Alternatives to Plastic
Index
Plastic Water Bottles
One of the best non-plastic lifestyle decisions you can make is to stop using plastic water bottles. If you've already done this, convince a friend to do so as well. There's almost nothing good to say about plastic water bottles. They're a single-use plastic, meant to be used once and then thrown away. They take a lot of energy to create -- an estimated 17 million barrels a year to meet U.S. demand alone and over 400 years to degrade. Per this 2017 article in Forbes, it is estimated that a million plastic bottles are bought every minute and 91% of all plastic is not recycled. Even worse, bottled water has been found to contain double the microplastic level of tap water.
​​​​Alternative:
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Buy a good aluminum water bottle for about $7 and drink tap water.
It's that simple.
Toothbrushes
In 2019, the National Geographic published an article entitled, "How your toothbrush became a part of the plastic crisis". It describes how the toothbrush evolved from a relatively expensive tool made of natural materials (wood, boar bristles) in the 1920's to an inexpensive plastic and nylon product used by the masses. While that undoubtedly improved the lives of people everywhere, there was a cost. Since the American Dental Association suggests that toothbrushes be replaced every 3 or 4 months, it is estimated that the U.S. alone discards over one billion toothbrushes each year.
In the United States alone, it's estimated that over 850 million toothbrushes are discarded and end up in landfill every single year. And once in landfill, the plastic toothbrush will not break down. The microplastics will often reach rivers and end up in the sea.
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Alternative:
Switch to a toothbrush made with a bamboo handle and bristles made of natural material. The bristles of the toothbrush on the right (available from a vendor called Bite) are made from Castor Bean Oil.
Toothpaste Tubes
Most of the toothpaste purchased in the U.S. is contained in tubes that are made of non-recyclable multi-layer plastic and a thin layer of aluminum. Every year, it is estimated that 1.5 billion toothpaste tubes end up in landfills.
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​​Alternatives:
Switch to a toothpaste in all-aluminum tubes, such as Tom's. Their tube still uses a plastic cap, though, so to go completely non-plastic, use toothpaste tablets like Unpaste. You bite a tablet and work it into a paste while you brush. It may seem a bit strange at first, but it's easy to get used to.
Dental Floss
While we're on the subject of dental care, most dental floss and it's packaging are also non-recyclable plastic and contributes significantly to global waste. Conventional floss is nylon coated in a synthetic wax. Some popular floss, like Oral-B Glide, also contain Teflon, a product which now contains PFAS, a "forever chemical" suspected of health problems including a decline in human fertility.
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​​Alternatives:
Switch to non-plastic floss like those on the right made from 100% silk thread coated in candelilla wax and packaged in biodegradable materials.
Detergent Bottles
Most detergent bottles are made of high-density polyethylene (HDPE), a type 2 plastic that may be recycled 10 times. That's not bad. Unfortunately, according to the EPA, only about 29%of HDPE bottles were recycled in 2018, meaning the rest ended up as landfill or litter.
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​​Alternatives:
Purchase laundry detergent in cardboard boxes or in zero-waste pods. Or make your own from a concentrated paste.
Dryer Sheets
As stated by Greenworks, "Dryer sheets are a sneaky single-use plastic, designed to be used once then tossed out, where they will persist in the environment forever".
Alternative:
Get a set of wool dryer balls. If you want a scent, add a drop of scented essential oil to each ball before use.
Laundry Basket
If you already have a plastic laundry basket, hang onto it. It should last you a good long time before it makes its way to a landfill. When its time to replace it, though, look for a more eco-friendly option.
Disposable Razors
Per USA Today, "billions of plastic razors and refill blade cartridges get tossed in landfills each year. Municipal recycling programs in the U.S. will not accept them because they are sharp objects made of mixed materials". A cartridge razor is a bit better from an environmental standpoint, but not much.
Alternatives:
If you enjoy shaving with a blade, you have two options: if you're feeling daring, try a straight-edge razor. If you can master it, it is supposed to give the closest shave. Otherwise, buy a traditional safety razor. Both of these options are fairly inexpensive. If a close-shave is not your primary concern and you have a bit more money to spend, by an all-metal electric razor. Finally, if you really don't want to give up the convenience of a cartridge razor and money is no object, check out the all-metal Leaf Razor Kit.
Shaving Cream
If your eco-friendly shaving solution requires shaving cream, you might want to re-think using one delivered in an aerosol can. Although these cans are usually made out of recyclable material (steel, aluminum), the nozzles and caps are plastic. This, coupled by the fact that some cream always remains in the can, makes these cans unattractive to recycling companies. Virtually all of these cans end up as landfill.
Alternatives:
Go back to the future! Buy a bar of shaving soap and put it in one of the many ceramic mugs you've accumulated over the years. Buy a wooden shave brush with eco-friendly bristles and shave the way your grandparents did.
