Swaps to Minimize Plastic.

Start Where the Plastic Lives

Here is the thing nobody selling you a “zero-waste starter kit” wants to say: the most sustainable product is the one you already own. Use it up. Then replace it with something that will not outlive you in a landfill.

That is the whole philosophy. No guilt, no aesthetic overhaul, no $200 bamboo haul. Just better choices, one at a time. My grandmother never called it zero waste. She called it not being wasteful.

The 20 Swaps

Grouped by where they live in your bathroom, so you can tackle one zone at a time.

Shower tools

• 01Hemp or sisal scrubbies instead of plastic loofahs and poufs. Plastic poufs shed, trap water, and get funky fast. Knit hemp scrubbies from Etsy makers are usually from small businesses, so your money lands in a real person’s pocket.
• 02A wood back brush with natural bristles. Look for sisal, boar, or tampico bristles and a long handle instead of a plastic shower brush.
• 03A hemp or linen back-washing strap. Handles at each end, cloth in the middle. Ideal if you prefer fabric to bristles.
• 04A dry brush with a wooden body and plant bristles. Same ritual, zero plastic. Go gentle; this is circulation and exfoliation, not sanding a deck.

Hair tools

• 05A bamboo or wood hairbrush with wooden pins. Kind to your scalp and built to last for years.
• 06A wood or horn comb. Smooth teeth, less static, and nothing to throw away.

Mouth care

• 07A bamboo toothbrush. Honest note: the bristles are usually still nylon, which does not biodegrade. Pull them out with pliers before composting the handle.³
• 08Toothpaste tablets or powder in a glass jar. No squeezed-out tube that cannot be recycled. Choose a formula with fluoride or talk to your dentist if cavity protection is a concern.
• 09Silk or plant-based floss in a refillable glass or metal container. Heads up: silk is not vegan. Plant-based floss is the alternative if that matters to you.
• 10A stainless steel tongue scraper. One purchase, basically forever.

Bars, blades, and deodorant

• 11Bar soap instead of bottled body wash. Bar soap cleans just as well as liquid. One Swiss life cycle analysis found it cuts greenhouse emissions by about a third, largely because of packaging and the energy-intensive ingredients in liquid soap.^1,2
• 12A conditioner bar to pair with your shampoo bar. Your ends will thank you, and your shower shelf will finally breathe.
• 13A safety razor instead of disposable cartridges. Metal, with replaceable blades. Many cities and mail-back programs accept used blades; keep them in a lidded tin until then.
• 14Shave soap or a bar plus a natural-bristle brush. Swap the aerosol can for a lather you build yourself.
• 15Deodorant in a paper tube or refillable metal case. Same job, way less plastic. Patch test first if you are new to baking soda formulas.

Face and odds and ends

• 16Reusable cotton or bamboo rounds for makeup removal. Wash them in a mesh bag so they do not vanish into the washing machine.
• 17Wooden or paper-stem cotton swabs, or a reusable silicone swab. Small swap, huge volume over a year.

Bathroom setup

• 18A draining soap dish made of wood, cork, or ceramic. This is the secret to every bar swap on this list. Bars that sit in water go mushy; bars that drain last much longer.
• 19Glass pump bottles refilled from bulk. Fill them with hand soap or lotion from a local refill shop. Pretty, practical, and endlessly reusable.
• 20A wooden toilet brush with a ceramic or metal holder, plus a cotton or linen shower curtain. Ditch the vinyl curtain. Fabric versions can go in the wash instead of the trash.

Shampoo Bars From Brands Worth Backing

If you are going to switch, let your money do some good. These are small or founder-led brands, many of them Black-, Latina-, Indigenous-, women-, or LGBTQ+-owned. I checked each ownership claim against the brand or a credible outlet, because “owned by” labels get passed around online without anyone checking.

Black-owned and Black-founded

• Briogeo. Founded by Nancy Twine, who built it into a major hair care brand. It was sold in 2022, so this is Black-founded rather than Black-owned today. Its Aloe + Oat Milk Ultra Soothing 3-in-1 Cleansing Bar ($25) is fragrance-free and works on hair, face, and body.^5,6
• Strands of Faith. Black- and woman-owned, founded by Ameka Coleman. The Clarify Moisture Shampoo Bar is made for dry, textured hair with baobab, avocado, and castor oils plus kaolin clay. A great pick for curls and coils.^7,8
• Bobeam Natural Products. Handmade, 100% vegetable-soap bars with no sulfates. The brand says one 5 oz bar outlasts two 16 oz bottles of shampoo. Essence featured it as a Black-owned favorite.⁹
• 4 Elements. Green America’s Black-owned body care guide lists the Silk Clarifying Shampoo Bar ($15), cold-processed with silk amino acids and several oils, wrapped in paper.¹⁰

Women-, Latina-, and Indigenous-owned

• Nopalera. Latina-owned by Sandra Velasquez and built around prickly pear. Bars run $26 each. Pricey, yes, but concentrated bars last.^11,12
• Fat and the Moon. Women-owned and herbalist-formulated, founded by Rachel Budde. Its pH-balanced rosemary and clary sage bar is handmade in small batches in Nevada City, California.^13,14
• Nolé. Latina-founded by Guatemalan entrepreneur Alida Boer. Its bars feature batana oil sourced from a Honduran co-op whose harvesters are Indigenous Miskito people.^15,16
• Jack59. Indigenous-owned, women-led, a certified B Corp, and handmade in Edmonton, Alberta. Proof that small can be serious.¹⁷

LGBTQ+-owned

• MyHairFriend. A 100% LGBTQIA+ owned and certified business (NGLCC LGBTBE) in Springfield, Missouri. It makes plant-based, color-safe shampoo and conditioner bars, each infused with a gemstone.¹⁸
• Etsy makers. LGBTQ+-owned shampoo bars were the hardest category to find. Searching Etsy for “queer owned” or “LGBTQ owned” soap is a good way to find small makers. Check each shop’s About page to confirm.

If you just want a proven bar

• Ethique. Started in 2012 in founder Brianne West’s Christchurch kitchen and one of the brands that made solid bars mainstream. A reliable syndet option if you just want a bar that works.¹⁹

Less Plastic, Same Glow

This is the same reason À La Glow is 95% plastic-free and waterless. When you take the water out, you need less packaging and fewer products. One concentrated formula can do the work of several bottles. Less clutter, less waste, more barrier love.

Start with one swap this week. Then another next month. That is how a bathroom changes, and honestly, how habits do too.