I’ve written a few times about my desire to live a reduced-waste lifestyle, but I feel like the pandemic totally turned that upside down with the switch to takeout meals, almost weekly Green Chef meal kit deliveries, and even more online shopping than usual. I’m doing what I can to keep that going through the midst of… * gestures at everything *

I’ve recently discovered a few great low waste bathroom products that make easy replacements for disposables if you’re also trying to reduce your waste, even a little bit! I can be hard on myself when it comes to how much waste I produce (I really HATE throwing things away), so it can feel like it’s not worth trying if I’m not doing it perfectly. Anything is better than nothing at all! These four items are all great places to start. Let me know what your low waste bathroom swaps are in the comments!

4 Easy Low(er) Waste Bathroom Swaps

Low waste bathroom product: Luv Scrub exfoliator | Cotton Cashmere Cat Hair

1. LUV SCRUB EXFOLIATOR

I grew up using loofahs to clean myself in the shower and probably did not dispose of them as often as I should have, which is apparently every 1-2 months. Yeah that definitely didn’t happen, oops.

I wanted to find an alternative to the plastic loofahs I had been using. I love the Luv Scrub for its unique scrubby textured mesh and easy lather. Did you know long mesh scrubs like the Luv Scrub are common in West Africa?

You can ball it right up and use it as you would a loofah, or you can leave it open to get your back. I still have troubles trying to get to my back but that might just be a “me” issue, ha!

It is recommended you replace the Luv Scrub every 18 months; in the same amount of time, you’d use at least 9 regular loofahs!

Low waste bathroom product: makeup remover cloths | Cotton Cashmere Cat Hair

2. MAKEUP REMOVER CLOTHS

These two makeup remover cloths were my first foray into that lower waste bathroom lifestyle! I purchased these from Sephora back in spring 2018. Unfortunately, these exact cloths are no longer offered (they were part of the in-house Sephora Collection), but I believe they were dupes of the MakeUp Eraser cloths.

Before I bought these cloths, I used those ubiquitous Neutrogena disposable face wipes almost exclusively to remove makeup. That was a lot of wipes I was throwing away when removing my makeup every night!

What I love about these cloths is that all you need is water and the makeup comes right off, even stubborn mascara! I don’t wear waterproof mascara but my guess is it’d work great on that, too. I always take one of these traveling with me in a little bag (unless I forget).

Low waste bathroom product: Thinx period underwear | Cotton Cashmere Cat Hair

3. THINX PERIOD UNDERWEAR

Alright, y’all, I’ll be honest: I never got the hang of tampons and wore primarily pantyliners for years while I was on oral birth control.

Fast forward to spring 2017, when I joined team IUD. I am one of the lucky ones that still gets a period every month (and it’s more like every three weeks at this point, bleh). I’m tired of buying disposable period products, so I finally invested in a few pairs of Thinx period underwear (also available from Nordstrom).

They are AWESOME! My favorite and most-worn styles are the sport bikini and cotton thong (pictured), but I also own the cotton bikini and air bikini. I’m now up to six pairs of thongs and four pairs of bikinis. I own all of them in size small. I’m looking forward to the relaunch of the cotton styles in a new eco-friendly blend with modal!

Low waste bathroom product: cotton flannel facial rounds | Cotton Cashmere Cat Hair

4. COTTON FLANNEL FACIAL ROUNDS

To replace disposable cotton rounds that you use to remove makeup/nail polish and/or apply skincare products, pick up a pack of reusable cotton rounds!

I purchased these rounds by Marley’s Monsters from MightyNest. They are made out of two layers of 100% cotton flannel and are very durable. I use them primarily to apply toner after washing my face at night, though they would also work well for removing makeup.

I ordered these rounds in white and they haven’t stained! (Then again, I haven’t used them to remove makeup.) They’re also available in multi colors, and the pads aren’t pre-washed so they do shrink a little bit after being washed. Each set comes with 20 pads, and I think I’ve used fewer than 10 pads so far so hopefully they last me quite a while!