Zero Waste/Plastic Free Hair Accessories

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Every hair you own, every one you love, will be coated in plastic... Okay, not really, but it sure feels that way when it comes to simple tasks like doing your hair. As I type, my plastic-coated ponytail nags at me. I need to let go of this elastic habit and end one last more source of plastic and waste in my life.

How to let go of the ubiquitous elastic hair band though? How to hold my braid? How to put my hair up without a plastic jaw clip? How do I put my hair up? 

I had to research really hard to find alternatives for all of my hair accessories. As I went about looking for them online, my mind kept going back to how far we've come in our zero-waste and plastic-free journey, including the past two weeks of going car-free. See what led to that idea here.

We found a ride to Winco for our bulk food trip. We took the light rail to Food Not Bombs. We walked to the library and did our taxes online as we have no home internet, just mobile data. Mr. Greenie bikes to work for half an hour each way. We have more time to look around the neighborhood and really see our surroundings. 

The only major hurdle we've met is buying chicken feed. It comes in 50 lb bags and isn't easy to ask for a ride so often to get it. But this too has an advantage, we have looked for ways to not need to buy chicken feed as often, and this saves us money. 

Now we let our hens free-range all day when we're home, vs for a little bit each day. Best of all, it encourages us to see such a big step toward reducing our waste and helps inspire us to do more, like let go of my plastic and wasteful hair accessories.

So, without further ado, here are the ways I've found to use no plastic in hair styling. 

1.Braid Without an Elastic
2.Updo Without Clips, Pins, or Elastic
3.French Twist
4. Tie a strip of cotton fabric around a ponytail.

5. Use a bandana
6. All natural rubber and organic cotton hair ties

I found a few ideas from my plastic-free life forums as well.

1. leather cord


2. Metal barrettes


3. Cotton ribbon or wool/hemp yarn


4. wooden hair sticks


5. old rubber band (saved from broccoli, asparagus, etc), and using cotton crochet yarn, crochet over it to create your own scrunchie!  It lasts a long time, and when the band eventually wears out I can unravel the yarn and reuse in another one.  You can do a simple single or double crochet, using a crochet pattern.


6. For the ends of braids a plain rubber band


7. leather hair slide 

All in all, it is entirely possible to have every hair you own and love to not be coated in plastic, and still be quite stylish.

Here's to a more plastic-free and zero-waste head of hair,
Meghan, the Little Urban Greenie