Shampoo is found in colorful plastic bottles made of different types of plastic in a single container. This makes plastic shampoo bottles difficult to recycle, as the assorted pigments from different bottles gives recycled plastic a muddy hue, and the material resulting from the contamination of several types of plastic is a lower quality than that made of a single type of plastic.

 This can be confronted in many ways, including by refilling containers. If we reuse the same container over and over again, there’s no need to worry about using new plastic or recycling it, because we won’t need to buy any more. If new ones are needed, they can be made with a single type of plastic so they don’t contaminate recycling. Not having to produce a new container every time someone runs out of shampoo would cut costs for companies, yet it’s rare to see dispensaries where people can refill their containers. Although these options are simple and beneficial, they are not available to the majority of consumers. 

However, there is an alternative that has gained attention in recent years: the shampoo bar,  shampoo that takes the form of a bar of soap. Although it’s still shampoo, it is wrapped in much more environmentally-friendly packaging than its customary counterpart. Shampoo bars are usually wrapped in paper, or in the case of some brands, a reusable container. If plastic is used, it is typically significantly thinner than a bottle, and a fraction of the size. 

Additionally, the reduced size and weight of this product decreases emissions required to ship it. Eliminating the water from the product frees up space and makes it lighter. Consumers are no longer paying for water that they are already using in the shower; they just pay for the product that cleans their hair.

That being said, shampoo bars don’t work for everyone. They aren’t as widely available as typical shampoo, and their lack of popularity because of how new they are means that they have less options for those with particular hair needs. Shampoo bars are not for everyone, but they are a great option for those who can use them. Hopefully, other options such as reusing containers and refilling them will gain popularity and become available to a wider range of people.

I’ve used both shampoo and conditioner bars in the past, and I think that it’s fantastic that they’ve gained attention, but I wanted to research further into alternatives to typical showering habits in case there were alternatives that I’d yet to hear of, or there were problems with bar hair products.

There was nothing I could find that criticized shampoo bars as a way to decrease waste, but it was noted that they don’t work for everyone. I had heard about dispensaries where customers could refill their reusable containers, which I think are incredible and should certainly be more common. I had yet to hear of the grievances of mixed plastic in their bottles, though, which I found interesting.

Overall, I didn’t learn many new things, but I did want to cover it for those who hadn’t heard much about the subject. If you learned something from this article, stay tuned to learn with me!.

“The future of packaging: can a shift in product design end the plastic waste crisis? More than 8m tonnes of plastic end up in oceans every year, so building a system that moves away from our ‘take, make, waste’ economy is crucial. We look at the possible iterations of a shower gel bottle to explore how a new economic model could be achieved; More than 8m tonnes of plastic end up in oceans every year, so building a system that moves away from our ‘take, make, waste’ economy is crucial. We look at the possible iterations of a shower gel bottle to explore how a new economic model could be achieved.” Guardian [London, England], 16 Sept. 2021, p. NA. Gale In Context: Opposing Viewpoints, link.gale.com/apps/doc/A676534842/OVIC?u=ante588&sid=bookmark-OVIC&xid=da985526. Accessed 5 Mar. 2023.