The rise of green beauty — How to adopt a sustainable beauty care routine
“Green”, “natural”, “organic”. Those are three words that are widely used in the beauty industry when brands want to refer to sustainable beauty products or products with no synthetic compounds. However, there is no strict regulation on what is considered “natural” or “green” in the cosmetic industry, making thus many consumers confused when they want to adopt a green beauty routine.
Environmental benefits but also health advantages are the main reasons why many women take a shift towards more sustainable “green” beauty products. In fact, there is an abundance of beauty care products produced by big brands that follow the green beauty movement. But because the industry is self-regulated for over a century there is often a lack of transparency and misinformation regarding certain ingredients.
The essence of green beauty products demands the promotion of sustainability. In this sense, a product needs to follow three principles to be included in this category:
Raw materials
The raw materials need to be found in nature and to derive from a plant, the land, or the sea. But bear in mind that not all natural ingredients can be considered organic for the main reason that some natural parts are not fertilizer-free. Additionally, even if a product is promoted with the label of “natural” it does not necessarily mean that all of its ingredients are derived from nature. It means that only some are.
Supply chain
Another element you should consider when implementing a green beauty routine is whether the manufacturer handles the distribution process. Is the product delivered via sustainable supply chain routes? And how about waste management?
Manufacturing
Last but not least the product needs to be manufactured in a sustainable way. This includes everything from the packaging to hazardous byproducts handling. Green beauty care products are manufactured in recycling bottles or at least bottles from recyclable materials. Additionally, some natural ingredients produce dangerous chemicals that can often be damaging to our health and also not environmentally-friendly.
Benefits of green beauty
Environmental benefits
By consuming green beauty products, you contribute to a sustainable way of living that reduces CO2 emissions and improves our livelihoods. And when more people are adopting green solutions the green beauty movement gets stronger and receives bigger exposure, encouraging more people to abandon traditional hazardous ingredients and procedures.
Better results
Because green products are made from ingredients that are found in nature they cannot cause any irritation on your skin. Thus, you can have noticeable results, better skin quality, and a younger appearance.
Cost-effective
Natural products are cheaper than non-natural ones. And that is because the manufacturing procedure is less complex, and the ingredients are easier to be found. Also, it is easier to create your own recipes by utilizing natural resources to alleviate stress and anxiety amongst other things. Glow and Green, for instance, is a beauty blog that promotes sustainable beauty practices with insightful DIYs every woman can make use of in their everyday beauty routine.
Which products you can recycle
If you want to implement a green beauty routine, then it is important that before buying a product to make sure that it is indeed recyclable. Not all materials can be reused and knowing this beforehand gives you the benefit of choosing more sustainable bottling materials.
Recyclable
The materials that can be reused are metal tubes and hair sprays. For the latter, you need to check if the can is empty first. Because if not then it needs a separate disposal process.
Partly recyclable
Pump bottles fall into the partially recyclable category because they have a metal spring inside that is non-removable. This makes the recycling process impossible. But if you toss the pump you can recycle the rest of the bottle with no problem.
Non-recyclable
Amongst the non-recyclable products fall most of the beauty products out there. Those include nail polishes, compacts, lip glosses, and brushes. Lip gloss and brushes are made from different materials that are difficult to separate and this makes them not ideal candidates for reuse. Compacts also contain a magnetic closure and a reflective coat that hardens the recycling process.
How to recycle
Now that you are aware of which beauty products are easy to recycle and which not it is time to give you some tips on how to properly prepare your products for recycling so that you ensure that they don’t end up in the trash. According to Women’s Health Magazine, you need to follow 5 simple steps:
Clean, rinse
Clean the container thoroughly, rinse, and dry it. This might sound a bit extreme. But doing so you ensure that your bottle ends up in the recycling sorting. Damp or dirty bottles are always dismissed and sent straight to the trash.
Check local green laws
Some countries have a dual-stream (separating metal, glass, plastic, and paper), while others a single-stream recycling process, where every material is concentrated in one recycling bin. This can help you determine how you will collect your waste. From region to region there might be small differences in what is considered recyclable as well. So it is better to know your region’s green laws beforehand.
Separate our plastics
All plastic is not the same and more importantly, it is not recyclable. Rigid plastics that keep their shape are always reusable. However, soft plastics like bags are not. Thus, keep your plastics separate to avoid any confusion.
Pay attention to the size
Too small products can follow through the recycling bin’s infrastructure and never get recycled in the end. For this reason, try to keep your fist as your rule of thumb. Anything bigger than your fist is eligible for recycling.
When in doubt, throw it out
Last but not least, there might be cases where you are not sure where to place your product. When in doubt it is always best to throw it in the normal trash. Questionable items can contaminate the entire load and render useless numerous other products as well.
Conclusion
Incorporating sustainability into your everyday beauty routine is not an easy procedure. It needs your time and effort to identify your suppliers, sort out your recyclable products, and finding the proper disposal procedure according to your country and region. However, ultimately the benefits of using natural ingredients outweigh the time investment.
