1.Avoid disposable items: According to the Environmental Protection Agency, we toss about 2 billion used plastic razors each year. In fact, every day, consumer product packaging accounts for approximately one third of all landfill waste. Make a difference by choosing non-disposable razors, face cloths instead of daily facial cleansing tissues, loofahs and the like to be in line with green living.
2. Bulk up: Buy big size packages of items that you use regularly. A bigger container uses less packaging than two smaller containers. Also you will save a pretty penny as per unit cost of products in bigger containers is lesser.
3. Try out products before buying them: We often buy many makeup items on a whim, only to find later that they don’t work for us. The result: a drawer crammed with unused makeup items ready for the trash can- a monumental waste. So insist on a trial run with the help of the beauty advisor at the sales counter before making that impulse purchase.
4. Support green products: Opt to buy eco-friendly beauty products. Look out for The Green Seal which indicates that the product has been manufactured in an environmentally friendly manner and The Mobius Loop which indicates that the product can be recycled.
5. Buy products that minimize outer packaging: Avoid products with unnecessary flair like cardboard containers, non-degradable plastic bottles and pumps, and so on. Added packaging is nothing more than an expensive status statement that you’ll unwrap, trash, and quickly forget.
6. Use aluminium free deodorant: Aluminium is widely used in deodorants as it blocks pores and prevents sweating. This could potentially lead to health problems as it stops toxins from escaping the body. Use a natural alternative such as a crystal stick with mineral salts or even essential oils at the pulse points to smell beautiful and rid our earth of the hazardous metal deodorant cans.
7. Whip up beauty treatments at home: Packaged products are not necessarily great for your skin always. Simple home remedies with pure natural ingredients sometimes can prove to be best. Balancing between products and home remedies is usually the best bet. Just remember to do a little test patch behind your ears (give it 24-48 hrs) and opt for tried and tested recipes.
8. Take part in the recycling initiative: Many companies have little receptacle bins where you can dispose their recyclable containers. In fact, some companies even buy back packaging like Mac cosmetics. This is a great way of sharing in their vision of a greener tomorrow.
9. Reduce the numbers: Buy products with multiple uses such as moisturiser with SPF or a bronzer that doubles up as an eye shadow or a colour tinted moisturizer etc. This will make a dramatic reduction in your regular beauty waste by simply minimising the number of items that you need to dispose off.
10. Shun companies that use animals for testing: In the name of “beauty”, millions of animals suffer from chemical burns to their skin, eyes and even worse fatalities and are left to languish in testing labs around the world to assess the corrosiveness of new cosmetic products and ingredients. While laws are being passed to phase out such cruelty, make a difference today by not buying such products. Companies that don’t use these methods usually have a “leaping bunny” logo on their packaging.