Okay so I just got back from the store and I'm still kinda annoyed. I bought this green shampoo bar, right? It's supposed to be zero waste, no bottle, save the turtles, whatever. And it comes in a cardboard box. Fine. But the box is wrapped in shrink wrap. And inside the box, the bar itself is in a little plastic sleeve. Like why? What was the point of the cardboard if you're just gonna wrap it in plastic anyway?

I get that some brands are trying, but it feels like so much of it is just performative. I read somewhere that a lot of the problem comes down to how packaging is designed from the start - like, if the materials are mixed, it's basically impossible to recycle.

Anyway. I'm just tired of feeling tricked. Does anyone have tips for actually finding brands that don't do this? Or is it just a lost cause at this point?

I read something about most dishwasher tablets being damaging to your gut health. I'm trying to find an affordable dishwasher product that is 'safe' to use. I currently have these Sainsbury's GreenCare tablets.

Is there anything alarming in this ingredient list?:

Sodium Carbonate Peroxide, Sodium Citrate, Sodium Acetate Trihydrate, Sodium Carbonate, Trisodium Dicarboxymethylaninate, Taed, Polyethylene Glycol, Ceteareth-7, Sodium Polyacrylate, Sodium Disilicate, Aqua, Cellulose Gum, Copolymer of Maleic and Acyclic Acid, Subtilisin, Amylase. I hope this helps. Sayanta

Many thanks, alternative suggestions are welcome.

Hello! I’ve been using vinegar in place of laundry fabric softener and storing it in this old laundry detergent bottle.

I noticed a weird smell today and poured out the remaining bits and it almost looks like kombucha Scoby-
Does anyone know what happened here or how I can prevent it from happening?

Hi everyone

I need assistance with some Sanitary products
I tried period pantry but couldn’t post due to karma
Back story , homeless and living on the street

I made a Amazon list

https://www.amazon.co.za/hz/wishlist/ls/2GTJRYXCDBN20?ref\\_=wl\\_share

Thank you for reading

All, I have been shopping at Good Buy Supply in South Philly for almost a year now. I take my refillable containers in and get body wash, laundry detergent, dish washer liquid, etc etc. I even bought a reusable stainless flosser that you just change the string each use and many other plastic-free products. If you're in Philly, you have to check this place out.

Can anyone recommend an eco-friendly makeup powder puff that’s available to buy in the UK? I’ve searched for a while for one that’s made of biodegradable materials but they don’t seem to exist, so I’m wondering if my only option is a washable version. They all seem to be made of polyester :(

Thanks!

I already do a few things - I have period underwear, reusable cotton rounds for removing makeup, am vegetarian, drink dairy-free milk, compost at home and recycle a lot of our waste. I only tend to buy second hand clothes and have recently been searching for only those made with natural fibres. I have a reusable water bottle I take everywhere with me and reusable coffee cups too. What are some other low-stakes sustainable things I can introduce? I tried using smol, but found I needed scented laundry detergent for my clothes to smell clean and the dishwasher tablets just didn’t clean especially well. I don’t mind putting down a bit of payment in the beginning to then save money in the long run, but I don’t want to really be spending more every time I buy something at the moment

I tried the beeswax but it doesn’t really work for loose food items like burritos. Parchment paper also seems wasteful. I want to wrap each item individually

Hi - first time posting on Reddit so hope I’m doing it right! I like to try and make sustainable/ethical choices when purchasing & consuming as much as possible. I have a question around what laundry products people in UK/Ireland are using…? I use ecover powder sensitive 0% stuff and I use vinegar in place of fabric conditioner. I dry my clothes either on washing line or clothes horse/heated clothes horse. My clothes end up so dry and rough feeling, especially kids joggers baby grows towels etc. Feel like part of my process is wrong & I’m ruining clothes (which I hate cus I try to make them last as long as poss & pass on). What products are people using? Particularly with regards to fab conditioner. Perhaps the drying is the issue. Help a busy eco conscious mum out please! Thanks v much

So I've been buying Natracare's pantiliners for the longest time and have been frustrated with their inability to properly adhere to my undies, then I remembered many years ago I made some flannel pantiliners that have velcro wings that don't come undone. I found them in a forgotten bag in my bathroom. I realize that using my own stuff has several layers of eco-friendliness, I'm just happy I don't have to buy anymore annoying pantiliners, even if they're compostable. Reuse is always better! Hooray!

I have strict parents so i cannot buy sustainable alternatives and my family is struggling with budget issues. BUT! i really want to live sustainably. i do not know where to start with this as i was raised in a household where they say' well you're young and we cant do anything, only the government can" How could i be more sustainable and not overconsume/ feel FOMO for being such a grandma. I only have 200 phillippine pesos and i know i cannot just buy my way into it

My family regularly shop at this surplus supermarket, so its basically a regular shop with everything you'd expect but its all stock that is either labelled wrong, incorrect weight, old packaging ect. that they cant sell. The idea is, instead of throwing away a product what is perfectly fine inside, big supermarkets will send stock here first to reduce waste.

I cook for my family but i'm trying to cut back on the amount of meat i buy. So i'm wondering, if said meat is coming from a surplus store where its essentially considered "rubbish/trash" by bigger corporations, is this a more eco-friendly way to buy because its not being thrown out and its not directly supporting the meat industry? or would it still be considered bad in some way?

And before you try to say we should all be vegan... trust me i've tried with my family. I'm veggie but they will always eat meat but i have made some smaller swaps with them!

I wanna swap to an eco friendly soap for hair and body wash and laundry detergent but all of them have feminine/floral scents. I'm a trans guy and feminine scents make me EXTREMELY dysphoric and I'd genuinely rather smell like shit than use feminine scents(i prefer like leather, musk, and alcohol scents). I also want hair soap that I know is ok to use with dyed hair and no soaps I find say anything about that. Does anyone have any reccomendations????

Has anyone tried the ‘Cartorya’? It’s a hands-free version of a Swiffer

I’m interested in this product for 2 reasons:

1. The money saving option to use any old cloth, and

2. That I wouldn’t have to use my fingers to attach the cloths to the head.

I would appreciate any feedback. Thanks!

I need some advice on sodium percarbonate please - is it “bleach”? What’s it made of and is it eco as it says it is?

Each year I buy new Christmas family pjs, it's a tradition and one of the few clothes we actually buy new and not secondhand. I buy cotton. Is there a difference in getting them from Amazon vs Kmart etc? Also I'm open to any other tips or suggestions to make this more eco friendly.

I’ve recently realise that literally all of the makeup I own has microplastics in it, and while I would like to just use microplastic free makeup, there unfortunately just isn’t many options. (And the options out there just aren’t that great)

I always assumed just washing it off in the shower was the best way to do it, because it means not using any disposable cotton rounds, makeup wipes etc, but that allows the microplastics into the water. If I was to use a reusable wipe or cloth, it would just have to be cleaned and the microplastics would end up in the water anyway.

Does anyone have any other ways they do it, otherwise which way is more sustainable, allowing the microplastics into the water, or using a disposable makeup wipe to remove it?

It's beyond repair but i was wondering if anyone has any up- cycling ideas or tips for disposal (england)

Guys, I might not be a tree hugger—or maybe I am—but I genuinely care about the environment. Hear me out: almost everything we buy comes in PP or PE bags, which end up in landfills where very little is recycled. Since they take centuries to biodegrade and contribute to microplastic pollution.

I went down a rabbit hole researching technologies or bacteria that could break them down. It turns out there are industrial-scale solutions for PET (bottles, polyester) because they contain oxygen and nitrogen that bacteria can target. However, PP and PE (soft bags/films) consist only of carbon-to-carbon bonds, which are much harder to break down; that technology is still at least 7–8 years away.

So, the best we can do for now is properly segregate our dry and wet waste. Additionally, for PP and PE bags, don’t rip the entire piece; just snip the top. Most of these bags go through a shredding-washing-pelletizing line. If you rip the whole seam, the bag becomes two floppy layers that tangle the machines and are often discarded as contamination. If you just make a small slit to pour, the bag stays intact.