Day 6: Jasmine's shower secret

Zero Waste challenge
Jas (The Ginger) and Morgana (The Vegan) are undertaking the Zero Waste Challenge: finding ways to refuse, reuse, reduce, and recycle as much as possible in their lives, and ask you to join them on their journey.


The problem
Do you ever have those moments when you’re using an everyday essential item in your life, and out of nowhere, you realise it’s just a stupid product? 
That’s how Jas feels about shampoo (at least in its most common form) and the more research we did, the more stupid liquid shampoo and shower gel became.  
Shampoos are typically 80% water. So you're actually paying a lot for not-a-lot of real cleaning product.
Containers of shampoo are made of a hard plastic to handle the squishiness of the gel inside. Back in the day, they used to be made of glass.

The solution(s)
We have not just one but two different solutions to this challenge.

1) Don’t use shampoo
Ever heard of "no-poo?" It's a simple yet effective method to stop using shampoo for good. According to its proponents, the no-poo method has a number of positive benefits.
First off, chemical shampoos remove the natural oils produced by the scalp, causing the scalp to produce more oil to compensate. It's a never-ending, vicious circle. The only way to stop it is to stop using shampoo altogether.

"After five to seven days of not bathing, the skin halts its production of sebum," writes popular science author Mary Roach in her book Packing for Mars.

On a general level, not using shampoo is a way to spare yourself the need to buy yet another product, saving some money and cutting on your plastic consumption.

If you're still not convinced, head to NoPoo, a lively subreddit where you can find plenty of information on how to go zero shampoo smooth and swiftly.

However, every now and then, shampooing your hair does feel nice. We get it. For those who don't want to completely give up on shampoo yet we have a backup solution.

2) Use only solid shampoo

Newsflash: Shampoo and conditioner can have water added AS YOU ARE SHOWERING. Why isn’t this the norm?
Here is the multitude of reasons why shampoo bars win over our normal perception of shampoo:They save that 80% of water, and the little bit of added water you need comes from the showering you were doing anyway

  1. They can be refilled easily

  2. They feel better on your hair

  3. No plastic

  4. Ridiculously good value for money — 80 washes for 7 euros

  5. Fun (please see pics of Jas enjoying showertime)

  6. They don't count as a liquid in the airport security check — and they don’t split open when travelling and ruin your life.

  7. You’re ahead of the game. This is going to be the new normal.

Shampoo bar: Eight. Liquid shampoo: Nil

Evaluation
There is so much to gain here. Jas has been advocating for these bars long before the challenge began. A simple search will tell you where your nearest seller is (Lush makes great ones). And once you’ve made the switch, it feels regressive going back to the gel version.

This article is part of our 30 days Zero Waste challenge.
Read here what Jas and Morgana were up to in the past few days.


Day 1 / 2 / 3 / 4 / 5

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