Many of us have a love for all things beauty and fashion but are conscious of the impact that the industry has on the environment. So, we have put together a guide with a few different ways to make your beauty routine more sustainable! From something as simple as turning off the tap to recycling your packaging, it is easy for each of us to make a big difference.
Recycle Packaging
The first thing you can do to make your beauty and fashion routines more sustainable is to recycle your product packaging. It is so important to recycle everything that can be recycled, from the packaging that your clothing arrives in and your clothing tags to shampoo bottles to face wash containers and the plastic packaging your makeup brushes come in.
Many different brands across the world offer rewards when you recycle their packaging and clothing. Huge international brands like H&M, Mac, Colgate, Herbal Essences, and Garnier offer different rewards schemes when you return their packaging to them or recycle it properly. For example, if you return six pieces of primary packaging to a Mac shop, then you will receive a free standard Mac lipstick of your choice! Again, this simple tip can save you both time and money. If you take a bag of old clothes to H&M, you’ll get a £5 voucher! So, have a quick look into which of your favorite brands offer this scheme and start benefiting from recycling!
Buy Second Hand
The best possible thing you can do to make your beauty and fashion routine more sustainable is to buy second-hand. Not only does this save you a significant amount of money, but it is fantastic for the environment. Pieces of clothing that might otherwise have been thrown away or destroyed will be given a second chance at life. This completely gets rid of the demand for another piece of clothing, you can buy better quality pieces and everyone is happier!
Go to thrift stores or shop online at places like Depop and eBay, to find exactly what you are looking for. You should always do this before buying something brand new, as you’d be really surprised at what you could find. You can buy literally anything you need, from jeans to dresses and tops to jumpers, jackets, and accessories. Just be careful buying any beauty products second-hand, but with clothing, you’ll be absolutely fine. Give everything a quick wash when it arrives just to be safe and enjoy your guilt-free clothing. If you are ever getting rid of anything, make sure that you sell through these platforms too!
Avoid Single-Use Items and Single Wear Clothes
Next up, it is important that you avoid single-use items and single-wear clothes. There is a re-usable alternative for almost every single-use beauty item now, including:
- Material pads replacing cotton wool pads
- Reusable plastic or biodegradable bamboo earbuds
- Material wipes to replace single-use face wipes
- Glass nail files to replace single-use emery boards
In terms of fashion, make sure that you avoid trends wherever possible so you know when you buy something, it will last for years. For example, instead of an on-trend dress that every fast-fashion company is buying, invest in little black dresses that you know will never go out of style. When you are buying less often, you can buy better quality, which also significantly helps the environment as well as your bank balance!
The list goes on and on! So, next time you go to replace a single-use item in your beauty collection, do a quick search on Google to see if there is an eco-friendly alternative. It might be a bit more expensive up front, but it will definitely save you money in the long-run, as well as of course helping the planet.
Choose Eco-Friendly Brands
Our next tip is to choose to shop from eco-friendly brands. Eco-friendly brands usually have plenty of information available on their website about what makes them sustainable, but you should look for things like having a neutral carbon footprint, using sustainable and ethically sourced materials, not testing on animals, conserving energy and water, and using renewable energy sources.
Many companies use something called Green Washing on their packaging, which is when they falsely convey that they are an eco-friendly brand using misleading information about their sustainability. For example, simply putting eco-friendly on the front of the packaging with a small green leaf is in no way evidence that they are committed in any way to their sustainability as a company. If you are really committed to making your beauty and fashion routine more sustainable, sit down and do a bit of reading on genuinely eco-friendly companies. You will soon find the right brands for you and you will know that you are helping the planet along the way. Once you have done this once and found the beauty brands that you love, there’s no going back!
Final Thoughts
Even the smallest changes to your beauty and fashion routines can make such a big difference when it comes to your impact on the environment. If we all do our bit and shop thoughtfully with the environment in mind, then we can protect our wonderful planet. After the first few weeks, these new changes will soon become regular habits in your day-to-day life and you will forget that you ever did things differently.