reduce shaving waste

The next step in my 6 months challenge is to reduce the waste produced by shaving, whether foam or razors.

It is estimated that 2 billions disposable razors are thrown away each year… and that does not include the foams bottles, the blades of the non-disposables razors… so let’s see how we can reduce that. I mostly don’t use disposable razors unless i realized I forgot my razor on a working trip… My shaving routine is using an electric razor during the working days and no shave during holidays/week-ends unless a special event requires it. Though that means that on monday or first day back at work, I have a longer beard and the electric razor is not doing a very good job. So these days I use a gillette MAC3 bought several years ago (however I don’t remember when is the last time I changed the blades). These days I also use shaving foam.

alternative to disposable razors

I’ve started looking for an alternative to that razor for when my MAC3 blades are not cutting anything. ( you may want to sharpen them by shaving a piece of old jean, it does improve the shaving experience a bit). One of the best alternative to disposable razor is using a safety razor and recycling the blades. if you live in Thailand, you can find a choice of such razors (that should last you a lifetime) and blades online at man of siam or siam wet shave. There are also cheaper alternatives available on shoppee or lazada. I haven’t tried yet using a safety razor but it seems no more dangerous than another razor, though it may take some time getting used to it.

zero waste shaving foam/soap

What about shaving foam? your first option is actually to replace it with soap, using your bar of soap (homemade or purchase with zero, recyclable or reusable packaging). That’s what I’ve been doing for the last few weeks using my home made soap. Alternatives would be to buy a natural shaving soap or cream in a reusable container (you can find some from lush for example). If you like the DIY road, you could also do your own soap/cream such as: shaving cream soap from diynatural, shaving soap from the things we’ll make or shaving foam from wellness mama.

Hope this helps you find a less wasteful shaving routine (and yes sharpening your existing blades and make them last longer is less wasteful…) and you help heal the world. As usual, please leave any comment or question below. If you want to see more steps I have taken to reduce my waste, please check my 6 months challenge page.