Toiletries and using less plastic

[Paul1255]

When I started my own listing 18 months ago I bought hotel-style individual toiletries to leave in the guest room when guests checked-in.

Almost all guests would use them, take them home or comment on them- but I suppose only because I provided them...they were never expected!

Last year @Lizzie started a thread about plastics and going plastic free, which really made me think about my plastic and single plastic use.

Another community member, I think  @Kath9 in Australia suggested using large dispensers in the bathroom and then refilling those- and now I have run-out of those naughty little individual bottles I have purchased pump bottles for the bathroom and big 5 litre refills to top them up.

I have bought them for my own listing as well as all of the listings I manage, to try and do my bit.

I still feel bad, everything is still made of plastic (the bathroom dispensers, the big refills and the pumps) but certainly it’s less plastic than a new bottle every few guests and I hope it’ll make a bit of a difference 🙂 

What does everyone else do in their listings?

Paul :

[Lizzie]

This is fantastic @Paul1255 and I'm interested to hear more about what others do.

A small win I have found out recently is when I am travelling, I have a couple of small bottles, that I was given as a present a few years ago. I've been refilling all my main toiletries, like shampoo and showel gel for a while now (at my local refill shop) – so now instead of taking the big bottles with me each time I travel or buying smaller versions, I also refill these little bottles and they look just like the ones you buy in the shop. Each time I travel I refill the same little bottles before I head off and it makes me feel good! 🙂 

Quite simple really, but it does take a bit more thinking about it than just going to the shop and getting one, but it saves me a bit of money and now that I've got into the swing of it it's quick. 

I think it's great you are doing this Paul and I get the same guilty feeling as you, but I think it's good to remember you are doing something about it and not all plastic is bad, just that we want to make things last and avoid waste. 

How you finding refilling your dispensers? Have you got into a good routine? 

[Paul1255]

I do the same with travel toiletries when I go away @Lizzie  it’s easy to do but I always end up decanting too much of everything so I live out of the little bottles once I’m home for at least a week ahaha.

Refilling the dispensers is a doddle, and fits into the housekeeping routine easily, each source bottle has a big pump on it so no need to even lift it up and try to pour and spill everywhere- it’s quick and easy and it’s also saved me a lot of money in the long run which is great!

The main issue was getting the big refills to each listing (7x5 litre bottles for my biggest listing) as I wanted to do it on public transport my arms have been getting a decent work-out so it’s win win.

And also finding space to hide and store the source bottles, don’t want the luxurious image shattered by guests finding huge hospitality bottles of shampoo everywhere but all fine in the end 🙂 

[Kath9]

@Paul1255, hi, yes that was me. Good on you for moving to large refillable dispensers - still plastic but much better than individual throwaways. @Lizzie, I've also been using the same little bottles and containers when travelling for years now. It's also a lot cheaper!

[Paul1255]

Excellent @Kath9 I remembered well ahah 🙂

[Lizzie]

@Paul1255 , @Kath9  Love hearing about what you have been doing. I find it fascinating to hear that people all around the world are trying out their own things and creative ideas. 

Not on toiletries, but this week, I went back to having a home milk delivery with glass bottles. I know have a milkman called Steve, it all feels very quaint! hehe

[Branka-and-Silvia0]

@Paul1255

ah... I am really trying but there is not much we, as individuals can do. Yes, we can reuse shopping bags and buy milk from the machine with our bottles and buy groceries at the open market... but until the industry reduces the packaging we are helpless.

Not so long ago knives had a wooden handle. Recently I bought 3 knives with plastic handle .. but thats's not all.... they were also packed in heavy plastic so I needed another knife to open it. How stupid is that?

Now imagine you find yourself on a deserted island like Tom Hanks in the movie Robinson... and you find IKEA knives floating on the waves..... you would starve to death before you would manage to chew through this plastic package

[Paul1255]

100% agree, and sorry can't tag you :0000

It is down to the industry to make those changes- we are only buying what they are selling.

There's a supermarket here in the UK trialling plastic free aisles, where nothing is wrapped- I don't know why it's a trial because that's the way food was sold for generations 🙂

The knives maybe I understand, it's more of a danger to have something you could use for something other than chopping vegetables not packaged up safely.

[Mika8]

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@Paul1255 wrote:

It is down to the industry to make those changes- we are only buying what they are selling.

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It's the other way round: They are only selling what we are buying.

[Susan1028]

We can definitely use our voices and wallets to create less plastic @Lizzie and everyone, and I’m glad to see this discussion continued here and hope it will spread.

There are inexpensive refillable decorator stainless, glass, and ceramic alternatives to plastic dispensers that can be purchased new or from thrift shops and refilled from bulk purchase containers.  I use them by each sink and installed stainless metal racks in the shower to house them.

Ive found mention of eco-friendly tips in my house manual to be very well received by my guests.

We can go beyond our realm to the marketplace too.

I shop at a grocery chain that’s got great service, prices and quality, but the packaging is so plastic-heavy I took the store manager aside and explained that even though I loved everything else, I’d be seeking alternative venues to reduce my “plastic footprint.”

Ive done this in several stores and write to corporate, with links to innovative plastic packaging alternatives and the savings involved for all in addition to environmental benefits.

Its taken a year and the enlistment of friends, but with a proactive positive approach, and new laws, they’re making changes.

Same with pesticides.

We can all do this!

[Ann72]

@Lizzie Wait, you have a local refill shop?  I don't know if there's anything like that on this side of the pond.

I supply large bottles of all-in-one body wash, shampoo, and bubble bath.  They're not refillable but they last all season.  Separate bottles of shampoo and conditioner.  Not refillable either.  Hand soap bottles that are refillable.  Looks like I'll have to keep working on this.

Before the season started I got reusable grocery bags and left them in the pantry.  Fingers crossed people are using them.

@Paul1255 Those Cole & Lewis bottles look so chic!

[Lizzie]

Hello @Ann72,

I hope you are goo.d

Refills shops are growing in popularity here in the UK and I have one about a 15 minute bus ride from me, but if I have time at the weeks, it's a nice walk along the river. This one is part of a flower shop, and they gave up a bit of wall space, but the refill area is growing each month. It's usally quite busy when I go, which is great to see.

I went there at the weekend to stock up on some shower gel and other necessities, like chocolate buttons (they are very indulgent, but sometimes, these things are needed!)  I took my own jars (the right jam jar is full of shower gel, and I will just pour this into my dispenser).

Each time I go, I like to try something new, if they have anything new, this time is tea (middle jam jar). 

It all takes a bit of organising to work out where you can get things from, but I've done it so often now that I have a good list of basics and then there is a bigger refill shop on my way home from the office, which has all kinds of nuts and tasty things. 

I find it so interesting to see what is out there and available as a refill. 

Is there not anythink like this in NY?

[Ann72]

@Lizzie That is awesome!  I think the chocolate buttons are key.  🙂

I searched, and it turns out there are refill stations - in fact, my grocery store is one of them!  I'm going to look into it and see what they offer.  To be honest, since I live in a neighborhood where there are few grocery stores, and this one is five or six blocks away, I usually ring them up and order over the phone.  But it's a nice place and really not far so I'll gather some jars or bottles and a reusable bag and head over there.

Thank you for this post - I never would have discovered this without it!

[Lizzie]

This is amazing, thanks @Ann72. OO can you let me know what it's like? 🙂

[Ann72]

@Lizzie I will!  And after I posted I meant to thank @Paul1255 for the original post.  🙂