Beyond the Roll: Steps to a More Eco-Friendly Bathroom

So you've made the switch to Who Gives a Crap bamboo or recycled toilet paper--hooray! And now you're on the hunt for more ways to up your sustainability game in the bathroom. Look at you go! Luckily for you, we're the experts in that department. While we could rattle off a bunch of different ways to make your loo more eco-friendly, we'll keep it brief.

We know, we know. It's exactly what you were expecting and exactly what you didn't want to hear. But what can we say? It's a cliche for a reason.

One of the most impactful eco-friendly bathroom habits you can adopt is simply reducing your water use. And our daily showers are a great place to start. It's tempting to luxuriate in the warm water, putting on a concert or coming up with your best thoughts. But small adjustments to how you shower can make a big splash.

Consider turning off the water while you lather up--hair, body, or both! You're not even using the water then anyway, so this way you can rescue it from just running down the drain. It may feel a bit odd at first, but just remind yourself that it's the French way to shower, so it's definitely in fashion.

Another option is to take shorter showers. Every minute you cut down in the shower saves about 2 gallons of water. So if going green is your goal, plan to make at least every other shower a short and sweet experience. Your plants (and the planet) will thank you.

Here we are again, recommending another eco-friendly bathroom practice you may not want to hear. But we promise it's a good one!

Seriously. How easy would it be to just switch from hot to cold water for hand washing? Okay, okay. Way easier said than done, especially in the winter.

But consider this--every time you use warm water, energy is used to heat it up. So by using cool water, you're saving the energy that would have been used to warm it. Not to mention you're also saving the water that gets wasted while waiting for it to get to the right temperature.

You've probably already guessed that if using cold water for your hands is environmentally friendly, showering with cold water would also be beneficial. We totally understand that this is a lot more to ask. But if you're trying to decrease your environmental impact in the bathroom, at least consider it. Did we mention that it's actually better for your hair, too? Win-win!

Now that we've covered the basic eco-friendly water habits, let's look at the products you're using. We already know that you understand that the products you use matter. After all--you're here because you've swapped Who Gives a Crap's sustainable toilet paper for the regular stuff. (Or you're at least considering it, right?)

When you're switching up your consumption habits to decrease your carbon footprint, it's tempting to shop for new planet-friendly personal care products. But before you do, it's important to understand that the most eco-friendly products are the ones you already own.

Yes, these products may have non-recyclable plastic packaging and probably weren't sustainably sourced. But the natural resources put into their production have already been used. What's done is done, as they say. Whether or not you use these products up or they go to waste, they'll unfortunately end up in a landfill. So be sure to make the most of them before moving on to more sustainable replacements.

Yes, we just spent the last section telling you that you shouldn't buy new products. But at some point or another, you're going to need to restock with eco-friendly alternatives!

When you do, make sure bars are on your radar. They're a great sustainable option, and these days, you can buy way more than just hand soap in bar form. High-quality bar shampoos, conditioners, and cleaners are also readily available.

While they may be a little less convenient than their bottled competition, they're not encased in bulky plastic packaging. Bar products also typically have concentrated formulas, which allow them to last way longer than equivalent bottled products.

Need help finding where to buy these bars? Allow us to shamelessly plug our new sister brand Good Time for just a minute. All Good Time products are plastic-free and arrive at your doorstep with carbon-neutral shipping. It's just a bonus that they smell heavenly and feel even more luxurious than liquid products. We want you to feel good while you're doing good, and our eco-friendly bathroom products help make that easy.

If you've read this far, it's clear that you're seriously interested in having a positive environmental impact. We love that energy! We hope that our tips and tricks above help you on your path to becoming more eco-friendly. Just remember--every little bit helps. So keep on reusing, reducing, and recycling where you can, and when you're in the market for good low-waste products, keep us in mind.