The Move Towards Sustainable Packaging in 2022

(2 ½ minute read)

Here’s some food for thought: The personal care and beauty industry produces more than 120 billion units of packaging every year globally – most of which is not recyclable.¹

Here at Naturally Safe Cosmetics, we are committed to bringing you the very best quality products that adhere to our principles of chemical-free, organic and natural ingredients, as well as products that are environmentally conscious and responsible. When it comes to eco-friendly products, it’s not just the product itself to consider, but also the packaging that it comes in. Happily, more and more of our stocked brands are moving away from plastic containers towards environmentally friendly ones, as you may have noticed.

Why are companies turning to sustainable packaging?

According to a 2020 report by the Australian Bureau of Statistics, 2.5 million tons of plastic waste is created in Australia each year! Households are the largest contributor to this at 47%. Sadly, that report indicated that only 9% of plastic waste was recycled and 84% went into landfill.

Thirty-two percent of plastic waste is HDPE (high-density polyethylene) which is used in the production of plastic bottles, cutting boards, piping and more. HDPE can be recycled, however, most ends up in landfill according to statistics.

Sustainable packing is becoming more popular (image credit: Canva)

What can we do to help?

For a start, look for products that cut down on packaging or come in sustainable and recyclable containers, such as glass, cardboard or sugarcane. Sugarcane – a renewable source – can play an important role in purifying the air by acting as one of the potential Carbon Dioxide (CO2) scavengers. CO2 is the most abundant constituent of Green House Gases (GHGs) and, although CO2 is released by sugarcane crops in the field and during processing, sugarcane also absorbs CO2. Studies of sugarcane fields in the Uttar Pradesh area of India showed that the amount of CO2 absorbed by the crops far outweighed the amount released. This decreased level of CO2 may mitigate the level of GHGs from the environment in such sugarcane growing areas and, therefore, may assist in combating global warming.²

Another tip is to look for alternative products to what you may have traditionally used. You could:

• use a shampoo bar instead of shampoo in a bottle (for example, each  Shampoo With a Purpose combined shampoo & conditioner bar is packaged in cardboard and is equivalent to 6 regular shampoo and conditioner bottles!)
• replace your plastic toothbrush with a bamboo one like this one from Go Bamboo
• switch your regular dental floss to a natural silk or vegan plant-based floss -  Dental Lace floss comes in a refillable glass jar with metal cutter
• use reusable menstrual pads or period underwear instead of disposable pads and tampons (and enjoy the hip pocket savings, too)

Brands leading the charge

A number of our stocked brands are leading by example when it comes to sustainable, yet beautiful, packaging. INIKA Organic has recently updated their skincare and makeup packaging.

NIKA Organic Lipstick now comes in recyclable aluminium tubes (image credit: Naturally Safe Cosmetics)

Eco By Sonya has also released its new makeup range with special consideration given to packaging and MG Naturals now offers its beautiful, titanium dioxide free, liquid foundation in glass jars.

Eco By Sonya Signature Eyeshadow Palette in cardboard packaging (image credit: Eco By Sonya)

Organic pioneering brand, Miessence, has switched to bottles and containers that are derived from sugarcane, while still delivering the fantastic products that we know and love.

Miessence skincare now comes in sugarcane derived tubes (image credit: Miessence)

These companies have shown that the quality of a product does not need to suffer from using eco-friendly and recyclable containers.

So, as the saying goes “reduce, reuse, recycle”. The time has come to do more than just look outside (or inside) the box. It's time to look at the actual box itself!

¹ plasticpollutioncoaliton.org

² Researchgate.net