Waste-Less Wednesdays Episode 8: Deodorant
Welcome to this weeks episode of Waste-Less Wednesdays: Deodorant.
If you’re like me when it comes to deodorant, you’ve probably trialled a LOT of brands and/or recipes to find a sustainable and eco-friendly option that works for you. Being vegan, with sensitive skin, who also gets bad anxiety sweats… finding something that ticks all the boxes has been a JOURNEY. But I have found not one, but TWO options that work amazing!
Routine
Lemon Juice
Before I dive into those, I want to cover your typical eco-friendly options that exist out there:
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1. Making your own
This is something I personally haven’t tried doing myself but have used various recipes that both friends and my mom have made when I was younger. Unfortunately for me, with my sensitive skin, the recipes used have caused me to get rashes, but I know many people who successfully use homemade dedorants, and have for years!
2. Paper/Cardboard Compostable Packaging
This is one to be mindful and careful of… not all “compostable packaging” can be just tossed into any city or home composting systems. This applies to any packaging that claims to be compostable. Often the packaging needs to be disposed of to a specific composting plant that is designed to handle and take care of these newer forms of packaging. If you throw it a compost bin that is going to a facility which isn’t actually designed to take care of this type of waste, the facilities will often treat the batch as ‘contaminated’ and just throw it to landfill, as it’s just not worth the time and effort for them to sort through every little bit of composting that comes through.
In saying that though, there are many options out there that can be composted and shouldn’t deter you from trying them out!
3. Glass Jars (for refilling)
This has become my main option as I’ve found brands that I love, and I often have many uses for reusing jars – either to refill with more deodorant, or other products.
Not all brands, but many choosing this particular packaging route, often offer a refill option. Brands like Dom’s can be re-filled at The Soap Dispensary in Vancouver!
4. Lemon Juice
This one was such a fun surprise! I came across a couple videos on Instagram of people doing this and was stoked to try for myself and learn that it works SO well. It was long lasting AND cut out the bad anxiety sweat smells. More about this below.
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Now for me, Routine has become my saving-grace! This is not sponsored (although Routine if you’re reading this… would LOVE to work with you 👀🙏🏻), so let me tell ya when I say Routine has been the best brand for me! It has ticked all the boxes and more. They’re a Canadian+Women owned brand that’s still pretty young but has really stepped up to the plate. Not only do they work, but they smell incredible and come in beautiful packaging. I was lucky enough to get to trial some samples when they reached out to me while working at Nada a few years ago. Unfortunately, we weren’t able to bring them on at the time, but I immediately fell in love with all their products I got to try (more to come in future episodes). The other great thing about it is that you need to use such a small amount – this little jar I had lasted me about a year ($25 for a whole year? Sign me up!) The only downside is I have yet to find a re-fillery nearby, so I’ll probably look into switching to their compostable packaging options in the future – can’t recommend them enough.
The lemon juice was such a fun experiment and surprise! Now it’s important to note that you need to be using fresh squeezed lemon juice, not the pre-bottled stuff, as the preservatives in these will make it ineffective. At the time, I was just using lemon wedges to rub directly onto my skin but I have read you can bottle the juice in little spray bottles and keep in the fridge for up to around two weeks! I’ve yet to do the math on whether this turns out more/less/comparably cost effective to packaged deodorant. But one things for sure… this stuff works insanely well. Just a note, don’t apply directly after shaving as it does sting when you do…
If you’re looking for more guidance on what a “zero-waste” life looks like, check out my post: “How and What You Buy Matters.”
Stay passionate and curious,
Hunter 💛
