Our enemy is waste

It's a simple task, washing your hair.

You probably don't think about it much.

You do it maybe daily, a few times a week, once a week, or less.

You're likely to have been using the same shampoo and the same washing routine for years.

It's a habit.

But if, like millions of others, you're looking to lower your personal impact on the planet, taking a few minutes to think about your hair washing habit could save a lot of waste.

Most of which is hidden from you...

You buy your shampoo of choice.

You use your shampoo of choice.

You dispose of the bottle.

Your role in the lifecycle of your shampoo is limited to a very small period.

Let us explain:

Before your buy your shampoo two processes take place:

• the bottle it comes in is made
• the shampoo itself is made.

Making the bottle, assuming it's plastic as the majority are, involves:

1. oil being drilled for and extracted
2. oil being transported around the world to processing plants
3. oil being refined, processed and turned into various other materials, including plastics
4. the plastic is then transported and processed into suitable material for making bottles
5. it's then made into your shampoo bottle
6. that's then transported to where the shampoo has been made
7. it's filled
8. then transported to a distribution centre somewhere
9. then shipped across the world via several other distribution centres to somewhere to be stored until it can be delivered to the store you buy it from
10. then it's transported to that store (or a warehouse if you buy online)
11. then it's put on a shelf (physical, or digital)
12. then you buy it and transport it home (or have it delivered)

Phew.

Somewhere in that process the shampoo is made too.

Once you have used your shampoo, the bottle is thrown out. Either into a recycling bin or a waste bin destined for burning or landfill.

If it's put in your recycling, there's a very good chance it won't actually be recycled.

Only 4% of plastic is recycled.

If it is, it will need to be transported to a suitable facility and processed. This takes time, money and energy to do.

The crazy thing is almost all of that material, time and energy used to make and dispose of your shampoo bottle is unnecessary.

It's waste.

Shampoo can be solid instead of liquid.

Solid shampoo doesn't need a bottle.

If every man in the UK who washes their hair used solid shampoo instead of liquid shampoo we estimate we could remove the need for over 64 million bottles a year.

That would free up a lot of time, energy and materials to make more necessary products.

Yes we'd like to see a lot less plastic in the world at Tidy. But more than that, we'd like to see a lot less waste in the world too.

Imagine how much progress we could make globally if all our resources were used more efficiently and only for things that we truly need.

Our enemy is waste. In the broadest possible sense of the word.