Eco warriors
It’s the Attenborough effect… we want products that are good to the environment and our skin. Hannah Coates investigates
You can’t escape headlines about sustainability these days, particularly when it comes to beauty. We have learnt that plastic cotton buds and flushed-down-the-toilet face wipes are the root of all evil. And the stats are truly shocking: 79% of all plastic (which, incidentally, takes 400 years to degrade) isn’t recycled and eventually ends up in the sea. Depressingly, scientists predict that by 2050, our oceans will contain more plastic than fish. How much of this will be beauty products? Well, research by Garnier estimates that the contents of our bathroom shelves account for a third of all landfill, and only 50% of us bother to recycle our bathroom waste at all.
Here’s the good news: with growing awareness of the need for sustainability comes action. In the beauty world, many small businesses are focusing as much on the environment as they are their formulations. Montamonta is a cool East London skincare brand whose hand washes and body scrubs are encased in glass because ‘It takes more energy to reproduce plastic’, says founder Monty Ashley- Craig. Their Ozone Coffee Scrub is a sustainable hero because it lives a whole other life before it gets into that formula. ‘ We collect used grounds from Ozone Coffee Shop (also in East London), dry them and blend them with Epsom salts and essential oils,’
she says. The formula is packed full of redness-reducing, circulation-boosting caffeine and pollution-defending antioxidants, too. And once you’ve finished with their products? ‘ We take them back to the lab and refill – the service goes beyond recycling to actually re-using.’
‘People are really interested in refilling,’ says Anita Rice, co-founder of Shoreditchbased sustainable salon, Ralph & Rice, who also offer a refilling service on all Davines hair products. ‘ We can refill people’s bottles with our larger sizes, minimising plastic waste. The client saves £2 and gets 30ml more – it’s a no-brainer.’ Add to that the salon’s eco-headed taps, which use less water, waffle-weave towels that reduce energy usage, and cork surfaces that look as cool as they are kind to trees, and you’ve got a salon worth visiting. As much as she and her business partner, Dan Ralph, are doing, their ethos is simple: ‘If you’re doing a little bit, it’s better than doing nothing.’
The Davines brand is equally forward thinking. They’re part of the Slow Food Presidia (SFP), a foundation that works to protect ecosystems. Charmingly, this means the brand use extracts from very specific (and individual) little farms in Italy. For example, their Nounou shampoo contains a unique tomato extract from Brindisi in Puglia. ‘ The SFP comprises a group of Italian farmers who have been farming for generations, don’t use herbicides, pesticides or genetic modification and accept that, for this reason, they’re going to produce less food at a slower pace,’ says Mike Beauchamp, UK managing director of the brand. ‘But they know that in doing so they will dramatically reduce their carbon footprint.’ Their products are also designed to be recycled and reused; for example, Mike uses the 250ml bottles for cooking oils.
Farm to face is also the name of the game with Tata Harper’s brand. Loved by Gwyneth Paltrow, the Queen of Green herself, all products come encased in recyclable glass that’s adorned with an Ecocert logo, meaning they’re globally recognised as being sustainable through every part of the production chain. In fact, all products are made in a factory on Tata’s own farm in Vermont. ‘I am obsessed with the concept of freshness,’ says Tata. ‘I want my clients to buy the product knowing that it was made a few months ago, rather than a year, which happens when you outsource the manufacturing process.’ So, not only is it more sustainable but what you’re putting on your face is fresher, too. Equally, you’ll spot Fairtrade, FSC and Recycle symbols, all of which indicate that certain elements of the packaging or formula are sustainable.
And then there are the big-name beauty brands that also realise the importance, and impact, of their social and environmental responsibilities. ‘ We don’t trust our politicians to save the world, so the industry needs to help,’ says Mathilde Thomas, founder of French skincare brand Caudalie. ‘If a brand is profitable, they should reallocate money to the planet.’ It’s a sentiment that is difficult to disagree with but, truth be told, it is more difficult for bigger organisations to change their logistics, strict processes and, for example, repackage millions of bottles. But they can utilise their power to help in other ways.
Many of Caudalie’s products are recyclable, but it is as members of environmental organisation One Per Cent For The Planet that they’re really giving back. Each year they donate 1% of all their global sales to non-profit organisations that plant trees in places like Peru and Brazil. Since 2012, they’ve planted four million trees worldwide. Other global brands like Kiehl’s offer in-store schemes that allow customers to bring back empties to be recycled. Each empty accumulates a stamp; three and you get a lip balm, eight and it’s a 250ml product. Meanwhile, Garnier’s Terracycle scheme offers consumers the chance to send old products – full or not – to be recycled.
Want to know why brands get you to recycle through them, though? ‘A lot of people don’t realise that if there’s a metal spring in a product – and there often are – it can’t be recycled,’ says Delphine Leyssenne from skincare brand REN, who have long had a freepost address for consumers to send their empties to. In line with their Zero Waste by 2021 commitment, they’ve partnered with the Surfrider Foundation who work to protect our oceans. The idea? Beach clean-ups. Five in summer and over 300 in autumn for consumers, REN employees and anyone who simply wants to help. Delphine admits it can be a real eye opener to see how much unrecycled plastic really does end up in the sea. ‘Even after an hour cleaning up, there is still so much.’ Eventually, the aim is to use the plastic collected off the shores to encase their kelp range, while ensuring the product quality is still tip top. ‘If one brand doesn’t do it, then others aren’t going to follow suit,’ she points out. It’s true, and now’s the time to start.