Since being home, I’ve had more time to catch up magazines and I read a thought provoking article about recycling in Allure Magazine and wanted to share the jest of it with you. It’s a little frightening, but also gives hope for the future, if we all do our parts. It seems that coming together and doing our part is going to be the theme of 2020…it’s a good one!

Most likely, we learned about recycling early on from Sesame Street. I remember the program where one of the puppets left the water running while brushing his teeth and it showed the water in a lake slowly getting shallower and the fish not having much water left. I don’t remember how old I was, but I’ll never forget it and every time I leave the water running for too long, I feel guilty. But what I do now know about recycling is that it’s more than putting your recyclables into a blue bin and putting it by the road. Chances are, it won’t ever be recycled, because no one really wants it. We need find a way to change the way we consume. The Allure article focused primarily on the beauty industry and thankfully, in that industry, things are slowly starting to change. There are companies offering quality products in innovative ways that reduce water consumption and waste from packaging.

Did you know that only 9 percent of all plastic waste has ever been turned into something that can be used again. The reasons for this are 1) waste has to be disposed of perfectly correctly, which is difficult because even a small trace of food or a bottle cap contaminates the entire bin and 2) for waste to be recycled, someone has to want to purchase it. The only exception to this is aluminum because there is money to be made, so it does get recycled much more often.

The phrase, “reduce, reuse and recycle” needs to be changed to “reduce, reuse, recycle and refuse”. Buy less, use less, buy in bulk, use resealable containers and still do your part to recycle, but know that having less to recycle is key.

While turning off the water when you’re brushing your teeth is important, it’s kind of the “American” answer to reducing water consumption. “Consider that over 2 billion people are living in countries with water stress and that by 2030, 700 million people could be displaced by water shortages.” We have to be aware of the products we’re using and how they’re affecting clean water for communities in need. Water is becoming a commodity and the poorest people are the ones who are suffering the most.

On average, a bottle of shampoo contains up to 80 percent water. Shampoo is shipped around the globe…do you know of any household that doesn’t have multiple plastic bottles of shampoo? We’re addicted to plastic because everything has water added. Moving toward solid and powdered products and investing in new technology is the best way to solve this double trouble problem. Glass isn’t the answer because it’s heavy, expensive and carbon polluting to ship. The recycling of glass releases more greenhouse gasses than plastic or aluminum. What to do?

Luckily, there are companies who are thinking outside the box to reduce the shipping and waste of products filled with water, which are obviously heavy and for the most part, packaged in plastic. One of those companies is Ethique founded by Brianne West. They have created a shampoo in a water free bar. Add a little water in the shower and it becomes shampoo. The Ethique conditioner is equivalent to five bottles of liquid, but also looks and feels like a bar of soap and it smells like coconut. When it’s used, there is nothing to dispose of AND it comes packaged in compostable paper. I have ordered both and will review ASAP!

Other innovative products to consider are LOLI Beauty’s powder masks and scrubs. They come in reusable glass jars and also use organic food waste…The Plum Elixir is made with the hydrating oil of a plum kernel.

“Less packaging means less fuel is required to ship products, so waterless beauty has a positive impact across the entire supply chain.” Using less is better for all of us and the planet.

Another solution to the packaging problem is reusable, refillable packaging for most everything. I can remember as a child having a milk box on the porch…the milkman came and left the milk and then we put the bottles back out to be picked up the next time he came. The only problem with that was that my mom often forgot to bring the milk in! Aside from that, there are a few companies that have started to reuse and refill…You can now get Pantene Pro-V shampoo in a reusable aluminum shampoo bottle (they’re very pretty) delivered and later picked up at your door by TerraCycle, in a reusable fabric box in 9 states and two regions in France. The shampoo is $5.50 and the deposit is $2.00! This is a good start! Check out the Loop website for more products like this, including Haagen Das Ice cream!

Another option is from Julie Corbett, founder of Ecologic. Ecologic makes shower friendly paper shampoo bottles which cut out the plastic pump. Plastic pumps are typically made out of tow or more types of plastic and a metal spring so they are not recyclable. Corbett suggests selling standardized pumps which can be purchased and reused over and over again for everything from cleansing oil to dish soap! Other more mainstream companies who are trying to reduce waste are Herbal Essences Bio Renew and Glossier.

This isn’t just about plastic jars and cellophane. By 2050, shipping could be responsible for 10 percent of the world’s greenhouse gas emissions. Thankfully more and more companies are choosing to move their goods by train rather than plane. Others are using materials that would otherwise litter our oceans.

To solve this problem, we’re all going to have to consume with a new consciousness and embrace new ideas!

It’s good to know that companies are starting to look at the problem of waste and water consumption in this country. We all need to start a conversation about how we can make simple choices, mostly with our pocketbooks that will change things for the better!

I hope you’ve enjoyed this post and found it informative and helpful! As I said above, I’ve purchased several of these products and will compare and review them here on the blog very soon! Thanks so much for reading today and thank you to Allure Magazine for bringing writing this great article!