Do you know how many products you use in your bathroom and how many of them are sustainable? Do you recycle your household products or do you use single-use products? Research conducted by Tap Warehouse has shown that maximally 50 percent of the bathroom products are being recycled or reused. It was also concluded that bathroom waste counts for 30-40 percent of the landfill waste in the UK. As this is an enormous amount of waste, it is important to be aware of your bathroom products and to create a more sustainable bathroom. In this article alternatives for daily used products are shown and we will help you transform your bathroom! Toothbrush Do you know that a toothbrush takes 400 years to compose and a toothpaste tube 500?Every year, in the US only, a billion toothbrushes are thrown away of which most of them are made of plastic. Worldwide we use up 5 billion. Nowadays it is already really easy to buy sustainable ones and there are already many alternatives. The most common one is a toothbrush made out of bamboo with eco-friendly bristles. Shower Gel & Hand Soap One billion plastic shower gel bottles are taken up into the waste system every year. With this being said, it is essential that we start using plastic alternatives. Common alternatives are bar soaps, hand made soaps and natural eco-friendly soaps. Not only are these alternatives good for the environment but they also support the local businesses. A note to take into account, it is not only the plastic packaging that is bad for the environment but also the ingredients of the chemical soaps themselves. Therefore, soaps made out of eco-products only are recommended the most. Not only does this account for shower gel, but the same aspects counts for hand soaps as well. Wet Wipes Research conducted by the National University of Ireland has shown that more than 50 percent of the wet wipes that are labelled as flushable in the toilet are made out of microplastic fibre. Thus, these wet wipes and so microplastics eventually end up in the ocean. Alternatives for these wet wipes are for example paper towels made 100% out of bamboo that are re-washable, organic cotton wipes, kitchen cloths, or biodegradable wipes. Cotton Pads Cotton pads need 4 to 5 months to decompose and that’s not it. The production of cotton has a huge effect on the environment. We will further enlighten the impact of cotton next week when we will talk about the fashion industry, but do you know that one kilogram cotton – the size of a t-shirt – requires 20.000 litres of water? No more words are required I think. Alternatives are also quite common and easy such as reusable cotton pads made out of flannel, bamboo pads and konjac sponges, a sponge made from a plant. So, as can be seen, the impact of your bathroom environment is enormous. On the other hand, you can also see that there are many options and sustainable alternatives to decrease and minimize this. We are willing to take this step. Are you? Follow next week for tips and facts about the fashion industry and how to create a sustainable wardrobe! Source
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