Mini-post: Return to Reusables

One of the things that's made me sad during the pandemic (besides all the... pandemic) has been the increase in disposables and single use items. I was originally optimistic about the potential eco silver linings with people staying at home, not commuting to work. Remember those early pictures of smog reduction in the cities? But then, just a couple months into it, we all started going out a bit, and the gains in smog returned to normal, and we swung far into the other direction. We could drive through and takeout from restaurants, which meant tons of disposable packaging, and so many people wore (and littered) single use masks. 

Now that we are able to go back inside restaurants, and with new laws like Washington state's single use serviceware law (to not automatically include plastic utensils, straws, etc), now is a great time to double down on reusables. 

Consider bringing your own durable straws and utensils to casual restaurants, and your reusable mugs to coffee houses. Consider bringing a small takeout container in your purse or backpack for your leftovers. 

As an incentive, many coffee houses who had to pause allowing customers to bring their own mugs during the height of COVID, have now resumed their programs, many times including a small discount. Starbucks, who previously offered a $0.10 discount, is now doubling their rewards. You get both the $0.10 discount, as well as 25 stars if you're a rewards member. 

They just announced this on Earth Day. It's currently only available in-store, but they taken goals to make bringing your own cup an option for drive through and mobile by 2023. 

Not a Starbucks fan? Check out incentives programs from your favorite coffee shop or restaurant for bringing your own reusables.

Dove Does It!

Deodorant is one of the most disappointing products, when you compare the amount of product relative to the amount of container/dispenser. A few years ago, I wrote to Secret, stating I loved their deodorant, but not all the plastic packaging. Couldn't we find a solution? After all, companies like Loop are working on the milkman model, with reusable/refillable packaging. And there are many natural deodorants that come is a compostable cardboard pushpop-style tube, but unfortunately, I don't find many of these products as effective as their national brand counterparts.

Well, Dove is now doing it! A couple months ago, I saw a press release stating Dove would now have refillable deodorant at Target, and this week, I finally spotted it at the Target nearest to me! Wahoo!! You have to love when these large national brands and retailers start coming on this journey with us. :-)

Here's the details:

It comes in 3 scents (unscented, cucumber & green tea, and coconut & pink jasmine), and it appears to be the same formula as their other 0% aluminum deodorants. 

There are simple instructions to twist the refill onto the base.

The case is stainless steel, and the plastic holding the refill is post-consumer plastic.

While not entirely plastic-free, check out the amount of plastic on the refill, compared to the plastic from traditional packaging. It's 54% less plastic, and 98% post-consumer.

What I also enjoy is, once you take the lid off, you can see the entire deodorant stick. No more guesswork about how much is left, or doing a click each day to expose more.

This swap does cost a bit more than its traditional counterpart, and hopefully the costs will come down as this system becomes more normalized. It's similar in concept to shaving razors, where you can get a reusable handle and replaceable heads. 

A starter kit contains the stainless steel base and lid, along with your first deodorant, for an initial investment of $15. You can get 2-pack refills for $10. This means the permanent base costs $10, and each deodorant is $5. This compares to $3 for the traditionally-packaged Dove deodorant of the same size (1.6 oz). Learn more from Dove here.

Seeking an antiperspirant and not just a deodorant? It looks like Secret did in fact come out with a refillable system too, and theirs contains no plastic at all, with their refill pod coming in a cardboard tube. It's available in Target and Walmart as well, with the starter kit at $10 and refills at $8. Current scents are lavender for the starter pack, and lavender and rose for refills. 

Kudos to both companies for making better solutions available!

Concentrated Conditioner

Previously, I wrote about how concentrates are an eco-friendly way to move product. With all the water removed, you save lot of weight and space, and therefore need way less trips to ship more product.

I've been struggling to want to change my hair conditioner though. I have dry hair and love to use several pumps of rich, creamy lotion-like product. So while several of my low-waste social groups tout the benefits of bar-form hair products, I was hesitant to make the switch. 

Last year, I learned about a company, HiBar, that was getting rave reviews and decided to give it a try.

The packaging is plastic-free, and it has a pleasant, light citrusy fragrance, but I'm skeptical this small bar is worth $14. 

When I tried it, I was struggling to figure out how to really use it. Can I get a lather on my hands like with bar soap? Do I rub it on my head? I tried both, and ultimately just didn't get as much product off the bar as I wanted. Though the product that did come off was great: rich oils and left my hair feeling smooth. So how can I get the experience I'm missing from a cream conditioner? I posed my question by my social groups, and the answer came back unanimous: it's easy to reconstitute it!

(And did you know? You can do this for any of your solid bath and body bars. Prefer body wash or liquid hand soap? Reconstitute your bar of soap!)

 

Step 1: Grate the bar with the large holes on a cheese grater. This was surprisingly easy, with the bar shredding easier than a medium cheddar.

You're left with a sizable pile of shavings.

Step 2: Pour the shavings into a large bottle. HiBar says this conditioner is as good as at least 16 ounces of regular conditioner, so I'm going for a 16+ ounce bottle. My last bottle of drugstore conditioner will do: it's 28 ounces and has an awesome pump. You want to pour the shavings in, not the finished product, because it will be that thick and creamy.

Step 3: Pour in hot water. It doesn't need to be boiling, but as hot as your tap will go. I'm starting with 16 ounces to see if HiBar delivers on its promise, but ultimately end up filling the entire 28 ounce bottle.

Step 4: Close up the bottle, give it a shake, and let it it sit for about 10 minutes. The hot water will do its job to melt down the shavings and reconstitute into a lotion. Then, compare it to your drugstore conditioner. The first picture of the yellow conditioner is my old L'Oreal conditioner, whose creaminess I wanted to match.

This second picture of blue conditioner is the HiBar. Creaminess achieved! And we exceeded HiBar's estimation that we would get 16 ounces of value - we got 28!

So now to discuss pricing. I only pay $7 for the L'Oreal conditioner. Even though I got more than expected from HiBar, is it worth the $14? It's really a false comparison to go on volume alone. HiBar boasts: "No sulfates, parabens, silicone, phthalates, and no cruelty." Compare to brands with similiar qualities, like Pacifica (8 oz conditioner for $10) or Aveda (8.5 oz conditioner for $19), and you get substantial cost savings.

Overall, I'm happy that I found a solution to conditioner that's easy on the planet, and luscious for my hair.

Turning Packaging into a Party

With COVID dragging on, birthdays are a bit different, without restaurant gatherings or other public activities, so I was seeking a way to make make my mom's celebration a little more festive. Fortunately, I've been doing enough online thrifting through COVID that I have tons of cardboard and pretty tissue lying around from my deliveries. (Thanks, thredUP!)

With the cardboard and tissue, I decided my mom's gifts should all be "wrapped" in a piñata, shaped like a decadent birthday cake, of course. 

What you will need: 

• cardboard
• tissue paper
• box cutter and/or good scissors
• strong tape - I like gaffer's, but shipping tape would also work
• hot glue gun (optional)
• Elmer's/craft glue
• embellishments
• a ribbon or strong string
  

Here's how I did it:

1) Lay out the cardboard flat, and cut out the bottom of the cake. I used a round platter to trace around.

2) My circle had some of the box folds in it, so I hot glued on some strips of cardboard to add stability.

3) Attach the sides of the cake to the bottom, using a sturdy tape. It's just one long strip of cardboard, as wide as how tall you want the first layer of cake to be, and as long as the circumference of your base. Then add a top to your first layer. You will use the same platter to trace the outside as you used for the base, and cut a second circle in the middle to resemble a donut. This will allow your gift and candy chamber to connect between bottom and top layers of the cake.

4) Get a helper for the second layer of the cake. I highly recommend a tabby cat. He will inspect your measurements for cutting out the top for the top layer of cake.

5) Attach the sides of the top layer of cake to the bottom layer, using a sturdy tape. Same as with step 3, it's just a long strip of cardboard, as wide as how tall you want the layer of cake to be, and as long as the circumference of the opening on the first layer. Next, secure the top. When you are cutting to hole out of the middle, leave a few inches uncut. The inner circle of cardboard becomes the "lid" of the piñata, allowing you to open to fill the piñata and then close.

Note how the hole in the top of the first layer creates an open chamber between the two layers.

6) Now we are ready to decorate the cardboard structure. thredUP uses this festive teal polka dot tissue in each of their packages - fun! I'm cutting it into log strips, about 2-3" wide, which I'll wrap in layers around the cardboard. I'm cutting fringe about halfway up for that piñata fringed/textured look.

7) Glue with your craft glue, starting at the bottom, and working your way up. No hot glue for this step! The tissue is too thin, and you'll burn yourself.

8) Embellish: you'll see some details in the final picture: I added strips of ribbon on each layer of cake, cut from a foil liner from a floral arrangement. And I cut "candles" out of some multicolored striped paper wrappers.

9) Add a loop of ribbon to the inside of the top layer of the cake. This step I didn't do perfectly. I secured it with hot glue, which didn't with standing the hitting of the piñata (see the video below!). Next time, I will be securing with a stapler. This ribbon is to hang your piñata from.

10) Fill your piñata with small gifts and candies.

11) Secure the lid with a few strips of tape. The hanging ribbon should be coming out from either side of the lid.

12) Your birthday cake piñata is now finished and ready for the party!

Here are the final results. As noted above, the hot glued ribbon was not enough to withstand mom beating the piñata. However, fun was had by all, and the weak ribbon made mom look like she has quite the baseball arm!

Upcycled packaging? Free. Having to beat up a birthday cake to get to your presents? Priceless.

Happy Birthday, Mom!

September Digest

With all my online thrifting during COVID, I've finally hit my limit for clothes shopping. The closet is full and I'll need to be extra purposeful with my shopping list. Whoops! For the next couple months at least, I'm redirecting my focus to other activities, like packaging reduction, food waste reduction, and DIY reuse projects. Here are a few of the things I've been up to this month: 

1) Reuse/upcyle: I did make an exception about thrifting to finish my Halloween costume prep. I got this pile of red, green, and yellow fabric for $8 at Goodwill. No more hints, though. Toby is guarding the surprise until Halloween. :)

2) Sell for reuse: I was happy to get an appointment to sell my book at Half Price Books. Like many businesses, they are moving to appointment-only to reduce exposure. I got a pile of ancient books and DVDs out of my house, into circulation for the next user, and made $3.25.

3) Refill/reduce packaging: Last January, I wrote about a new service called Loop, which is similar to a milkman service but for health and household products like dish soap and shampoo. They were still in limited cities, but you could sign up for their waiting list. This month, I got notified that they are finally in the Seattle area and I could sign up for early access! So I created my account and browsed around through the site. Things seem a little sparse with some products, especially the national brands, not yet available in the area, but I'm hopeful they will get more selection by the time they are available for general sign-up. On the plus side, they seem to have a house brand Puretto with decent selection on staples, ranging from bath bombs to dry pasta to spices.

4) Share: For a while, I've been amused by videos on YouTube of people creating incredible ball pits for their dogs to play in. I went so far at to look at kiddie pools and balls on Amazon, and then stopped myself. Do I want to spend $40 for what may or may not be fun? Do I want to buy a bunch of new plastic? No and no. Well, Buy Nothing saved the day, when I saw a neighbor post a ball pit!

Here, I'm setting it up for Meeko: 

She is confused and tripping over it. Clearly not used to getting into a pit. Are we trying to give her a bath?? 

Finally gets one ball out and leaves.

After this experience, I can say I had my 15 minutes of fun, and now I will pass the ball pit onto its 3rd owner. I've gotta say, borrowing or sharing is the absolute best for novelty items. You can have your fun and pass it on. 

What have you done this month to reduce your waste?

Planning for Halloween... with Poshmark!

Each year, I start planning for Halloween well ahead of time. If I'm going to thrift and DIY the bulk of the costume, I need some lead time to scour online and in-person thrift stores. This year it's a little harder to get excited about Halloween. I almost positively won't be in the office, and am still unsure if there will be any evening festivities. Finally, I convinced myself it doesn't matter. There are enough video calls for me to still enjoy dressing up, and I can always just spend the day photo-bombing T.

I settled on an idea, and 30 minutes later... success! I placed my first ever order on Poshmark and crossed my fingers. Poshmark is a different model than threadUP. Where threadUP is consignment and they manage the sale and shipping out the items, Poshmark is more of a marketplace or platform where you can sell items directly (the seller manages the sale and the shipment themselves). There's pros and cons to each model. In the marketplace model, more money will go to the seller.

I lucked out, and this first experience was fantastic. The seller even re-used a shipping box!

A sneak peek. This is the only hint you're getting at this time. You'll need to wait for Halloween for the full reveal. The item was in awesome condition - as noted by the seller, she had only worn it once before, possibly for a costume party herself?

A win-win for both of us, I only paid $9 for somethings that retails at $25 new, and the seller recouped some funds from something that was just going to take up space in her closet. And the planet wins, because we get multiple uses out of a novelty item. 

And after Halloween, if I decide I'm done? Poshmark provides me an easy link to relist (Reposh) the item.

What are ways you keep one-time use items moving to new people to enjoy?

Prime Packaging

Did you do it? Did you cave and go nuts on Prime Day? Does your porch look like this??

Never fear. So did I. And you don't have to fill your recycling bin with all those boxes. And you *can't* fill your recycling bin in most municipalities with bubble envelopes or that plastic pillow padding.

First choice - reuse! One medium sized moving box at U-Haul costs $1.50 and and you'll pay up to $5 for the same size at less economical places like Office Depot, so it's nuts to only get a single use out of them. If you don't have a use yourself, offer them up to a friend, neighbor, or free site.

reuse
Medium-large boxes, plastic and paper filler material are great for moving and seasonal storage! Small boxes and bubble mailers were my biggest surprise that I was able to find neighbors who wanted them, but they're great for people with small businesses or who like to mail gifts.

recycle
Have you heard of Ridwell? Ridwell is a Seattle-area company designed to compliment your regular recycling - with packages as low as $10 per month. They take all sorts of items like batteries, light bulbs, thread, styrofoam and plastic film. Plastic film includes both those padding pillows as well as many plastic packaging wrappers.

Ridwell is doing a free pickup of Amazon packaging 7/22-8/1 to help with Prime Day specifically!

upcycle
I'm still in love with this cat castle.

We'll see if I can get T on board. ;)

Thoughtful Threds

Today's theme is green, green, green!!

Green: eco conscious shopping
Green: great color, I look awesome in it. ;)
Green: $$$

So, I was feeling like buying some new clothes. I'm in a mission: I need more green. Someone on TV or at work or something was wearing green, and it stuck in my mind. And when I'm on a mission, I gotta go online. That brings us to ThredUp, one of my favorite online thift shops.

I get on the site and learn about this Choose Used partnership they're doing with Olivia Wilde and Conscious Commerce. They take second-hand tops and screen-print phrases on them that draw attention to good choices like:

• I wear used clothes.
• Thank you for choosing used.
• It takes 700 gallons of water to make one new t-shirt. (

10% goes to their circular fashion fund.

I chose one shirt from the Choose Used campaign (in mint!), and a green tee with pockets, and a green sweater for this fall.

I love that the confirmation email tallies up my savings for me: spent $56.78 and saved $100.22. I also love that in the past years, they've improved their packaging to remove plastic. It came in a simple cardboard mailer and tissue.

Meanwhile, as I'm composing this post, I run into my friend Kim A. She's just come from dinner with her friends at a nearby restaurant, and one of her friends brought tupperware for the leftovers! No disposable take-out containers, for the win!

Overall, great evening: I saved 64% on some second-hand clothes in like-new condition, one of which has a great conversation starter on it, and saw a friend making positive steps of her own.

Are you in the Loop?

GUYS, I'M SO EXCITED!!!

I've talked about buying from the bulk bins before, but sadly, there are limited stores in my neighborhood, and not all the products I want. I really just want to refill my giant conditioner bottle with my favorite popular brand in a super convenient way.

Enter Terracycle. Terracycle is known for its "brigades", partnerships with large brands to recycle their not traditionally easy to recycle packaging (think Nescafe capsules or Colgate toothpaste tubes). Terracycle is now partnering with some of these same large consumer brands for a new program called Loop.

Loop was just announced this week at the World Economic Forum, and is making huge waves. Just Google "Terracycle Loop" for dozens of articles ranging from major news and business publications to smaller green magazines.

Loop takes a different approach: instead of recycling packaging, it will use the old milkman model. Deliver goods in a reusable packaging, then take the packaging back for cleaning and reuse. Loop already has multiple popular brands lined up, like Dove, Cascade, Haagen Dazs, and Seventh Generation. This promises the products I already love, with the convenience of delivery, and no more guilt from single-use packaging. Look at these gorgeous, reusable metal bottles with pumps.

(image borrowed from loopstore.com)

They are getting started in New York and Paris, but... you can sign up here now to show your interest. Let's flood them with interest, so we can be in their next market!

Let's close the loop with Loop!

Every Last Scrap

I showed up at work this morning to find this empty box at my desk. My co-worker, who is an avid tea drinker and regularly has it shipped to her, had left it for me to see because of the awesome packaging!

 

What is all this "paper" shred? Biodegradable, renewal, corn mesh. :)

 

It turns out this is the scraps from when they make the tea bags! Not only do they use up all their production scraps, but they also don't have to use extra materials like bubble wrap or peanuts to pad their shipments. 

I don't drink a lot of tea, so I needed to read up a bit on The Republic of Tea to learn about their company. Besides having cool packaging, they also do a bunch of other great social good, such as donating proceeds to non-profits, and being a member of Ethical Tea Partnership, for environmentally and socially responsible tea production.

What can you do?

• Beginner: support companies like this that make the most of their production waste and shipping supplies
• Advanced: contact companies of products you love, who could improve on their packaging, to recommend changes

Waste Free Gift Wrap, Japanese Style

There are a number of different ways to reduce waste in gift wrapping, from as simple to reusing gift bags until they are well-worn to more elaborate methods.

Today, let's explore a traditional Japanese method of wrapping with fabric, called Furoshiki. Wikipedia states that this practice started back in the 1600s as an early equivalent of the gym bag: bathers at the public baths would wrap their clothes to distinguish them from other bather's belongings. It has since extended to wrapping bento boxes and then as gift wrap. The practice declined with the emergence of plastic bags, but is on the rise again with environmentalism.

The different wrapping techniques are varied in how elaborate they are and how much skill is needed. Being brand new to this practice, I needed some help and used this basic YouTube tutorial. There are hundreds of videos and how-to guides out there for different techniques.

You have a lot of options for fabric choice: from a square of festive holiday fabric that is specifically for wrapping, or a fabric item that is part of the gift itself, like a scarf. For my friend Allison, who is a fan of biking, I found this cute tea towel, that doubles as part of the gift.

Start with your fabric and whatever needs to be wrapped.

Center the book in the middle of the fabric, on a diagonal.

Roll two of the sides around the book, like you're rolling up a burrito.

Take the two remaining corners, pull them to the center, and tie a knot. Voilá! Cute little bundle with "bow". 

Result: no disposable wrapping materials needed for a festive birthday gift.

Made From Concentrate

We're not talking about orange juice - I prefer that fresh squeezed! Nope, we're talking about cleaners.

Selling dry powder, solid bar, or concentrated products is not a new concept, but let's make it a preferred one. There's bar soap vs body wash, powdered or concentrated laundry detergents, concentrated household cleaners, and those yard sprays that you attach to your hose for full yard coverage.

Why the shift? First, if you can remove water weight from your products, you are literally not paying to ship *water* from the manufacturer to the store or your doorstep. This also saves room and weight on the shipping truck, saving fuel. For concentrated liquids, you will reduce the size of packaging needed for the product, and for dry solids or powders, you may even be able to shift to non-plastic packaging.

So with all the reasons to buy minus the water and all the other products listed above that already have this model, why don't we see it more with beauty products? How many plastic bottles do we have in our bathrooms from shampoos to face wash?

Enter salonsolids. I stumbled across them after being disappointed that I can't seem to find bulk bath and body products in my area. salonsolids is an online store for hair products (shampoo, conditioner, and styler). They are sold as granules, and you simply add hot water to mix them to a "regular" consistency. They come in a variety of scents, naturally fragranced with essential oils like mint, lavender, and lemongrass.

Sarah was kind enough to send me a shampoo sample to try. The small envelope was enough to last 5 washes.Check out this simple paper envelope - no travel shampoo bottles here.

Simply mix in whatever hot-water-safe container you have handy. Hello, mason jar! Or perhaps I'll reuse one of my previous bathroom bottles, cuz I do love a pump or lid to squeeze through.

I was a little nervous because I have frizz-prone, dry hair, and while washing, it felt a little too "squeaky clean". However, when my hair dried, it felt glossy and soft. After 5 washes, I'm pretty confident this formula will work with most hair types despite not having multiple formulas for specific hair types.

The products come in paper tubes that are recyclable or compostable. If you want to take it totally zero waste and reap the rewards, you can send 11 tubes back to salonsolids, and they'll send you a 12th product free.

I'm glad to see there are becoming more options low-waste beauty products. Mail order solids may just be for you!

Skip the Travel Toiletries

I've previously written about hotel mini toiletries, and how some great hotels are participating in recycling of the minis. Recycling is an ok end solution for waste, but what if we take it a step back and don't create the waste in the first place?

On a business trip last week, I was excited to see the the hotel didn't have minis. Instead, they had refillable standard size bottles with pumps. No packaging waste, and no waste of half-used product.

Additionally, many hotels have signage similar to: "We're interested in saving water. If you are willing to reuse your towel, hang it up in a certain way." Have you found those to be effective? T and I will routinely hang our towels and find them replaced anyway.

This hotel took it a step further: if you refuse housekeeping for the night, they give you a $5.00 credit to use at the hotel. This housekeeping refusal saves the water and energy for the fresh linens, but I also like that the direction is clearer than "hanging your towel a certain way", and the small incentive to encourage guests to participate.

Kudos to Tempe Mission Palms hotel for exploring sustainable programs. What are some cool alternatives you've seen hotels offer?

Zero Waste on Etsy, Part 3: Produce Bags

One area that I always feel guilty about getting disposable bags is the produce aisle. At least with regular grocery bags with handles, I find a number of reuses for them, but the produce bags are just so flimsy. For a single fruit or vegetable, I've started just skipping the bags altogether, but when you have a handful of lemons or loose mushrooms, it's still nice to have a way to carry them.

The good news is tons of makers are creating reusable produce bags. Check out this awesome mesh drawstring bag:

The mesh is so light that you don't need to worry about adding extra weight to the scale, and you can still easily see the contents and the number on the sticker.

I got this one as a part of a set of 12 from Love For Earth on Etsy. At $23.75, they are just under $2 a piece. They come in their own bag, so you can easily just grab the whole bundle. I have this pouch sitting inside one of my regular reusable shopping bags for a quick grab-and-go.

With the different sizes and colors of drawstrings, you are sure to have a bag that works for everything and your own organizational system. 

While shopping on Love For Earth's page, I also learned about the tag "teamecoetsy" (Team Eco Etsy). Simply enter this tag in the search bar when shopping on Etsy for products and makers with the theme of reduce, reuse, and recycle.

Buying in Bulk/Refills

I'd been toying with this idea for a while, when a comment on a post about reducing consumption on The Story of Stuff convinced me to do some more research. (Haven't heard of The Story of Stuff yet? Check them out - they are a short film, blog, resources, and more targeted at reducing consumption and waste.)

So, back to the idea: At grocery stores, there are the bulk bins for nuts and grains. Use a lightweight plastic bag from the store, or better yet, bring your own bag. Packaging is significantly reduced, or even eliminated, when you buy in bulk like this. Often, you'll even save money, because you're not paying for the packaging. And, you reduce product waste by buying the amount you want.

What if we could buy anything in bulk in our own containers? Specifically, I've been thinking about the major source of plastic trash in my home: toiletry bottles. What if I could bring my Dove body wash bottle back to Target and just fill it back up? Or my shampoo and conditioner?
 

It turns out, like most ideas, someone has already thought of it. Or, in this case, many someones. :) While not available for every brand or common in most big box stores, here are a few of the stores that do refills for bath and body products, household cleaners, and laundry detergent:

Green11
Brands/Partners: Copper Moon Apothecary, Alaffia, Alba Botanica, Earth Science, Earthbath, Eco Bella, EO, Everyday Shea, Giovanni, Green11, Griffin Remedy, Nature's Gate, Shikai, Uncle Harry's, ZUM
Locations: San Francisco and San Mateo, CA

Common Good
Brands/Partners: Common Good
Locations: New York based, but many (use their website's store locator). For my followers in the Northwest, there is one in Tacoma, WA

PCC Natural Markets
Brands/Partners: Alaffia, Everyday Shea, Hugo, Oregon Soap Co, Dr. Bronners
Locations: several in King County, WA

The Soap Dispensary

Brands/Partners: Live for Tomorrow, Sapadilla, The Soap Exchange, Nature Clean, BioKleen, Dr. Bronner's, Carina Organics, Foster Naturals, The Soap Dispensary Brand, Eaternal Soap Nuts, Uncle Harry's, Savon De Marseille, Lunapads, Divacup, Yosh Konjac, Kishu Binchotan, Ancient Minerals Ever Bamboo, Environmental Toothbrush, The Copper Hat, Mokulock, Natursutten, Ball Jars, Abeego, gogoBags, Ecojarz, Lunchbots, Ecobags, Ulat Dryer Balls

Locations: Vancouver, BC

Attached to your current brands that aren't listed above? Buy the largest bottle you can find, and refill smaller containers for around your house or in your travel bag - you'll end up saving a large percentage of the plastic packaging, get a better cost per ounce, and save gas and time with less trips to the store. 

Example savings using current pricing at Target for Pantene shampoo:
12 oz bottle: $0.32/oz
28 oz bottle: $0.25/oz
22% savings per ounce