Conscious beauty: how to keep Christmas gifts Earth-friendly this year

Conscious beauty shopping is finally becoming a priority for many of us, and for beauty lovers at Christmas, packaging and waste when it comes to beauty can be a real sticking point. Aisling Keenan spoke to sustainability experts to find out how to keep our beauty buying Earth-friendly this year. . .

The stats are all there. Every year, the global beauty industry produces 142 billion units of packaging and more than 80 billion plastic bottles are disposed of a year from just shampoo and conditioner alone. We know that 95 per cent of beauty packaging is thrown out after one use and never gets recycled and while almost 90 per cent of people say they recycle in the kitchen, only 52 per cent say they recycle from their bathroom.

Our beauty buying power, now more than ever, can favour brands that are taking steps to improve their practices. It’s no longer the niche, small-batch brands being sustainable – the big names we know and love are doing their parts too.

Jo Linehan is a sustainability advocate and founder of the Futurist Podcast, and she gives her easy, clear and doable steps to change the way we shop for beauty gifts this Christmas.

“Sometimes it’s hard to know what changes to make and you’d wonder if your small change makes any difference at all. But even the tiniest changes are worth making and the more you can do the better,” says Linehan.

When shopping this year, try the C-A-R-E method.

C = Challenge yourself

“Set yourself a task of shopping brands that have made planet-friendly commitments. REN has a planet-first ethos and has pledged to be zero waste by the end of this year, working towards 100 per cent recyclable plastic and reusing ocean waste plastic. While L’Occitane has a recycling initiative where it will accept your old plastic,” she says.

A = Ask the right questions

“When you’re shopping for beauty, look for ingredients that come from organic farming, support biodiversity, are cruelty-free and state how much of their packaging is recyclable. Ethical work practices from a brand also indicate a commitment to doing better for the planet, and partnerships with organisations like TerraCycle indicate the same,” Linehan says.

R = Remember refillables

“It’s not a catch-all solution but refillables are the way forward in terms of maximising product and minimising packaging waste. Skingredients’s new refills are great, Kiehl’s has huge shampoo and conditioner refillables and L’Occitane has been doing refillable products for years, but now it has refill stations too. Another area where refills are great is in terms of fragrance. Frederic Malle, Floral Street, Kilian and Le Labo are just some of the brands doing refills on scents, decreasing waste production,” Linehan explains.

E = Effective beauty

“For a long time there was a perception that naturally-derived, sustainable ingredients couldn’t possibly be as effective as their counterparts, but that’s nothing more than a myth,” says Linehan.

Elaine Butler of @livinglightlyinireland also has some great, practical tips for beauty buying.

1. “Avoid microbeads in your products. A huge array or products contain tiny pieces of plastic to prevent splitting, improve water resistance and replace more expensive ingredients.

2. “Support companies that offer refills. Recycling is better than landfill or incineration but it’s still an environmentally damaging process, so reusing containers makes much better ecological sense.

3. “Avoid petrochemicals in your products. A lot of the ingredients in mainstream products are derived from oil. Most of these can be easily avoided by buying products made from natural ingredients, and we’re lucky enough to have a whole host of makers in Ireland.

4. “Avoid buying physical beauty gifts. Charity shops are awash with unwanted beauty products after Christmas. Giving a voucher for a local beauty or hair salon not only avoids waste, it gives the recipient something to look forward to in January.”