Did you know that 78% of the plastic waste we produce is NOT reclaimed or recycled? Every piece of plastic that has ever been made STILL EXISTS TODAY. Ew Ew Ew! Think about that. Every – single – piece. You can see why zero waste bathroom toiletries would be high on my priority list. Finding sustainable travel toiletries that are TSA-approved was the goal.
Understand that globally, we produce 300 million tons of plastic waste every year, that’s a lot of plastic. Read about the best zero waste bathroom products I’ve tried + used + love.
The Best Zero Waste Toiletries for Travel
Through my travels, I have witnessed firsthand the consequences of our disposable lifestyle with plastic. Plastic has taken over beaches, our oceans, and our lands. After looking around my bathroom I realized how much plastic was in this one room. I started researching zero-waste products.
Looking to live a more sustainable lifestyle. Trying to do my part, and help preserve our planet for future generations. I write about sustainable travel, to help make it easier for others to do the same. I hope you enjoy these zero waste bathroom products as much as I have.
Zero Waste Travel Toothpaste
The tubes are discarded every year and are packed full of ingredients like sodium lauryl sulfate, triclosan, artificial dyes, and preservatives: these are harmful to our health!
The first zero-waste bathroom product I switched to was Bites toothpaste. The fresh mint with activated charcoal is my favorite flavor. I get compliments about how white my teeth look, plus my breath stays minty fresh all day.
Bites will change the way you think about toothpaste; you’ll never go back after you try them. Your first order will come with a full jar of the bites. When it’s empty, keep your jar! You will receive refills in a biodegradable package. The best part? They travel well, without the worry of an exploding toothpaste tube. what?
Zero Waste Deodorant
When I ran out of deodorant for the first time during my zero waste journey. I had a mini panic attack. CRAP, deodorant is going to be tricky since I’ve always had issues with wetness more than the smell. It’s embarrassing… seriously, not even the strongest chemical-laden deodorant on the planet could keep me from sweating. Then I remembered why I was doing this… to save our planet.
Zero Waste Deodorant Options
I’ve tried all of the deodorants above – and my favorite without a doubt is the Mood Coconut Matter all-natural, handmade, vegan, aluminum-free zero waste stick. I use the “Spring” scent and it has a beautiful floral smell that doesn’t give me a funky smell the next morning. It was the longest-lasting odor protection of the different types I’ve tried and kept its fresh scent well into the next morning. The downside is it’s not cheap.
Ethique is aluminum-free botanica. It absorbs sweat with magnesium and is vegan, baking soda free, with a lavender vanilla scent. This zero-waste deodorant is the most sustainable of the bunch coming as a naked bar with a compostable box. I loved the smell of Ethique but the bar was hard, and difficult to apply even with warming before use.
Recommended Read: “13 Unique Eco-Friendly Products” by Her Life Adventures
Currently, I’m using the PAPR stick, with the fresh citrusy scent of grapefruit. I like the way the stick application is smooth and easy. But the scent doesn’t last until the next morning, and I HATE waking up with BO. However, they use FSC-certified paper from responsibly sourced forests, and for every new subscription, PAPR plants a tree in your name!
Stick Up Natural Deodorant is made with bentonite clay powder, arrowroot, magnesium, and zinc, and can last up to 3-4 months. My favorite scent is the black lavender, but I didn’t like how clumpy it was. The stick would cover up the stink for a few hours, but I was having to reapply at least once a day.
What I love about these zero waste deodorants is that they are all TSA friendly like the bites toothpaste.
Zero Waste Toiletries: Shampoo
My next sustainable lifestyle switch was to Plaine Products, a zero-waste bathroom product company that delivers! They and the people that use their products are not adding more plastic bottles to the thousands of pounds of plastic already in our oceans.
Recommended Read: “Zero Waste Cleaning Products“ by Her Life Adventures
I use citrus lavender shampoo & conditioner. They smell amazing and make my hair feel clean and healthy. The shampoo is all-natural and keeps my hair cleaner for longer without getting greasy. This means fewer showers, less water waste. We don’t NEED to shower every day, you’re wasting water. I turn the shower off to soap up and wash my hair. Depending on the season I only shower a few times a week because I’m letting my body naturally balance itself.
The mission: Elimination of single-use plastics. Two sisters developed a vegan, cruelty-free, non-toxic, all-natural beauty product line. The best part? It gets delivered right to your door. For a refill, send the bottles back for recycling and swap out your pump for the new bottles you receive. Rinse your old bottles, and return them with the return label provided. Plaine Products also makes body wash, body lotion, and hand wash to make your transition to zero waste even smoother!
Naked Bar Options
I get my naked bar soaps from Moon River Soap Company, a local shop near my house (they also deliver! Yey!). The naked bar soaps are zero waste and all-natural. Each hand-poured bar from Moon River Soap Company is made with omega-rich olive oil, nurturing botanicals, and certified 100% pure essential oils. Soap is non-GMO, free from petrochemicals + sulfates + synthetic fragrance, or phthalates. The olive oil used in the soaps contains super antioxidants vitamin E + beta carotene that can stimulate cell regeneration.
Zero Waste Shower Accessories
Snag hemp, all-natural pouf, or hemp soap bag to give your skin a healthy glow. The pouf is washable so it will last longer than the plastic ones, plus it feels better on your skin.
Don’t forget to get a Moon River soap to go with your hemp pouf… They offer anti-inflammatory options that can replenish dry and sensitive skin, options to help balance troubled acne, eczema, and psoriasis.
Feminine Products
On average, women use between 11 and 30 tampons per cycle. Over a lifetime, that adds up to between 5,000 and 14,000 tampons per woman. The environmental impact of this is vast. It’s estimated that a woman averaging 20 tampons or pads per cycle burns through 250 to 300 pounds of products, applicators, and wrappers in a lifetime. I stopped using tampons about 3 years ago now. I made the switch to the DivaCup and never looked back. The DivaCup is zero waste, reusable, cost-effective, and can be worn for up to 12 hours!
Toilet Tissue for a Zero Waste Bathroom
If every household in the United States replaced just one roll of virgin fiber toilet paper (500 sheets) with 100 percent recycled ones, we could save 423,900 trees.
Who Gives A Crap delivers environmentally friendly made toilet paper right to your door. Click HERE to get $10 off your first order! Plus they donate 50% of profits to help build toilets for those in need. To date, they’ve donated over $1,300,000 to charity and saved thousands of trees, water, and energy. Not bad for a toilet paper company!
For the more adventurous consumer, there’s the bidet. Almost 270,000 trees a day are either flushed or dumped into landfills. 10 percent of that total is attributable to toilet paper. Japan was my first international trip + first bidet experience.
Bidets are more popular outside of North America. I prefer using them over toilet paper, so I bought one to use at home. For $30 USD I’ve saved tons of money on toilet paper, and who knows how many trees (probably a lot!) I love how CLEAN I feel after using the bathroom.
We, the Privileged
For those of us who have a choice as a consumer…
It’s time to say NO to single-use plastic.
For those of us with the freedom of speech, it’s time to speak up for environmental justice.
The time to act is YESTERDAY, our planet is dying.
The science is undeniable and WE- the human inhabitants are the ones killing it.
Zero Waste Activism
- Make small changes towards a zero-waste bathroom + single-use plastic-free planet.
- This is no longer a matter of if we WANT to be “environmentally friendly”.
Truthfully it’s not easy. You have to learn what is causing the environmental disasters and how. You have to research the company that makes the product so you know if they use sustainable practices. Shopping locally helps reduce CO2 admissions from shipping. There are so many little things you can do easily that make a huge difference. If our nations and the politicians running them continue to take this environmental emergency seriously- we the people MUST. It’s up to us. Consider others that are suffering at your expense – the plastic waste making it across oceans and polluting drinking water. Think of the future generations. Your kids, your family, your grandkids. They are the ones that will be left to clean up the mess our planet has become.
Will they thank us for the condition we left the planet in 30 years from now?
I can’t imagine they will
Or will they be like my generation? Millennials, Gen Z, we’ve been learning about climate change and the dangers it presents since we were kids. We’ve grown up scared and anxious in a world where the climate crisis it’s not taken seriously. Watching the horrible effects of the lack of action that previous generations have taken, KNOWING what we must do but without the power to make the decisions that could change everything.
Growing up it’s always been “X% emissions reduction in 10 years”…
20 years later – “X% of emissions reductions by 2020”
Today, it’s “achieve a 100% clean energy economy and net-zero emissions no later than 2050.”
Zero Waste Actions Must Take Place Now
SERIOUSLY?! THAT IS 30 YEARS FROM NOW! That is not nearly fast enough. I understand that making systematic changes doesn’t happen overnight. It takes time, years. But lowering car emissions isn’t the only solution we should be working towards. Why are companies still using plastic for everything instead of switching to compostable plastic or bamboo? Because of money. Why are toxic chemicals still being used in the makeup and clothing industries?
The solutions are there, it’s a matter of getting companies to make the switch even if they don’t want to because it will hurt the bottom line. The politicians who have the power to make these changes do not act. Instead, we get promises of change that we won’t even be alive to see. These are the same people who have been “working on climate change” since the 80’s when I was born. So I’ll be in my late 60’s IF we meet that goal?!
How many generations will it take to come through on these promises?
How many generations must suffer and clean up the mess of a planet their parent’s left them?
YES. I AM ANGRY. Our planet is dying, and we have the power to heal her. Everyone should be angry. Just as we should all be taking responsibility for contributing and correcting what we have individually done.
What are your favorite zero waste products? I’d love to hear about the switches you’ve made to live a more sustainable lifestyle!
Comment below and let me know your thoughts on the products I’m recommending! Don’t forget to pin it!
36 comments
On the net zero target, it feels further than previous targets, but only because previous targets never said when it would be 100%. That’s why most countries & companies with a plan to meet the net zero by 2050 target usually also has a 40-50% target by 2030. Before the 2050 target was set, there was no timeframe for when 100% should be reached.
The reason why a net zero target was deemed essential after past attempts of incremental improvement, is because despite great gains in energy efficiency and renewables, the energy demand kept outpacing the improvement, and people realised that unless you plan from the other end, the transition efforts can’t catch up. The previous way of top-driven effort also encountered ceiling limits in how fast and how far countries could go, because it didn’t result in another thing that people realised was neglected before but is actually crucial to fully decarbonise: the public changing the culture of energy use and consumption.
-Xennial environmentalist scientist who paid attention throughout
Yep, that’s it in a nutshell. It’s just upsetting to learn about the issue and dangers of climate change my whole life and see little to no progress on us reversing the effects/changing the culture in the U.S. There are still cities that don’t even have a recycling program. Then even if they do – only a small percentage of those materials are actually recycled, with most still ending up in landfills. The public knowledge and willingness to change hasn’t progressed here, in the area I grew up in.
I recently saw an add for “who gives a crap” on instagram and thought their packaging was fantastic. I’d like to try the bites toothpaste and I myself got a bidet last year to limit toilet paper use. I still need to work on eliminating my shampoo and soap plastic bottles.
Our daughter has introduced us to several zero waste products for home and travel. I love that the deodorants are aluminum free and that was s big reason to switch. But my biggest wish was that we put power near the toilet when we did our renovation so I could install a bidet. I sure got spoiled with them in Japan.
This is such a useful post not only for when travelling but for everyday life too. We all need to be more mindful of the products we use but especially on the road when it can be harder to dispose of items and also where it might impact the environment more.
Whoa! Never knew this wide range of zero waste toiletries! I will look for every opportunity to lay my hands on them. I like the stuff that has gone into making these.
I’m angry too. And very worried for the future of our planet and our children. You are so right: we cannot delay action. It shocks me how much plastic waste I accumulate, even though I go out of my way to avoid buying plastic when there is an alternative. I think what I take from this post is that I need to try harder to find those alternatives. If they are not presented to me in the supermarket, I tend to give in rather than walk away. Time to change and work harder! And BTW, I agree completely about bidets. So much cleaner and more natural. Great post with lots of ideas!
I love finding new eco-friendly products to travel with, so I really enjoyed reading your list and will have to look into some of them!
Love these eco friendly products . Would love to try a few items .
These are great suggestions! The bathroom is such an easy place to transition to zero waste! We started making small switches in the last couple of years to be a little more green. I love the Whoe Gives A Crap toilet rolls – one box lasts us a lifetime! It’s such a simple swap to make that makes a huge difference to the environment! Thanks for sharing your recommendations!
The TP is awesome, I prefer the thicker type because the thin ones stick a bit hahahaha and yea – in the last couple years we’ve only had to order like 3 boxes.
Wow, what a fabulous post. Loved the research on the waste and consequences accompanying each choice. I appreciate being introduced to other options on products. I too have been experimenting to do my bit. Have you tried crystal deodorant? It’s not for everyone but it lasts ‘forever.’ Thank for this.
I haven’t tried that type of deodorant yet! But now i’m going to have to! I like experimenting with different brands/products to see which ones are the best for me – great job for starting the initiative to transition, and thank you so much for the suggestion 🙂
All these are new to me zero waste brands, which only means that I’m glad there are more out there! I am now planning a road trip and just might grab a few of these…
They’re eco friendly, zero waste, and travel friendly! It’s just one more step to a plastic free planet 🙂
I actually recently switched to Bite for toothpaste! I’m hoping to slowly swap out all of my bathroom products to be more zero-waste, thanks for some new suggestions 🙂
What do you think of the bites? They took a bit to get used to, but then after using them for awhile I tried regular toothpaste and OMG. It was awful! It burned my mouth because of how strong it was, and I gladly continued to use bites haha
What a helpful and comprehensive list, thank you! It can be very time consuming to research the best companies, so I’m pinning this for later. We use versions of some of these, but are always looking for more ways to improve. We like Silver Falls deodorant and finally got bidets last year– yay!
Yeyyy bidets!! My partner hates them because of how dirty they can get… even though he never cleans the toilet lol
Last week on shark tank there was a zero waste company called Blueland that got me interested in adding zero waste products to our home. Recently, we started practicing zero food waste.
Glad to know about these tips and ideas that can help to conserve nature and environment. I have used bidet toilet seat in my country and I know how hygienic clean I feel. I would love to try the Diva cups. Have been hearing a lot about it.
Loved reading about these products!! I’ll have to try some 🙂
Wow thanks for putting together this list of products! So helpful.
This is so great! I looked into the toothpaste before because of the decreasing plastic use. I love it! And it is way less of a mess! Thank you for sharing these products! I am trying to live a more sustainable lifestyle as well!
These are all great products. I think that leaving as little behind as possible is something that everyone should strive for.
this was interesting. i would love to try the Bites Toothpaste! thanks for sharing this was informative!
while we used to properly dispose our shampoo bottles so that they can be recycled, I am now shifting to shampoo bars as much as we can so as to further reduce solid wastes in the house.
We have started trying to use more zero waste things in our home and we are doing okay with it. I see so much wastage when we travel. there is a wide range of products to try here.
A lot of great information here. I had never heard of anything like bites toothpaste. I will have to check it out and see what I think about it. I would honestly love to have a bidet instead of toilet paper. But it might be hard finding a place to install one in the house.
the shampoo bars are some of the few efforts we do to help eliminate trash and waste in the bathroom. there are also refilling stations i see around the metro wherein you can bring your own container and just refill the things you need like body wash, shampoo and liquid soap. I guess these are fine as well than buying shampoo in containers every month.
We just started using Hemp soap and it makes such a difference on our skin. I love the way it feels.
ohhh I haven’t tried the soap yet! good suggestion 🙂
I find this interesting!
I absolutely love this post! Most of these products I haven’t heard of even though I’ve been researching about zero waste. I really want to stop using paper and plastic products. I think of all the money I can save plus not having to pay for garbage and the environmental impact. The thought of doing good and saving possibly thousands for years is a win win. Thanks for this post!
Great ideas! Thank you for this article; I wish more people knew about these products. I get naked bar soaps from locals; I make chap sticks for my family and friends – and store them in tin containers – and I attempted to make my own shampoo 9sadly that still needs some work. Besides we never accept single-use plastic bags (which should be the norm but sadly where I live it’s not). I haven’t heard about the bites toothpaste, sounds like something I’ll be switching to soon. Thanks for the tip.
WOW! You have made some incredible switches already, congrats! The bites toothpaste, Dropps laundry/kitchen cleaning packets, and the Plaine shampoo/conditioner are my 3 fav products. They’re all zero waste, I dont have to go to the store to get them, and they’re all 100% vegan!