are incredibly excited about The Nickel Refillery as we are now able to further reduce our environmental footprint with waste-free products that we weren't able to find before and so can you!
Lush
While we were living in Hamilton, one of our favourite things to do was to visit Lush, and before we moved back to our little Northern Ontario town, we stocked up!
All products that Lush offers are either waste-free or are packaged in recyclable plastic so you can responsibly dispose of the waste. Lush carries a wide array of personal care products from shampoo to conditioner, body scrubs, lotions, facial cleansers, and masks, to toothpaste, you name it - they got it! It's pretty well a one-stop-shop if you are looking to transition most of your personal care products to waste-free ones.
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More than ever, it is becoming increasingly easier to reduce your waste by making simple transitions such as those noted above. While it can be difficult to strive for a 100% waste-free life (dependent on your economic and geographic situation), small replacements and changes in lifestyle can result in a large positive impact on the environment over time.
For further tips on how you can reduce your waste not mentioned in this article, please check out this post.
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