Buying guides
The best plastic-free version of everything
For each thing worth swapping, we picked the plastic-free versions actually worth buying, explained why they matter with cited research, and left out the ones that do not.
plastic-free coffee makers
Most drip machines run near-boiling water through plastic parts. These brewers are glass, steel and ceramic the whole way through.
See the picksmicroplastic-free cookware and non-stick alternatives
Looking for a non-stick pan that won't shed microplastics into dinner? Cast iron, carbon steel, enamel and fully-clad stainless have no coating to flake, peel or shed.
See the picksplastic-free food storage
Glass, stainless and cloth for everything you keep, pack and freeze, so leftovers stop marinating in plastic.
See the picksplastic-free water bottles
Bottled water carries about a quarter-million plastic particles per litre. A steel bottle and filtered tap water carry almost none.
See the picksplastic-free shampoo
Shampoo bars and refillable aluminum: the same surfactants that work in a bottle, without the bottle.
See the picksplastic-free toothbrushes
A billion plastic toothbrushes hit US landfill every year. Bamboo handles and a repairable electric fix your four a year.
See the picksplastic-free laundry detergent
Powder in steel, strips in paper, wool in the dryer. The jug was never the point.
See the picksplastic-free cleaning products
Concentrate tablets, solid dish soap and compostable cloths. The cleaning cupboard without the spray-bottle graveyard.
See the picksplastic-free period products
Cups, discs, cloth pads and period underwear: less plastic against your body, and years of supplies replaced by one purchase.
See the picksplastic-free baby products
Formula prepared in a plastic bottle can carry millions of microplastic particles per litre. Glass, steel, wood and cotton bring that near zero.
See the picksplastic-free razors
Americans throw out about two billion disposable razors a year. A steel safety razor is the last one you buy.
See the picksplastic-free lunch boxes
Stainless steel that goes from bag to dishwasher for years, so lunch stops sitting in warm plastic.
See the picksplastic-free tea gear
That premium pyramid teabag is usually plastic mesh, and steeping it can release billions of particles into your cup. Loose leaf fixes it.
See the picksplastic-free cutting boards
Chopping on plastic shaves particles straight into dinner. Wood does the same job and heals its own cuts.
See the picksplastic-free bedding
You spend a third of your life against your sheets. Cotton, linen and wool shed no plastic; polyester bedding does.
See the picksplastic-free water filters and non-plastic gravity systems
Filtering tap water cuts microplastics, but only if the clean water isn't then stored in a plastic tank. These use glass and steel.
See the picksplastic-free yoga mats and gear
You sweat on it, breathe over it and roll it against your face. Most mats are PVC or TPE plastic. Natural rubber and cork are not.
See the picksplastic-free dish soap and brushes
The scrubby side of a sponge is plastic, and it sheds into the sink as it wears. Solid soap and plant-fibre brushes don't.
See the picksplastic-free baby wipes
A standard baby wipe is a sheet of polyester or polypropylene. Cotton cloth and wood-pulp wipes clean the same and leave no plastic behind.
See the picksorganic cotton bathrobes
A polyester robe holds water against you and sheds microfibres down the drain. Cotton and linen do the job the way they always have.
See the picksplastic-free toiletries
Soap you can hold and bottles a company refills: the whole bathroom shelf without a single squeeze tube.
See the picksplastic-free espresso machines
Lever machines that take their water from a kettle and push it through stainless steel, plus the one pump machine we would put on a counter.
See the picksStill deciding between two options?
Our head-to-head comparisons weigh the plastic version against the plastic-free one, point by point.
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