Deodorant was one of the first products I started looking for a plastic-free replacement. It seems so straightforward – there’s no reason that existing deodorant brands can’t just package in cardboard instead of plastic!
And yet…
The first product I bought was Crystal Deodorant. I read about it a magazine article and it seemed like a great solution – just a hunk potassium alum – a great plastic-free solution and the journalist swore it worked for her. My first disappointment was when my order arrived — the box contained a plastic film so you could see the “crystal” AND it came with a plastic saucer to sit in. Not so plastic-free. Still I had bought it and it seemed wasteful not to try so I used it for about 2 months and it seemed to be working fine until I started getting little red bumps in my armpits.
I decided to give the crystal a break and try another purchase – I had found this Aotearoad deodorant at my local TJ Maxx – no plastic at all! The smell was a little different to me (lime?) and the deodorant was a little more pasty than my traditional stick but the big issue with me was that my skin did not like it – there’s some discussion about whether baking soda will irritate skin but I personally think it’s just that my body is used to aluminum and without it sweats more and this is irritating my armpits.
So I have returned to my old Tom’s deodorant and anti-antiperspirant. I have written to the company and they have responded that they participate in the TerraCycle program which is great, but there isn’t a public drop off site anywhere near me and I have limited room for collecting recycling given my city’s recent decision to drop multiple types of materials from our curbside recycling program requiring me to drive the next town over.
So yeah, this failure has been a bit disheartening. I still don’t understand why Tom’s can’t just package their regular deodorant in a cardboard tube like the one tried. Other than my skin’s reaction I was very happy with how that tube worked.
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