Try shampoo bars

And other options to reduce packaging

I have become a huge fan of shampoo and conditioner bars for a number of reasons (outlined below). And, while we’re on the subject of reducing water, carbon, and plastic footprints, I want to revisit some advice I gave on other household products.

Less water means a lower carbon footprint

I’ve talked about this before, but liquid products are heavy. Shipping them from the manufacturer to the store to our homes necessarily requires significantly higher carbon output relative to shipping only the active ingredients. (I ran the numbers on this for laundry detergent, if you’re curious.) That’s true not only for those big jugs of laundry detergent—it’s true for everything that contains water. And that brings us to shampoo and conditioner, which most people use far more often than laundry detergent.

Safer ingredients—maybe?

This is a bit harder to evaluate, since even the vegan, organic, natural bars tend to list ingredients that are hard to pronounce. But most ingredients are things you recognize, which isn’t true for many common shampoo brands. And those natural ingredients work—the shampoo bars I use make my hair super soft and manageable. Even though some ingredients fall in the hard-to-pronounce category, none are considered potentially toxic.¹

I use and highly recommend Earthling Co. Their shampoo and conditioner bars come in recyclable paper packaging and are considered to be extremely safe, per the EWG. The bars themselves look similar to a bar of soap. The company claims their products work for all hair types—I can only comment on my own, but the Earthling Co. bars have been nothing short of transformative for my unruly curls.

Revisiting dishwasher pods and laundry sheets

There’s been some discussion of late about the safety of dishwasher pods and laundry sheets. That’s because both use polyvinyl alcohol (PVA) to hold ingredients together. A 2021 study found, based on models, that PVA was unlikely to be removed by water treatment plants. This led several environmental groups to petition the EPA to re-evaluate the toxicity of PVA. The EPA declined to do so, in part because the form of PVA (there’s more than one) used in these products is not the more problematic, non-soluble form.² A report that PVA was found in breast milk didn’t actually hold up, since there was a single PVA particle found in 34 samples, and it wasn’t the type used in pods/sheets.

Why mention this? I’ve posted about switching to laundry sheets and skipping the rinse before loading the dishwasher (which requires a good detergent to power those dishes clean). Both can reduce your water and carbon footprints. But if those recommendations can ultimately cause other kinds of harm, I think it’s important to know, so you can make an educated decision.

You can read more on the points made by both sides here (with the caveat that the cleaning industry is arguing against each point made by the environmental groups). Similar reports that dishwasher pods can cause major clogging of pipes³ seems to be specific to pods that use powder, not those with liquid.⁴ Make of that what you will.

If you like One Simple Thing, please forward to a friend who might be interested in taking steps toward a healthier planet!

1. Environmental Working Group. Safer shampoo: Steer clear of these problematic ingredients. September 2024. https://www.ewg.org/news-insights/news/2024/09/safer-shampoo-steer-clear-these-problematic-ingredients. If you’re not familiar with EWG, their website is an outstanding resource for finding safer products, from cosmetics to sunscreen to household cleaning products.

2. There’s a whole report on it; you can find it here if you want the details. I’m obviously giving the 10,000-foot overview here.

3. Verify. Claims that dishwasher pods clog pipes need contest. September 24, 2024. https://www.verifythis.com/article/news/verify/technology-verify/can-dishwasher-pods-clog-pipes-fact-check/536-8f01bd11-740e-4322-8d77-110f17b178bd

4. All A’s Plumbing and Heating. Hidden dangers of powdered dishwasher pods: A plumbing nightmare. June 22, 2024. https://www.allasplumbingllc.com/dangers-of-powdered-dishwasher-pods-plumbing/