The Not-So-Great Side Effect Of Your Sheet-Mask Addiction
Include USA Zero Waste Boxes
Don't let the unseasonal heat wave fool you — winter is, eventually, coming. That means it's time to stock up on those hydrating and repairing products. One of the most effective ones out there? Sheet masks. But as we drench our faces in donkey milk or snail goop, we can forget one glaring issue: all the leftover waste. After a week of regular treatments, your garbage can can might look like Hannibal Lecter and Jason Voorhees went on a bender — full of crumpled eyeless and mouthless masks along with heaps of plastic packaging, which will all end up in a landfill.
According to the EPA, Americans throw out, on average, 254 million tons of “municipal solid waste.” 30% of that is containers and packaging. On top of that, we have a “stagnant” 35% recycling rate — pretty much the worst compared to other industrialized nations — with a paltry 3% of that being plastic.
And we just keep on consuming, including more and more beautifully packaged beauty products. The NPD Group found that U.S. sales of prestige facial masks increased 20% from September 2015 to August 2016. And that doesn’t even count the $1 sheet masks people snap up like candy (and maybe shouldn’t).
Don’t get us wrong — we’d never try to shame you out of partaking in your weekly sheet masks. They've saved us from many a cold, dry winter or morning after a particularly rough night. But it never hurts to be more aware, right? So here are six points to consider before you stock up your winter sheet-mask reserves.
Know that recycling options are limited.
Most (if not all) local curbside recycling programs in the U.S. will not recycle complex number seven plastic, which includes mask pouches and backings. But check your sanitation department website to be sure. (And ignore the recycling triangle featuring Korean wording on K-beauty products. Those are specific to South Korea.)
But TerraCycle, an innovative company that can recycle flexible plastic, offers a Zero Waste Box for bathroom products. Buy a cardboard bin ($95 or $186) to fill with all your previously non-recyclable empties, like sheet mask detritus, and return to TerraCycle with a prepaid UPS label.