TERRACYCLE NEWS

ELIMINATING THE IDEA OF WASTE®

Fashionista Beauty Helpline: How Can I Resell, Donate or Recycle Beauty Products I Don't Want?

TerraCycle Include USA
There are three main options for decluttering your beauty collection the eco-friendly way — reselling, donating and recycling:   We have all the answers.   Where to Re-Sell Unwanted Beauty Products"Recommerce" has all but taken over the fashion industry, and the second-hand shopping trend is extending its influence into the beauty space, too; with sites like Poshmark, eBay and Glambot all allowing beauty products to be bought and sold via online platforms.   If all else fails, check out Reddit: The community content platform boasts Skincare Exchange and Makeup Exchange pages with tens of thousands of users, where you can share any item, new or used, with community members who may be willing to buy or swap products.   Share Your Beauty, an offshoot of the Family to Family organization, launched in 2014 with the help of beauty influencer Lara Eurdolian of Pretty Connected. The initiative distributes unopened, unused beauty and personal care products to "homeless shelters, domestic violence shelters and foster care agencies," according to Pam Koner, the Executive Director of Family to Family. The organization works directly with skin-care, makeup and hair-care brands, as well as industry influencers, to collect excess product; but it also accepts donations from the general public. "Individual donors can ship their beauty products to us or leave them at a drop off point in New York City," explains Koner.   The easiest option? Check in with local homeless and women's shelters in your area to see if they accept personal care drop-offs, and make a philanthropic pit-stop on your next lunch break.   As far as packaging goes, recycling is key. "Each year, more than 120 billion units of packaging contribute to one quarter of landfill waste, much of it produced by the global cosmetics industry," says Gina Herrera, the U.S. Director of Brand Partnerships at TerraCycle. "The complex plastics of squeeze tubes, cream tubs, eyeliner and mascara wands, body wash bottles and powder compacts can take over 400 years to break down in a landfill." That's exactly why TerraCycle exists. The national recycling program accepts virtually all makeup, skin-care and hair-care packaging — from bottles to pumps to trigger heads — and makes sure each piece gets recycled through the proper channels.