Washing your clothes is about to become a whole lot more sustainable.

The various cleaning solutions, liquids and powders we use to clean our clothing have traditionally come in plastic bottles, large and small. An average household might go through one of these bottles a month- or 12 plastic bottles in a year! Not to mention the various types available in mainstream supermarkets: standard washing, delicates, whites, colours, stain removal. Lets just assume most laundries are FULL of plastic, and we are in a fabulous position to change this. Switching to more sustainable packaging for your laundry products is simple and very accessible. A switch to powders in cardboard boxes such as eco store available at most supermarkets and local stores, or something like soap berries, available at most health food stores are great places to start. Finding closed loop refillable brands are great as well. Dirt cleaning products are a good example that offer a refill return program. Another refill options if you have some bottles running on low is to refill them with cleaning products at a bulk food store like The Source or Naked Foods, enabling you to reuse the bottle again and again! This super simple tweak will remove a lot of plastic from your recycling bin and presents a great opportunity to consolidate your products. We should take the time to question what we think we need, and look to some DIY options to further reduce packaging.

As you move to minimal packaging and simplify your products, you will too save money in the process!

Action steps:

1. Take stock of the products you have in your laundry.

2. List them and identify the more sustainable options you will swap for next time

3. So you are prepared to make the swap, source this new alternative well before you run out

4. Challenge what you have traditionally used before and question if there is another way of doing it. For example, you could use lemon or bi carb soda as a stain remover (fabric dependent) instead of buying a spray. Also simply leaving some laundry solution on the stain, wetting it slightly and leaving it to dry before putting it in the machine works as well. There are numerous work arounds which are natural, easy and minimal packaging!