Upgrade your Bathroom Now With These Affordable and Sustainable Swaps

By: Paxton Ruzicka

Published: April 2, 2023

As we look for ways to live a more sustainable and earth-first lifestyle, we can look internally at the choices we make every single day. These choices have a huge impact on our wallets, our chemical exposure, and our carbon footprint. You can make a positive impact with a few simple changes to your bathroom such as these sustainable swaps.

I am not saying to go throw away all of your things and buy the eco-friendly version of them, but instead, move forward with more sustainable bathroom products in the future. More sustainable meaning higher quality and more environmentally friendly.

Generally, choosing a higher quality product is going to cost you more money upfront, but in reality, it’ll typically last you a looooong time and save you money over its useful life.

Benefits of making sustainable swaps for your bathroom

So, we touched on a few of them, but what are the benefits of buying sustainable bathroom products?

Environmental Impact

For one, the environmental impact of choosing a durable product reduces the amount of emissions released into the atmosphere. These products are not disposable, they are reusable, and often made from recycled materials.

Less natural resources are going into the production of these products because the companies making them have a purpose and a promise. They have a vision with the future in mind. For example, maintaining living wages, safe working conditions, reducing inequality, supporting local communities, educating, investing in change, the list goes on and on.

When we choose to spend our hard-earned money to support these companies, we are directly supporting the good they are doing. You can be proud to know your choices are contributing to a promising future.

Better for your wallet

Your wallet will also thank you. The initial fee made to purchase a sustainable product might have you dining out less often but over the course of its lifetime you’ll save plenty.

Better for your health

Putting better eco-friendly products in your home can guarantee a safer and greener living space. I personally try to avoid unnecessary exposure to toxic chemicals at all costs. Especially products that come in contact with your skin, which is A LOT of them. Dish soap, shampoo, toothpaste, bedding, towels, facial cleansers, lotion, just to name a few. Minimal, natural, and non-toxic ingredients are exactly what I look for before making a purchase.

Sustainable Swaps I Love

Safety Razors

When we think of razor, we think of those 6-packs of disposal razors that come in plastic packaging. You use each one a handful of times until it’s dull and into the landfill it goes. But that is not the future. Instead, vintage metal razors are making a comeback.

When you ditch the plastic razor and invest in a quality safety razor, like one from Leaf Shave, you are choosing to be part of the solution. Make a single purchase, swap out the recyclable blazes when necessary, and boom, you have a reusable metal razor that can last you a lifetime. You are making a commitment to care for a product that is going to treat you as good as you treat it.

Electric Toothbrush

Another great way to significantly reduce your waste is to swap out your disposable toothbrush. According to SURI “each year 4 billion toothbrushes are thrown away; enough to circle the earth 12 times.” That fact alone should be enough to have you looking for an alternative.

Electric toothbrushes are not only reusable but last a long time while occasionally having to switch out the head. The most eco-friendly toothbrush brand out there today, SURI has taken it a step further. An electric toothbrush with recycled plant-based heads. Made with a sleek aluminum body, this toothbrush has some really outstanding features that stands up to the competition.

Another comparable priced toothbrush is by Georganics made of all recyclable components. With five brushing modes and three speeds, this toothbrush can stay charged for up to 5 weeks.

By the way, if you can’t afford an electric toothbrush, at the moment, a bamboo toothbrush is a great inexpensive eco-friendly alternative!

Toothpaste

A product that goes hand in hand with your toothbrush, is your toothpaste.

Conventional toothpaste is loaded with ingredients that they don’t necessarily need to be. According to Gold Coast Holistic dental care, ingredients that are added to improve the shelf life, texture, and appearance are the ingredients that lead to adverse health effects. Opt for minimal, pure ingredients.

Now toothpaste is a product that we have found in a plastic tube forever, but that is slowly changing. Toothpaste can now be purchased in a metal tube or a tablet form – both plastic-free. Companies like Bite and Georganics are revolutionizing the toothpaste tablet industry. Packaged in aluminum or glass packaging, these brands use few, clean ingredients that are safe for you and your family.

David’s is a brand different from the rest, because it’s packaged in a metal tube. A metal key comes along with the tube to help you squeeze out every last bit (pretty efficient, if you ask me). As far as I know there is not another brand packaged like this on the market, but I hope to see more in the future.

Mouthwash

While we’re on the topic, another common product with unnecessary dyes, bleaching agents, and additives, is mouthwash. If your mouthwash can be purchased in a huge bottle, at a discount store for a few bucks, it’s probably not what you want to be putting in your body.

Lucky for us, there are a few alternatives. Personally, my favorite is NIX. No alcohol or artificial flavors, NIX mouth waste actually comes in a crystal form that needs to be added to water. Just shake it up until the crystals dissolve and you have a waste-free healthy mouthwash replacement.

Aside from NIX, Georganics has wonderful mouthwash tablets that can be dissolved in water for a personal shot of mouthwash. Super convenient when traveling!

Tree-free toilet paper

When it comes to toilet paper, you are literally flushing your money down the toilet. But is there anything we can really do about it? Not really, no. If you think I have a solution, I absolutely do not lol. But on the bright side, you can choose a TP that is recycled and chem-free!

Companies like Reel and Who Gives A Crap have created a product that reuses product that would otherwise end up in the landfill, totally tree-free too. Made from the pulp of bamboo, this TP is free from bleach and dyes, safe for you and for the environment.

Shampoo bar

If you aren’t familiar, a shampoo bar is exactly as it sounds. A solid form of shampoo. Similar to body soap, but for your hair. Shampoo bars are typically concentrated giving you a good amount of lather with little effort.  

If you want to minimize your bathroom waste, or go zero waste entirely, a shampoo bar is a must. I love that shampoo bars are 1.) often clean and natural ingredients, 2.) concentrated so they last a long time, and 3.) often come without packaging. If you want to learn more about bar shampoo (and a few of my favorites), check out this link!

Whether you want to contribute a little bit less to the landfill or protect yourself from some of the nasty toxins out there, take a step back and analyze the products you are using and purchasing. Your wallet and the planet will thank you!

This post contains affiliate links meaning I may earn a commission, at no extra cost to you, if you make a purchase using these links. That being said, I only recommend products I love and trust.