Life Without Plastic

 One of my goals for Life is to minimize my use of plastics as much as possible. To that end, I have made all the usual switches that everyone hears about: a reusable water bottle instead of one-use bottles purchased at the store, beeswax wraps instead of sandwich baggies, and saying "no" to straws and/or buying metal ones (and using them).

I'm also doing a few other, not so mainstream things like: using a bamboo hair comb & hair brush, using bamboo toothbrushes, using tooth tabs instead of tooth paste, even switching from dental floss in a plastic carton to floss in a small glass vial. 

Two items I have found recently are in the trial stages right now, and if they actually do what they say they do I'm pretty excited about them.

The first one is a laundry detergent called  True Earth  It is a dehydrated detergent sheet that goes into the washing machine either whole or ripped up. The packaging is not only a LOT smaller than those huge plastic tubs, but it's also biodegradable and compostable! I have washed three or four loads with it so far I have no complaints at all: the clothes are clean and smell good.

The second one is a line of cleaning supplies from a company called  Blueland  At first I was a little put off by the plastic squirt bottles that arrived in the mail. I mean, the whole point is to NOT have plastic bottles. But they are refillable, so theoretically I will not have to buy another one ever again. The cleaning solution is what you buy over and over again - and this arrives in a biodegradable & compostable packaging in the form of a tablet that you dissolve in water. It took a good hour to desolve the tablets this morning, but once they were gone I went through the house and tried each one out. I am happy to say my house is quite clean now. The mirror in the bathroom is shiny and the vanity is sparkling, the counter tops in the kitchen are squeaky clean and even the ancient faucet in the sink looks like new again.

Next on my list of products to try is a solid shampoo & conditioner by the company called  HiBar   I've heard good things about them and am eager to try them out!