#30DayGreen Day 8: Green Bathroom

Today's #30DayGreen Post by Audrey Richard.

[Disclaimer: I am not affiliated in any way to any of the brands I mention in this post. I personally like (or don't like as a matter of fact) the products I refer to. The point only is to share some ideas that can very possibly, if by any chance you want to easily make them yours, be applied or adjusted to other brands and products.]

The bathroom is probably the place where I've always been the least careful about the planet, except maybe for not wasting water too much. When it comes to cosmetics, I've long been under the odd impression that I only had the possibility to be either eco-friendly by buying organic products exclusively, or (almost) not at all if I chose to keep buying the "regular" kind. I guess there are excellent reasons to embrace the organic beauty concept and I do to some extent, but it can be discouraging somehow. The thing is, it is NOT an easy task to understand the rules governing this area in France. And it seems that things aren't any clearer in the US either, and possibly elsewhere. As it happens, I buy several items from one of the most well‑known French organic brands, with reputable eco‑labels and all, and yes, they do contain 99% of natural ingredients, which is obviously very nice. But as you may or may not know, "natural" does not mean "organic" and in those products I use, the proportion of organically grown ingredients can be as "high" as 40% but also as low as 10%.

Don't get me wrong, the brands aren't fooling anybody. The rules to get the labels are what they are. Plus, the low percentages can perfectly make sense since not all of the ingredients can actually be grown. I guess I thought things were different somehow. Anyway, the good thing is, most of these brands have many ways besides organic agriculture to protect the environment and that is not a misconception. Inversely, the fact that the other brands are not identified as organic doesn't mean they are not eco‑friendly. Some of them are actually very committed to reducing their environmental impact as well.

Adjusting your own habits, no matter what brands you choose, is also likely to reduce your impact. So, in addition to the tips you'll find in this link that Paige Brown shared at the very beginning of the #30DayGreen challenge, here are some other ways to make your bathroom "greener". Not perfect ways pretending to result in no impact on the planet whatsoever, of course, but just some ideas for you to think about next time you have to buy new products.

#1 Get "naked"

I'm pretty sure that most of us use many personal care products that are liquid: shower gel, shampoo, conditioner, facial cleanser, scrubs..., which inevitably represent a huge amount of plastic and/or cardboard packaging. All this liquid and packaging is difficult to recycle. However, many of the bath products we use on a daily basis exist as solid items that are sold (almost) "naked". So last time, instead of buying my usual bottles of shampoo, shower gel and body scrub, I went to Lush and got those products, simply wrapped in (funny) recycled paper:

Even though Lush is surely a brand with many human and environmental values that they promote the fun way and that you might be willing to encourage, you'll probably find the same types of solid items in other brands as well. Actually, there's no need to necessarily look for brands with a clear eco‑friendly positioning. For example, you can simply choose to switch your both liquid facial wash and gel shower for any face and body dermatological bar. This doesn't seem to be much but still represents two plastic bottles that are not in your bathroom anymore. And water that doesn't end up in the final product. And less energy needed to deliver it.

#2 When the bottle is empty, well... just refill it

If for some reasons you don't like the idea of using solid items and don't want to give up the liquid ones, there are still solutions to fight the "over‑packaging" issue: don't throw your empty bottles away and just buy refills which exist for shower gels and shampoos mostly. In all honesty, these are not too hard to find but selection can be limited. I personally don't mind the limited selection, but others may be disappointed by this. However, refills are really worth a look since they represent about 75% less plastic than the conventional packaging. Some brands also provide refills for other kinds of products such as moisturizers.

Unfortunately, the concept of refilling is limited in areas of cosmetics such as makeup or perfumery. So, it is probably even more worth noting that Thierry Mugler and Kenzo are the only major luxury brands I can think of that have developed refillable bottles for their best‑selling fragrances. Considering what a perfume represents in terms of packaging (bottle and box) and that many people stick with the same one for years, it is too bad that other brands haven't followed this lead yet, at least for their best‑sellers. (Please let me know if you actually know other brands doing the same thing).

As for makeup, packaging waste is also huge, unsurprisingly. Caroline Hill, student at the University of Illinois, seems to believe that things could get much better and proves it with the entire line of sustainable cosmetics for Sephora relying on the use of refills she designed for her industrial design class. I couldn't find whether or not the brand would be likely to adopt her great idea but let's hope it will be inspiring at least.

#3 Treat yourself the "altruistic way"

Sometimes there are ways to make personal care not so... personal. When I was looking for possible solutions to make my own bathroom "greener", I realized that several brands are leading campaigns so that our cosmetic purchases result in a little more than clean body and hair or moisturized skin. For example, Lush (again, sorry) encourages us to collect and bring them back the black pots (see the first pic) they use for their liquid products. When you reach 5, you not only get a free product but also help them recycle their packaging into new pots or... scarfs. These are then used to gift‑wrap your purchases the eco‑friendly, very original and - cherry on the cake - really pretty way. The girl at the shop explained to me that it is a Japanese tradition to offer gifts (among other purposes) wrapped in a square of nice fabric named furoshiki. The person opens it and, of course, keeps the gift while you keep the fabric and can reuse it.

If you are interested in such "win win" campaigns, have a look at the commitment of French brand Yves Rocher to biodiversity protection and reforestation. Basically the point is that if you buy one of the products they selected (eco‑friendly themselves), a tree will be planted in exchange (20, 942, 074 have been so far as I write), the goal being to reach 50 millions by the end of 2015. Likewise, The Body Shop has committed to donate to charities all profits raised by the selling of one of their lip butters (the charities depend on the country: USA, UK, France.

Find other brands and products in partnership with charities:

http://www.totalbeauty.com/content/gallery/favorite-charities

http://www.sheknows.com/sheknows-cares/articles/968267/5-charitable-beauty-products-that-give-back

http://www.divinecaroline.com/112923/113871-cosmetics-cause-charity-minded-makeup-products#0

I'm pretty sure that when I will tell the cynical people around me that I am doing these things (#1 and #3 mostly for the time being), I'm gonna be answered that it is for "good karma" only. Indeed. I just don't see what could be so wrong about that.