Plastic free toiletries

[Maree23]

Hi Everyone!

We are trying to run our Air BnB as plastic free as we can.  In the bathroom I personally use bars of soap for washing and a specialised shampoo/conditioner bar.  I'd like to be able to offer this same collection of plastic free toiletries to guests.  It's not econimical to have whole bars on offer so I was thinking to cut them up.   Does anyone do this?  Has your feedback been good or do your guests think it's weird.

Thanks for your help!

Maree

[Robin4]

@Maree23

I don't think guests are ready for this level of sustianability just yet Maree. Guests will even mark you down if they feel that soap has been previously used or tampered with in any way. By cutting soaps down you will be seen as a 'cheapskate' host, not an environmentally conscious and friendly one. I offer a full boxed cake of soap for every guest, even overnighters, and because it come to them in a sealed box I encourage them to put it in their bags when they leave for them to use another day....and most do! 

Guests like things sealed when they get them, even that jar of Mocona coffee, they actually prefer the sealed one serve packets. My only concession to dividing up. I have the ability to make bubble packs for various smal serve things and I cut blocks of good quality certified organic butter up into three or four serve blocks and seal them in bubble packs and guests accept that ok. If it looks like it has come from the licenced manufacturer it's  ok, if it looks home prepared, it's not! Besides, that 5 or 6 pieces of bacon you remove from the sealed 1 Kg pack and put in the guest fridge will contravene local health regulations if you are serving to paying guests.

I am possibly as environmentally conscious as you, we produce all our electricity from either solar or wind and are net exporters back to the grid, We harvest and use our own rainwater most of the year with storage tanks and pressure pumps which use the electricity that we produce. I think I have a pretty small carbon footprint, but Maree, I admire your enterprise and five years time you will probably have a reasonably large following, I think you are just a bit ahead of your time.

Cheers......Rob

[Maree23]

That's lovely feedback Robin!  Very useful thank you so much for taking the time to write.

The soap products I use are locally manufactured so I'll contact them and see if they can do a guest pack of some sort so that it looks a bit more professional.

Good on you for making all your power! Wow that's great.  We have solar but we don't have the back up batteries so we're on grid once the sun goes down... I envy you!  Hopefully oneday.

All the best for the year!  Hope your guests are all lovely.

[Sarah977]

@Maree23  How about wrapping them in a small piece of pretty colored cloth with a raffia or ribbon tie. You could also use a heated spoon to round off the edges so it doesn't look like it was cut.

[Maree23]

That's a great suggestion! We stayed at a place once where the little bag the soap was a wash cloth.  Hmm you've definitely got me thinking Sarah.

[Lyn3]

@Maree23@Sarah977

what a really nice suggestion, Sarah, the soaps would look wonderful.

hi Maree, I lived in Yungaburra ten years ago. Such a beautiful village. 

All the best,

Lyn 🙂

[Maree23]

Isn't Yungaburra gorgeous!  My hometown and I love it.  Our Air BnB is actually in Cairns and we are living in Yungi, although maybe we'll swap around at some stage.  Hope you're enjoying Mapleton.

[Lizzie]

Great topic @Maree23. 

If you have a zero waste shop nearby or a shop that you can refill your toiletries this could be a possibility for you. I do this myself, I take a jam jar to the shop and fill it up and then replenish my containers at home. Admittedly this is a little more work, but you can usually buy in quite large quanity to reduce the amount of visits. 

Do you have a local shop like this?

Also, to add, you might like this this discussion on going plastic free. 🙂

[Maree23]

Hi Lizzie,

We do have a couple of shops like that.  Definitely a good option! I use them for my flours and grains and oils.  To be honest I've never used the shampoo from there as I've been happy with the bars... will give it a go!  I have my first tenant arriving on the 29th so I want everything to be gorgeous for them!  Luckily they are friends of mine on a work trip... phew!

I'll check out your discussion link!

Thank you for taking the time to respond!

Cheers,

Maree

[Helen56]

How about getting a pretty glass pump bottle and fill it with liquid soap, do one for shampoo too.  Then you can at least buy it in bulk.

[Maree23]

Definietely an option Helen!  I was just sorta keen on the bars because I love them so much!  It's nice to share something that you enjoy.

[Ben551]

We run a plastic free AirBnb. I cut up the Ecostore soap, wrap and tie it.

We give 4 wrapped soaps per booking, but we find they leave 3 of them untouched each time. I pick the Paua shell up off the beach and polish it myself (NZ Abalone). Our guests absolutely love it and more than one has said hotels should try it.

 PS: I use a hot wire cutter to get a perfect edge on the soap.

I am working on a method to make small soaps myself out of various oils, and managed to make some, but I need to practice and get better moulds before using them for guest purposes.

We find our guests prefer this small soap bar for the shower, but for hand soap we give them a pump bottle.  We also use a pump bottle for shampoo and conditioner.  We can buy bulk of those liquids without any container ( bring your own container and fill etc).

[Maree23]

That looks fantastic Ben!  Love the paua touch... makes it very special like a little present.  Thank you for the hot wire tip! I was going to ask how you cut it.

[Robbie13]

I have been working on doing this at our listings as well and just wanted to say thanks to everyone who has posted! Great ideas 🙂 

[Lizzie]

This is great to hear @Robbie13. Have you started anything yet? It would be lovely to hear more about what you plan to do. 🙂 

P.S - a warm welcome to the Community Center.