Unless you tend to use bars of soap or have already started buying solid shampoo, half of the toiletries sitting in your bathroom are likely housed in single-use plastic bottles.

The beauty industry is a major contributor to plastic waste, creating 120 billion units of packaging every year. At least half of this is never recycled, destined to end up in landfills around the globe.

And more often than not, the primary ingredient inside those containers will be water or ‘aqua’. The average beauty product contains of 60 – 85 percent water, but it typically makes up about 95 percent of liquid products like shower gels.

As water scarcity becomes an issue around the world, conscious customers have started looking for ways to cut back on its usage in the simplest of ways – and since we’ve essentially been paying for soapy water all this time, why not?

A new beauty brand called PLUS is tackling two problems in one, creating a range of self-care products that comes in biodegradable, dissolving packaging and uses no water outside of its production stages.

If California’s pending ban on single-use plastics is anything to go by, it appears that the world might soon start banning our dependency on plastic pretty soon.

The brains behind PLUS – also responsible for making the zit-stickers, Starface ­– are on a mission to help us with that, using wood pulp from sustainably managed FSC forests to create thin biodegradable pouches that contain their soaps.

Because the packaging is thin and compact, the company produces 80 percent fewer carbon emissions during shipping on average. To offset the emissions it does produce, it partners with the organisation Pachama to support and protect forests.

After retrieving the soap sheet inside, the pouch can be left to completely dissolve in the shower water beneath your feet as you rinse off. Since the packaging is completely organic, dyed with water-based and non-toxic inks, there will be no harsh chemicals finding their way down the drain and into our water systems.

Though tearing through individual packaging each time you shower might not be the norm just yet, PLUS has presented a feasible and impressive solution that could help the future of personal care become totally waste-free.

Often called ‘the universal solvent,’ water is everywhere in beauty products. This is despite the fact that most soaps and cleansers can be dehydrated, only requiring customers to add water as they use it.

Inside PLUS’ water-solvent packaging are the goods you’ve been waiting for – dehydrated soap sheets. Once water drops onto the sheets, all it needs is a little lathering before it turns into the foamy soap you’d expect while showering.

Thanks to this ‘just-add-water’ method, PLUS has slashed its water use by 38 percent in manufacturing when compared to bottled body washes.

As anyone who has tried to switch to sustainable products will know, eco-friendly products tend to be a little on the pricier side – and PLUS is no exception.

The sustainable shower gang will pay $16.50 for a pack of 16 sheets, but even so, the company is confident people are willing to pay more to reduce their impact on the planet.

If companies start to adopt the packaging and product design of PLUS, it’s likely the cost of production will be driven down. Hopefully this happens soon, as the question is no longer how can self-care become completely waste-free, but when.

I’m Jessica (She/Her), a writer at Thred. I moved to London to complete a master’s degree in Media and Communications after spending two years working in fashion PR in Amsterdam. Follow me on Twitter, LinkedIn and drop me some ideas/feedback via email.

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