The low waste options I found not helpful.
The low-waste options are definitely growing in recent years as people become more passionate about saving the planet. But there is no denying that there are low waste products which I find really unnecessary. And there are definitely products that I regret buying, or in some cases, regret making. Some people may find that these are there saving graces, but for me, these are the products that I stopped using or ended up finding so pointless.
Reusable Cotton Pads/Rounds
In my opinion, there is literally no point in buying these. If you have a flannel, just use that. Or if you really want to use cotton pads, cut up an old t-shirt that you don’t wear anymore. But seriously, a flannel will suffice. I really regret buying low waster reusable pads.
Bamboo Straws
Just get metal ones. They last longer.
Toothpaste in Glass Jars
My teeth just didn’t like these as the formulas are different. My teeth became much more sensitive and I ended up using more toothpaste than necessary because my teeth never felt clean. They can also be pretty expensive compared to standard toothpaste, and I could no longer justify spending the money. It definitely works for some people, but not for me. This low waster option just didn’t work for me.
Shampoo Bars
Gosh, what an ongoing struggle shampoo bars have been. When I first switched, I tried using shampoo bars that were free of SLS’s ect, but I could just not get them to lather. At all. And I know they’re not supposed to lather as much, but I literally could get no product off these things and ended up knotting my hair so much trying to get my hair clean. I’m not sure whether it was my water type or not, but they just never worked. I then moved onto Lush shampoo bars for a while, and they did work a lot better but they contained SLS’s which I later found out are super bad for my naturally wavy hair. Now that I’m trying to fix my hair, I’m no longer using shampoo bars.
Conditioner Bars
If I thought using Shampoo bars were a challenge, Conditioner bars were even worse. They’re so hard to get any product off them, and my hair needs a lot of moisture which none of the ones I tried could provide. I’m all for trying out different types of bars, but there comes a point where you realise that you’re never going to get the same amount of products that liquids so.
‘All natural’ products
I went through a phase of thinking that all-natural products automatically meant they were better. They are not. Natural products can be extremely irritating (which I found out the hard way) and sometimes just don’t work as well. For example, making my own shampoo just didn’t work for me.
A travel mug.
I just don’t need one. I never travel with hot drinks. If you’re the type of person who gets a coffee on their commute, then it is definitely worth it. But for me, my commute is to the living room, so I just don’t use it anymore, no matter how cute they look.
So while I’m all for low waste products I’m also not for overconsumption. So think hard before you possibly waste your money on something that you really don’t need.
