The EPA estimates that 2 billion razors are thrown away each year. That’s outrageous, considering that you can’t recycle disposable razors in the U.S. You can recycle the steel blades (check with your local recycling center first), but your standard plastic disposableRazors.png razor is going to the landfill.

TWO BILLION!! That is A LOT people!

Let that sink in for a minute. Not only is that a massive amount of needless plastic waste, it is also costing people a massive amount of money!

If the environment isn’t your concern (which is should be) and money is what matters most, you should still keep reading. Not only will switching to a Double-Edge Safety Razor (or Straight Razor if you want to be a total Rock Star!) help our environment, it is how I cut my cost of shaving by 90% and you can do the same!

Once upon a time, like many in the 90’s era, I started shaving with the plastic handled disposable razors. These single blade razors usually only lasted a couple shaves before they started ripping your hair out instead of cutting. Subsequently they were tossed away with the weekly garbage. Though I wasn’t aware of it then, it was a painfully wasteful practice millions of people do every day.

Gillette

In my late teens I graduated to the Gillette Mach 3, a 3-blade per cartridge system. The shave was much better, and the high price reflected this.

By my 30’s I was using the Fusion Power Proglide disposable cartridges. They give a nice, close shave. But like all blades, they don’t last forever. The $4.00 per cartridge was painfully costly causing me to use each cartridge much longer that I should have.

I estimate I was able to use each blade for about a month, maybe a little longer. At $32 per 8 pack, I was spending about $50 a year just for this one grooming category (not include shaving cream, soaps, lotions, or other shaving products). Over the course of 20 years, that’s $1,000, excluding inflation, and we ALL know how that nasty inflation game works.

Two years ago, after getting increasingly irritated at the amount of money I was spending shaving, I decided to stop shaving all together. While the experience was AMAZING! I mean, I had extra time in the mornings to sleep in and I wasn’t spending money on blades. The summer was about to roll around again and that idea was fading. I decided I may want to shave every once in awhile, but wanted a more Eco-friendly (and bank account friendly) way to do so. I did some research and decided to go old school.

I picked up a WowE Double Edge Saftey Razor.

Wowe Razor

At $22, it isn’t exactly cheap, but it is well designed and it’s built like a rock, so I anticipate using it for a long time. In fact, I would be surprised if I ever needed to buy a new razor every again. Bonus points because it comes in 100% recycled packaging that is compostable!

Beyond this impressive device the produces ZERO plastic waste which helps our planet is something I everyone will find delightful – the cost of the blades. I picked up a 100-pack of Parker’s Double Edge Razor Blades for $11.44 (roughly $0.11 per blade). The blades are double edged – meaning both sides can be used.

Think about this:

  • A person can easily get 2 shaves (or 1 week) off of one blade – those with finer hair will be able to stretch it out further.
  •  That breaks down to 50 blades per year, and the 100-pack will last 2 years.
  • The total cost of shaving per year drops from $50 to $5.00 (90%)!

If you shave daily, that could mean upwards to 3.5 times the savings!

Did I sacrifice a good shave? NOPE! I found the double-edge safety razor allows me to get a much closer shave with few cuts!! I won’t lie, I was intimidated at first. I made sure to buy a Styptic Pen just in case. Wouldn’t you know it is still sitting in it’s case?

Don’t get me wrong, the first few times I shaved it took me a little longer. I was being extra cautious to avoid cutting myself because of the intimidation factor. Now, it takes the same amount as time as it did with disposable razors.

Not only did this small change eliminate one of the many wasteful ways I was contributing to the disposable plastic problem we have, it is also saving my bank account. What’s stopping you from making the change?

 

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Published by Kelly L. Harnett

Kelly Harnett is the Founder of two local nonprofits - Hobo’s Healing Heart and Beautify Spearfish. She also sits on the boards of the Black Hills Regional Ski for Light and the Northern Black Hills Rotary Club where she is the Marketing and Publicity Chair and is a Chamber Ambassador. Kelly has three degrees in Natural Resource Management, Fish and Wildlife Management, and Fisheries and Wildlife Conservation and Biology and worked as a Wildlife Biologist and Wildland Firefighter for the state of Ohio as well as an EMT for Hocking County. She is currently working on a Master of Science in Sustainability with an emphasis on native pollinators at Black Hills State University and plans to use her degree in conjunction with Beautify Spearfish. She volunteers on wildlife studies near and far in her free time. She currently volunteers with Dr. Smith at BHSU on a Black Hills Red-bellied Snake project and assists with an urban bobcat study with the Bobcats in Tucson program in Arizona. Gifted with a servant heart, she is a firm believer in giving back to the community she lives in by being a ‘boots on the ground – get things done’ community member, supporting local small businesses, and taking care of her neighbors (near and far). In her free time, she enjoys traveling, spending time with family, running, gravel grinding, skiing, hiking, taking care of her pollinator garden, and drawing to name a few.

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