A *touchy* subject for some unknown reason. Periods are uncomfortable and inconvenient enough as it is, so messing around with what methods work for you can be scary. I’m a pad/ tampon girl, finding that a combination makes me feel the most at ease. However, these products are packaged and made of plastic, and every time I use them I’m reminded how much single use plastic I am buying and using.

I’ve been looking at alternative products for a while, and have found loads of options. If you’re interested, there are alternatives from cups to pads, underwear to plastic free tampon applicators – anything you can think of. I’ve gone for reusable pads, because it’s the closest to what I currently use. The brand I went with are Bloom and Nora, because they were in my local zero waste shop, and I’ve seen lots of positive reviews of them. I bought the trial kit for £33.95, which includes one mini, one midi, one maxi and one mighty pad, with a bag for keeping them in before washing them. The idea is, you use one, rinse it in cold water and then throw it in with the rest of your washing.

So, my review – generally, pretty good, I’ll definitely keep using them. They’re great at night because I feel really secure, there’s no leaking or anything like that, and they’re very comfy. Throughout the day I didn’t really notice them, and the midi pad in particular was great for an average day of work. I also love the cute prints on both the pads and the bag, and they all washed and dried really easily. However, I did feel that some of the pads were a little bulky, and I you could see them through some of my clothes, which isn’t ideal. They were also VERY warm (because they’re sort of fleece-like), so I might not recommend them if you live somewhere very warm. As with many reusable period products, you also need enough of them for a full cycle, unless you do washing everyday, which I do not. However, that is predominantly my fault for just getting the trial pack.

Overall, I did like them, and I will use them, but I’ll also look for other sustainable period products that are less bulky and warm, but maybe stick to these at night. Like I said in a recent post, it’s great to try all these things to see whether they work for you, but if they don’t then it isn’t a positive change! It has to be a positive change for you and the environment, otherwise it won’t be a permanent change.

Link to Bloom and Nora Trial Kit: https://www.bloomandnora.com/collections/popular/products/nora-trial-kit-boudoir#productinfo1

I’m a shower person – always have been, always will be. Baths are just not my thing. Therefore, I really enjoy my showers and find them relaxing (particularly as I tend to shower at night). Some of the things that were hardest for me to change when I started to lower my waste were my shower products. I’ll talk about hair care and razors another time, but for now I’m focusing on body washes, scrubs and moisturisers.

I used to have a plethora of body butters, body washes, soaps, scrubs and other similar sounding products that I would use in the shower. Even without thinking about waste, I was using a lot of unnecessary products on my skin and wasting money when simple things can be cheaper and more versatile. The first big thing I did that is really easy is to stop buying shower gel and to use bars of soap instead. You can, of course, buy shower gel and refill it at your local zero waste shop if you love your shower gel that much, but for me, a bar of soap does the job. I tend to go for moisturising bars that then double as an in-shower moisturiser.

The rest of my shower time used to be spent exfoliating and moisturising again with more products that all do the same thing. Now, I make a coffee based scrub, which is great for cellulite and for moisturising your skin. Essentially, you use some leftover coffee grounds that you squeeze the moisture out of, and add your desired oil (which tends to be coconut oil for me, as I firmly believe it can do anything). The only downside of this is that it doesn’t keep for that long, so I make it in small batches as and when.

These two small swaps have made my shower routine much simpler, and have shortened my shower time which has hopefully saved me some water. The biggest tip here is to not use bottles of shower gel and then throw them away – reuse them, or just get a trusty bar of soap (that comes in recyclable or no packaging, of course).

One of the first things that I really had to work at changing when I decided to reduce my waste was skincare. I have always been really keen on trying lots of sheet masks, mud masks, new exfoliators and other unnecessary stuff. I also really enjoy wearing make-up and wear it almost every day, which means I have to remove it almost everyday. I used to use make-up wipes to do this, meaning that I was getting through at least one make-up wipe a day, sometimes two if I had worn a lot of make-up. Using make-up wipes also wasn’t that good for my skin, as I was just drying it out (like many teenagers with oily skin do). So, the first thing I swapped was my make-up wipes.

I started by replacing my wipes because I watched a tv show called The War on Plastic, which mentioned the amount of plastic in different types of wipes including wet wipes, cleaning wipes and make-up wipes. This was plastic that I didn’t know I was using, so I decided to ditch the wipes. Instead of wipes, I now use make-up remover pads which you use and then throw in the wash. I use them with coconut oil, which breaks down the make-up so I can wipe it all off my face. I then use a facial cleansing bar make from oats and honey, and then I use my moisturiser (which is just nivea, and is not zero waste). This is another swap I’ve made that is easy in principal, because I have to wash my clothes and these little pads are easy to throw in and come out good as new. The only difficulty was breaking the habit of using a wipe, particularly after going out at night or after drinking, when I’d rather just do something easy. But, once I broke out of that mindset, it has really helped me to reduce my waste, and it has really benefited my skin too – it isn’t as dry and doesn’t feel stretched after I’ve taken my make-up off.

If you use make-up wipes, I would really suggest swapping them for something reusable, because it’s pretty shocking how much plastic is in a packet of wipes.