When it comes to personal care product packaging (that’s a mouthful), it’s no secret that, if not recycled properly, it contributes enormously to our frightening landfill dilemma every single year. In fact according to Odacite’ “552 million plastic shampoo bottles a year end up in landfill”. And that’s simply shampoo. Imagine adding conditioner, body and facial product containers. That’s a heck of a lot of plastic not being recycled. As of late, pressure has been placed on the beauty industry to reduce its amount of waste. Beautycounter (one of my personal fave brands) is now packaging many of its products in glass recyclable containers. According to the Beautycounter website “whether recycled or in a landfill, glass doesn’t release harmful toxic chemicals…and doesn’t run the risk of ending up in our waterways.” It continues to say that according to the Ellen MacArthur Foundation “it’s estimated that there will be more plastic than fish in the ocean by 2050”. Let it be known that I suck at math…but even I know that’s only twenty nine years away!

Local Toronto company Lovefresh offer’s large size refills for many of it’s products. You’ll find they’re liquid soap beside every sink in my house and now it’s available to purchase in 4L refills. If you’re like me, and you like liquid soap at every sink and shower - this is a great option to cut down on plastic waste. Another way beauty is trying to cut down on waste is formulating shampoo and conditioner in bar form. I won’t lie, this makes me a bit nervous. I do enjoy a big ol’ sudsy dollop of shampoo on my head to lather up, but I’m willing to give a bar of shampoo a try if it means eliminating eight or ten plastic bottles a year. Remember twenty nine years!!!

Here are some shampoo bars I thought looked interesting for you (and I) to try:

Odacite 552M Soap Free Shampoo Bar cleans both body and hair (not sure I’m ready to go there yet) and claims to deliver “professional quality results” for all hair types. One large 552M bars equals three plastic bottles. Available at Detox Market. $39.00.

This new product from Lovefresh come in three fragrances (Rosemary Mint, Lavender Tea Tree, and Sweet Citrus) and has minimal packaging. Again, I’ve been very happy with all the Lovefresh products I’ve tried, and it’s a local Canadian company so a superb option. It’s available through their website or at Collected Joy. $24.00.

My husband always says I’m a marketers dream. Put it in a cute package and Vicki will buy it! He’s not wrong. How adorable is this packaging on Meow Meow Tweet’s shampoo bar? This is also a combo shampoo/body bar and they have a conditioning bar available as well. Buy it at Well.ca. $17.79.

If you would like more info on shampoo bars, check out this great article I found on Earth Bits: The Ultimate Helpful Guide on how to use a Shampoo Bar.

As usual, I’d love to hear your thoughts. Leave them below in the comments!