Millions of shampoo bottles are dumped each year.

In fact, the approximate number is a whopping 520 million shampoo bottles thrown away in the UK and Ireland annually.

Yikes.

It’s a plastic disaster and a nightmare in terms of sustainability, but these days, more and more brands are beginning to take note, coming up with ways to get all the benefits of your regular hair wash into an environmentally-friendly package.

Here are three products designed to help you green your routine:

HIT THE (SHAMPOO) BAR

Garnier is the first major mass-market beauty brand to launch solid shampoo bars with zero plastic waste. Four new Ultimate Blends Solid Shampoo Bars (€9.99) will go on sale in Ireland in March in supermarkets and pharmacies nationwide.

Garnier scientists spent 18 months perfecting the solid shampoo formula and the new blend offers all the foaminess and creaminess of a liquid shampoo in a solid format.

One bar lasts up to two months and it’s even developed with ‘fast-rinse’ technology to help save up to one bottle of water per wash.

Buy it: Ultimate Blends Solid Shampoo Bars are €9.99 from supermarkets and pharmacies, launching in March.

HAVE A DRY DAY

French botanical brand Klorane is encouraging customers to save water by using dry shampoo in place of a usual hair wash just once per week, saving up to 500 litres per year.

Klorane’s cult formula is composed of plant-based active ingredients as well as three natural, highly absorbent powders. We love their Detox Dry Shampoo with Organic Aquatic Mint, which removes pollution particles, refreshes the scalp and absorbs excess sebum in two minutes.

Buy it: Klorane Dry Shampoo is €11.50 in pharmacies 

TRY A TWO-IN-ONE

What’s better than ditching one plastic bottle from your shower caddy? Ditching two, that’s what. The Milk & Honey All Over wash by Irish company Janni Bars is a one-stop-shop for skin and scalps that are troubled by eczema, psoriasis and acne and it also leaves hair sleek and silky soft.

Ingredients include goats milk, which is loaded with vitamins as well as lactic acid, which helps to gently remove dead skin cells and helps to hydrate and brighten skin. The added honey boasts antimicrobial and antioxidant properties. Due to the naturally occurring sugars it has a great lather in the shower too. Raw silk helps to tame tangles, so depending on your hair type you may even be able to skip conditioner.

Buy it: Janni Bar Milk & Honey All Over is €6.90 here.