I’m always looking for ways to live a little more sustainably. But let’s be honest: trying to overhaul your entire house to be eco-friendly all at once is exhausting and overwhelming. I’ve found that the best way to tackle it is by taking a “one room at a time” approach.

I’ve been standing in each room of our house, looking around with fresh eyes, and asking myself a simple question: Where are we unnecessarily using single-use plastic here, and how can we make this space just a little bit greener? And while that is definitely still ‘work in progress’ when I walked into our shower room, the answer was staring right back at me from the ledge: a sea of plastic shampoo bottles.

Taking On the Shower

I’ll admit, moving from a familiar liquid shampoo in a squeeze bottle to a solid bar felt like a big jump. I have white short hair, and use a reasonable amount of product to keep it in shape so, would it actually lather? Would it leave my hair feeling sticky? Could a solid bar really replace my liquid shampoo’s?

I do an Ocado online shop each week and on a search, spotted the KinKind NOURISH me! Argan Oil Shampoo Bar. It’s for normal, dry and grey hair, so at just under £7.95 (August 26 price!), it was worth the experiment.

And to my complete surprise, I absolutely love it.

It lathered really well, leaves my hair feeling soft, nourished and wonderfully clean without weighing it down. They have a good range for different hair needs and conditioner bars too – though I haven’t tried the conditioner. But even better is the feeling of kicking one more plastic bottle out of our shower room routine for good.

The Shocking Plastic Facts Behind Our Daily Wash

When you look at your own shower shelf, it’s easy to think, “It’s just one bottle every month or two.” But when you zoom out to look at the bigger picture, the numbers are eye-opening:

  • 520 Million Bottles a Year: In the UK alone, an estimated 520 million plastic shampoo bottles end up in the trash every single year.
  • 450 Years to Break Down: A single plastic shampoo bottle can take up to 450 years to decompose in a landfill, breaking into harmful microplastics.
  • Paying to Ship Water: Liquid shampoo is typically 80% to 90% water. That means millions of heavy plastic bottles are being transported across the globe carrying mostly water! In fact, one lorry filled with compact shampoo bars holds roughly the same number of washes as 15 lorries carrying liquid shampoo bottles.

MY SUSTAINABILITY DEFINITION: MEETING TODAY’S NEEDS WITHOUT RUINING TOMORROW. Support the Stories: I truly believe that sharing these stories helps keep us all connected and inspired to do better by our planet. If you enjoy reading my articles and want to help keep this platform running, please consider clicking the “Sponsor My Writing” button in the top right corner. As a little extra thank you, anyone based in the UK who sponsors £10 or more will get a penguin coaster or two sent right to their door! Your support means the world and directly fuels the next article.

Small Changes, Big Impact

By replacing just one product in our shower room, the benefits add up fast:

  1. Zero Plastic Packaging: Bars like KinKind come packaged in 100% recyclable, plastic-free cardboard.
  2. Long-Lasting Value: A single 50g bar can last up to 50 washes, replacing two full-sized plastic bottles.
  3. Clutter-Free Space: Switching to bars instantly makes the shower room look cleaner, minimalist and clutter-free.

My Advice for Making the Swap

If you’re nervous about making the transition, don’t be! Wet your hair, rub the bar between wet hands (or directly onto your roots) to build up a rich, creamy lather, wash and rinse as normal. Just make sure to keep your bar on a free-draining soap dish so it dries out between uses – it will last much longer that way! Mine is lasting well, quite a few washes already and still plenty of the bar left. And they have a shampoo bar tin for storage and travel.

Making sustainable choices doesn’t mean you have to change your entire life overnight. It’s about taking it step by step, room by room. By looking closely at our shower room, I found a simple swap that actually upgraded my self-care routine and helped the planet.