More Conscious Living with Plastic
When you think of all the things you use or consume that come in plastic, what are some top items that come to mind? Bags? Coffee cups? Disposable food containers?
What about soaps?
We use a variety of soap everyday: dish soap, hand soap, laundry detergents, body wash and shampoo. In liquid form, soaps are poured into plastic containers with hard to recycle pumps or lids. Liquid dish soap and laundry detergent pods are often made with plastic wrapping (or wrapped individually in disposable plastic when solid). The plastic of liquid pods is meant to partially dissolve in water to release the soap, but it never fully dissolves, entering our grey water waste. Have you ever tried to look for liquid soap pods or solid detergent cubes not wrapped in plastic at your grocery or convenience store? I have, and it was mostly unsuccessful.
Fortunately, a local woman-owned business is dedicated to helping us reduce the amount of plastic we purchase and dispose of in relation to our soaps: Conscious Living. Located in Old Colorado City, they offer a place to recycle or reuse your hard to recycle plastic soap containers and parts. They offer bulk eco-friendly soap refills. First, they weigh your empty container to know how much the container itself weighs. You fill it with whatever soap you like or need, then the container is re-weighed so you only pay for the weight of the soap and not the additional weight of the container. Conscious Living offers a variety of soaps, from hair and body soaps, to laundry and dish soaps. You can even buy solid laundry detergent cubes not wrapped in plastic you have to throw away. There are a variety of scents, too, and they all smell amazing!
Not interested in reusing the same container again, or prefer a different one for reuse? No problem. Wash it out and bring it to Conscious Living for proper recycling. Or, you can donate it for others to use if they need a container to fill. The empty container will be weighed and the weight written on the bottom for the next customer to grab and refill. If you don’t have a container or didn’t bring enough, you can pick from the donations or purchase one.
And they don’t just offer soap! You can bulk fill lotions, all-purpose cleaners, facial and dental care, and more. Conscious Living also offers home goods and gifts for family, friends, kids, and pets that are sustainable, fair trade, and vegan-friendly. While you have to refill your liquid products in person, you can order their solid products and home goods from their website.
Plastic is everywhere. It’s cheap to manufacture while being sturdy and lightweight for packaging and shipping. But a lot of plastic is not universally recyclable. This leads to plastic taking over our landfills, waterways, and oceans. Let’s all be a little more conscious of our plastic consumption, and make a trip to Conscious Living!