Environmentally friendly blade packaging

Thoughts and input on anything related to wet shaving or men's grooming.
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Brewersmurf
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Environmentally friendly blade packaging

Post by Brewersmurf »

Hello all,

Long time shaver, first time poster!

I switched to safety razors for mostly environmental reasons (I can't think of any reason NOT to switch anymore 🤪).
Does anyone know which brands of blades don't come in little plastic boxes? Those little boxes are not recyclable. Maybe in cardboard? Any suggestions would be appreciated.

Cheers!
CMur12
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Re: Environmentally friendly blade packaging

Post by CMur12 »

Welcome to SMF, Brewersmurf!

I think most blades now come in cardboard boxes. As far as I know, the Personna Med Prep blades ("For Hospital Use Only"), Procter & Gamble blades (Gillette, Perma-Sharp, Super Iridium, Nacet, etc), most blades made by LORD in Egypt under their many brand names, and more that I can't think of, off-hand.

Many vendors show the containers blades come in on their sites. If you find a blade you want and the packaging isn't clear, you could e-mail the vendor for clarification.

- Murray
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JarmoP
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Re: Environmentally friendly blade packaging

Post by JarmoP »

Wellcome you our newest member to the oldest shaving forum!

Like Murray told, most blades come these days in cardboard boxes. My faves now nos wizamet super iridiums and then red personnas, my winter blades the reds. Are cardboard ones.

Some come in plastic packages. Feathers and Derbys and many others with a white plastic holder. It can be sometimes a trouble to get a blade out of them. Plus is though that the plastic thing has a slot to put used blades into and then relatively safe to dispose.

I like blades in cardbords paper boxes and have made myself a used blade bank. It has now during 15 years got some hundreds of blades. It has a lid to open, so I am able to see all the DE blades I have shaved with. But also a slot I made with a knife to just normally drop the blade in. And I think will last my lifetime.

With plastics the bigger problem comes elsewhere than from our blades. All our food comes wrapped in plastics. Even the fresh veggies we buy we wrap in light plastic. And all our meat and other stuff that are so called fresh and have the use before date.

One thing that is good in my country is that we finns don’t need buy our water bottled when tap water is as good at least. That is not a case in most parts of the world.

So yes I agree, plastic waste disposal is a big problem.
Last edited by JarmoP on Thu Jul 16, 2020 10:17 am, edited 1 time in total.
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Brewersmurf
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Re: Environmentally friendly blade packaging

Post by Brewersmurf »

Thank you for the welcome and for the advise. The last 2 blades I bought were Wilkinsons and Parker, and both came in a plastic box...so I assumed that it was the norm.
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John Rose
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Re: Environmentally friendly blade packaging

Post by John Rose »

Brewersmurf wrote: Wed Jul 15, 2020 12:47 pm Does anyone know which brands of blades don't come in little plastic boxes?
Yup.
Astra Superior Platinum and Astra Superior Stainless.
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The packs of 5 blades, and the bulk 20x5 boxes are both cardboard.
They are my favourite blade, and just happen to be almost half the price of blades of similar quality (e.g. Gillette Silver Blue, which also come in cardboard packs, I think).
I have gotten 100 shaves out of a single Astra SP blade, but typically I'll spoil myself and toss them after 20 or 30 shaves.

The Astra Superior Stainless blades are similar in price and performance.
Image
"If this isn't nice, then what is?" - Kurt Vonnegut's Uncle Alex
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John Rose
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Re: Environmentally friendly blade packaging

Post by John Rose »

One thing in defense of the plastic (and metal) boxes is that they typically can be used as blade banks for used blades, by sliding them through a slot in the back. It's a one-way trip for them. Handy for travel, when you can't be sure of a convenient and safe blade disposal and want to travel light.

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Another other feature is that you can install a fresh blade into a TTO razor with a notched centre bar just by pushing with your thumb in the middle without having to unwrap a blade and risk touching an edge.

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The speed of installing a new blade directly from a dispenser was one of the reasons that some razor models were called "SuperSpeed" or "Rocket". Paper-wrapped blades in plastic or metal dispensers (eg. Feathers, if I recall correctly) can't use this speed-load feature though.
"If this isn't nice, then what is?" - Kurt Vonnegut's Uncle Alex
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John Rose
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Re: Environmentally friendly blade packaging

Post by John Rose »

I just tried a Shaverboy blade for the first time tonight. It was pretty good (balance of sharpness and smoothness), while possibly being the cheapest blades available.
"Shaverboy is dedicated to offering you products that are environmentally friendly. We promote products that can return to the earth. That is why we offer you metal safety razors and blades wrapped in paper and cardboard. We limit the quantity of plastic related objects that leave our warehouse. If you purchase a product that involves a plastic-related container, Shaverboy invites you to take part in local efforts to recycle these materials. Thank you for supporting our environmental strategy."

Mine were double wrapped with paper, in cardboard tucks of 5.
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Made in China, shipped from Montréal.
"If this isn't nice, then what is?" - Kurt Vonnegut's Uncle Alex
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