Purging Unwanted Products: What Should I Do With Them?

Bubble Bath A week or so ago I purchased baby bubble bath from an eco-friendly website that specializes in organic products. I’ve been slowly replacing all of the body washes, shampoos and other assorted bathroom products with safer versions. After ordering I decided to verify the products safety against the environmental working group’s database and found it was ranked with moderate hazards.

Of course I should’ve researched the product before I purchased it, but what can I say better late than never. I tried to cancel the order, but there didn’t seem to be an easy way to do that. My son only gets a bubble bath one night a week, and the product wasn’t rated too horribly, so I waffled back and forth between using it on him and getting rid of it.

As luck would have it the manufacturer shipped the wrong product. Rather than receiving the bubble bath I ordered I received a bottle of body wash, which was ranked much better. I was able to cancel the original order and keep the incorrectly shipped item free of charge.

But this got me thinking about all of the other products in our home. I’ve received my fair share of bath products as gifts from friends and family. Many of the products contain chemicals that I would prefer not to use anymore. So what should I do with them?

It seems like I have a couple of options:

  1. Use the products I currently own, but make certain not to buy or accept any more.
  2. Donate the products to a local shelter.
  3. Donate the products to my local donation center.
  4. Try to sell the products on eBay.
  5. Discard them (which would be incredibly wasteful)

I’m leaning towards donating the products I don’t want to use anymore. I certainly don’t want anyone else to use products with less than perfect ingredients, but I also know that there are a lot of people who need products like soap and shampoo.

I’m sure someone out there has been in a similar situation. Have you ever purged similar products in your home and if so what did you do with them?

2 thoughts on “Purging Unwanted Products: What Should I Do With Them?”

  1. Are these products that you have already opened? Because if so, shelters will not take them as donations. Toiletries have to be sealed.

    I have used options 1 and 5 in the past. #5 is not that wasteful if you have a legitimate reason for not wanting to use the product — which you do. If you add plenty of water to dilute the product before dumping it out (I usually let it dilute over the course of a day or two), recycle the container, and resolve not to buy the product again, you have done your part.

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    • Ugh, dump it, really? I totally see your point, but it seems so wasteful. I do have a few new bottles (stuff I bought back when I was still into drugstore shopping, so yeah they are old, but I don’t think that stuff expires), and a few that are opened, which I’m contemplating just using. I’ve used them for the past 30 years, what’s another month, right?

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