Utilizing personal care products and keeping your makeup storage well-stocked with your must-haves can have an effect on your skin and purse. Unfortunately, this doesn’t stop there. Skincare and beauty products are also known to harm the environment with their chemical compositions.
While we often see good skin results, it is time to reassess if we are using the right products—ones that are truly healthy and non-toxic for your skin and those that are not detrimental to the environment. Of course, this doesn’t mean compromising the aroma, quality, and effectiveness. You can radiantly glow while extending compassion to the environment! So how do we do this?
Ways to reduce carbon footprint
1. Support local
Keep your eco-conscience in check by choosing products that are sourced and produced locally. Local products require less transportation and logistics as compared to internationally made ones. Thus, by buying local products, you avoid the carbon dioxide emissions that it entails to bring your product order from another country to your doorstep. At the same time, you help improve the local economy and contribute to creating local jobs.
2. Choose organic and all-natural products
As we all know, natural products contain healthy ingredients minus synthetic and additives. Meanwhile, organic products are made with ingredients organically grown and produced through sustainable practices. This means that their ingredients’ unrefined and intrinsic version is retained and there are no harsh chemicals infused in these products. With fewer chemicals, lesser waste and toxins go down the drain and back to the environment.
Check every product label to see if it is all-natural, non-toxic, animal-cruelty-free, with ingredients from renewable sources, and made through ethical business practices. Some products you can start using are all-natural beauty soaps, shampoo bars, organic lotions, and vegan collagen.
Make sure to also check if the products meet eco-certification guidelines or Ecocert Natural Cosmetic standards and are verified to be synthetic and GMO-free.
3. Simplify your beauty routine
Ask yourself again, is it really necessary for you to follow a 10-to-15-step skincare routine? Are you allowing your skin to breathe with your long cycles of a skincare routine?
Purchase beauty and body care products that have multiple benefits rather than buying separate items. For instance, buying a detoxifying, pore-refining, and moisturizing mask. This way, you get to save money and stay sustainable.
Try embracing the concept of skinimalism. This means cutting back on the number of products you use down to the bare essentials. Doing this will not only allow your skin to achieve exactly what it needs; it’ll also enable you to highlight your natural glow.
4. Buy from eco-friendly and sustainable businesses
Supporting businesses that are committed to ethical and eco-friendly practices also means advocating the reduction of environmental impacts. Such businesses practice responsible material sourcing, packaging, reusing of materials, and manufacturing. This means they seek to reduce their carbon footprint. In addition, they help preserve local communities’ well-being through creating hubs of resources, providing local jobs, and drawing more visitors to the area where they operate.
5. Pick products with planet-friendly packaging
Brands that have recyclable, plastic-free, and biodegradable packaging are more eco-friendly than those that don’t. For liquified products, there are also bar alternatives with paper packaging you can opt for. It is easy to spot products with eco-friendly packaging though. If you are purchasing a beauty or personal care product, consider products with recyclable materials.
6. Buy in bulk
Rather than purchasing tiny bottles of beauty products and small containers of care products, it is best to choose products with big and minimal packaging. This way, you reduce your waste after product use, recycle better, and may even refill seamlessly. As much as possible, buy also in bulk as it means lesser trips to the store or deliveries to your home. This means less fuel use, Styrofoam, and carbon dioxide emissions. As we all know, Styrofoam is often used to protect items during shipping—tell you what, ditch the Styrofoam by purchasing in bulk.
7. Replace disposables with reusables
There are 7.6 billion pounds of wet wipes that are tossed into landfill annually. Per a U.K. study, these are also responsible for 75 percent of sewer blockages. Since we want to mitigate the environmental impacts of beauty products, it is best to start chopping single-use products. Replace disposable makeup remover wipes, cotton pads, facial masks, razors, and other products with bulk, bottled, and reusable versions. While a big chunk of your budget may be needed, you can still save more and save the environment by doing this.
In a nutshell
Shopping and consuming more sustainably does not need to be hard. There are numerous healthy and quality product options in the market that are also organic, all-natural, ethically made, locally sourced, and recyclable.
Make your dollar count by embracing better products—ones that can help you strut your natural beauty confidently, benefit the environment, and support local business owners.
