Minimal Waste bathrooms are not unhygienic, they are not smelly, and you will not be a "dirty hippy" if you apply some or all of these tips or tricks to your everyday life. People wont look at your differently or think you are unprofessional at work, but you will create much less garbage and even much less recycling even as well. These are all things that held me back from altering my bathroom routine to be more environmentally friendly and none of them are true. I hope that if these are your only worries then my saying them here in writing, and letting you know they aren't true, will help to move you forward into trying some if not all of what I have written below.
I was lucky in this department when I began my Minimal Waste journey because I have never used many bathroom products. I was never the girl who bought millions of creams or solutions to put on my face or hands or even body washes or masks. Right now, I have less than 5 things in the shower including my razor. And probably less than 10 things in the washroom total including toilet paper and a towel for showering.
Let's start with those things in the shower that come in bottles. These are the shampoos, the conditioners, the body washes, and the face scrubs. Oh how they lather as you scrub them over your skin and oh how they smell so good as you breathe deeply in the thick fog and mist that is the hot rush of water in the shower. But oh how they fill up the recycle bin when you throw out those bottles and oh how they ruin the water as usually they are not made with biodegradable ingredients.
These things are easily replaceable and honestly you wont even miss your old products because what you will buy and use is even better. First, if you do nothing else, I challenge you to finish all your washes and shampoos until you have one of each; there is no reason to have eight different body washes and that is the minimalist part of the challenge. All that money you save from not springing for the buy "4 get 1 free" at the mall (you know what I am talking about), you will spend on a quality product you can replace as it finishes. If you do nothing else, then do this: only buy what you are going to use and do not waste products.
Next I challenge you to find a humane and natural company like Lush to purchase your next round of products from. "But it is expensive!" It is just as expensive as the other products you would buy, and honestly I find the shampoo and soap bars last longer than the shampoo and body wash bottles I used to buy and they are about the same price. "But they wont smell as good!" This too is false, they smell AMAZING, if not BETTER than the products I used to buy. Natural scents like lavender and patchouli are available, and they smell like heaven! And even scents like bubblegum and cotton candy, are available if you look around. "I don't know what to get!" Now here is a statement I actually feel pity for.
It is intimidating purchasing from a company that is completely foreign to you for the first time with products that are very different from what you are used to. But if you are like me, and aren't really comfortable talking to someone in the store without having at least a bit of experience, the online shop is actually very informative and helpful with Lush. I purchased one soap, one conditioner, and one shampoo with some family members to make the shipping cheaper, and I can honestly say I have saved money since switching to these products because the quality is so good. And, most stores will let you test the products so you know what you are getting into. I also found online reviews to be helpful. But, the best is to test it yourself! If you try one shampoo bar and don't like it, fine, try another. I know lots of people who use the shampoo bars but not the conditioner and vice versa, every little bit helps.
The other thing to switch up is bottled hand soap. Switch yourself to a yummy smelling bar! This saves on money and packaging; these I will purchase from Lush or a farmers market as well but any natural and biodegradable soap will do. There are some companies that do package in 100% recycled plastic for liquid soaps and those are fine too but I find they don't last as long as bar soap anyways and they are more expensive. So I just skip them and use bars. I keep a stock pile of these too so that when one is gone, I always have back up. One day I would love to try to make my own, but that is an activity for another day.
For brushing and flossing, here is the one place I cheat a bit in the bathroom and why I am Minimal Waste and not Zero Waste. We are all going to have the products that we cannot give up. But, to be fair, I do compromise and I will find a solution soon, I just haven't found one yet. I brush with a mechanical tooth brush at night as I have a crowded mouth and need the deeper clean, and then in the morning, I do use a bamboo tooth brush. This makes the plastic head on my mechanical one last twice as long, which is good, and also I floss with completely biodegradable floss as well (the package is also made from recycled plastic). I do use Listerine once every week or so as well, but I am looking into replacing that with something better for the environment. The toothpaste I use is just your everyday Colgate or Crest, I cannot find a toothpaste that has fluoride in it that is packaged without plastic but I am working on it. Baby steps!
Another product I use is coconut butter from the Bulk Barn to remove my make up. I use this with a wet face cloth and it always does the trick! My make up itself I have not approached yet but I also haven't bought any products since I went on my Minimal Waste journey, so as those things die I will look into replacing them. I noticed that Lush has a make up line but it doesn't include bright lip sticks. But I saw that Burt's Bees has lip sticks now but they are in plastic tubes. It is all trial and error on this journey!
Toilet paper is something that a lot of people ask me about, I just recently switched to bamboo toilet paper and found a company that I don't mind. It isn't as fluffy as Charman but I am just wiping my behind so it doesn't really matter to me. It is 100% biodegradable and made by a sustainability company. No trees are cut down to make it, which is something I support. Most people "need the fancy stuff" and to them I say suck it up! It is just butt wipe and this is where the environment and future has to be more important than your own spoiled comfortability.
Every little bit helps and I will continue to perfect my bathroom process, but so far this is where I stand. I hope that some of these things can help to inspire you to be open to the idea of switching out some of your harmful products to the environment and try something new. There is always something we can always improve on and change for the better. I encourage everyone in my life to try at least one thing from this list and see how you feel. I bet you'll like it and if you do, feel free to reach out to me, I would love to hear about your experience!