Canadians, it’s time to confront the hidden plastic crisis lurking in our bathrooms. Every plastic shampoo bottle, toothbrush, and product container contributes to a monumental environmental burden. These items, used for mere weeks or months, endure for centuries in landfills, leaching harmful chemicals into our pristine landscapes and waterways. Our beloved B.C. coastlines, the Great Lakes, and even the remote Arctic are not immune; microplastics are now found in our fish, our water, and even our bodies.

By eliminating plastic from your bathroom, you directly combat this pervasive pollution. Imagine a bathroom free of disposable plastic – refilling aluminum bottles, embracing bamboo toothbrushes, and opting for solid soap bars. This isn't just about personal choice; it's a powerful statement of environmental stewardship, reflecting our Canadian values of preserving nature for future generations. Protect our planet.

Toothpowder is an excellent, eco-friendly alternative to traditional toothpaste. Unlike typical pastes, toothpowder is a dry, powdered dental cleaner, free from the water, binders, and humectants that give toothpaste its familiar texture.

Its main benefit is its plastic-free packaging. Standard toothpaste tubes, often a mix of plastic and aluminum, are notoriously hard to recycle and are a major source of waste. Toothpowder, however, usually comes in recyclable or reusable glass jars, metal tins, or paper pouches, which eliminate plastic.

Beyond the packaging, toothpowder often features simpler, more natural ingredients. While many toothpastes contain artificial sweeteners, colors, and preservatives, toothpowders commonly use baking soda, natural clays, and salts for gentle cleaning. Essential oils provide flavor and freshness. Since it's dry, toothpowder generally needs fewer or no artificial preservatives, reducing chemical runoff into our water systems.

Plus, its compact, lightweight form means a lower carbon footprint during shipping. Choosing toothpowder is a direct step toward a more sustainable oral hygiene routine, perfectly fitting an eco-conscious lifestyle. To use, just wet your toothbrush, dip it into the powder, and brush as usual. It's a small change with a big environmental impact.

You bet! We love our furry animal friends :)

Check out instructions for how to use each product on their individual product pages.

Unlike bottles, bars don’t come with added water. This makes them a more concentrated product. How long your bars last will vary based on how much you use them, but most people find that bars last longer than bottles. To maximize the life of a bar, make sure you store it in its tin, drain the tin after each use, and allow the bar to dry between uses.

Check out what each product is made from on their individual product pages.

Check out instructions for how to dispose of each product on their individual product pages.

At life UNpacked one of our values is progress over perfection, and while a bamboo toothbrush with nylon bristles certainly isn’t perfect, we believe it is the best option out there right now. There is a non-nylon option that uses boar hair to make bristles, but that restricts its use for people who avoid animal products. As such, nearly all bamboo toothbrushes on the market use nylon. You may come across companies claiming to have biodegradable nylon options, however, our suppliers have tested and confirmed that nylon will only biodegrade under very specific lab conditions, not in our environment.

A shave bar is a solid block of soap specifically formulated for shaving.1 Unlike aerosol shaving creams, shave bars create a rich, dense lather when activated with water and a shaving brush or by rubbing directly onto wet skin. They typically contain natural ingredients like glycerin, shea butter, and various oils that provide superior lubrication and skin conditioning, reducing irritation and promoting a smoother shave.2

You should consider switching from traditional shaving cream for several reasons:

Environmental Impact: Shaving creams often come in aerosol cans, which contribute to landfill waste and can contain harmful propellants. Shave bars are typically plastic-free and biodegradable, making them a more sustainable choice.3

Skin Health: Many commercial shaving creams contain synthetic chemicals, alcohols, and fragrances that can dry out and irritate the skin.4 Shave bars, with their natural ingredients, are generally gentler and more nourishing.

Cost-Effectiveness: A single shave bar often lasts significantly longer than a can of shaving cream, making it a more economical option in the long run.5

Superior Lather and Shave: The dense, stable lather produced by a shave bar offers better cushioning and glide for your razor, leading to a closer, more comfortable shave with less risk of nicks, cuts, and razor burn.

Sulfates are what typically cause coloured hair to fade. Our shampoo bar is not specifically formulated as a colour-safe shampoo but is all-natural and sulfate-free.

Throw these items in your compost:

- life UNpacked box* and its shipping label
- Paper wrap around all bars**
- life UNpacked branded stickers
- All heat-sealed refill bags
- Any paper padding in your life UNpacked box

And the rest in your recycling:

- Tape on your life UNpacked box
- Ingredient labels on all products
- Individual product boxes
- Paper dry shampoo shaker

Reuse (keep these and use them again and again):

- Travel tins
- All glass containers
- All bamboo containers and toothbrush holders
- Reusable bamboo rounds

It drives us crazy when we receive a package in a box ten times the size of the product and filled with unnecessary padding. We designed our products to require as little packaging as possible, and many come without wrapping of any kind. Everything in your order has been carefully placed inside to prevent the need for padding and keep your items safe during transport.

In our ever-increasing "get it tomorrow" world, delivery companies often drive longer distances with half-empty trucks to make customer deadlines and this mentality is rapidly increasing our global CO2 emissions. Meanwhile, regular shipping orders allow carriers to maximize trucks and delivery routes. We want to encourage everyone to get into the practice of thinking ahead and ordering everything they need in one go, which is why we also have a minimum number of products required. This decreases the carbon footprint per product ordered by reducing transport emissions and packaging (even though our box, its tape, and paper are compostable).

Some of our products are hand-made locally in Vancouver, BC, Canada, and others are produced overseas in Korea and China. Our goal is to bring as much of our production and manufacturing as possible to North America. We simply haven't found local suppliers for all our products yet who can deliver the level of quality we expect for our customers.

It’s easy to feel like you are too small a part of this big consumption problem to really have much impact. On top of that, it can be frustrating to not see change come from those who make the decisions that affect entire countries. But we believe you have a lot more power than you think. Spending money on products and companies aligned with your values is one of the most effective ways to vote for the type of world you want to see. Ultimately, it guides companies and governments to make changes in the right direction.

You only have to pay for shipping if your refill order total is below our minimum spend of $70.