It’s 2019 and the topics on everyone’s mind are climate change and the environment. We often think about auto and industrial emissions as the culprits, but did you know the chemicals found in personal cosmetics produce the same amount of pollution as cars when coupled with other consumer products like paint and household cleaners?
Take, for example, your showers and laundry. Do you know the carbon footprint of a daily shower or the amount of detergent put into the environment from your laundry? How about the plastic bottles on your counter or in your drawers? Where does it end up?
In January 2018, the Ellen MacArthur Foundation announced that 11 leading brands, retailers, and packaging companies including Walmart, L’Oreal, The Coca-Cola Company, PepsiCo and Unilever “were working towards using 100% reusable, recyclable or compostable packaging by 2025 or earlier” representing upwards of 6 million tonnes of plastic packaging annually.
In the wake of the announcement, Unilever CEO Paul Polman said “it is welcome news that many other major companies are making their own commitments to address ocean plastic waste. Yet as a consumer goods industry, we need to go much further, much faster, in addressing the challenge of single use plastics by leading a transition away from the linear take-make-dispose model of consumption, to one which is truly circular by design.”
Knowing the impact consumerism is having on the environment, you might be wondering if it’s possible to make a difference by changing some habits in your own life. Well, it definitely is! Here are some simple tips, backed by science, you can implement to reduce your “beauty carbon footprint” . (P.S – I’m coining this term!)