Want to reduce single-use plastic, but don’t know where to start? Try starting in the bathroom!

Think of all the plastic waste that comes out of your bathroom: shampoo bottles, toothbrushes, toothpaste tubes, and more.

Even if you recycle, that plastic can only be reused one or two more times. Not to mention the petroleum and resources that went into producing it in the first place.

Nowadays, you can find loads of alternatives that use little or no plastic at all. Those simple swaps will help you make your bathroom plastic free while helping our planet.

Learn five simple swaps to do right now:

 1 – Plastic toothbrush for a bamboo one

It’s estimated that 3.6 billion toothbrushes are used every year, with roughly 80 per cent of them ending up in the sea. Besides, each toothbrush can take up to a thousand years to decompose, so swapping for a biodegradable bamboo one is the best option.

Bamboo toothbrushes are biodegradable and compostable, with bamboo being a sustainable crop. But remember that nylon bristles are not biodegradable and must be disposed of separately.

In The Bam Boo and The Humble Co. you can find bamboo toothbrush as well as other useful things.

2 -  Plastic shampoo/conditioner bottle for bar ones

Swaping your shower gel for a bar soap it’s easy. That’s how our grandparents used to do it.

However to swap from a gel shampoo or conditioner can be a little more difficult to do, or at least to get used to. The pros of using bar shampoo and conditioners are simple – no plastic (and much less packaging altogether), much longer-lasting, lower carbon footprint for transporting the product because it takes much less space, and fewer chemical ingredients.

You can get great shampoo/conditioner bars at Lush or Mind the Trash, for example.

3 – Swap face wipes for biodegrable or reusable cloths or cotton pad

Traditional single-use face wipes are very detrimental to the environment. They may take up to 100 years to break down, and 9.3million of them are flushed down toilets every day going straight to our oceans and beaches.

Besides being bad for our planet, they are also bad for your skin. So this is an urgent and straightforward swap. Instead of the face wipes, you can use reusable cotton pads or cloths

4 – Swap your tube toothpast for tooth powders or tablets

Each year, 1 billion plastic toothpaste tubes end up in landfills, taking a very long time to biodegrade and causing all sorts of pollution.

So, even though this is probably the hardest swap to make it is also a very important one.

Etee creates their chew paste, vegan-friendly and cruelty-free that comes in a glass jar. You can also get Denttabs toothpaste tablets, which arrive in a large thick paper bag or refillable aluminium bottle.

5 – Swap your disposable razor for a safety razor

A typical “disposable” razor can only be used a few times before being tossed in the trash. Safety razors are made of stainless steel which means they can be recycled at the end of their life.

Theses types of razors will last years; you’ll only need to replace the blades, which can also be recycled.

You can find them on stores like: Eco Roots,  Oui The People and Amazon.

These swaps may take some time to work into your routine, but eventually, they will just be a part of your daily life. And remember that you are helping to save our planet by doing these small changes.