Hello, Potatoes!! It was great seeing some of you at the repairing party, and thank you so much for your amazing, thoughtful responses to all of our previous emails!<\/p>\n\n\n\n
This month we\u2019ll be continuing our theme of going through sections of our homes and lifestyles to see how we can make them as eco-friendly as possible by talking about our bathrooms and laundry rooms!<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Cleaning<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n Instead of putting mysterious products into your drains and thus the world, you can use things like vinegar to clean your bathroom and house! Here\u2019s a video on some DIY cleaning products<\/a>! Try to buy eco-friendly soap (more on this in the hygiene section). Instead of paper towels, rags work just as well!! You can also use hemp sponges, bamboo dish brushes, and coconut scour pads to reduce plastic. See this doc<\/a> for some eco-friendly cleaning products.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Saving water in the bathroom<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n By doing some quick things to save water, you increase your potatoishness and can also save money! A shower uses on average 2.1 gallons of water per minute!!!! That is dreadful! Bucket showers are an effective way to save water \u2014 to take one, fill a large bucket with water (about 1 gallon instead of 17), place it in your shower, and use a jug to pour it on yourself. If that doesn\u2019t work for you, you can take shorter showers, use a water-saving shower head, and use other water-saving devices on other appliances like the toilet and sink. Turning the sink to a lower setting and turning it off when brushing your teeth can also save water. Finally, you can install a device to allow multiple settings when you flush the toilet, or put a water bottle or bricks in the flush tank to use less water.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Hygiene products <\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n Here are some hygiene-product swaps that are a potato! When choosing which to buy, look also at the ingredients and whether it has a cruelty-free certification (see our March email<\/a> for more info). We\u2019ve linked to some brands in this doc<\/a>. Another amazing tool to find out if the product is healthy, sustainable, ethical, etc. is to search for specific items on EWG Skin Deep\u00ae Cosmetics Database<\/a> \u2014 it tells you all types of really useful information so you can find the best products possible!<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u2022 Soap, shampoo, conditioner, lotion, deodorant, etc.: Try to buy soap bars along with bar shampoo and conditioner \u2014 these products have a lot less packaging and you can often buy them from small businesses!!! We do understand that these are not for everyone, but they\u2019re definitely worth a try. Otherwize, look for products that don\u2019t have plastic packaging but come in larger containers if you know you\u2019ll use them.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u2022 Teeth: Bamboo toothbrushes are a great alternative to plastic ones because, well, they reduce plastic. They\u2019re also compostable if you remove the bristles, yay!!!!!! Toothpaste tablets and compostable floss are some more ways you can be more eco-friendly while brushing your teeth!<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u2022 Toilet paper and tissue: Using rags (you can rip up old clothes or other cloth \u2014 just make sure they\u2019re made of something you feel comfortable using) or handkerchiefs instead of toilet paper and tissue reduces a lot of paper waste and can save you money! If you must use toilet paper, recycled toilet paper is preferable.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u2022 Menstrual products: Menstrual cups, period underwear, period leggings, reusable pads, etc. are all great eco-friendly options. It might sound scary, and for a lot of these products there is a learning curve. But that\u2019s true for pretty much everything in life, and it\u2019s a lot better once you start! Anyway, we think it\u2019s less scary than the mountains and mountains of stuff you\u2019d throw away otherwise!! They are also better for you, save lots of water used in making disposable ones, and will save you moneeeeeyyyyy!!!! (A menstrual cup can save $1,180 in 10 years!!!). These videos talk more about the differences and benefits of switching to a menstrual cup: Why You Should Switch to a Menstrual Cup<\/a>, Tampons vs Menstrual Cups | A Basic Intro<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Trash\/compost<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n You can compost hair, nail clippings, lint from natural fibers, bamboo toothbrushes, and some kinds of floss, so it can be useful to keep a compost bin in your bathroom. As usual, try to reduce waste as much as possible \u2014 the previous section has tips on that! Also, separate your recycling from your trash \u2014 you can recycle clean cardboard and paper packaging, soap bottles without the nozzle, etc.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Laundry<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n In this section, we\u2019ll be talking about ways to reduce waste when doing laundry and taking good care of it so it lasts longer. We aren\u2019t experts \u2014 and certainly aren\u2019t going to pretend to be \u2014 but we tried to gather as much information on this topic as we could. That being said, if there is any incorrect information please correct us by email or through our website so we can edit the information on our website. So let\u2019s talk about some different things to consider and how to handle them.<\/p>\n\n\n\n