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When you run out of shampoo, it feels like a field trip going to the store for a new bottle. With shampoo bottles available in so many colors, sizes, and scents, it is incredibly challenging to decide which one to choose. And all so colorful bottles are decorated with pictures or drawings of fruits, vegetables, or various plants, all promising beautiful, luxurious hair. But unfortunately, you never take the time to read the small print on the backside of the bottle to read what the shampoo is made of–if there are pictures of mango, vanilla, and aloe vera–the shampoo must be all-natural and good for you. Sadly, many times this is not the case.
So next time in the store, do look at the small print, and you will be surprised there is just the tiniest bit of mango, vanilla, or aloe vera, just a bunch of (harmful) chemicals perfumes a lot of water.
When you realize what shampoos, particularly those sold in plastic bottles, are made of and how much harm they are doing, you will be the first advocate for an alternative like a shampoobar or making your own haircare products.
Below you can find 5 convincing reasons to avoid drugstore shampoo bottles, making it easier when talking to your friends and family to persuade them to ditch the bottled shampoo as well.
It is not good for you
Traditional bottled shampoos are filled with chemicals, fragrances, and preservatives, some of which can be toxic. They can cause many things, from dry and damaged scalp to red-eye and rashes. In worse cases, they can lead to some conditions which could need medical attention. Shampoo bars are a greener and healthier choice; not only because you avoid the amount of plastic used for the packages of a regular shampoo bottle, they are also made with less harmful l ingredients and are cruelty-free. Traditional shampoos often use artificial perfumes and preservatives, which could cause irritations.
It is not good for your wallet.
Believe it or not, but most shampoos are 80 percent water. Do you wish to pay for all that water when you can simply add it in yourself? Shampoo bars are super concentrated, and one bar can last up to three bottles of liquid shampoo. This means you will save only money and you will avoid extra trips to the store.
It is not good for your travel bag.
Did it ever happen to you that your shampoo spilled all over your stuff while you were traveling? Whether you are flying or taking the bus, the travel bags get tossed a lot, and there is a pretty big possibility that the bottle will break and spill all over your bag. You will not have such problems with shampoo bars because all they can do to your clothing is make it smell nicer. Moreover, when flying, you will not have to worry about carrying too many liquid items in your hand baggage.
The traditional shampoo is not good for the environment.
When the liquid full of chemicals leaves your hair, and in case it does not harm you, it may harm the environment and the animals it meets on its way to the ocean. Try to imagine how many people are washing their hair every day and how much of the chemicals are going down the drain, harming the animals and plants living in the water and oceans. Contrarily, when you make your hair care products, you can select your ingredients yourself and select only ingredients that are biodegradable and ocean safe.
Shampoo bottles are made of plastic.
An average American uses 11 bottles of shampoo a year, and one bottle takes approximately 450 years to decompose. So, the estimation is that the Americans only send around 550 million shampoo bottles to the landfill every year! Multiply that 550 million with 450 years, in the US only, and you will see how much waste plastic there will be only from shampoo bottles. On the other hand, shampoo bars come wrapped in (recycled) paper or in paper boxes that can be easily reused or recycled, and nothing is sent to the landfill and when you make your own, you can reuse the glass bottle of shampoo over and over again.
So, next time you run out of shampoo and go to choose a new one, try to think deeply about the fact that you are using it quite often and wash it away in the drain, which then goes to the sea. Opting for a shampoo bar is a better choice for both you and the environment. Obviously, it will take some time getting used to but once you get the hang of it, it won’t be much different compared to regular shampoo.
If you are feeling creative and are looking for a new hobby, have you ever given DIY hair care products a thought? It is just like cooking (without the weight gain), rather intimidating in the beginning but once you can a hold of it, it is super fun to do and very rewarding as using your hair care products is just awesome and the products are much better compared to their store bought counterparts.
Making green decisions and taking care of the environment is not rocket science; you simply carry out little actions in every segment of your life, and you will see how big of an impact you can make in no time. And, interestingly, many eco-friendly alternatives are much more affordable in both the short and long term compared to their traditional pairs.
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