We are two friends living on opposite coasts (Brooklyn, New York and Santa Monica, California) that share a passion for living a minimal, zero waste lifestyle and on a mission to help others do the same.
Harper. Lives in Brooklyn with a +1. Sassy pup. Matcha. Wine. Whiskey. Cheese. Proscuitto.
Charley. Lives in Los Angeles with a +1. Doofy pup. Coffee. Wine. Whiskey. Cheese. Pasta.
Badger Night Night Balm is actually made for kids! We purchased it as a more sustainable option (comes in a recyclable tin) to replace our Sleep Spray which we love, but it comes in a plastic bottle. Its a great soothing reminder to our senses that its time for bed!
OK, we are super impressed with what Veles is trying to do here, bringing to market a closed loop, negative waste cleaning product made of food waste! But at current price and the limited amount of surfaces this cleaner works on, we cannot whole-heartedly recommend this product. We will say though, that it cleans our stainless steel surfaces MUCH better than Method’s Stainless Steel product.
Imagine if paper towels and sponges had a baby — a biodegradable, zero-waste one... it would be these Swedish Dishcloths! We ESPECIALLY love these from Redecker (even more than other swedish dishcloths we’ve used in the past) for the design and the incredible price. Buy these, and buy many.
Meliora’s refillable all-purpose cleaner is an ABSOLUTE BUY. We love the minimal, zero waste packaging and the ability to refill for up to 288 ozs (or 18 bottles!) with one container of the soap refill Cleaned spectacularly, palm-oil free (hard to find!) and SO incredibly affordable that it is a no-brainer.
Redecker’s 100% recyclable, durable double-layer copper cloths are gentle on most surfaces and tough on stains, stuck-on food, and rust. Great for bathrooms, kitchens, automobiles, silverware and more. And they last forever. We especially like that they are a bit softer to hold than pure copper scrubbers, and the form factor allows you to use like a cloth (for smaller crevices) and fold it up and use like a sponge.
BUY. We like DuJardin’s Volume and Shine Shampoo Bar a lot. We’ve tried ByHumankind, Public Goods, and Lush shampoo bars — this is our favorite so far. Reason why we like this the best? This is the only zero-waste shampoo bar we’ve tried where you don’t absolutely need to do the acidic rinse afterwords. While this one is sold out, we would be excited about trying one of their other shampoo bars.
BUY if you already have the Grove Collaborative membership. We love the unisex smell and the limited and natural ingredients. Even though it is not the cheapest option, almost any of the fanciest bar soaps will be cheaper than using drugstore shower gels.
Plus, switching to bar soap removes the need for 40+ bottles of body wash per year for a family of four — an incredible reduction in
We like ingredients we can pronounce - and Pubic Goods does a great job in making sure their products have only simple, organic ingredients. We love some of their products, but unfortunately some miss the mark.
While we like Truman’s marketing (who doesn’t need a laugh when they’re doing their laundry?), the cost was too high to get us to switch from our current favorite zero-waste laundry detergent pod brand, Dropps.
We loved everything about Fresh Lab’s Corn Floss: it is vegan, compostable, refillable. It doesn’t shred at all and it gets in between both our tight contact teeth and our slightly wider gaps. Sadly, it is the most expensive floss we have ever used, so on the basis alone, the floss is NOT a buy from us.
If you don’t mind spending an extra $20/year per person for the diligent flosser who wants a vegan, compostable floss, then we can’t recommend this enough.
We love Silpat! Not only is it eco-friendly (and wallet friendly) over time, but the mat also helps you be a better and healthier baker!
This is an exfoliating shower pouf and soap holder in 1 - and compostable to boot - we like, we like! They work up a nice, rich lather (not as much as a pouf, but definitely enough for our taste..) exfoliates your skin, and allows you to hang your sustainable bar soap of choice in it! Better than a soap dish, and made of sisal which is compostable.
After trying Public Good’s Walnut Sponge , we wanted to try Full Circle’s Walnut Scrubber Sponge as well — they appear to be very similar products, though Public Good’s version of the walnut sponge is a tad thicker than Full Circle’s Walnut Scrubber Sponge. Similar to our review of Public Good’s Walnut Sponge, we like that Full Circle’s walnut scrubber sponge is ‘cleaner’ than normal plastic sponges, but disappointed that it is still wrapped in plastic and not fully biodegradeable. Still a buy from us!
We tried Truman’s Reporting for Doodie (chuckle) for a week. While we love the humor in the brand, this is crazy expensive. And we’re not sure it cleans our toilet bowl any better…
One more positive reason to pay for the Public Goods membership: the bathroom cleaner is a BUY. It works really well, has zero toxic chemicals (no SLS, ammonia, synthetic fragrance) and is really affordable when looking at refills in the future.
We think Public Goods Tree Free paper towels made from sugarcane and bamboo is not really a buy. The upgrade over recycled paper towels is that they don’t shred— but you still get the poke through.
With no cost savings and no true reduction in waste, Grove Collaborative Dishwasher Pods are not a buy.
We are fans of zero-waste brand, Cleancult’s lemongrass bar soap!
We tried Cleancult’s eco-friendly laundry tablets to see how they measure up against the competition.
Public Goods Peanut butter: difficult to stir and spread, encased in plastic, smells burnt, and the kicker: it’s the most expensive on our list. NO.
Public Goods Organic Blueberry Jam: Eh. It’s fine.
