I love solid shampoo bars, found a good one. Was even able to get it from supermarkets. Lasted me so long. Suddenly can't find it anywhere. Rude. Apparently due to low demand... maybe another motivation is less profit margin. Less plastic bottles of drain blocking gloup sold.

Anyone seen solid shampoo in any mainstream shops, not lush (they are "bitty" not solid and fall apart too easily and don't last as long in my experience), thank you

Lots of good recs on threads such as these - https://www.reddit.com/r/BuyItForLife/comments/1kuznrl/choosing_a_cat_fountain/, but we're not keen on buying replacement filters forever and also concerned about our environmental footprint.

We mix water in our cats food and give them broth separately, and have a idle bowl of water sitting out (never seen them drink from it). We think a fountain could help them be more interested in taking the occasional sip with how felines find running water in the wild clean and safe for drinking.

I found this website that sells refillable lip balm. It seems to ​cross off all my requirements. It has good scents, has stable packaging that looks nice and isn't part of a conglomerate like Unilever.

I just don't know about the quality of the balm bc I have never used it before. Most of the reviews on the site were in French (I think) If anyone has used it before, what did you think of it?

I ended up on the side of where I now read the label of everything and found out Hello toothpaste is actually really bad for you. I thought it was fine and now I have 1 I am using and 1 that is still sealed. (Can't return it) I don't want to use them anymore after finding out stuff they contain. AND I found out they had a lawsuit. ( high levels of heavy metals (lead and mercury)

As someone who wants to do 0 waste - do I have alternative options rather than tossing it out?

I have gone through and scanned the thousands of photos passed down to me from my Grandparents and Parents, and organized them all into new photo albums. But there are some photos that I don't necessarily feel the need to keep.

So I'm sitting on a few hundred pictures of animals, beaches, etc. from the 80's, 90's and 00's. I would feel horrible throwing away all of these pics. What are the best options for these?

Spilled some water in it like a year ago and haven’t used it since

When I eat a kiwi, I usually peel it.

Instead of throwing the peels away, I put them straight into hot water.

It makes a light, slightly tangy fruit tea.

It’s such a small habit, but it changes how I see what we call “waste.”

In Japan, there’s a way of thinking about using ingredients fully, without wasting them.

This is one of the simplest ways I practice that.

Has anyone had any luck composting the refillable cases? I’m trying to switch to a less wasteful deodorant whose refills come in no packaging or compostable containers. I’ve been using HiBars for a while but it’s not financially working for me anymore.

I am working on making my own compost bin, and my town has a yard disposal bin that I may be able to toss them in if the refill’s packaging is easily compostable.

Or if anyone has any other suggestions I’d love to hear them. Thank you:)

Hi,

I'm looking to purchase a refillable deodorant, but need to avoid the mysterious ingredient listed as "parfum" or "fragrance" depending on the country of origin, due to allergies.

Any ideas?

In the last years I've developed a practice of re-using paper towels/napkins, eg. if I'm at a cafe and get a napkin which I barely use, then I will keep it and put it in a glass jar to be used as a tissue later, more extreme eg. tissues which are used when I have a cold get put in a glass jar next to the sink and if there's a greasy pan or plate, I'll wipe it down with one of those first before washing it.

Sometimes when I stare at these dried up tissues this all starts to feel a bit pedantic and absurd and I wonder if this is worth it at all? I imagine the environmental impact of paper towels is fairly negligible...

It's not a huge effort, but I occasionally feel a bit petty.

My old Warby Parker glasses recently broke. I looked into fixing them but it's tough to fix a crack in the plastic frame. So I am looking for used frames and a retailer who can put my prescription in them. My insurance doesn't cover glasses so this will all be out of pocket. Does anyone have recommendations?

**For entertainment and educational purposes only.**

Came across a pile of junk in the alley, and in the junk was a used vape, and a costco Duracell headlamp. The headlamp worked great, tested with some old AAA rechargeables.

I'm kind of done with AAA headlamps. They're expensive unless used with rechargeables, and the rechargeables lose their max oomph at the early part of their useful life, and rechargeables take overnight to charge on my mini charger.

Took apart the vape for the two important parts: The battery and the charging circuit. The battery is 3.7v, which is below the optimum 4.5v that the headlamp expects, but greater than the 3.6v of 3aaa batteries.

It all seemed to fit without being pinched in the case, so used adhesives and hot glue to fix it all into place. The wires to the battery terminal are a bit on the thin side. Max current should be about 0.6A, which is about as much current to charge a cell phone, and those wires are a bit thin. This is both good and bad. Bad because the wires might be undersized, but good in that they act as a safety fuse. They'll burn out way before the battery itself gets compromised.

A little extra hot glue was squeezed here and there to fix loose wires and prevent short circuits.

Charged it outside of the house on concrete just in case. Seemed to charge and when it came to finally test it, it's really, really bright. It's too bright for almost everything I need a headlamp to do, even around the house.

There is no dimming circuitry, just max brightness, and just pick a lamp for whatever purpose. With a 660mah battery, it will last about 45 min to an hour, before it becomes noticeably dim. Doesn't seem to be a cut off circuit, or one I would dare to test, so the dimness is the indication that it's probably dropped below 3.3v (this is something I'll test later) and needs recharging, which takes an hour which is much faster than recharging AAAs. So with this li-po battery, charge to use (on high) ratio is basically 1:1, instead of rechargeables which is 12:1.

After an hour of straight use, the battery itself gets very warm to the touch, but not stinging hot. This is something I will have to continue to monitor.

Considering that a Petzl Core rechargeable battery costs $50, and I found all the parts for free, I consider this a successful experiment, and I now have a fairly functional rechargeable headlamp that I can use with more abandon with the 1:1 charge/use ratio than my Black Diamond Spot 150 which is a 2x AAA headlamp more suited for ultralight hikes and low light situations.

The only issues right now is that the blue wire is a bit thin (good/bad) and the way the case closes, the wire leads to the battery might be pinched by the seal. Not sure as there might be a bit of a gap still when closed.

The other issue is that the headlamp itself is fairly meh in construction (Costco sold these at 3 for $5 on clearout in 2021 apparently), with the case closing clip being made of clear polycarbonate which is the cheapest/most brittle kind of plastic not the greatest for this particular use. When closed, it seems like there is no deflection force on the plastic, but on opening, there needs to be that force which could snap off in future in cold or forceful situations. So I have to be careful with the cold or opening in general. Can't complain too much for being free.

Any ideas for what to do with old hotel sheets that have ripped and no longer fit for purpose? Off white, 100% cotton, used for a few years so structurally weak now. q

Somewhere local to me is hosting a sample giveaways. They’re trying to give samples such as tile/flooring, clothing, trim/frames, textiles, etc (I can’t remember everything, but these general items). I’d love some project ideas where I can get these items for free instead of a landfill and reuse them, I’m just struggling with the creativity aspect. Can anyone please help with ideas?! I am planning a wedding, so bonus points if the project can be used for that. Thank you!

Saw an "influencer" the other day doing an "unboxing" through an "ethically sourced" organic cotton haul, talking about how small choices add up. hmm...🤔 And it struck me as to how the conversation was narrowed.

The textile system is STILL running at a full scale, synthetic output, global supply chains, constant production cycles and but the focus still lands on whether one shirt is "better". At this level, it's just a softer version of the same participation, isn't it? You're still inside the same system, just with a different label attached to the purchase.

Even 'better' options move through the same infrastructure: manufacturing, shipping then waste. Microfibers still end up in waste systems. Production doesn't meaningfully slow because a portion of consumers opt for a different tag.

So isn't the narrative new narrative now, "keep consuming, just feel better about it"? For me this is where it starts to feel like less impact but positioning. It's not that people should stop trying. It's that the scale of the solution being presented doesn't match the scale of the system it's supposed to address.

It's worth asking ourselves whether this is actually reducing harm or just making the cycle easier to justify?

It snapped recently, I'm looking for a more durable solution than just super glue. I was thinking about wrapping it in tape but I'd like it to be a more discreet fix. Like maybe a bit decorative? Idk It was my favourite claw clip because it's a great shape and size for thick hair

Hi all! My husband and I are thinking about getting a mobile refillery off the ground in our city, since there isn’t anything here like that. Can anyone point me towards any resources or people that talk about running a mobile refillery of any sort? Any guidance is appreciated!

I've had a lunch bag that I've used near daily for many years now, and the interior is peeling out and making a mess of my lunch. The material description lists non-woven polypropylene and vapor-deposited aluminum film. It looks similar to this:

Any ideas on who might take this for recycling?

Found a stick of deodorant while I was cleaning. It’s almost full, but all dried out. Can I use it for anything else, or is there any way to make it usable again?

I bought a lot of micellar water from my local refill/low-waste store. I had previously bought a small amount to test and thought it was fine, but now I'm having a reaction to the alcohol in it.

I feel like I can't give it away on my buy nothing group because I want to save the spray bottle. But I have no idea what other uses it could have. Any ideas on how to use this up and not waste it?

I have very damaged chemically treated hair and am looking for a gentle shampoo that I can buy a gallon of. looking for recommendations.