Bathroom

Bathrooms become wasteful when you have too many of them. If you are designing or renovating think about how many bathrooms you really need and how many you want to clean.

Waste less by replacing bathroom essentials

• Replace your plastic toothbrush with a bamboo one and plastic cotton buds for bamboo cotton buds.
• Use eco-friendly dental floss that comes in a glass tube
• Use soap bars instead of body washes and liquid hand wash. There are deodorant bars or Welleda make deodorant in a glass spray bottle you can re-use.
• Use a shaving soap bar instead of shaving gel or foam. Use a stainless steel safety razor with a changeable blade instead of disposable razors.
• There are so many better options for periods now than disposable pads and tampons. Swap out tampons for reuseable moon cups. Swap out disposable pads (for periods or incontinence) with a range of re-useable pads and period underwear. Use a reusable moon cup and reusable pads can DIY instead of single-use pads/tampons.
• Use hankies instead of tissues
• Use reusable makeup rounds instead of disposable ones. You can sew your own out of cloth or crochet out of T-Shirt yarn or cotton. You can also simply cut them out of old fabrics like towelling.
• Choose skincare or makeup brands that have products in recyclable or re-useable containers. Consider how much make-up and skin care you really need to use.
• Choose products that have refillable or re-useable containers and spray bottles. Refill them where possible
• You can make a surprising number of bath and cosmetic products for yourself or as gifts.
• However remember to source ingredients with care. Follow recipes closely. Prepare preparations hygienically. Make sure you are not allergic (do a skin patch test on the top of your hand). Store your products in clean air tight containers, in a cool and dark place. You may need to use them more quickly if they contain no preservatives

Waste less energy and water: 

Short showers use less water than long ones. Showers use less energy than baths. Efficient showerheads make a big difference often without feeling less luxurious. However if any of the above are a luxury for you don’t deprive yourself. If you don’t need to bathe every day, and many people don’t, you can opt for the indulgent options a little less often.

Waste less in the toilet: 

Not everyone is comfortable with efforts to waste less here. Toilet flushing in particular has some sensitivity around it even though it uses a lot of water.

• If you have half and full flush options use them accordingly. If you have a large old fashioned cistern you can put something like a rock in it to displace water volume or alter the ballcock.
• Possible but not universally desirable, is using  buckets of water collected from the shower to flush.
• Even more controversial is adopting the rule “if it’s yellow let it mellow, if it’s brown flush it down” when there are no guests. Also controversial is peeing on selected plants if you have a suitably secluded garden. Apparently it was good enough for Bert Munro.
• Composting toilets are worth considering if you are putting in a new toilet.
• It’s hard to know which brand of toilet paper wastes less especially in NZ, but Earth Smart is made from recycled paper in NZ and comes in paper packaging. Bulk toilet papers made from waste cane and bamboo ordered online, come in cardboard boxes but have been transported from Asia

Waste less washing your hair:

• Use shampoo and conditioner bars instead of bottled shampoo and conditioner.
• Or wash your hair with bi-carb and water: 1 tsp of bicarb to a cup of water.
• Some people manage to wash their hair without shampoo at all. It takes a few weeks to get through the transition phase but after that, miraculously their hair can do without.
• Most people who need shampoo to wash with, find they can increase the interval between washes.
• Find out if there is a hair salon using more sustainable products in your area.