Who says travel, says toilet bag and of course, toiletries. But how can we combine all the necessary with the zero waste philosophy ?
Here some of my tricks tested during my several travelling :
1) Shampoo During my 8 months travelling in Southeast Asia, I brought with me a solid shampoo from the brand Lamazuna. I put this one in a small round box in plastic that I owned. (The plastic box was the best choice considering the backpacking trip). It was a very good option except that this solid shampoo was over after 2 months and I didn't take with me ore than one shampoo. Lucky me, I found in the small village of Pai, in the north of Thailand, a shop selling solid shampoo. I bought the, several ones, but the quality wasn't the same! So, if you want to bring with you that king of shampoo, think twice about the number of good shampoo you need to put in your backpack.
2) Shower Gel
At home, I use to shower with liquid Aleppo soap (bought with the website Aroma Zone). So when I travel I put some of the soap in a smaller container, witch is easier when you backpack. During the 8 months travelling, my solution was, once my soap was over, to refill my small bottle with the local soap available in youth hostels. It wasn't the best soap but I preferred this option to buying a big new bottle of shower gel. I thought as well of buying a solid soap but I didn't had a suitable container with me and didn't want to buy one. And between you and me, it's not always easy to find that king of container when you are far from home :-)
3) Toothbrush The question of the toothbrush wasn't an easy one. At home I use the electronic one because of my dentist advise. But the electronic one wasn't a good option for a 8 months travelling (takes place in the backpack and it's not always easy to charge it).
At firth I tough of taking with me a bamboo toothbrush. But even though that kind of toothbrush is biodegradable, you can not use the same for 8 months (and I didn't want to put more than one in my backpack). Finally, I decided to leave with a toothbrush from the brand Lamazuna witch as a handle in bio-plastic and a rechargeable head. When you are living in France or in Belgium it's possible to send back the used heads for recycling.
4) Toothpaste
Back home I used to make my homemade toothpaste, but this one was almost empty before my big trip and I didn't take the time to make a new one. So I decided to start my travel with an organic toothpaste from the brand Coslys. During my travel I stopped for a time in a permaculture farm in the north east of Thailand where I had the opportunity to test a new recipe for toothpaste : bamboo charcoal and salt. I used two small container I had in my backpack and I had enough toothpaste for the rest of the travelling and even after.
5) Oriculi
The Oriculi is an ecological "cotton bud" made from bamboo. The one I use is from the brand Lamazuna. You can keep an Oriculi for quite a long time if you treat it good (8 months in a backpack is, for example, not treating it good). In general I think this tool is very interesting but I can confess than from time to time I'm very happy to use a real cotton bud (biodegradable).
6) Tissue handkerchief
If, like me, you tend to blow your nose a lot and especially when you eat spicy food, the tissue handkerchiefs will be your best friends :-) For my trip I took 4 with me, but I advise you to take at least one more if you leave for a long time because this is the kind of thing that tends to magically go away when you do the laundry.
7) Cotton Rounds Reusable
Whether you wear make-up or not, it's important to clean your skin every day (especially when you travel in very dusty countries). Back home I skewed a few cottons reusable and took some with me during the trip. I really advise you to make them by yourself (or ask somebody that you know to skew them) because, personally, I tried some that i found in markets but I didn't like the texture. I made mine with cotton micro-sponge for one side and microfiber on the other side.
8) Protections périodiques For several years, I am used to use the "cup", so of course this is what I take with me in every trip (I recommend the Organicup). For the 8 months travel I decided to test something new : the washable hygienic protections and my conclusion isn't that great ! I think it isn't very comfy and it's really not easy to wash it
9) Hair removal Because I don't like to save and I didn't want to bother with beauty salon abroad, I decided to take my electric hair removal epilator with me. The funny thing is that every time I had to use it, it started discussion with other girls on the subject and it was the beginning of new friendships.
10) Deodorant Personally I don't wear so often deodorant, but maybe it is because I don't live in a very hot country :-) But when I use it I like the solid deodorant from the brand Lamazuna.
And you, what king of tricks do you have?