According to Ellen MacArthur - former sailor, who has dedicated her life to fight against plastic - that’s what it’s gonna be like in 2050: more plastic than fish in the sea. Today’s World Ocean Day. A time to raise awareness around this topic, and the perfect day - for you - to make a change.
Let’s start with some shocking facts. More than 5 trillion pieces of plastics are already floating in our oceans. Numbers are showing this is not gonna get any less. World plastic production has increased exponentially from 2.1 million tonnes in the 50’s, to 147 million in 1993, to 406 million by 2015. And LBH, we - as beauty addicts - are not getting off the hook. At all. The beauty industry is responsible for producing over 120 billion units of packaging each year, most of them being non-recyclable, single-use plastics. As you know Greenbeauty Market is all about getting green beauty on everyone’s topshelf. We curate our products carefully, and within our selection of brands there’s some amazing examples when it comes down to sustainable packaging, but we take it as our responsibility to challenge our brands to do even better. We’ve checked in with some of them to see where they stand, and where they see themselves going.
Many beauty and personal care products usually come in liquid form. But some companies are reimagining these products as solids, decreasing the need for plastic packaging. Haeckels is currently - openly and actively - working on doing exactly that. They’re truly shaping the future of packaging, surprising us with innovating packagings time and time again. In 2019 they’ve for example, introduced the use of Mycelium - which is grown from mushrooms - and the use of seaweed, both serving as fully compostable packagings. An A for effort. Really.
Aromatica - one of our vegan & clean K-beauty brands is also putting their money where their mouth is. When being asked where they stand 3 years from now, they answered ’We are becoming a zero-waste sustainable beauty brand. All of our new products are being made with sustainable materials whether it's glass or paper. At the same time, we are redesigning our older products with sustainability in mind and are planning to renew all products by the end of this year.’ Aromatica recently introduced a 100% Post Consumer Recycled (PCR) plastic bottle in order to further reduce their environmental footprint. The latest Neroli & Jasmine Bodylotion is wrapped in this PCR material.
'We are becoming a zero-waste sustainable beauty brand.'
When talking to Biologi about the use of plastics in their packaging, they stated ‘The truth is presently there is no recycled packaging that keeps our serums active and the most important issue for us is our consumer and their skin. Biologi's credentials on clean, natural, organic, and vegan can not be challenged nor matched by any other brand in the world. We believe the best way forward is to create a system where bottles can be refilled’. While working on that, they're already coating their product boxes in an Aqueous finish which is compostable, as opposed to a plastic finish, and they’ve locally implemented a Terra cycle system for customers to send back their bottles for recycling.
Get ready for some action.
Enough with the talking for now. What change can you make today? It all starts with realizing it’s all these day-to-day items adding up to the numbers. Synthetic clothing, wet wipes, plastic bags, plastic bottles, you name it. And the problem is not going to go away any time soon. Actually it’s gonna outlive you. Big time. Plastics are estimated to remain in our oceans for over 450 years. Can you imagine? Radical reduction really is the only way to go. Here’s some things you could very easily do yourself today:
Leave out the bottle.
Make a switch to waste-free products. One easy way to do it, is to go for soap bars, like the ones by Cosmydor. How does the combination of Rose Musk and Bitter Orange sound to you? Pick your fave, and go for plastic free.
Use and re-use.
Why adding to this pile of plastics, when there's some great re-usable alternatives available? Instead of tossing away your make-up remover pads each day, go for re-usable ones like these by daily concepts.
Go for compostable.
Check out the Haeckels candles, like this one named Pegwell Bay. They’re not just smelling amazing, they’re also packed in mycelium, which is grown from mushrooms and entirely compostable. Not to mention the jar which can be re-used as a tea glass. Now we’re talking.
buy less.
Yup. The best way to go, is to buy less. So, though we love you shopping with us, we really encourage you to do so consciously. Shop what you truly want, what you truly need, and if you decide to go for it, shop green.
Let’s wrap things up with some wise words by Jane Goodall ‘You cannot get through a single day without having an impact on the world around you. What you do makes a difference, and you have to decide what kind of difference you want to make’. This is true on so many levels. Let’s make a change. Now.