In my bathtub area at home there is one bottle of shampoo, one bottle of hair rinse which I started using when my hair got long, and two bars of soap. Two bars because Bernie likes the antibacterial kind and I like the home-made stuff I get at craft fairs. There is one razor which I never really use any more. (An advantage of aging is hair loss, for Bernie on top of his head, for me anywhere else). Simple. I like it that way. We don’t buy more shampoo or rinse until we get to the point of adding water and shaking the bottle to get the stuff that lingers. And we don’t break out a bar of soap until the bar is so small it could go down the drain.
When I visit other people’s homes, I am always startled by the numbers of containers and tools that can fill a shower stall. I mean, sometimes there is no room to stand!
I have a really good idea and if someone gets rich on this besides myself, I guess I can live with it, unless my presenting it in a blog earns me some kind of legal ownership. In most grocery stores there would large are large containers of soap, shampoo and conditioner, body creams, even toothpaste. The containers would have little faucets for filling smaller containers that people can bring and weighed as they came into the store. The containers are again weighed at the checkout like the bag a granola you might get in the health food store now.
Think of all the bottles and packaging that would not be going into the dump or even into the recycling bin. Better to recycle than to trash but even recycling takes energy and there is always some waste.
Here is a problem that might make people hesitant to use my idea, even though it is ingenious. People believe the commercials that say one product is superior to another. Such and such will make your hair more voluminous, your skin softer to the touch, or your teeth less sensitive. Granted, people have health issues that might make these in-bulk products non-useful to them and there will be a need for some tailored products. But I think it is a step in the direction we need to go to clean up the environment.
If my idea takes on, I will be the first in line to fill my bottle. I think I will find a bottle that matches the décor in my bathroom.
My husband and I watch this show in England called, ‘Extreme Cheapskates.’ Do you get it in the US? If not, you can probably find it on youtube. It’s sometimes quite hilarious at the quirky things people do to save money. But also sometimes it’s kind of creepy. If you can see it on youtube, check it out. Some people are really innovative.
Sounds interesting. I will indeed try to find the show.
I do this with a few things at the co-op in St Cloud. Wish I could get shampoo that way!