Finished a beauty product? We know—it’s a rarity in our world. We’ve only reached the elusive empty pan so many times in our lives, so it’s difficult to imagine the life cycle of a product after you’ve actually used it up! But an empty bottle isn’t an excuse to toss the remains in the trash, and a product junkie doesn’t have to forsake eco-responsibility in the name of beauty. In honor of Earth Day, let’s rethink the afterlife of used makeup merchandise.

RETURN IT

If you've got the urge to purge, some beauty brands will do the heavy lifting for you. MAC's famous Back 2 MAC program encourages recycling at the source. If you bring back six empty plastic containers to your local counter, they'll take the goods and gift you a lipstick of your choice! How's that for eco-incentive? For any other products, Garnier has teamed up with TerraCycle to responsibly dispose of makeup, skin care, and hair care bottles you don’t know what to do with. They send you a prepaid mailer, and you send them your stash!