A Green Makeover for Your Skincare Routine
Happy Earth Day! Let’s take this opportunity to talk about ways that you can help the environment and help your skin at the same time. There are many ways you can make your skincare routine more environmentally friendly, while maintaining an effective routine and experience. Keep reading for more tips on how to make your routine more green!
Recycle Your Products With Terracycle
Terracycle is a great resource to use to recycle your skincare products which are empty. Many popular skincare brands have partnered with Terracycle to create opportunities to recycle their products. Terracycle takes the products and turns them into small plastic pellets which can be reused into many different things, such as decking. Although you have to pay for some of the Terracycle boxes to recycle them, many companies including Paula's Choice, Bliss, Acure, The Ordinary, and EOS (many of which are some of my personal favorites) partnered with Terracycle to make their programs free to use. Terracycle has also recently introduced a new company, LOOP, which creates reusable packaging with some of your favorite brands, and they professionally clean and refill the packaging for you. This is much better for the environment, because you are using much less plastic which pollutes our planet. You can also check at the bottom of the packaging for the recycling symbol and number, and this tells you whether or not you can recycle the product in the normal recycling system.
Check out terracycle here: https://www.terracycle.com/en-US/collection-programs?commit=SEARCH&query=skincare&utf8=%E2%9C%93
Watch Your Ingredients
Certain ingredients, especially in certain sunscreens and cleansing balms, contain ingredients that can be very harmful to the environment. Chemical sunscreens include several chemical UV filters, including oxybenzone and octinoxate which pollute the coral reefs. This destroys the habitats of so many different animal species, and they will eventually die off because they have no place to live. By using mineral sunscreens instead of chemical sunscreens, you are still getting the same sun protection your skin needs and helping the environment. However, mineral sunscreens sometimes leave a white cast, and it is completely understandable, especially if you have darker skin tones, that you would prefer to use a sunscreen that doesn't leave a white cast. Sunscreens that have "clear zinc", or are tinted might be a good consideration.
Cleansing balms, which are a better alternative to makeup wipes, often include plastic in their formulas. Since this is a wash off treatment, the plastic eventually gets washed off and goes down the drain, and eventually goes back into our drinking water. This means not only are you polluting the ocean, but you are also polluting our drinking water with plastic. If you want to purchase a cleansing balm, look for one without polyethylene.
No Makeup Wipes!
Many people who wear makeup, especially teens, resort to makeup wipes to remove their makeup. Little do they know, these wipes don't do a good job of removing makeup, and they definitely do not cleanse the skin. On top of this, makeup wipes are terrible for the environment. Think about it: you have to use two to three makeup wipes to properly remove your makeup, and using that everyday creates so much waste which goes into landfills, and this will continue to pile up. Instead of using these, you should use a double cleanse system, using cleansing balm or cleansing oil to remove makeup, and then using a regular cleanser to clean the skin. If you prefer using something to wipe off your makeup other than your hands, you can use reusable cotton rounds with your cleansing oil and then your cleanser. If you use false eyelashes and use a cotton swab to remove them, consider purchasing reusable cotton swabs instead of creating that daily waste. If you are interested in purchasing these products, you can use these links:
Use All Of Your Product
So a product didn't work for you? That's okay. However, you shouldn't just throw it away. You can often use up the rest in a different way. For example, many face creams or moisturizers can be used on your body. The Ordinary peeling solution is often too harsh for many skin types, but it can also be used to smooth your feet or your body. When you get to the point where you can't get the rest of the product out of the packaging, you can cut the packaging so you can reach the rest of the product.
For more tips like these, and reviews on recommended products, check out my blog on Instagram, @howdoyouglowbysoph
All products are independently selected. The Current does not receive any affiliate commission.