Plus, we're diverting so many plastic items from the landfill. If we're serious about buying items to use for the long haul, the money-saving aspect - assuming you can afford the initial investment - can't be denied. When repurchasing enough cartridges for 46 cycles, the CPU comes out to $4.85. In comparison, the Gillette blade actually gets more expensive per use. With the Leaf Essentials kit, that gives us about 46 cycles of shaving with a CPU of $1.86. You can buy any safety razor blades for the Leaf - such as this pack of 100 blades only costs $6.87. Plus, safety razors only get cheaper as time goes on. But there are a few factors to consider.įirst, what's the cost of plastic in the landfill? It may not directly impact your wallet, but the cost of throwing away an estimated 2 billion razors per year in the US alone has a significant environmental impact.
Looking at the cost of the initial kit, the disposable razor ends up costing less per use. We'll also add on replacement cartridges to equal 13 uses ($14.35x3). With 40 edges, you could replace your 3 blades roughly 13 times. We assume we're using 3 blade edges on the Leaf each time, so the basic kit gives us 13 shaving "cycles" (ie. if one product is $1 and you can use it once and another is $2 but you can use it twice, the CPU is the same ($1 per use). Let's look at cost per use (CPU) to get a better idea at the true cost of items.ĬPU: the value of an item is related to how much use you get out of it, ie. Cheaper options include products like this. I also recognize that a majority of my readers have available disposable income to make these investments. I recognize that many people within our current economic system are oppressed and don't have the means for saving up for higher-cost products. * This is a discussion for those of us with the financial ability to make better decisions. Losing that connection has been disastrous for how we approach consumption. Globalization had not yet emerged, so people were consuming goods made in their town or the next city over. Back in the day, the cost of our products reflected the time and resources required to create. I'm not saying there's a need to go back to pre-industrialized levels of inefficiency however, our current economic model has 100% artificially deflated the cost of items. A 1949 Gillette ad showed off a kit for $10 - or $107.60 in today's money! Adjusted for inflation, that safety razor would cost $100.04 today. A standard safety razor set in 1917 cost $5. But it also reflects the true production costs. It's because someone is paying the true cost a product, and if it's not you, it's probably a marginalized worker or Mother Earth herself. As part of the Leaf razor review, we need to talk about the artificially low cost of most items we buy.* There's a reason our gold-standard, favorite ethical brands are pricey.