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BANG FOR THE BITE

A Biter who uses one 15-cent disposable per day for one year would spend $54, enough to buy an inexpensive electric or hundreds of replacement blades.

COCKTAIL FACT

Men spend an average of 5 months of their lives shaving.

SAVE TO MY BITES

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home › tip library › Eco-Friendly and Reusable Razors

Is baby smooth skin cause for eco-alarm?

The Bite

2 billion disposable razors end up in US landfills every year. Switching to a more eco-friendly razor can reduce this waste and even, ahem, shave some expense off your personal care products.

The Benefits

Look for razors with recyclable parts, such as plastic handles. Disposable razors contribute an annual estimated 2 million lbs of plastic waste to landfills.
Razor cartridge sharpeners extend the life of your blade, reducing the number of disposable razors you use by up to 75% per year.
Kick it old-school style with a straight razor and hard soap. The blades are permanent, offer the closest shave, and a good vegetable-based soap is better for the environment.
Electric razors, aside from their potentiallytoxic hardware makeup, can last foryears, many have rechargeable batteries, and they provide a good shave without the packaging and chems in creams or gels.

Personally Speaking

OK, seriously. If you are a guy who can use a straight razor and that brush and lather thing, we might faint dead away while watching. It’s hot. Plain and simple.

Wanna Try?

DOVOGenuine Ebony 5/8 Spike Point - one of many straight razors by DOVO ($100).
PreserveEco-Friendly Recycled Handled Razors - made partially from recycled yogurtcups. The company also offers postage-paid, mail-in recycling ($7).
RazorSaver - get up to 130 shaves from one razor ($12).
CreativeEnergy Technologies Rechargeable Shaver - ($51).
Aubrey Organics Men's Shave Cream - soothing and certified organic ($6).

Apr 25,2006

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All editorial suggestions in this tip are the result of testing and a preference for the tip topic. No advertiser has paid to have its company referenced in the tip. For more information, please read our Editorial Policy.

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This is Probably Just My Wild West Childhood Coming Out

There is just something hot about a man shaving with a straight razor. Makes me weak in the knees, I tell you. I don’t know if it is the imminent danger, or the deft hand that is required not to kill oneself… all I know is that a guy shaving with a straight razor is completely swoon-worthy.

In the end, I think it might come down to biology – I might just want the masculine, viral guy. As I said to a friend a few weeks back (about a truly lovely guy I had dated): “He’s just too pretty for me. He’s never going to be able to run up a hill, start a fire, and kill something.” (Of course, the pretty guy would be able to buy me perfect shoes, so I guess it’s a trade-off).

In the end, there’s really not a lot of call in my current life for the guy who can run up a hill and kill something.

But I wouldn’t say no to the dude shaving with a straight razor.

-Heather… off to catch a flight back to Brooklyn…

Biter Comments...

What about waxing and the environment? Are we wasting trees with those paper strips? Could we use recycled paper strips? How about that goo as well? I'm sure a lot of salons don't use the most eco-friendly substances, but supposedly my salon uses all natural wax goo.

Posted by: Jill | April 25, 2006 at 10:14 AM

I do the shave-cream foam and lather brush thing myself, but am not so bold to use a straight edge! I do however place my razor in alcohol after it dries, and this seems to increase the life of the replaceable blade part that is disposable. However, I would be interested in buying replacement blades from a more sustainability-minded company than Gillette or whoever makes the knock-offs for the "store-brand." I was a little confused by the first idealbite today, though: "Look for razors with recyclable parts, such as plastic handles." It sounds like they might be saying plastic handles are a good thing - does any recycling company on the planet do anything with these beside send them on to the landfill? Along with the tons and tons of yogurt containers and other believed-to-be-recyclable class.#2 (HDPE) plastics (containing coloring/softening/hardening agents that render them non-re-manufacturable), not to mention all the other classification #'s 3-7, which aren't "recyclable" at all. Also worth noting is that plastic (open-loop) recycling isn't the same as (closed-loop) recycling. An aluminum can or glass bottle can come back as an aluminum can or glass bottle, respectively. A plastic soda bottle (#1/PETE) or milk container (recycle-center-accepted #2/HDPE) can come back as a cafeteria lunch tray, a plank of plastic lumber, or fiber-filling in a coat or Teddy-bear.

Posted by: bryan | April 25, 2006 at 03:42 PM

Hey - I hope everyone has checked out Treehugger (among the Biter Picks to the left). They're up for a Webby award! As a fan, I was disconcerted noticing a link yesterday to its primary contender (CuteOverload) at the madly popular MilkandCookies.com. If you've not already, check out the Treehugger site, then click over to the Webby's and give your vote while there are a few days left.

Posted by: bryan | April 25, 2006 at 03:54 PM

Hi Bryan, There is a company that makes recyclable rasor handles and toothbrushes - recycline. They even provide an envelope to send them back to them, they get recycled into plastic "lumber" for playgrounds and such. The handles are made from stoneyfield farm yogart cups. As for shaving, we could all shave less, especially in the winter!

Posted by: lara | April 25, 2006 at 04:00 PM

I am all about trashing the disposable razors. In fact, I just moved to this myself and am going to give the sharpener a try. But your link to Natures Gate shave gel? come on...can you find a product with a bigger plastic bottle? Lets all give up our disposable razors in favor of big plastic bottles. Also, I could not find anywhere on the Natures Gate site or anywhere else, what was in the NG shaving gel? I would like to look at the ingredients before I put it anywhere on my body...

Posted by: mzvinnie | April 25, 2006 at 05:45 PM

Despite being perhaps the most un-sexy thing in the world, I am on my third electric razor since high-school (and I have already enjoyed my 25th high-school reunion). Ok, having a 25th high-school reunion is even less sexy than the razor, but I digress. While there might be some nasty cadmium in the battery, these things last a hell of a lot longer than most items, and for a guy, at least, do a very good job. I also cannot remember the last time I got a cut, they work quickly and work best without any shaving cream -- one less thing to pump into the environment. So go electric! So whatdya think, that buzzing sound is pretty kinky, eh?

Posted by: tomh | April 26, 2006 at 12:18 AM

If you are looking on info on ingredients and chemicals in body care products, try the Environmental Working Group http://www.ewg.org/. And as for guys just not shaving as often, I think I can speak for most women when I say stubble and scruffiness is definitely a good thing.

Posted by: katie | April 26, 2006 at 11:42 AM

About the razor sharpener. I finally got around to going to the Sustainable Village web site to buy one. The the security certificate to encrypt data for their secure shopping expired on 1/8/2006. I sent an email to inquire and it bounced back. Is this company still around? Has anyone else bought one from them?

Posted by: Sarah | June 28, 2006 at 08:43 AM

I think it's great to reduce waste by using different shaving products, but have any of you (women in particular) thought of not shaving, especially in the winter when no one sees your legs? You don't put weird shaving creams down the drain and into the ecosystem, you don't fill up landfills with razors, and most importantly the 5 minutes you save in the shower means less water wasted. I'm surprised that this page didn't mention this method of producing less waste.

Posted by: mtw | April 27, 2007 at 05:44 PM