Earth Day Health & Beauty Countdown: Switch Your Liquid Shampoo to a Bar

Earth Day is Friday, April 22. Why not use it to set some new goals that will help you green your health and beauty routine?

Let's start with shampoo. Conventional shampoo contains ingredients that may cause asthma or other human health problems and wreak havoc on water systems when they wash down the drain. Plus, they usually come packaged in plastic bottles that many communities can't recycle.

SHAMPOO BARS

Shampoo that comes as a bar rather than in a bottle treads more lightly on the planet - and reduces the amount of trash you throw away. Why?

* It uses less packaging.

* The packaging is probably paper or cardboard, thus easier to recycle than plastic.(If you do buy shampoo in a plastic bottle, rinse it out and recycle it.)

* Since it's not liquid, it's lighter than bottled shampoos and therefore uses less energy to be shipped from the manufacturing plant to the store where you buy it.

Most shampoos contain various chemicals to ensure they suds up a lot. In fact, you might not feel like your hair is getting clean unless it's had a good lather. These shampoo bars don't lather like liquid shampoo, but they do a great job cleaning your hair. None of them contain parabens, phthalates, or the antibacterial triclosan; they haven't been tested on animals, either.

Burt's Bees Rosemary Mint Shampoo Bar

Seed Grape seed enriched conditioning hair shampoo bar - unscented

Chagrin Valley All Natural Solid Shampoo Bars

Herbaria Herbal Soaps

For more online options, check the Skin Deep Cosmetic Data base. Aim for products that have a hazard rating of between zero and three, which means they contain the fewest questionnable ingredients. 

Do you have a favorite shampoo bar? Please share!

Related Posts

Antibacterial Soap...Could Harm Fetus and Infants

Green Shampoos and Lotions for Guys

Should Soap Bubbles Make Your Baby Sick? Tell J&J No! 

 Beauty or the Beast? The Safe Chemicals Act

Comments

[Allison]

I really like Lush shampoo bars..they have conditioners too!

[Marie @ Awakeatheart]

I love J.R. Liggett's shampoo bar (jrliggett.com), been using it for about 6 months now. Made in New Hampshire, low packaging, and my hair is so clean! After a couple weeks my hair normalized and I haven't needed any conditioner. It's so smooth and shiny, and I can even go a day longer without washing than I did with bottled shampoo.

I did try another shampoo bar, can't remember the company but my hair was definitely not as clean, it had a dirty feeling even the day I washed it. Might be good for someone with really dry hair, but mine's quite normal. So perhaps you may need to try a couple to find the one that's right for your particular hair.

[Diane MacEachern]

Thanks for the different recommendations. I like Liggett's lotions, but I haven't tried their shampoo bars. You're right about needing to find the right soap for your hair - it's just like finding the right liquid shampoo.

[Betsy (Eco-novice)]

Yes, I would like to ditch my bottled shampoo habit. I will have to start trying these bars when I run out. But what about conditioner??? Hope you post about that soon too.

[dentist Bentleigh East emergency dentist]

I like the idea. But isn't shampoo bars difficult to use and form suds? Just a thought.

[Diane MacEachern]

You can get a fair amount of lather with a shampoo bar. Why not give it a try?

[Herryponting]

You can get a fair quantity of bubbles with a cleanse bar.it is just like finding the right liquid shampoo.
http://www.herbscity.com/baby-shampoo-body-wash-2-in-1-9949.html

[Diane MacEachern]

Please share your favorite cleanse bars for our readers! Thanks.

[Emergency Dentist]

Thanks for sharing different tips. we choose lotions but I haven't used shampoo bars. Is it difficult to use shampoo bars? Emergency Dentist

[lisaedward]

This is definitely one of the best articles I have read in this website! Thanks Mate
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