You can use the conditioner for shaving. That one is all over Pinterest. :)

Shampoo, I dunno, maybe as an additive for bug spray on your plants?

As for the conditioner, If you shave legs not wax, I wonder if it would work to slick it on, shave then shower. I've done that with old hand lotion where I didn't like the feel or scent on my hands rather than toss it....

I don't know how much shampoo you have, but I use it occasionally on an oily cooking spot on clothing as a pretreatment before putting into the washer. Kind of press it into the fabric with my finger, let it sit a few minutes, then wash - good for bacon spatters, I keep a travel/hotel bottle of shampoo in my laundry cupboard.

I use conditioner for shaving......been doing that for 10 years. It's a great way of using cheap conditioner, or conditioner you don't like.

Shampoo is good for grease stains......collar and cuffs etc.
Or wash dishes, clean the sink, anything you can think of to clean.

I had a couple of bottle that I really didn't want to toss and a friend was using a brand she didn't like for doing dishes so what I did was put mine in the soap dispenser at the kitchen sink. So I have a mixture of soaps...I.'m not wasting the shampoo but using it when I just use a tad from the dispenser and when I do need a lot, I still have the regular dish liquid...My friend had quite a stash and was pleased with the result of using it in the kitchen and saving the coins by not having to buy dish soap.

I use shampoo in the hand soap bottles in the bathrooms, I mix it in with the remaining soap, works great and smells good too.
Shave with conditioner.
And left over body wash or ones we don't like are also used in the hand soap dispensers.

People buy partial bottles of all sorts of things at yard sales.

You could try giving them away on freecycle.org or the free section of craigslist.org.

If you have a shelter nearby, they would probably welcome the donation.

I put any shampoo and conditioner I won't use by my washing machine and dump some in with my towels - oh, they come out so soft and smell so good!

I donate mine to the Gospel Rescue Mission for the homeless. They are always happy to get soap and shampoo.

Guess I don't understand the question ... even if you re-purpose the contents, aren't the "bottles" still going in the landfill?

I read (and like the idea) of using unwanted shampoo to wash out the toilet bowl for every day use. Just a dash and a scrub with the brush keeps the bowl really clean until the next deep cleaning. Thanks I Villiage. Haven't found a good use for the conditioners so they will be in the next yard sale's free box.

If she finds a use for the contents then after the bottle is empty she will dispose of it with recyclable plastics. Then it won't go to the landfill.

Angelaid, once the bottles are empty they can be recycled. I have hung on to a bottle of stinky hand lotion for years because I don't want to throw the plastic bottle in the trash.

Thank you for the tips, everyone! Angelaid, the others answered your question well. I recycle all my plastic bottles, among other things.

Squirt the shampoo onto a dry Magic Eraser sponge and clean the shower just great.

Thought I saw a tip here a while back that said to pour a little conditioner on a clean washcloth and toss in with the load in the dryer as a fabric softener/static reducer ...

Whatever you do with it, it's *here* -- and gallons more are being made daily. There's no way to 'disappear' it.

You could dump the contents in the garbage and recycle the bottles. Whether you use it as soap or dump it down a drain all at once, it's going into the sewer, and thence into the environment anyway.

I'd first see if your local homeless shelter would take it.

That certainly is a valid point, Chisue.

We don't have a homeless shelter in this rural area. We have an agency that assists victims of abuse, but they don't take opened bottles.

Really amazing ideas. I've been using lotion to shave, but if I ever use conditioner and don't like it, it's going on my idea list for shaving. I'm so glad you asked this alisande. Everyone's already given what I'd say.

Here is a link that might be useful: I asked a similar question not too long ago...

use shampoo to clean comb & brushes.
Shave with the conditioner

Just dump them down the drain. I see people on other sites saying, "can't you just use them up?" Hello?? When you use them.. down the drain they go then, so no reason you can't put them there when you are done with them and want or need to move on to another product that will work better for you now. I change my shampoos all the time since my chemicals in my body change all the time.. one week oily one week normal. So either way.. using them up in the laundry, washing your car, cleaning your bathroom or down the drain, it all works!!

I'm in a group that collects toiletries (especially shampoo, but also conditioner) as our community service project to give to a couple of agencies that supply poor and/or homeless people. Check around and see if partial bottles would be accepted.

Anne

Re down the drain: it costs more to deal with down the drain than in the trash.

Very snarky for a first time commenter, maybe if you were nicer, your chemicals would not have to change.

use conditioner to shave your legs, works great! Shampoo is good from washing your hair brushes

Anne, that sounds like a great program. I have several of the larger bottles of shampoo & conditioner I’d love to donate. Are you by any chance in or relatively close to Oakland County? (SE MI)

lukkiirish, I'd love to have them! I'm in the South Lyon area in the SW corner of Oakland County. I've been on gardenweb for about 15 years, so don't know if you can still email me since the changeover to houzz. And I'm not sure how to email you.

Anne

Oh, I know where South Lyon is!!! I’m by Great Lakes Outlet and the Palace. If you activate the message option in your profile, I can send you a quick message.

I guess I'm not understanding the original post. I would dump the contents down the drain and recycle the plastic bottles. If your town does not have recycling for plastic bottles, I would just throw them out. What else can you do?

If they are unopened, you could donate them to Goodwill.

Flylady says to use unwanted shampoo to clean your toilet. According to her, soap is soap.