Our cosmetics are like those terrible boyfriends we never knew were terrible to begin with. Sure they bring us joy, excitement and look good in public, but then they turn and can no longer give us that same zest they were able to in the beginning. And like a bad boyfriend we kick our old mascaras, shadows, bronzers and the like to the curb where they end up in a landfill to die but not perish.
The truth is, everyday cosmetic packaging accounts for nearly one-third of our landfill waste. While some of our empty (or nearly empty) product packaging can in fact be recycled. The more we know, the more we can do for our environment.
Here’s a few places you can drop off those old products to be re-used. Give back beauty and ditch letting it die an non-biodegradable death.
Origins
Drop off your used containers to any of these retail stores for recycling regardless of the brand. Get extra beauty brownie points when you recycle and receive a free sample of an Origins product.
It’s extremely difficult to recycle bottle caps as most companies won’t take them. Fortunately there’s a solution for those that couldn’t sleep at night knowing their caps weren’t being reused (I was one of them). Aveda’s recycling initiative accepts twist-on caps from shampoo, water, soda, milk and other beverage bottles; flip-top caps on tubes and food product bottles in addition to laundry detergents and jar lids. Keep your collection in a paper bag and drop off to the beauty brand for all to be right in the world.
There’s not one cosmetic line that I can think of that has had the power and influence in the beauty world as much as M.A.C. has. From gorgeous colors that rock in real life and on the screen to being one of the most diverse brands that provide hues for women of all colors, there is no refuting that M.A.C. is the bomb.com. For all of you ladies carrying around you favorite M.A.C. products (be honest I know you haven’t gone completely organic… yet), you’ll be happy to know you can return your containers to the counter and receive a free lipstick! Go ahead, make my day and recycle away!
It’s a small start but I’m elated to know that these big brands have taken some initiative with these programs that have been in place for years.
Love and Beauty,
OBV
Interesting article. The information is completely new to me. I don’t know if cosmetic recycling has picked up in the UK though. I should find out.
Thanks so much for reading! I would surely check it out if I were you. It’s definitely something we don’t think about often. But I’m sure almost 90% of the things we purchase can be recycled in some sort of way. The issue is lack of awareness. I didn’t know about these programs until I did the research. Keep me posted if you find any programs there in the UK and I’ll be sure to do a post about it. Thanks for reading! – OBV