With a large portion of storefronts shuttered across the country, the retail business is being slammed by the fight against COVID-19. In this edition of Beauty Independent’s ongoing series posing questions relevant to beauty entrepreneurs, we ask 12 retailers: What can beauty brands do to help you get through this crisis?

#FashionCrisis is a series that kicks off the Style section's commitment to educating our readers about sustainability and fashion. We chat with experts, influencers, designers, beauty and fashion brands about what it really means to be sustainable in 2020. In this story, we learn more about what exactly it means to be sustainable in the beauty industry.   Years ago I would roll my eyes at brands that promised to be cruelty-free, phthalate-free, three-free — free of everything, it seemed, including my attention. They had clunky packaging, weak ingredient lists that my cystic acne would scoff at, vampiric shade ranges, and forgettable branding. I just wanted products that did what they promised, a high enough order to keep me busy; concerning myself with products that did what they promised without doing a bunch of other things felt like too much to ask.   But the industry needle has been moving without me, and so has, unfortunately, the crisis of climate change. The stuff that beauty fans love is, in fact, connected to the climate crisis, because the $532 billion dollar industry that we support is implicitly linked to other industries that pollute the earth. The beauty industry contributes 120 billion units of packaging a year, according to some estimates, and the shipping industry, an integral part of the process, contributes more than 1 billion tons of CO2 a year — and this is just the world's merchant fleet, not accounting for freight or air shipping.   But more beauty brands are finding ways to minimize the impact they leave on the world when they make products. The “clean beauty” movement was worth $11 billion in 2016 and will likely be worth more than twice that by 2025. Clean beauty promises have gotten more complicated: Not only do they vow to hydrate or solve acne issues, for example, many of them are cruelty-free, vegan, water-free, and sustainable. But what does that even mean in 2020?  

What does “sustainable” beauty mean?

  There are many different standards for what sustainable beauty looks like, and hundreds of eco-labels around the world, with 66 relevant to cosmetics and personal care. The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) states that “under U.S. law, cosmetic products and ingredients do not need FDA approval before they go on the market,” and cites color additives as the only exception to this rule, though the agency will take action if it has “reliable information” regarding the safety of a particular product. Otherwise, individual companies are tasked with the legal responsibility of making sure their products are safe to use, and eco-labels are a very helpful way for you to know they’ve been tested by somebody.   Thoroughly sustainable brands often aim for a quartet of eco-labels: recyclable, cruelty-free certification from Leaping Bunny, certification for good business practices (like Fair Trade or B-Corp), and organic ingredients. To use the official USDA organic label specifically, brands have to comply with strict guidelines, available here.   According to a former beauty industry marketer we spoke with, brands can put “cruelty-free” on their packaging, but not Leaping Bunny certification if they have parent companies that test in China. If selling in physical stores in China, products have to undergo animal testing, even if the company doesn’t do animal testing anywhere else: “Brands are careful about how they phrase things for customers. My old brand wouldn’t put sustainable, but would call themselves...eco-forward, to let consumers know they were trying, but weren’t there yet.”   Many official eco-labels cover only specific products and not the entire company roster. They are largely voluntary accreditations, not industry requirements. B-corp brands must achieve a minimum score on a test that assesses impact on workers, customers, community, and the environment using the UN’s sustainable development goals as a benchmark. It’s one of the most rigorous accreditations a company can apply for. The Body Shop, a pioneer in sustainable beauty, is one of only a few brands that are B-corp certified, along with Davines and Dr. Bronners.  

Natural beauty, organic, clean beauty, and waterless beauty are all different.

  There is no official FDA definition of “organic” cosmetics, and so-called “natural” products aren’t necessarily better for your skin; some popular nature-derived cosmetics ingredients can still cause a bad reaction for people with certain skin types. According to the FDA, cosmetics labeled “organic” have to adhere to both USDA and FDA regulations. For example, a product has to be composed of at least 95% organic ingredients to have the USDA organic label on it. That’s why brands that claim to be organic often don’t have a label; a lotion may be composed of 75% organic ingredients but is not permitted to use the official logo.   A newer trend is “waterless beauty,” a term from South Korea that refers to products supposedly containing no water, according to Formula Botanica, a company that offers courses and certificates in organic cosmetics science. Generally these products have concentrated formulas, implying a bigger impact on skin. Reducing the amount of water waste is an important part of how we can all contribute to a smaller ecological footprint — by 2050 5 billion people may face water shortages — but even if a product arrives with no “aqua” listed in the ingredients, it’s highly unlikely that it has no water footprint. Brands think waterless beauty translates to shoppers believing it’s a more sustainable product, but the harvesting of ingredients, packaging, and shipping beauty products require water in some form or another, as pointed out by Formula Botanica, not to mention that you may end up diluting it with tap water at home.   Charlotte Parker, the CEO of Dieux Skincare and cofounder of Nice Paper, has spent the past few years learning the ins and outs of clean beauty loopholes, while developing her own brand alongside a dermatologist. “If your product is waterless and ‘all natural,’ how do you think that crop was made? With GMO-free good wishes? It takes water to grow a plant,” says Parker. “If I use a synthetic ingredient, with 10 ml of water, I can tell you that barbari fig seed oil took a hell of a lot more water to grow, clean, and process.”   “More frustrating is the waterless beauty that actually has water in it,” Parker continues. “There are two workarounds that I’ve seen brands do. They’ll add ‘extract,’ or ‘proprietary blend,’ which means you can just add water to any active on the supplier side, and then your lab can legally put it first on the list, conveniently not mentioning there's water in that proprietary juice. They also switch out water for hydrosols. Hydrosols are perfumed water. Hydrosols are made during the essential oil process; it takes a lot of water to create both essential oils and hydrosols.”   A vegan brand does not mean the labor practices are ethical or that the supply chain is transparent and sustainable, and all brands have an ecological footprint, so the concern is how they counteract their impact on the environment. All these terms are moving targets.  

Packaging problems.

  We’ve got a big learning curve to deal with if we want to be more responsible consumers, and it starts with learning more about what to do with things we already own. Recycling is complicated enough that a few brands, like Versed, have released recycling guides to help make it easier. If you’ve been throwing half-full beauty products into the bin, you get zero cookies for the effort, because residual product in containers renders a lot of recycling contaminated. Here is a comprehensive list of things to just put in the wastebasket instead:   Mirrors are not recyclable because of the reflective coating. “If your mirror is in good condition, consider wrapping it up safely and donating it. If it’s broken, consider a craft project,” advises Elizabeth Schussler of the Recycling Partnership.   Most available pumps are not recyclable. While researching this story, we discovered only one recyclable pump on the market, which isn’t to say a major brand has incorporated it yet. Pumps are composed of several different parts, so you need to fully disassemble them.   Applicators are not recyclable either. Mascara wands, however, can be donated, after being washed, for use in wildlife rescue efforts. Cloud Nine also has a mail-in recycling program for heat tools for hair.   Makeup brushes are generally not recyclable, even if they are composed of primarily eco-friendly materials. Vegan brushes still have to use virgin plastic. You can go for synthetic brushes made sustainably, like EcoTools, and send your old ones to recycling programs that specialize in beauty brushes.   Depressingly, the color of plastic or glass containers can matter too, even if it’s a technically recyclable material. “There are some packages that are more recyclable. It depends on size, shape, material, and color,” explains Schussler. “The machines [that] sort the plastic are ‘reading’ the plastic and divide it, but there are colors and materials that catch it off guard.” Black plastic is hard to recycle because the sorters don’t recognize the color. For example, don’t just toss LUSH containers into your recycling bin; instead, bring them back to the store, if possible. The brand reuses them as part of its programming.   A film or coating can also render something unrecyclable. Anything that is flexible or squeezable is difficult to recycle because it has multiple layers. (Summer Fridays does, however, have a specialized recycling program.) And those free samples you get? They are unsurprisingly terrible for the environment. “Packages that are smaller than a small soda can, for instance, have a hard time making it through the line even if they are recyclable,” says Schussler.   Single use products are bad for the environment too. “Beauty products made to use once and throw out, like makeup wipes and sheet masks, create a lot of unnecessary refuse,” Susan Stevens, the founder and CEO of Made With Respect, told Vogue last year. “In the case of sheet masks, there’s a pouch, the mask, and sometimes the mask is wrapped in a plastic sheet. The pouches that hold sheet masks are often a combination of aluminum and plastic, which cannot be recycled.”  

All retailers have different standards for what sustainable beauty means.

  Since there are few compulsory regulations for brands to adhere to, retailers may have their own guidelines for what clean beauty or sustainability is when stocking their stores. ULTA has a “natural beauty” category but doesn't appear to have an explainer on its website about what constitutes inclusion in that category. The company also doesn't appear to have clearly outlined sustainability benchmarks available. Teen Vogue has reached out to ULTA for comment. Sephora uses recyclable paper bags, and defines clean beauty as being free of specific ingredients, which they do outline on their website. When reached by Teen Vogue for comment, the company explained it has begun rolling out a recycling program at specific stores but has not made it a universal policy: “In 2019, Sephora piloted a regional empties bring-back program in select stores, to divert empty containers from landfills, through which clients could receive 15% off all Sephora Collection items when they brought in three full-size empties of Sephora-sold products. There are plans to roll out this initiative to more stores in the near future.”   Other retailers have started to pop up exclusively in the clean beauty space. There is the Detox Market, Ayla, as well as BLK+GRN, which specializes in black-owned beauty brands. Credo, a retailer established in 2015, exclusively sells what it considers clean products, and is thus far the only major beauty retailer to offer a recycling-and-rewards program as part of its brick-and-mortar operations. “On average, each store sends six to eight bins per month back to Terracycle to recycle, so about 65 bins per month. Our customers use this service and love it, and they get Credo loyalty points for participating too,” says Credo’s director of social responsibility, Mia Davis. “We spend a significant amount of staff time and money sending back these materials because it is very important that we do our part to reduce our industry's footprint.”   Individual brands such as Kiehls offer trade-in programs in exchange for a discount, or have paired with third-party recycling businesses like Terracycle; however, brand-specific recycling programs generally only accept their brand partners’ packaging. The one Terracycle program that accepts all mailed-in beauty packaging is cosponsored by Garnier, but when we tried to sign up, we were put on a wait-list, and in the course of reporting for this piece, we have yet to be moved up the list for the program. Credo and Deciem’s recycling programs are the ones that currently accept beauty packaging from multiple brands, but you have to physically go to their stores.   Very few brands have an entirely closed-loop chain, and just because they offer one does not mean there is a significant percentage of customers who participate in recycling/refilling their products. Loop, one such limited program trying to make it more common, partnered with some of the biggest brands on the market, including the Body Shop, Pantene, Degree, and Dove. But the program is only available in a limited geographic region and also has a wait-list. The closed-loop packaging here is not available outside of the program, and it requires a packaging deposit to use.   Sustainability is the goal, but thus far not any one brand can lay claim to being 100% sustainable. Thirty-four percent of Americans recycle, and facility capabilities differ from neighborhood to neighborhood. As a result, only 9% of plastics end up being recycled. It’s not our fault as individuals; even if a product is recyclable, it doesn’t mean a community has the ability to get the product recycled.  

Brands that stand out:

  There are more brands than ever trying to tick all the boxes for sustainable sourcing and packaging. Axiology, Acure, Earth Tu Face, Ethique, Fat and the Moon, Meow Meow Tweet, Kjaer Weis are all trying to encompass the goals of sustainability, though each company goes about it in different ways: Some use refillable packaging, others use recyclable packaging, and their products have different price points and uses. One brand I tried in the course of reporting for this piece was by Humankind, which offers beautifully designed bathroom essentials in solid, no-waste packaging and refillable containers. Using solid shampoo is a steep learning curve for me, but it has made travel a lot easier, and minimized the number of products I bring with me. (I admit, I feel smug looking at how beautifully minimal my shower is now.) And the products are no more expensive than my comparable, nonsustainable alternatives; in fact, they’re half as expensive as my former prestige-brand products.   Not to be left behind, luxury brands are dipping their toes into the refillable market. Dior, Hermes, by Kilian, Frederic Malle, Hourglass, Chanel, and Le Labo all have refillable options, and Mugler has offered refills at perfume fountains since 1992. But if you don’t use those brands, you can also purchase a refillable atomizer and buy decanted perfumes from resellers like the Perfumed Court, which does offer proof of authenticity.  

It might do all that and still not be accessible.

  The sunk cost for ethical ingredients and packaging, eco-label certification, and ethically sourced labor means these products tend to be more expensive, so much so that it makes being able to afford a “choice” of beauty products a class issue. As Allure reported last year, “Basic skin-care products from popular clean beauty brands typically cost more than $40, and treatment formulas can hit triple digits — that’s about 35% of a standard week’s paycheck (before taxes) for somebody making the federal minimum wage. The fallout: Those with lower incomes, a disproportionate number of whom are people of color, don’t have the option of avoiding certain chemicals in their beauty routines.”   Even beauty companies that try to provide sustainable options often fail to reach a variety of consumers, and people of color often feel left behind by the sustainable beauty movement.   Beauty consumer Lina White explains, “I’m still on the hunt for sustainable products that also cater to a diverse client base. And I can’t just slap on some aloe or rose water or homemade toothpaste and pray my cystic acne away, you know? Sometimes I need the hard stuff.” The reality is that some ingredients don’t have reliable alternatives yet, and the lack of regulation around certain claims made by specific products can make customers more suspicious of new ones when they arrive.   As another beauty consumer, Julia Sevin, puts it: “I don't think any consumer believes that all makeup corporations have their best interests in mind for cost, quality, or environmental impact. But what's the alternative? No makeup? Rough.”   Brands are motivated by the combination of profits and consumer behavior, so the more we demand change with our dollars, the faster the system will adapt to suit the changing world. But it’s not — and never has been — just up to us.

Have you ever thought about what happens to your used makeup remover wipes, your shampoo bottles and face washes once you’re done with them? Well, these pieces of garbage we stop thinking about after throwing them out end up in our oceans and landfills, just like the less pretty pieces of garbage we use. Waste doesn’t just impact our environment, but people too.   Worldwide¹, the cosmetics industry produces over 120 billion units of packaging. This is just taking into account the cardboard you purchase your beauty products in -- and it contributes to the loss of 18 million acres of forest each year. Cosmetic packaging may be nice to look at, but sooner or later we won’t have very fresh air to breathe and enjoy our products if we continue in this direction.

Here’s another stat² for you: Taking into consideration the plastic our products come in, it’s estimated that by 2050, 12 billion tons of plastic will fill our landfills (to paint a picture for you, that’s equivalent to 35,000 Empire State Buildings). According to the Community and Environmental Defense Services³, “landfills can… pose a severe threat to the health of area residents, lowers the value of nearby homes, pollute ground and surface waters, increase heavy truck traffic on local roads, and create a drain on tax dollars.”

So, even if you aren’t a tree-hugging hippy, as you can see, we have a bit of a problem.   What are us beauty lovers to do? Clearly, aesthetics are meaningful to us, otherwise, we wouldn’t care about pretty packaging, pretty vanities, and pretty skin. If you’re interested in knowing how you can do a little part amidst this big problem; through supporting eco-friendly cosmetic companies, to recycling your packaging for other uses, read on!   How to Reuse Packaging   1.Keep the mini bottle for travel Instead of trashing my mini body butters after using them, I clean them out and refill them with my bigger body butters for when I travel. This way I am using products I already have instead of purchasing more minis and saving on plastic!   2.Reuse the packaging you prefer Can you ever have enough spray bottles? For plants, for hair, to split up your favorite facial mist and have one handy in your purse and on your vanity. Instead of tossing that spritzer you really like, put some water in it and use it for your plants!   3.Samples Sometimes I don’t get to use cosmetic samples to their advantage because the little packets they come in are non-resealable. So, I squeeze them in my washed old cosmetic jars and get more use out of them!   Companies that Recycle Empty Beauty Products  

1. Most cosmetic companies only accept packaging from their brand, but some have gone above and beyond and accept packaging no matter the brand! Origins, for example, will accept packaging from any brand in its stores and will recycle the packaging for you.
2. In partnership with Garnier, TerraCycle allows people to ship their empty beauty products to them for free! Learn more about this program on their website.
3. Another brand, Lilah B., provides a shipping label with each purchase so that you can send back your empty Lilah B. products for them to recycle for you properly.
4. The Body Shop continues to make big plans for its packaging; making people as they relate to waste their primary focus. To read more about what they’ve done with Community Trade and what they plan on doing, check out their website!

  Ways You Can Help  

1. If you’re interested in going above and beyond, you can shop at brands like Elate Cosmetics, who create their packaging using bamboo. On their website, Elate says “bamboo is a self-regenerating natural resource,” making it more sustainable than other forms of woods. Bamboo can also be used for ecological purposes. Additionally, Elate bamboo palettes are reusable.
2. Instead of buying mini shampoos, conditioners, etc. opt for using a bar form of each! Yep, you can use bar soap face wash, shampoo, anything! This cuts back on waste through minimizing packaging (and is travel-friendly!). Several brands create bar products, such as Lush, The Body Shop , and even random brands on Amazon.

 

Did you know that the global cosmetics industry produces 120 billion units of packaging every year? These 120 billion units contribute to the loss of 18 million acres of forest every single year, according to research conducted by Zero Waste Week and published on the Stylist. Yep, I was devastated to learn this, too. As a beauty editor who tests and receives tons of products on a weekly basis, I’m often left feeling disheartened by how much plastic and waste is used in the packaging. That’s why whenever I hit pan on my favorite bronzer or finish my clarifying shampoo, I make it a point to recycle the leftovers in the appropriate bins — or at least what I thought were the appropriate bins. As it turns out, recycling cosmetic packaging correctly involves more research and information than I thought.

 

To find out how to recycle my beauty products the right way,  I reached out to Alex Payne, a publicist for TerraCycle —- a recycling program that offers a sustainable solution for those hard-to-recycle items. Read on for his top tips.

 

Tip #1: Get Informed

“In general, plastic pollution is a main driver of the negative environmental consequences that result from not recycling otherwise recyclable products,” says Payne. While it may be easier to throw away your empty lipstick bullet in any old trash bag, not disposing of it the right way can have a lasting, negative impact on the planet.

 

Tip #2: Learn About Your City’s Recycling Regulations

Did you know that recycling restrictions vary by city? Generally, items made from glass, aluminum and basic #1 and #2 plastic (things like single-use water bottles and milk jugs) are accepted by most local programs. Unfortunately, Payne explains that many modern forms of beauty packaging contain complex materials that cannot be separated or processed by most municipal recycling centers. “A simple way to check your beauty product’s recyclability is to look up your town’s accepted waste via the database offered by Call2Recycle,” he says.

 

Tip #3: Dispose of the Excess Product — but NOT Down the Sink

This is the *most* important tip when it comes to recycling your beauty products. “Even if a product is technically recyclable through your curbside program, any leftover product can make the original product unrecyclable due to contamination,” says Payne. What’s worse is that if any other recyclables encounter the leftover residue, they, too, can become contaminated and therefore non-recyclable as well. So before recycling any beauty products, be sure to throw away any residual product in the garbage. Emptying products in the sink can be problematic if they contain ingredients like microbeads that can contribute to the ocean’s plastic pollution crisis if they come in contact with waterways, explains Payne.

 

Tip #4: Find Programs That Recycle the “Unrecyclable” Products

If you find that your products can’t be recycled through your municipal program, try finding a cosmetic recycling program that will do the work for you. For example, TerraCycle and Garnier have partnered to create a free recycling program for all brands of skin care, hair care and cosmetic packaging. You can recycle your products by joining the program, downloading a free shipping label and sending in your products where they will be melted down, pelletized and shaped into hard plastic to be used in things like shipping pallets and park benches. If your product cannot be recycled through your municipal program and is not accepted by any of TerraCycle’s free programs, Payne says you can also purchase one of TerraCycle’s zero-waste boxes, specifically the Beauty Products and Packaging Box, which allows you to recycle almost every kind of waste. Everything that is collected from these boxes get sorted and processed into raw materials that can be reused instead of being sent to landfill or incinerated.

 

Tip #5: Be Mindful When Buying Beauty Products

Another easy tip is to simply buy products that already come in sustainable packaging. Thankfully, there are more and more brands offering eco-friendly options to choose from. One of our favorites is Seed Phytonutrients, which even uses shower-friendly paper bottles that result in 60% less plastic than a traditional bottle. Oh, and the pumps from those bottles can be recycled for free via TerraCycle.

The Henkel-owned haircare giant has partnered with the waste management company to make its retail hair care, color and styling products recyclable across the US. The sustainability push will see shoppers invited to collect their empty packaging from Schwarzkopf products, and send them to TerraCycle. Empties will then be recycled and transformed into new products such as park benches, bike racks, pet food bowls and recycling bins.   "We're proud that 100% of Schwarzkopf retail product packaging will now be recyclable," Manuela Emmrich, Marketing Director, Hair US, Henkel Beauty Care, said in a statement. "Through the TerraCycle/ Schwarzkopf program, there is now a solution for hair product packaging that has historically been difficult to recycle, due to a myriad of curb-side recycling program requirements." "The expansion of Henkel's partnership with TerraCycle is an important part of Henkel's commitment to a circular economy for plastic and sustainable packaging, and our target of ensuring 100 percent of our Beauty and Laundry & Home Care packaging is recyclable, reusable or compostable by 2025," added Martina Spinatsch, Vice President, R&D, Beauty Care, Henkel North America. Three different Schwarzkopf Recycling Programs have been established to deal with aerosols, hair coloration products and all other packaging, with individuals, schools, offices and community organizations all encouraged to participate. Collectors can be rewarded for their efforts by earning points that can be used for charity gifts or converted to cash and donated to the non-profit, school; or charitable organization of their choice. Schwarzkopf is not the only beauty brand turning to TerraCycle to up its recycling game -- Herbal Essences, Garnier USA and Gillette have all recently launched initiatives with the company.

The Henkel-owned haircare giant has partnered with the waste management company to make its retail hair care, color and styling products recyclable across the US. The sustainability push will see shoppers invited to collect their empty packaging from Schwarzkopf products, and send them to TerraCycle. Empties will then be recycled and transformed into new products such as park benches, bike racks, pet food bowls and recycling bins.   "We're proud that 100% of Schwarzkopf retail product packaging will now be recyclable," Manuela Emmrich, Marketing Director, Hair US, Henkel Beauty Care, said in a statement. "Through the TerraCycle/ Schwarzkopf program, there is now a solution for hair product packaging that has historically been difficult to recycle, due to a myriad of curb-side recycling program requirements." "The expansion of Henkel's partnership with TerraCycle is an important part of Henkel's commitment to a circular economy for plastic and sustainable packaging, and our target of ensuring 100 percent of our Beauty and Laundry & Home Care packaging is recyclable, reusable or compostable by 2025," added Martina Spinatsch, Vice President, R&D, Beauty Care, Henkel North America. Three different Schwarzkopf Recycling Programs have been established to deal with aerosols, hair coloration products and all other packaging, with individuals, schools, offices and community organizations all encouraged to participate. Collectors can be rewarded for their efforts by earning points that can be used for charity gifts or converted to cash and donated to the non-profit, school; or charitable organization of their choice. Schwarzkopf is not the only beauty brand turning to TerraCycle to up its recycling game -- Herbal Essences, Garnier USA and Gillette have all recently launched initiatives with the company.

The Henkel-owned haircare giant has partnered with the waste management company to make its retail hair care, color and styling products recyclable across the US. The sustainability push will see shoppers invited to collect their empty packaging from Schwarzkopf products, and send them to TerraCycle. Empties will then be recycled and transformed into new products such as park benches, bike racks, pet food bowls and recycling bins.   "We're proud that 100% of Schwarzkopf retail product packaging will now be recyclable," Manuela Emmrich, Marketing Director, Hair US, Henkel Beauty Care, said in a statement. "Through the TerraCycle/ Schwarzkopf program, there is now a solution for hair product packaging that has historically been difficult to recycle, due to a myriad of curb-side recycling program requirements." "The expansion of Henkel's partnership with TerraCycle is an important part of Henkel's commitment to a circular economy for plastic and sustainable packaging, and our target of ensuring 100 percent of our Beauty and Laundry & Home Care packaging is recyclable, reusable or compostable by 2025," added Martina Spinatsch, Vice President, R&D, Beauty Care, Henkel North America. Three different Schwarzkopf Recycling Programs have been established to deal with aerosols, hair coloration products and all other packaging, with individuals, schools, offices and community organizations all encouraged to participate. Collectors can be rewarded for their efforts by earning points that can be used for charity gifts or converted to cash and donated to the non-profit, school; or charitable organization of their choice. Schwarzkopf is not the only beauty brand turning to TerraCycle to up its recycling game -- Herbal Essences, Garnier USA and Gillette have all recently launched initiatives with the company.

The Henkel-owned haircare giant has partnered with the waste management company to make its retail hair care, color and styling products recyclable across the US. The sustainability push will see shoppers invited to collect their empty packaging from Schwarzkopf products, and send them to TerraCycle. Empties will then be recycled and transformed into new products such as park benches, bike racks, pet food bowls and recycling bins.   "We're proud that 100% of Schwarzkopf retail product packaging will now be recyclable," Manuela Emmrich, Marketing Director, Hair US, Henkel Beauty Care, said in a statement. "Through the TerraCycle/ Schwarzkopf program, there is now a solution for hair product packaging that has historically been difficult to recycle, due to a myriad of curb-side recycling program requirements." "The expansion of Henkel's partnership with TerraCycle is an important part of Henkel's commitment to a circular economy for plastic and sustainable packaging, and our target of ensuring 100 percent of our Beauty and Laundry & Home Care packaging is recyclable, reusable or compostable by 2025," added Martina Spinatsch, Vice President, R&D, Beauty Care, Henkel North America. Three different Schwarzkopf Recycling Programs have been established to deal with aerosols, hair coloration products and all other packaging, with individuals, schools, offices and community organizations all encouraged to participate. Collectors can be rewarded for their efforts by earning points that can be used for charity gifts or converted to cash and donated to the non-profit, school; or charitable organization of their choice. Schwarzkopf is not the only beauty brand turning to TerraCycle to up its recycling game -- Herbal Essences, Garnier USA and Gillette have all recently launched initiatives with the company.

Beauty isn’t just about expressing our natural external beauty. It’s about showing our inner personality while caring for the world God created. Here are 6 beauty companies that are making a difference in the environment through natural ingredients, packaging and earth care…  

1. Lush has a “less is more” philosophy for packaging. Your body will love their ingredients, your heart will love their handmade goods and the earth loves their minimal packaging. Available in store and online.
2. Meow Meow Tweet’s products, if used properly, go a long way and their products and cardboard packing are biodegradable. Available online and at Target.
3. Love Beauty and Planet packages their products in post-consumer recycled plastic to reduce waste. Our favorite products are their fast rinsing conditioners (which help save water during showers) and their aerosol free hairspray. Available online, at Target and
4. Seed Phytonutrients uses shower safe cardboard that can be separated from their minimalist plastic containers for easy recycling. Their paper packaging is compostable, and every product includes a seed packet that you can plant in your backyard! Available Online.
5. Ethique knows that bar products are safer on the environment than products stored in plastic bottles. All their products (including their shampoo) are in long-lasting bar form. Available at Amazon.
6. Splat Naturals Semi-Permanent Hair Color offers anything but natural colors, but they use minimal packaging and healthy ingredients, so have fun picking an outrageous shade to express your vibrant personality. Available online.

  Here are a few other tips for “going green” when it comes to your beauty products.  

Buy the biggest bottles possible.

Purchasing one extra-large bottle saves a lot of plastic compared to buying multiple smaller bottles.  

Not all packaging is recyclable.

Terracycle.com allows you to recycle your beauty products for free. Just join, collect your used beauty products, download a free shipping label and send in your waste to be recycled.  The following beauty brands are a part of their program:  

• Burt’s Bees
• Gillette and Venus Razors
• Tom’s of Maine
• Garnier
• EOS