Personal Care & Hygiene

Introduction

How we clean and take care of ourselves is generally a much smaller concern compared to the impact our diets have on the planet, but toilets, toilet paper, and self care products do have an impact on water quality, deforestation, and our land fills. Some choices even impact our health.

By minimizing our self care products to eco-friendly and body friendly products we can reduce our impact on our health, while minimizing chemical pollutants that end up in drinking water.

Finding reusable alternatives such as period pads or cups, reusable makeup removal pads, and chancing our toilet habits we can greatly reduce our impact on the landfill crisis.

By switching napkins, toilet paper, paper towels, and other single-use wood-based products for alternatives, we can reduce deforestation.

Cosmetics

Cosmetics have included dangerous chemicals including lead. As awareness increases, governments sometimes bans certain ingredients, but generally speaking beauty isle products aren't monitored, tested, or restricted as tightly as medicine or food.

Cosmetics can cause serious damage to our bodies and the environment over time. They contribute to the increasible number of single-use containers filling up landfills. Companies use these products to make money by using advertisements aimed at making people insecure about their bodies.

Petrochemicals in Beauty Supplies

The following are a number of common oil industry by-products you may be unwittingly putting on your body and washing into your local water supply.

Why You're Putting Fossil Fuels on Your Face 13:39 minute video about how petrochemicals are affecting us and the environment

86% of fossil fuels are burned for energy or transport, but roughly 14% is "by-product" which goes toward making chemicals. A concerning amount of these chemicals are being spread on our bodies and washed down the drain where they are harming aquatic life. An analyst warns that petrochemicals cause worse pollution that fossil fuel use, which is particularly concerning because as we phase our fossil fuel as a power source, corporations are seeing the most business potential in petrochemicals.

Organic & "Natural"

These unfortunately aren't necesarily safer, or kinder to the environment. Farms often use pesticides and fertilizers with petrochemicals, equipment that runs on fossil fuels, and production can also release problematic emissions.

"Green Chemistry"

The idea of synthesizing the compounds needed for cosmetics from renewable resources such as agricultural waste.

Amyris uses sugar cane stalk waste, another company uses sawdust waste from the furniture industry, both clever ways to help decarbonize the cosmetic industry.

Deodorant

Deodorant is better than antiperspirant which prevents sweating. Sweating is an important method your body uses to eliminate waste. Deodorant can let you sweat the way nature intended, minus the odor.

Click the Deodorant button to learn more about your eco-friendly odor control options.

Grey Water Safe Soaps

Click the Gray Water Safe Soaps button if you have or are visiting somewhere with a graywater system, and want to know which products you can use.

Gray water systems take gently used water from washing machines, showers, sinks, and even toilets, then reuse that water for landscaping and other outdoor purpouses. Using the right soaps protects the seals and other parts of the system. They also help prevent problematic shemica

Hair Removal

Single use products like razors use a lot of resources over time which end up in landfills because they aren't designed to be recycled or reused. Products like Nair are very harsh and problematic in waterway after sewage is released without being properly treated (a big problem all over the world! Even in countries that one would assume could do better!) Waxing is super painful! 

Safety razors are surprisingly safe and comfortable. The main danger comes while switching out the blade for a new one, and ensuring old blades go into a "sharps container" which can be as simple as an empty mint in, or other solid, secure container untill the metals within can be recycled at a designated location.

Click the Hair Removal button to learn more about shaving and which accessories are worth using, vs which you can skip.

Nail Care

Nail care is important to reduce the chance of ingrown nails, broken nails, getting/giving scratches, and avoiding fungal growth. 

Generally speaking nail polish, fake nails, and chemical solutions such as nail polish remover are both bad for us (often our nails) and the environment.

Nail Files

Nail files and other tools can be beneficial, but only if they are long lasting. Low quality products can damage our nails, then end up in landfills due to their short lifespans. 

Click the Nail Files button to learn about some of the more eco-friendly and nail-friendly solutions for nail care.

Period Supplies


Click the Period Care button to learn more about your eco-friendly options for period hygiene. We cover washable pad, period cups, free bleeding, and tampons, which can be mix-and-matched to suit your lifestyle, flow, or other concerns.

Personal Hygiene

Click the Personal Hygiene button to learn how often doctors recommend we perform certain self care activities, and what soaps, shampoo, and other products can keep us clean without the impact of damaging chemicals.

Toilets

Toilets and lack of toilets is a serious problem in many parts of the world. In countries where toilets are rare, disease and environmental pollution are a major concern. 

In countries that built sewer systems decades or centuries ago, ever-growing populations and heavier rains are putting a strain that often outpaces these unprepared systems. In countries like the UK, many of our rivers are no longer fit to swim in due to frequent release of raw sewage from overburdened sewers into what used to be safe drinking and recreational waters.

Common toilets use a huge amount of clean, drinkable water to flush, but arborloos and compost toilets may be able to help reduce pollution while preserving important nutrients for household or community use. 

Click the Toilets button to learn more.

Toilet Paper & Alternatives

Click the Toilet Paper button to learn about different types of toilet paper, using water instead of paper with bidets, bidet attachments and other alternatives, as well as recommended leaves you can grow or forage and then wipe with (perfect for when you're volunteering in the wilderness or if you are using a compost toilet!).

Nappies/Diapers

If you have a child or care for someone with incontinence, then this section is for you. We discuss the problems with disposable nappies and wipes, then discuss options, cleanliness, and how to get free or affordable supplies if money is a limitation. The page also include how-to guides including cleaning and making your own supplies.

Swabs & Makeup Removal

Making these can be a fun stash buster, or better yet, a clever zero-waste option for recycling old clothes or bath/hand towels. 

Acne Prevention Tip!

For skin care, a friend taught me the magic of using witch-hazel as a cleanser to reduce or even prevent acne. At first I used a folded piece of toilet paper to apply it to my face, but switched to DIY make up removal pads made from scraps I had in my fabric stash. Fabric items like these don't tear like toilet paper or leave little white pieces all over your skin!

Tools & Apps

Eco-Friendly & Low-Waste Brands

This section includes plastic-free products that are supposed to be more gentle on your body as well as the environment. Search by region, or search through our Zero-Waste directory for local companies which may carry such products.

Asia

India

Vegan / Cruelty-Free Brands

The following are consumer resources to help you find kinder products.