These Reusable Cotton Pads Are Super Cute & *So* Good For The Environment

Most people try and do their bit for the environment, whether it's always carrying a reusable coffee cup, or ditching plastic straws. From next year, the cotton buds you use to perfect your winged liner or clean out your ears will also be banned (well, the plastic type, anyway). But what about cotton pads? Is it worth trying to make those a little more eco-friendly too, even though they don't contain plastic? The answer is definitely yes, as cotton itself can have a major environmental impact, and with that in mind, here are five ideas of where to buy reusable cotton pads so you can do your extra bit for the environment.

So why exactly do we need to ditch normal, single use cotton rounds? It's not like they have any plastic in like cotton swabs, right? Well, usually no, but it's important to still consider ways you can limit the amount of waste you produce on the whole. If you use a couple of cotton pads every day, that's a hell of a lot more waste than if you did not do this. All that will happen to your many hundreds of mascara-stained cotton rounds is that they will end up in landfill, which isn't exactly helpful for the environment.

It's also suggested that the amount of cotton produced for cotton rounds is not exactly great either. As EuroNews reports, the chemicals produced by cotton not grown organically can pollute the environment. Most packs of cotton wool pads are also packaged in plastic, offering another reason to ditch them altogether. The production of cotton also uses a significant amount of water. According to charity the World Wildlife Fund, 20,000 litres of water are required to make just one kilogram of cotton.

So while removing things like plastic cotton buds is the priority, this is another small way you can help out and do your bit.

But do reusable cotton pads even exist, and where do you buy them? Well, I've sourced five of the best options, all which will see you ditching your single use cotton rounds once and for all.

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