Is there a little voice inside your head that’s been nagging away at you to ‘get with the program’ and become more of an eco-warrior? OK, maybe not, but we sure bet you’ve noticed all the commotion surrounding the whole plastic debate at the moment. Let’s face it, you can’t avoid it. It’s on TV, in our newspapers, and the internet (as well as the ocean) is awash with it.
So, How Can You Reduce Your Plastic Use?
Are you going to nip down to the nearest beach armed with a hemp bin liner to collect plastic bottles, bags and six-pack beer can holders to save the dolphins? Will you buy a machine to turn all your old cola bottles into plastic bricks? We’re guessing the answer is probably not.
In all seriousness though, whilst the vast majority of us are certainly more aware than ever that plastic pollution is a genuine and very dangerous problem, doing anything on a personal level almost seems like…well… a drop in the ocean. Our obsessive love affair with plastic is a massive global problem that’s self-evident no matter which continent you happen to be standing on.
The Good News
We all lead busy, hectic lives and you may not have the time nor inclination to be more procative, especially when feeling that whatever you do and however hard you try, it probably isn’t going to make that much difference in the grander scheme of things. But, despair no more! There are things you can do that will help shut that little nagging voice in your head up – and it involves doing practically nothing at all. That’s right, the only thing you need to do is buy a different product.
A Change in Shower Habits
Nope, we’re not going to don our horn-rimmed spectacles and start lecturing you about using less water or anything like that. In reality, all it takes is a change in your choice of the products you purchase at your local store. Today, we’ve picked shampoo as it perfectly encapsulates the small changes in our shopping habits that really can, at least, begin to make some difference whilst saving a few bob at the same time. It’s kind of a win, win really.
The Shampoo Bar
Whilst this may sound like a trendy new wine bar chain that’s opening a new venue in your local high street, it’s not; It’s exactly what it says – a soap-like looking bar of shampoo that you wash your hair with instead of pouring it out of a plastic bottle. Whilst everyone else is banging on about microbeads in their beauty products polluting our seas, you can ignore it all whilst merrily singing away in the shower safe in the knowledge that you’re doing your bit.
The Pros
Even if you diligently recycle all of your used plastic cartons, bags and bottles, some will still inevitably end up in landfill and even the stuff that doesn’t will still use valuable fossil fuel resources to recycle them. With this in mind, every shampoo bar you buy will, on average, last around three times longer than a standard bottle of shampoo. This, in turn, means that even if it costs three times the price, you’ll still break even. You’ll also be reducing the number of plastic bottles being manufactured by a factor of three, AND you’ll be cutting down on the cost of transportation and packaging as one bar weighs less (and takes up less space) than three bottles. If you’re mindful of your dreaded carbon footprint, it’ll certainly help with that too.
The Cons
The main one is the cost; these new shampoo bars are still somewhat of a trendy fad at the moment so some of the more upmarket ones can be a bit pricey. As they become more popular, they’ll no doubt come down in price and quite probably end up being cheaper than buying three bottles of shampoo.
HaVe We Reviewed Any Shampoo Bars?
Yep, we have indeed tried one. We wondered what all the commotion was about so decided to briefly review one here. We invested in a seaweed, sea salt and lemon bar from Lush. With first-hand personal experience under our belt, we can confirm that it’s pretty good. It lathers well – just a few strokes across your hair and you’re all frothed up and ready to go, and it gets your hair squeaky clean.
A ‘Seanik’ bar from Lush cost us £7.50 and when you compare this to the average price of three 250ml bottles of a branded shampoo at anywhere from £2.75 – £5.00 each, there are real savings to be made.
Nice!
About Us
We’re passionate about the environment and when we’re not singing ing in the shower, we’re out and about in Sussex clearing rubbish and collecting and delivering skips in Brighton, Hastings, Eastbourne and Bexhill.