Plastic free: Our favourite sustainable swaps

I must admit that I’ve been wanting to write this post for years, but have always felt I did not have enough tips or have not yet found a product I truly love in the categories I wanted to write about. A lot have changed during the years - there are more and more beautiful sustainable products available from local small businesses. I also realised this list will never be fully complete and always evolving. I’m hoping to update this post whenever I find new favourites.

Some swaps were pretty easy and others required plenty of experimentation, mostly done during lockdown (you might have guessed these were deodorant and period products). Please feel free to recommend me your favourite products in a comment. I’m still on the hunt to find the perfect plastic free hair conditioner and could do with some recommendations.

In terms of price I try to save money by bulk buying products I love whenever the brands or their stockists have offers (plastic free July, seasonal sales). You often find special offers for first order and newsletter sign up or can save postage cost if you order above a certain amount. Of course it goes without saying that it is always worth trying first before you bulk buy a particular product, and not worth overbuying something you don’t need just because it’s on sale.

The easy swaps

Let’s start with the easy swaps that required no or minimal experimentation.

Ard Bairn Soap Bar from Kelvin Apothecary in Glasgow

Body soaps - I love a beautiful handmade soap and tried lots of them over the years, from high street brands to locally made ones. Here are our favourites: the prettiest soap ever from Kelvin Apothecary in Glasgow, pretty much anything from Edinburgh’s Dook who also make unscented bars. Try Penhaligon’s soap bars or Le Labo if you like to match your soap with your perfume. Soap bars also tend to last for ages.

Toothbrush - I love the minimal look of the Goldrick bamboo toothbrushes and the natural colour version of f.e.t.e. who also have funky colourful ones. Other brands worth checking out include Iris Hantwerk and Waken (ad/pr sample).

Dental floss - I swapped this years ago and have been using Georganics. Waken also has floss in its range so might try that at some point.

Make-up pads - I’ve been using MODM’s reusable cotton pads for years, they are super soft and wash well. You can get 10% off your MODM order with the code THEWEEKENDENTHUSIAST (ad/affiliate).

Dishwashing brushes, sponges & cloths - I discovered Goldrick’s amazing products thanks to their Edinburgh stockist Lifestory and never looked back. Iris Hantwerk has some good options too (shop via Kin or Kelvin Apothecary) and I previously used and liked Redecker’s wooden dish brush (shop via AndKeep).

Squeezer key - A handy little tool to help you squeeze every last drop from your tube, reducing waste and making your product last longer. I got a couple of squeezer keys from Waken (ad/pr sample) and also purchased one from UpCircle.

Other favourite swaps

These are the swaps that needeed a bit of experimentation to find the ideal one. You might find that other products suit you better and it’s definitely worth trying out a couple!

Skincare - I recently discovered the brand SBTRCT and tried their Cleanse + Moisturise Discovery Set (ad/pr sample) which contains mini versions of their award-winning Gentle Foaming Cleanser and Moisturising Facial Balm in a compostable matchbox style carton.

Toothpaste - I’ve been after a whitening toothpaste for ages and I was delighted to hear that Waken has finally launched one. I can be really picky about the taste of toothpaste and its aftertaste, but Waken just managed to hit the right spot for me! So far I tried the Whitening and the Peppermint ones (first tubs purchased myself in Waitrose when they were on offer) and recently Waken has kindly sent me the entire range to try (ad/pr sample). You can’t really go wrong with a classic Spearmint, also I’m particularly intrigued to sample the Lemon & Mint and Strawberry & Mint ones and will report back.

Shampoo bar - my two absolute favourite finds for fine hair with oily scalp are: No Secret’s Solo Four or Solo Eleven and Homework’s avocado shampoo bar which comes in a handy tin. I tried many more bars, but some were not foaming up enough to deal with oil build-up or they just made my hair more oily.

Deodorant - I wanted a natural aluminium-free deodorant with no plastic packaging which seemed tricky to find. AKT fits this description - it’s a pricey one, but lasts for ages and it’s the only one which really worked for me (I don’t consider myself particularly sweaty). My favourite AKT scent is their Orange Grove but all four scents we tried are lovely - yet to try the Columbia Road one which currently sits on the top of my wishlist. I recently heard about a new natural deo by Legra, so I might give that one a try next and report back.

Period products - following plenty of online research I went for Wearemout and DAME period pads in various sizes. After 2 years of use I find that DAME pads still look pretty much newish and dry quicker thank Wearemout, although DAME pads sometimes slide a bit depending on the material of pants I’m wearing them with. If you’re doing much movement, I recommend wearing a menstrual cup too, I got mine from Saalt.

Imperfect swaps

These are the swaps which are a good starting point but I’m still testing / looking for better alternatives.

Mouth wash - while it has a plastic top and it’s on the pricey side, the Aesop Mouthwash comes in a stylish glass bottle (which I’ll definitely keep for refilling) and has lasted for ages as I don’t use mouthwash frequently. I heard good things about Georganics and Waken so looking forward to trying those next.

Hair conditioner - most conditioner bars I tried were not suitable for my oily and fine hair type but currently testing Ethique’s The Guardian solid conditioner bar with high hopes, so watch this place.

Post first published: July 2022. Last updated: March 2023.