How do you scrub up?

For the first step in my new adventure, I turned to an area of the house not known for its thrill-factor: the bathroom sink. There isn't much there, which is another reason for it being an easy place to begin.

On mine, there was simply a toothbrush and a plastic container of hand soap, both of which I'm sure come as standard in most bathroom sinks the world over. The plastic hand soap was easy to replace, as I have a whole box full of soap that I've collected on trips, or have been given as gifts. A nice wad of hand soap feels luxurious, smells lovely and of course leaves nothing behind – not even pesky germs. Step one complete.

All the soap! Admittedly there is some plastic here,
but we might be able to do something with that.

The toothbrush took a little more effort, as I had to leave the house, walk down the road and open my purse in order to replace it. I first tried Lush, a shop that I'm confident will crop up in this blog again. I had a great chat with a sales assistant about shampoo (more on that story another day) but there was not a bamboo toothbrush in sight. The helpful shop assistant did, however, direct me with confidence to Holland and Barrett, where I swiftly purchased two bamboo toothbrushes, which set me back just £5.99. Easy AND inexpensive. 

But what to do with the old stuff? Well, the plastic soap bottle can be recycled in the usual way, picked up by the council on collection day. All apart from the pump, that is. But all is not lost here. I've been reliably informed that the website www.terracycle.com might be able to do something with this pump. I'll investigate that soon, and for now, will keep it in a safe place.

And as for the toothbrush, her scrubbing days have only just begun. She will begin an exciting new chapter of her life as a cleaning instrument. These little brushes are perfect for scrubbing the grouting. That's the concrete stuff between the shower tiles, for those of you who are as enthusiastic about cleaning as I am. And after that? Well, once her bristles are truly flat, she will probably have to go in the bin. But at least that will be my last plastic toothbrush.

Toothbrush and soap: before

Toothbrush and soap: after

Step two complete. Time for a bath to reward my efforts.