Are Safety Razors Eco-Friendly?

Safety razors are pretty old-school and have been around for centuries but they’re making a great comeback in recent times. Still, not everyone is familiar with them!

Essentially, in opposed to modern cartridge razors or disposable razors that remain the most popular shaving tool today, safety razors use standard single double-edged safety razor blades that are mounted in a high-quality chassis.

That means they only use one single ultra-sharp blade, not a cartridge. Truth be told, cartridges boasting 3, 5 or even more blades are just marketing ploys. At the end of the day, it’s a metal razor cutting through minuscule hairs – you do not need more than 1 of them. One single ultra-sharp blade is more accurate, effective and shaves more efficiently. This means a closer shave with fewer nicks and cuts and less razor burn.

There is another positive aspect to safety razors though: they’re eco-friendly.

The Impacts of Normal Disposable and Cartridge Razors

Normal disposable razors and cartridge razors have been highlighted as some of the worst products in the health and beauty industry for general sustainability and eco-friendliness. Billions of disposable razors are produced every year – a whopping 160 million Americans use disposable razors each year. Disposable razors and cartridges do not last that long before they start to wear and those who throw a disposable razor away every time they use one may go through hundreds every year!

What’s more is that disposable razors are generally not recyclable and even though some recycling schemes do exist, they’re not particularly accessible.

Fortunately, safety razors offer much better prospects for the environment.

Are Safety Razors Eco-Friendly?

Yes! The health, beauty and cosmetics industries are traditionally some of the least sustainable on the planet. Riddled with single-use plastic, non-recyclable materials and packaging waste, recent years have really seen them try and transform into something all the more eco-friendly. Sadly, cartridge razors and disposable razors remain some of the worst products for recyclability and general sustainability. The cartridges use both metal and plastic and usually can’t be recycled, plus they’re expensive to buy and really don’t last that long.

Safety razors do not use cartridges and use standard metal razor blades instead. These are super-thin sheets of steel, which makes them cheap to produce and much easier to recycle. If you want to learn how to recycle razor blades then read our post on the Clear Confidence blog.

Safety razors boast some excellent eco-friendly credentials. They’re also much cheaper to keep and use. Double-edged razor blades are widely available also can be purchased online or in hardware shops and supermarkets.

Eco-Friendly Construction

Some double-edged safety razors such as the Plastic-Free Double Edged Safety Razor by Clear Confidence also have an eco-friendly construction. Ours is made from bamboo, which is a very sustainable crop. Bamboo is not only super-hard wearing, aesthetically beautiful and lovely to handle, but it’s been heralded as one of the most eco-friendly natural building materials in the world. It is very fast-growing, requires little nutrient input and is easily farmed.