There are endless sustainable alternatives out there now that we're trying to minimise our impact on the environment. A great way to achieve this is by cutting out plastic – one of the biggest villains to our ecosystem.
We've rounded up some of the best plastic-free household items to make those easy changes to your lifestyle. We believe that cutting out plastic goes a long way, so these switches could help you do your daily bit for the planet.
Want to take further action? Organise a beach clean near you, reduce your plastic waste or take up the plastic challenge for a month.
Best plastic-free household items 2022
Your Nature Natural Deodorant
This stick of natural deodorant from Your Nature is 100% plastic-free and it also ticks lots of boxes in regards to sustainability. The packaging itself is fully recyclable and the deodorant is vegan, containing no animal products and being tested on no animals at any point.
There are a number of scents to choose from – including lavender and bergamot, and lemongrass with tea tree. It's also made in the UK with no artificial or harmful components to allow your skin to breathe naturally. Plus, organic ingredients like shea butter and coconut oil can have positive effects on the skin.
We've tested lots of other leading eco deodorant brands - see all our favourite natural deodorants to buy today.
Allavare Natural Household Products
There are many eco-cleaning products out there, but not many that come in refillable glass bottles and tins, with little concentrates that you simply dilute. This new range from Allavare (Latin meaning 'to wash') not only look beautiful on your bathroom shelves, with their gleaming amber glass reflecting the sunlight, but they actually work, too.
All products in the range are eco-friendly – which means they contain no petrochemicals, artificial fragrances, dyes, or other harsh chemicals. Instead they're made up primarily of simple natural ingredients, such as lemon juice, vinegar, coconut oil.
The bathroom balm is excellent, and there are also a number of cleaner sprays, liquid soaps, granite and glass cleaner, and a kitchen cleanser as well as a range of laundry products.
SuperBee Dentos Eco Toothpaste Tabs
Natural toothpaste tabs work differently to your usual tube of toothpaste. All you do is put the tab in your mouth and chew them until it foams, then brush your teeth as you normally would. It's an eco-friendly alternative to buying plastic tubes, and this 100-tab pack from SuperBee Dentos is plastic-free.
The toothpaste tabs are vegan and contain only natural ingredients. They're a great eco-friendly choice as they contain no fluoride or palm oil. A nice bonus is that they can easily be carried when travelling, as there are no liquids there'll be no problems when flying.
Nora Reusable Period Pads
Cloth Sanitary Pads (CSPs) are an obvious choice for any woman who uses menstrual cups or other sustainable period products. But often getting hold of them is a case of what's available at your local zero waste shop (if you're lucky enough to have one), or trying an unknown maker you find on Etsy.
So it's great to see that CSPs are now available from Nora, sister company of Frugi. The latter is known for its children and maternity wear, and which has experience in creating cloth nappies for babies. It's taken its expertise and applied it to a relatively new market with great success – Nora pads are comfortable, breathable and, importantly, well designed offering security throughout the day.
LoofCo Washing-Up Pad
For an eco-friendly alternative to washing-up sponges, these pads from LoofCo are 100% biodegradable and plastic-free. The pads are designed to expand and soften in water, allowing for flexibility when washing curved or tight dishes. They're handmade in Egypt using natural loofah plant.
The pads can be machine washed to keep them fresh, but when their time is up, just pop them into your compost bin to decompose.
Who Gives A Crap Toilet Paper
Who Gives A Crap are becoming an increasingly popular sustainable choice for toilet paper, possibly partly thanks to its memorable name and colourful packaging. But the paper speaks for itself: it's made from 100% recycled paper and the packaging is completely plastic free.
Its recycled toilet paper was voted #1 Most Sustainable by The Natural Resources Defence Council. As a bonus, the company donates 50% of their profits to charities that help build toilets in developing countries around the world.
Smol - Subscription Laundry Capsules
For a convenient alternative for laundry capsules, Smol offers plastic-free, eco-friendly capsules delivered through your letterbox. Its laundry capsule packs, as well as its dish-wash packs, contain no plastic while its fabric conditioner bottles are made using recycled plastic.
Smol claims that its laundry capsules have been tested against industry standards where they perform equal to or better than leading brands. The capsules can be bio or non-bio and they come in child-friendly packaging.
The Cheeky Panda Bamboo Kitchen Towel
Cheeky Panda products contain no plastic and its eco-friendly kitchen towels are made using bamboo. Bamboo is used as a more environmentally friendly alternative as it grows faster than most trees and produces more oxygen. It's also naturally anti-bacterial and anti-fungal while being hypo-allergenic and resistant to odours.
It uses 100% FSC-certified virgin bamboo with these kitchen towels. Each roll has around 100 2-ply sheets of tissue and the pack comes with two rolls.
Natural Cleaning Solutions Chart
This chart is not completely free from plastic as it's laminated, but it's something that you'd only need to buy once. It lists a wide range of practical tips for natural cleaning at home using household items. Using products like bicarbonate of soda, lemon juice and distilled white vinegar, Liz Cook's Natural Cleaning chart – one of a wide range of beautifully illustrated charts to stick on your fridge – can helpfully instruct you with secret tips to getting the most out of your cleaning without using harmful chemicals such as bleach, or buying plastic-filled products.
Natural Bamboo Toothbrush
Bamboo toothbrushes are the perfect alternative to plastic. The handles are biodegradable, made using bamboo from an FSC-certified forest. The brushes are made with nylon however, but this is to ensure that they're strong enough to give your teeth a proper clean.
EcoLiving Dust Pan & Brush
This vintage-looking set is 100% plastic-free. Both handles are made from beech wood, while the pan is metal and the brush bristles are made from coir from coconuts – making the brush compostable. The metal pan can also double up as a shovel for everyday sweeping!
EcoLiving Plastic-Free Toilet Brush & Holder
The handmade toilet brush is 100% biodegradable, plastic-free and vegan. Made in Germany, the holder is metal and the brush is made using FSC-certified beech wood and other sustainable materials. A plastic-free toilet brush is particularly environmentally friendly because of the microplastics that plastic brushes can shed into the water.
Recycled Bin Bags
Bristol-based Essential Trading offer these bin bags made using post-consumer recycled plastic. They even use waste plastic from their own offices to contribute to their recycled plastic material. Claimed to be strong, these could be a solid alternative to plastic bin bags.
