Whether it’s composting food waste or shopping zero-waste, our sustainability efforts are often focused on the kitchen. However, to be truly eco-aware, we need to look at our whole house. Case in point: the bathroom. From water-intensive showers and toilets, to the polluting chemicals used to clean them, the bathroom can be one of the most environmentally problematic parts of your home. However, it needn’t be that way. With a few simple switches you can cut back on waste and lessen your impact. Here’s how to get started …
1 Choose a bamboo toothbrush
Considering the billions of people on the planet and the fact that experts recommend replacing your plastic toothbrush every three to four months, toothbrushes create huge amounts of plastic waste. Made from polypropylene and nylon, one plastic toothbrush can take up to 500 years or more to decompose. However, there is an alternative: bamboo brushes. Bamboo, a fast-growing grass, is one of the planet’s most sustainable crops. After you’ve finished with it you can biodegrade it by putting it in the soil or a compost bin. And if you use an electric toothbrush, consider buying biodegradable heads.
2 Shower down
According to Waterwise, the average shower lasts about 10 minutes and can use between 120-150L of water when running through a standard or power-adjusted showerhead. If you want to be at all mindful about how much water you’re using around the house, well … that’s a lot of water. While you could install a low-flow or aerated showerhead – indeed, we’re not going to discourage that – there is another remarkably simple way to reduce your bathroom water usage: chop those showers down to the recommended four minutes. If you need a hand, try hitting play on this specially curated water-saving playlist and stay in the shower for the length of just one of these optimally timed tunes.
3 Make sure your loo is watertight
A low-flow toilet is an ideal eco-friendly solution, but installing one isn’t necessarily affordable or practical for all of us. While there are a number of other smaller scale measures you can take to reduce the water usage of your toilet, by far one of the most effective things you can do is to keep an eye out for any leakages from your loo. It is estimated that between 200-400L of water can go to waste a day just from one leaky toilet – and it’s a problem that can easily go unnoticed. The good news is that it’s not too hard to detect if you know what you’re looking for. All you need to do is add a few drops of food colouring into the cistern of your toilet, then leave for an hour without flushing. Check the bowl when you come back, and if any of the coloured water from the cistern has made its way into the bowl, you’ve got yourself a leak! Getting it fixed is a simple job for a professional, so contact your water company first as it could provide the maintenance free of charge, otherwise find a recommended plumber in your area.
4 Invest in a safety razor
While the plastic handle of a typical disposable razor is recyclable in theory, the reality is not so simple. The reason? Unless you’re able to separate the metal blades from their plastic casing, which in most cases cannot be done effectively, your disposable razor will become what is known as a “mixed commodity” and therefore unrecyclable. Choose a more sustainable and long-lasting option such as a safety razor (made from metal with replaceable blades) or an electric shaver.
5 Get a better bathroom bin
Research from Tap Warehouse found that while UK citizens recycle 90% of their kitchen packaging, only 50% of bathroom waste gets recycled. This is partly due to the fact most people have one bin in their bathroom and forget to sort the rubbish. To make sure your bathroom waste gets recycled, invest in a handy two-part bin. This means the sorting is done at source, which makes life simpler.
6 Switch your mouthwash
Another simple change is to opt for a sustainable mouthwash such as Listerine Naturals, which is made using a 96% biodegradable formula. Additionally, Listerine Naturals comes in 100% recyclable bottles*, which are made from 50% recycled plastics to help lower the impact on the planet.
7 Try recycled toilet paper
We’re all aware of the importance of recycled plastic but what about paper? You don’t need to cut down trees to get your loo roll, you can use recycled paper instead. There are a growing number of ethical companies that offer toilet paper made from 100% recycled paper.
8 Try out some zero-waste and refillable products
One of the easiest and more efficient ways to make your bathroom more sustainable is by choosing zero-waste products. The humble soap bar is the original example, but now you can get a whole range of bathroom essentials – including shampoo, face cleanser and even serums. Meanwhile, consider investing in products that come housed in infinitely refillable packaging, which will reduce end-of-life waste and the need for resources to create more packaging.
9 Don’t forget your cleaning products
High in polluting chemicals and packaged in single-use plastic, many standard cleaning products simply fail the basic sustainability test. But that doesn’t mean you have to let your bathroom cleaning routine go down the toilet. Instead, as with other bathroom essentials, try opting for cleaning products that are housed in either recyclable packaging or refillable containers. At the same time, forget the disposable cloths and invest in something long-lasting that you can throw in the wash. You can even upcycle old T-shirts to make effective cloths.
Help incorporate nature into your bathroom by trying new Listerine Naturals. Formulated with essential oils, Listerine Naturals works below the gumline where brushing cannot reach, helping to kill 99% of germs left after brushing. Get yours now at selected larger Boots stores, and find out more about Listerine’s sustainability commitments here
