How many of you are guilty of throwing away a half empty mascara in that tempting lure of a new one? I know I, as a beauty blogger, am very guilty of wasting products. My make-up stash is infested with countless half used powders, once loved lipsticks, lonely dabbled in eyeshadows .. the list is endless! Enough is enough and in the spirit of Earth Month, I’ve decided to take ownership of this and promise myself to be better and more aware of the waste I am creating. Below are a number of simple tips on how to get the most out of your products.
1) Use tube ringers: Often most waste is caused by poor packaging design. There is nothing more frustrating than that little bit of product that you just can’t reach! Tube ringers are the solution to this problem! You can buy them very cheaply on Ebay, Amazon. And lots of DIY & homeware stores.
2) De-pot: Broken packaging can often hinder our use of a product. If you smash a compact or have a grubby lipstick, why not de-pot instead of throwing the whole product away? I find travel kits very useful for this. Plenty of pharmacies and supermarkets sell these. You could also use them to store your own home made DIY beauty products. (more of that, in my next Earth Day post!)
3) Recycle packaging- Reduce, Reuse and Recycle. We are taught this mantra from a very young age and there’s no reason why this can’t be applied to our beauty products! Lots of beauty brands these days offer a recycling reward system where you can bring old packaging back to the store and receive a free gift/reward in exchange It’s a great way to do your bit of recycling, reduce waste and you get a little something too! Win win! Fancy some examples?
- Khiels: Return one full sized product and receive one stamp on a loyalty card. 10 stamps gets you a free gift. ehttp://www.kiehls.com/Recycle-America/recycle-america,default,pg.html
- Lush: bring 5 clean pots back- get a free fresh face mask
- MAC: bring back 6 containers and get a free lipstick
4) Buy refillable or package free products; Most of the time, you are paying for the packaging of a product. However, if you have the packaging already; why should you pay for it again? Buying refillable products can be better for your bank account and is a great way to reduce waste! Even better, you could always buy package-less products! Lush do an amazing selection of these!
What measures do you take to reduce the waste in your beauty stock? Let me know in the comments below! 🙂
A Tiny Slice Of Kate 