One of the great benefits of traditional shaving is the diminished impact on the environment. You may be asking how exactly traditional shaving can lessen your impact on the environment. That is the purpose of the post today.
Containers can be reused: If you are unsure if a soap container can be recycled, it can easily be reused. There are some soaps (like Mitchell’s Wool Fat, Tabac, Truefill & Hill, The GoodFellas Smile) that will sell refill pucks. Some soaps are sold without a plastic or metal container (like Mike’s Natural Soaps, Haslinger). If you like these soaps, but want to place them in a container, it makes perfect sense to reuse an empty container from a soap that you have finished off. The Haslinger pucks fit very well in a 3oz tub from Heritage Hill or the 2oz container from Catie’s Bubbles. I’ve put a refill puck of Mitchell’s Wool Fat in an old container from Ariana and Evans. Another great thing about having empty containers is that glycerin-based soaps (like Col. Conk) can be melted and poured into the containers. I found this made the soap easier to load, and thus, easier to use. One thing I do recommend though is to label the soap somehow if placing it in a previously used container. This can be done with a simple label maker, or by adhering the label from the refill puck to the new container.
Products can be recycled: One great thing with traditional shaving is that many items can be recycled, rather than thrown away. If you take a look at just about many artisan tubs of soap, you will see the recyclable symbol. The symbol will most likely have a number inside that indicates the type of plastic with which the container is made. If the soap comes in a metal tin, like Wet Shaving Products or Dr. Jon’s, these too can be recycled. Razor blades can also be recycled as long as they are taken to a proper facility as they are considered Sharps products. Sharps is a medical term that describes an object that has points or sharp edges that can puncture or cut the skin. While Sharps objects can be recycled, this needs to be done at a certain facilities and not all recycling centers will accept Sharps waste. Be sure to check with your local facility to see if they accept Sharps waste
Those that can’t be recycled, break down in the environment: As I mentioned earlier, most wet shaving products can be recycled, but the blades are only able to be recycled at special facilities. If you do not have a Sharps recycling place close by, or even a place where you can drop off Sharps containers, the blades are metal and will eventually break down and return to their base natural elements. When you are finished with a blade, it is highly recommended to place the used blade into a blade bank. Blade banks can be purchased, or home made. There are a variety of products that blade banks are made from. Some are ceramic that won’t break down, and others are aluminum or some other metal. If you want to make a blade bank at home, an old food can or coffee can are suitable choices. The good thing with the metal purchased blade banks, or ones that are homemade, is that they will eventually rust and break down.
Click HERE to view our collection of Blade Banks.
Final thoughts: Traditional shaving, or wet shaving, is a great way to lessen your impact on the environment by using products that can be recycled, reused, or will break down. The soaps or creams don’t contain aerosol, which helps the ozone. The plastic or tin containers can be recycled or reused, and blades can be either recycled at the proper facilities, or will break down (as long as they are not in a plastic container). With these factors alone, that is a great reason to start shaving with traditional shaving equipment. Give it a try, you may find that you actually enjoy the act of shaving with the traditional implements over using a cartridge and foam/gel in an aerosol can.
JBT