The Green Vanity accepts empty product containers for recycling People have been programmed to perpetually buy beauty products whether they need them or not, creating a sustainability problem for both consumers and the industry.   That’s according to Nikki Hunter, owner of The Green Vanity.   Hunter said The Green Vanity is a “bridge” to help guide consumers as they try to make the switch to a cleaner and greener beauty routine.   “When you’re trying to discover those clean brands, it can be overwhelming because there’s a lot of messy dialogue and really polarized views on performance and ethics,” Hunter said.   “We don’t believe in trial and error, because trial and error is part of the sustainability issue. We continually fill that box under the sink because of overbuying and misunderstanding.”   She said they provide consultation so that people will only buy the items they need and make sure those products work effectively, so they don’t feel the need to keep buying more products.   Hunter said the boutique is also contributing to a cleaner industry by carrying brands that try to be as close to zero waste as possible.   “Zero-waste doesn’t technically exist. Everything we make as humans has waste but the part that we can talk about the most is our post-consumer waste. So what happens to what we have in our hand and who are we going to give our money to who’s doing the least amount of waste before then?”   Hunter said more and more brands are now considering materials used not only in their products, but also their packaging. She said more brands are using water-treated bamboo containers with refillable product, which makes for non-toxic and low-waste products in general.   But at the end of the day, all that packaging still needs to be taken care of.   “We are a recycle depot. We take plastics, we take glass, we take aluminum. We also have TerraCycle (which converts waste to raw materials for new products).”