How to Make Easy Zero Waste Body Scrub

I recently went to a zero waste body scrub workshop with my mom and we had so much fun! Well, actually it was more of a “compostable body scrub” workshop because all the ingredients we used were natural. Still, we had so much fun and got a lot of pictures during the event (which you’ll see in this post). It reminded me that we don’t have to do it all alone – building community and meeting like-minded people is equally important. And we did it in honor of my mom’s birthday so she had a blast. While I won’t be going into the exact recipes I made at this event, I will share with you my all time favorite zero waste body scrub recipe below!

How to Make Easy Zero Waste Body Scrub

Today I’ll be sharing my absolute favorite go-to scrub. The chocolate sugar body scrub. Not only does it smell as amazing as it sounds, but it also makes your skin REALLY soft.

It smells like freshly baked brownies…

Funny story about this scrub, I made it for my mom and she raved so much about it to her co-workers that they asked me to make them some!

You can make this zero waste body scrub as a quick gift for someone’s birthday, a holiday gift, a treat for yourself, or even something fun to make with your loved ones. Personally, I absolutely love the smell – and any chocolate lovers out there will too!

And yes, it’s safe to wash down the drain because of its natural ingredients. However, if you’re worried about clogging your drain, perhaps opting for coconut-oil free version is best.

To keep things low waste, try getting most of the ingredients at the bulk food store, or packaged in glass/cardboard. And always choose organic whenever possible.

And, if for whatever reason this scrub isn’t used up in time and goes bad, you can absolutely compost it. So no waste!

Be sure to store it in an upcycled jar. To decorate, I like tying some hemp or jute twine onto it, but upcycled ribbon is nice too.

Chocolate Sugar Body Scrub

Ingredients:

• 4 1/2 tablespoons of coconut oil (can be subbed for sunflower or avocado oil)
• 7 tablespoons brown sugar
• 1 teaspoon of cocoa powder

Directions: 

1. Add the coconut oil (make sure it’s melted), brown sugar and cocoa powder to a bowl. Stir together using a spoon until combined well. Store in the container of your choice.

To use: You can rub this onto your body before a shower, onto your lips whenever they’re chapped, or onto your hands when they’re dry. It’s good enough to eat, so you can literally lick it off your lips if you want to! If you put this scrub on your entire body, do it while standing in the shower before turning on the water, as it can be a bit messy.

Photos from our zero waste body scrub workshop

Below I’ve put together a mini slideshow of our time at Snug Harbor’s fun event! It was so nice chatting with like-minded people. I even made a new friend who’s also big on zero waste!

I find that making things really brings people together and connects them to a cause. It’s a fun form of activism that gets people socializing and talking.

I made a green tea body scrub, plus a sea salt scrub – it was a lot of fun to experiment and put in the ingredients I wanted to make it my own. And I loved how it was outside right by Heritage Farm (fyi, they have a farm stand every week in the spring/summer, you should def pop by or sign up for their CSA)!

At the end of the day, we got to take home some freshly made compost, the body scrubs we made, and some arugula seeds! What a great event.

If you live on Staten Island, be sure to check out Snug Harbor’s other sustainable events – they’ll be hosting them throughout the summer so stay tuned! And they also have some beautiful grounds to explore, which you can peak at on their Instagram.

I’d love to host a zero waste event like this someday soon! If you’d be interested in attending, be sure to let me know.

Do you love making zero waste body scrub? Would you consider attending an event where you made some? Let me know in the comments!

For more zero waste beauty DIYs, check out my zero waste dry shampoo or DIY body lotion.

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