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This is the way your traditional shaving routine will end—not with a bang, but with the dull clank of yet another $4 razor head hitting the bathroom trash can.
That’s where Eco Collective founder Genevieve Fisher found herself at the start of her journey toward zero-waste living. “I started literally going through my trash and realizing how many things were disposable that didn’t make sense,” she says. Amid the toothpaste tubes and lotion bottles, the razor stood out for its combined impact on both planet and budget—especially for women, for whom gender-marketed shaving products often face a “Pink Tax” upcharge. She cut the old five-blade out of her life, and her cosmetic trash pile went with it.
Fisher started Eco Collective in Seattle in 2017 with the goal of making truly sustainable self-care products that were as readily available as their plastic-wrapped predecessors. Long-lasting alum stone deodorant, bars of shampoo and conditioner, chewable toothpaste tabs in refillable glass jars. ”People are really ready to make these changes,” especially in earth-conscious Seattle, “but you have to make it easy for them.”
A more sustainable razor, though, comes with a slightly steeper learning curve. At first, shaving with one feels like regressing back to your teenage years, with all the nicks and neglected patches of hair you thought you left behind decades ago. And though pricey, aesthetic-focused companies like Hanni and Well Kept Essentials recently started to bring safety razors to mainstream shops like Sephora and Anthropologie, but they can still seem like "this thing of antiquity," per Fisher.
Eco Collective does a solid job cutting out the intimidation factor. The company’s sleek razor uses a newbie-friendly three-piece head that makes blade replacement safe and straightforward. Sticker-adorned (but not gender-marketed) packaging makes the experience feel like you’re ordering from a modern beauty brand, not an English barber shop. Eco Collective even offers a beginners’ guide: lather up, apply zero pressure, and “think of it as if you've never shaved before, so don't rush.”
Once you get over the psychological weirdness of it all—the exposed blade, the uncanny feeling that comes with relearning a skill from scratch—the switch is well worth it. Fewer blades (in the hands of an expert) make for a counterintuitively closer shave and way less skin irritation. Cared for properly, this razor will last you a literal lifetime. And get this: a set of 10 blades costs just $2.25.
02/28/2022 By Sophia Urabe and Seattle Met Staff