Have you ever wondered what happens to your empty bottle of shampoo when you throw it out? Have you given a second thought to the plastic wrapped around a new bar of soap after you’ve torn it off? What about that tube of toothpaste after you’ve squeezed out the last bits of its contents?
Unfortunately, personal care products are a significant source of single-use plastic waste but the good news is we can easily create change from our own kitchens. Living a more sustainable lifestyle doesn’t mean having to sacrifice your personal hygiene. With a handful of ingredients, you can easily lessen your single-use plastic waste with more sustainable and all-natural products instead.
Here are a few tips when it comes to creating your DIY body care products:
- DIY body care recipes don’t have to immediately overhaul what you currently have in your bathroom. Throwing out items that you currently have to make room for your ‘waste-free’ products defeats their purpose. Instead, slowly but surely aim to incorporate waste-free products that work for you, after you have finished with what you already have. You can even reuse the containers. Spray bottles from facial mists, body butter tubs can house your homemade version, and glass jars from moisturizers can contain a variety of your own homemade personal care items.
- While going ‘zero-waste’ hasn’t become the norm, it is definitely growing as people learn how empowered they actually are to help protect the environment by making small changes in their own home. With that said, these recipes do call for raw ingredients that obviously come in packaging. If a bulk natural-products store that uses refills and reusable containers isn’t available to you, opt to buy your raw ingredients in bulk instead. This way, you save money as well as lessening your waste from throwing away more packaging from smaller quantities.
Makeup remover
The first step and crucial step in cleansing your skin is taking time to remove makeup. Removing your makeup allows the cleanser to follow to do a more thorough job, prepping your skin and pores to be more open and more efficiently absorb the skincare products that follow.
This makeup remover is ridiculously easy, nourishing for the skin and it does an extremely thorough job in breaking down even the most budge-proof and water-resistant of makeup. All you need are two ingredients and a wide-brimmed jar. To use, simply scoop out a small portion of the makeup remover and treat yourself to a facial makeup-removing massage.
Ingredients:
- ½ cup coconut oil
- 4 drops lavender essential oil
- 1 wide-brimmed jar, where you can easily scoop out the contents with your fingers
Method:
- In a mixing bowl, add the lavender essential oil to the coconut oil and gently incorporate together.
- Transfer the makeup remover to your choice of container.
Toothpaste
The idea behind any quality toothpaste is to firstly clean and rid your teeth of bacteria that it has accumulated throughout the day and night. A clean mouth naturally doesn’t smell bad but you can opt to use peppermint or spearmint essential oil as well to keep your mouth feeling extra fresh.
This DIY toothpaste will save the environment from all the empty tubes of toothpaste you’ve accumulated as all this toothpaste recipe requires is a reusable container to store it in. We’ve added in baking soda to this recipe to gently help whiten teeth as well as turmeric powder which has been known to help remove stains and remineralize teeth. We recommend recycling an old popsicle stick or any sort of flat and sturdy piece to help you scoop out the toothpaste and place it onto your toothbrush which helps keeps things more hygienic.
Ingredients:
- 3 tablespoons coconut oil
- 1 tablespoon baking soda
- ¼ teaspoon turmeric
- 15 drops of spearmint or peppermint essential oil
- 1 small wide-brimmed jar
- One small scooper (You can make a scooper by recycling popsicle sticks)
Method:
- In a warmed mixing bowl, melt the coconut oil.
- Thoroughly mix in the baking soda, turmeric, and essential oils.
- Add to your choice of container.
Whipped Body Butter
If you read the label of some of the most luxurious body butters, you’ll realize that you can easily replicate it at home as making it is simply a matter of mixing and whipping up your choice of nutrient-dense plant-based ingredients.
What’s lovely about body butter is it isn’t complicated to make and your only limit to a custom-made body butter is your imagination. Essentially, all you need is a base moisturizer. That’s it! You can jazz things up by adding your own blend of essential oils and amping up the skin-nourishing ingredients with plant-oils. Try this lovely blend of body butter to save the environment from empty moisturizer tubs and you’ll never feel the need to use a store bought version again.
Ingredients:
- ¼ cup coconut oil
- 3 tablespoons shea butter
- 2 tablespoons cold-pressed avocado oil
- 3 tablespoons vegetable glycerine
- 10 drops rosemary essential oil
- 10 drops bergamot essential oil
Tip: you can use whatever essential oil you like, aim for 20-25 drops for this ratio of ingredients.
1 large wide-brimmed tub, jar or recycled body butter tub.
Method:
- In a double boiler, gently melt the coconut oil and shea butter.
- Turn off the heat and incorporate the rest of the ingredients.
- Allow to cool for an hour in the fridge.
- Take out the body butter and whip it using either a blender, an immersion blender, or an electric hand mix. This will allow your body butter to aerate and be more easily applied.
- Transfer to your body butter tub.
Do you save on single-use plastic waste by making your own personal care products? Share your recipes in the comments below!
