Sustainable Self-Care
When it comes to cleaning up and taking care of our bodies, it seems like waste is always involved. From scrubbing our bodies to putting a tampon in—were surrounded by plastic and single use items. For us here at eMpulse, living a low-impact life involves finding sustainable alternatives to our normal routines. If you wish to create some distance between your self-care routine and waste, we found a variety of products that will make the switch convenient and accessible for you.
Facial Routine
When it comes to cleaning our bodies and engaging in self-care, we found ourselves overflowing in waste. Between our Q-tips and our facial rounds, a lot of waste piles up over the years and makes its way into fragile ecosystems. And honestly, we don’t even need Q-tips. If you only use them for makeup removal, try switching to this re-usable and machine washable towel, like these. I honestly doubted this towel’s effectiveness, but it blew my pre-conceptions away and took my mascara and eyeliner off in just a few wipes.
And love your single-use facial rounds? Try purchasing some re-usable and machine washable cotton/bamboo rounds. These little rounds are free of any harsh bleaches and never end up in the rubbish bin. As most sustainable concepts in the world, there is an up-front cost to your wallet, but over the long run, you will end up saving more money.
Hair & Body Love
Not too convinced with shampoo and conditioner bars? Try calling up your salon and seeing if they will refill your plastic bottles next time you’re running low. Or look for brands that are creating a difference through environmental initiatives. Kevin Murphy delivers some of our favorite hair care products, and they made the switch to making their bottles with 100% Ocean Waste Plastic. This ethical program helps collect the some of the 5 trillion pieces of plastic in our oceans today, with 360 tons of plastic being removed from the ocean each year.
If you are like my boyfriend and still obsessed with your plastic loofah, you’re in luck! Plenty of eco-friendly alternatives exist out there on the market for purchase. I personally love Hollistic Science’s dead sea sponge. Holistic Science is an ethical and local San Diego company that offers a wide variety of non-toxic goods to take care of your body. But if a sponge isn’t going to cut it for you, try an actual luffa—a member of the cucumber family. It is a fibrous “sponge” that can be used for cleaning your body or your kitchen!
Plastic-Free Period
The waste associated with feminine hygiene is astronautical. The average human experiencing menstruation will toss 14,000 tampons in their lifetime—generating about 300 lbs of waste from the packaging, applicators, and tampons themselves. Stresses me out just thinking about what I have tossed over the years…
To avoid this waste generation, DAME created an eco-friendly solution to this challenge that half of the population must encounter. Their antimicrobial, reusable tampon applicator has saved 3 million plastic applicators from entering the waste stream so far. And their tampons are GOTS certified 100% organic cotton free of bleach, plastics, synthetics, toxins, and dyes. As a user of their applicators and tampons, I have to say that these products are a game-changer when it comes to living a low-impact life.
Teeth Care Time
Typically, floss is constructed from nylon—a thermoplastic silky material that is not biodegradable. Flossing is good for your health—sure—but not the natural environment. And then you have the plastic, individual single-use flossers themselves, which will end up in a landfill or the ocean as well.
The waste associated with oral hygiene does not have to persist. There are sustainable products out there that are skyrocketing on the market. Try ordering some compostable floss packed in a glass jar or a refillable floss pick. Just a small change in your daily routine can contribute to lessen the 2.5 billion floss dispensers that end up tossed each year.
A Sustainable and Toxin-Free Life
Not only will the planet thank you for any sustainable changes that you make to your daily self-care routine, but your body will too. Switching to low-impact products typically means leaving harsh chemicals and plastics behind—ingredients that our body does not need to absorb. Even if it means picking up just one of these new products as part as your routine, your wallet and your planet will be better off in the long run.
Continuously Questioning the Norm,
eM and the eMpulse Team