Products in Recycled Packaging

A Look at Three Natural Products with 100% Recycled Plastics

As part of my aim to reduce single use plastics I have been diligently been making my own products. From homemade liquid soap to almond milk to orange cleaning spray - I have been having great fun doing these projects. 

For those who don't fancy the thought of DIY there are some great natural products out there you can use, which are also environmentally friendly.

There are no affiliated links below - all the products have been used by me (even before I started on the plastic reduction journey, as I find natural products more pleasurable to use). I do hope you enjoy trying some out for yourself too!

Wild Rhubarb Anti-Bacterial Spray

Method Cleaning Spray

I started using Method cleaning sprays for kitchen and bathroom some years ago. I now make my own orange vinegar spray but you do sometimes find, with home made products, that you have to let them soak in for several minutes to do their work. 

Commercial sprays though can work their magic quicker so occasionally I do still use them from time to time. I love that Method have so many different choices of spray with natural plant based ingredients, including sunny citrus, water mint and clementine. My fave at the moment is rhubarb (see left). 

In 2008, Method began to make bottles from 100 percent post-consumer recycled plastic, and in 2012, the company joined forces with Ecover, to create the world’s largest green cleaning company.

I think that from their humble beginnings in 2000, as two lads who wanted to make a huge difference, they have gone leaps and bounds. Method can be brought from several supermarkets and online stores. 

For a list of suppliers go to: https://methodproducts.co.uk/find-a-store/.

Ecover

Ecover is a great product that was founded in Belgium in 1979. They do dishwasher, laundry and household cleaning products. What I love most is their innovation. For example, they produce a washing up bottle made from 50% recycled ocean plastic waste from Brazil and 50% post consumer plastic. That equals 100% recycled waste plastic being used.

But have you seen this? A new product that uses waste from the Belgian beer brewing industry. It's limited edition so keep an eye out for it. 

From their web site 'This innovative new washing up liquid is created using at least 25% of waste ingredients leftover from the beer brewing process (water and ethanol), the bottle is made of 100% post-consumer recycled plastic and the cap is made of 50% post-consumer recycled plastic.

Available at Whole Foods, Amazon, Ocado from 16th September 2019.

Ecover (the one on the left made from ocean plastics)
Scrubbies cloth at the front can be found in my reviews section.

Even though I now use soap nuts for my laundry plus home made vinegar spray for the clothes conditioner, I do still occasionally use ecover for my clothes. Especially for delicate washes as they have a wash detergent suitable for woollens. 

I also like their dishwasher tablets that come in a card box. A shame that each tablet comes in a plastic wrapper though so for the moment I switched to Ecoleaf which has a dissolvable wrapper.

Ecover is widely available in supermarkets. There are also some refill stations you can try (see link below)
https://www.ecover.com/retailers-independents-refill-stations/.

It's wonderful to see that Ecover in their factory diverts 98.1% of its waste from landfill and aim to be achieve zero waste within the next few years. I find it so lovely that their factory has meadow flowers alongside too, how awesome is that? (See zero waste link for info).

Love Beauty and Planet

I can't go without giving a huge shout out to my newest favourite, Love Beauty and Planet. They produce hair and shower products with natural plant based origin in 100% post consumer recycled plastic bottles. 

I absolutely love the Muru Muru Butter and Rose Shower Gel. Smells a bit like buttery rose on warm babies heads. My new found fetish is to sniff the wash cloth on the way past as it smells so yummy (that's maybe too much information!)

The coconut shower gel and shampoo is more subtle but makes my hair feeling quite light afterwards. You may notice a greyish tint to the bottles and they can sometimes buckle. This is due to the high recycled content in the plastics. It's a small price to pay and when you're trying to reduce use of single use plastics, it's great to know your bottle had a previous life!

I'm currently using soaps and shampoo bars to cut down on plastics but I do sometimes switch to this product, to get a fix of that Muru Butter and Rose scent, umm, lovely!!

Check out their FAQ for a list of where to buy Love Beauty and Planet.

My fave shower gel!

💦 Check out my latest review on Sainsbury's Greencare Products 💦