Start with your skincare

Sustainable skincare should encompass both the product and packaging. Often skincare is regarded as luxurious and premium quality if it comes wrapped in elaborate and decorative packaging. It’s a misleading marketing tool to lure in customers and stand out in but, in reality, the end consumer is paying for excessive packaging that is usually unrecyclable. Sustainable skincare should be both clean to the skin and clean to the planet.

So, what can we do?

Look for natural ingredients, minimal packaging, refillable initiatives or in-store recycling schemes. As with all the above, research brands before you buy - and look for transparent and genuine ambitions to be more sustainable, like REN Clean Skincare who have committed to a Zero Waste Packaging Pledge to be completed by the end of 2021.

The truth about toothpaste

It’s estimated that 1.5 billion plastic toothpaste tubes are thrown out** every year globally. It’s said that if you laid all the tubes ever used around the earth, it would stretch almost twice around it. That’s perspective, right there.

Potentially damaging deodorants

Roll on deodorants are usually unrecyclable. That’s because they are packaged in two types of plastic – one for the ball and another for the cap and outer shell. The process of recycling two types of plastic in a single item isn’t efficient, so the alternative is to simply discard it and produce another Equally, aerosol deodorants are problematic. Although aluminium cans are more recyclable, they must also be completely dry and empty before processing which often doesn’t happen. There are also the compressed gases in aerosols that can be harmful contributors of co2 emissions. It’s estimated that 600 million aerosols are used in the UK each year – and this doesn’t include roll on.

Refill and reuse

Make a simple swap away from single use deodorants to refillable, solid bars, powders, homemade recipes (here’s my one using just three ingredients https://youtu.be/dbUh4kERr_c) which are all becoming more widely available in mainstream stores. Or, better still, just go armpit naked.

Single-use face wipes

11 billion wet wipes are used in the UK every single year**** and while they look like harmless squares of fabric, they are mostly made from plastic and don’t break down in water. Contrary to some labels on packaging, there's no such thing as a flushable wipe. If they enter the toilet cistern, wipes clog together in 'fatbergs' that cost the UK £100m each year to clear up.