Save the Planet from your Bathroom

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One of my green goals of late is to green my bathroom and my toiletry routine. It started by getting rid of shampoo and conditioner and tossing those disposable pads and tampons for a Diva Cup.

Now I'm moving on up! Two really simple steps: use baking soda as face wash-- just get your face wet, rub some baking soda on, and then rinse it off-- and use natural bar or liquid soap-- I've been using bars from the Farmer's Market, but Dr. Bronner's is also fantastic. Dr. Bronner's is also great, because it can be used for everything from body wash to soap for hand-washing clothes to a general house cleaning soap. It's awesome. Check it out.

I've also been trying to find lots of DIY ways to save the planet... in the bathroom. One of the neatest things I've found is Egyptian Body Sugaring. It sounds a bit terrifying, but it's really just an early form of waxing that uses only sugar, water, and lemon juice. So it's completely biodegradable, contains no chemicals, and is overall as environmentally-friendly as whatever sugar and lemon juice you decide to buy. All you have to do is heat it up on medium heat and wait for it to get the soft candy temperature (I bought a candy thermometer for this, and I think it's pretty much required to do this right). Admittedly, this took about an hour-- so invite someone over or turn on an audio book. Then you pour it in to a jar (I used an old pickle jar) and wait for it to cool down a bit. Once it's at a comfortable temperature to put on your skin, use a butter knife to apply it in the opposite direction your hair grows, press a strip of cloth against it (I cut up an old sheet), and then YANK IT. It still hurts, sadly. But, as with waxing, it took about a month for it to start growing back in, which is amazing! It was definitely worth it taking a bit longer to initially get rid of the hair. Clean up is really easy-- I just poured boiling water over the strips of cloth (and anything that got sugar on it) and let it soak. The goo dissolves really easily! Then you can just chuck the strips in the wash! Ta da! Environmentally-amazing hair removal! Check out the full instructions here!

And, while I'm on the subject, I also made and used an amazing homemade sugar scrub! I am all about sugar in the bathroom, y'all. It's basically just coconut oil and brown sugar, but you can add some other oils in if you want. My skin felt moisturized for about 4 days, and utterly soft for a week or two. It was amazing.

Got any other awesome diy toiletries that are good for the planet???