Ways to reduce beauty waste and support sustainable business practices

Reduce the plastic waste from your beauty routine with these simple changes, writes Rachel Marie Walsh

Think about how you can cut plastic use at home, including from your bathroom cabinets.

More than 12 million tonnes of plastic end up in our oceans each year, according to Greenpeace. The EU Packaging Directive-imposed recycling targets for Ireland of 50% by 2025 and 55% by 2030 are ambitious. We can all do our bit to help by changing our shopping thinking about how we can cut plastic use at home, including from our bathroom cabinets. Here are some of my favourite ways to reduce beauty waste and support sustainable business practices.

We tend to go through shampoo and conditioner, body wash, facial cleanser and moisturiser fastest.

Swedish brand Maria Nila’s haircare would be among my favourites even if sustainability weren’t one of its selling points. They are launching Eco Therapy Revive, from €14 at sallybeauty.ie[/url, at the end of May. 

Maria Nila Eco Therapy Revive Shampoo, €28 at sallybeauty.ie

This shampoo, conditioner and masque collection aims to revive dull hair with gentle micellar cleansing and fortifying botanical proteins. They have Ecocert-ified organic formulas. The packaging is made from recycled ocean-waste plastic. As with all of Maria Nila’s products, everything is vegan and cruelty-free.

CLIMATE & SUSTAINABILITY HUB

This type of article often recommends swapping your body wash for a 'naked' soap bar in recyclable packaging. Such trading is great for the planet, less so for your skin. Soap bars are often heavily fragranced and the ingredients used to help the bar keep its shape can form a drying residue on the skin. If you’d really prefer one, soap bars by eczema-safe brands such as Cerave and Vanicream are less likely to cause irritation and dryness with daily use. These bars are available via Amazon. Marble Hill Skincare, founded by Derry-based doctor Maria McGee, makes a Neem Oil Soap, €6 at carestore.ie

Marble Hill: Neem Oil Soap, €6 at carestore.ie

The bar is entirely composed of antioxidant plant fats, including avocado, sweet almond and soothing neem, which has a long history of use in Ayurvedic and Chinese medicine.

For the face, I highly recommend Bybi Milk Melt Vegan Oat Milk Cleanser, €20.45 — it is extremely gentle and soothes all skin types. The calming oat milk base cleans without stripping, whilst oat kernel extract effectively lifts traces of dirt, oil, and sunscreen. Probiotic coconut yogurt re-balances the skin’s microbiome. The carton, cap and tube are 100% recyclable and can go out with your domestic recycling.

Bybi Milk Melt Vegan Oat Milk Cleanser, €20.45 at lookfantastic.ie

Face wipes are bad for the planet and your skin. They are a false economy as you’ll need more time and products to deal with their comedogenic consequences. Cotton pads are unsustainable, so switching to a reusable pads is always a good idea. Garnier Micellar Make-up Remover Eco Pads, €12.99 at boots.ie, can be used over and over.

Resisting the vast array of moisturisers on the market can be tough. White Witch Connemara Anti-Age Moisturiser, €28.50 at whitewitch.ie, is one that gives you peace of mind in recyclable packaging. It contains no essential oils or other fragrance. Barbary fig-seed oil, the main ingredient, contains 150% more Vitamin E than the argan oil. Unlike argan prickly pear (where the oil comes from) barbary fig is not endangered. The oil is certified organic and is produced by a women’s cooperative.

Neal's Yard works with the World Land Trust to balance its carbon emissions and any CO2 it produces is offset via funding projects that protect tropical ecosystems. Since 2012, its

efforts have helped save over 1,000,000m² of endangered forest. I especially like Neal’s Yard Remedies Wild Rose Beauty Balm, €35.53 at nyrorganic.com, which can be used as a balm cleanser or multipurpose moisturiser.

Even if you do not

fancy making any changes to your shopping list, TerraCycle and Garnier make things easy with a free recycling programme for all brands of beauty product packaging. The programme designates a communal collection where people can take empties to be broken down.

Haircare, skincare and cosmetics packaging, including shampoo and conditioner bottles and caps, hairspray caps, lotion dispensers, gel tubes, lipstick cases, mascara tubes (wands are not yet recyclable), compacts and palettes (remember to remove any attached mirrors or magnets), foundation bottles, concealer tubes and eyeliner pencils are currently accepted. Make sure to clean everything thoroughly first.

Irish drop-off points can be found at terracycle.com/en-IE/brigades/garnier-ireland. The map updates when new public drop-off locations are added or removed, so it is best to check it out before making the trip.