Beauty products expire after a certain amount of time after being opened. This means that people are having to throw away the products which are causing a problem at a landfill. The waste that is occurring from beauty products is vast becoming almost as problematic as the fast-fashion problem. However, there are solutions for this which can cut down on the volume of packaging that is being sent to landfills.
One of the ways is making the packaging as a container for other things after the initial product is used. One example is cleaning out the lipstick and using it to hold other small products such as grips, a tampon, earrings or hair bobbles. Doing this is can stop having these small products fall to the bottom of the bag and you will have easy access to the products when you want them.
Another example of reusing the packaging it just keeps them for when you travel. Rather than having to spend money on buying the travel size of the products you already have; reuse the packaging from the travel size products you use last time. This way it is saving you money but also helping the environment.
Some brands have run with this idea of reducing packaging and have even made their products be used without any packaging at all. Lush is an example which has created plastic-free shampoo. It works by having the shampoo be made into a bar which you just rub into your hands then onto your hair. To keep the product to last long as possible they even sell a cork pot where you can put the bar onto so that it does not run and once dry will harden back into a more of a bar state.
I personally think that these simple ways will in the future have a very big impact on how much waste is being sent to landfills. I would prefer it if the packaging was simply biodegradable instead of having many old beauty products in all my bags. After having one or two lipsticks where the packaging is being reused there is very little that I could think I would need them for. In the end, you would have too many products and would end up forgetting what the actual lipstick is and what has a hair bobble in. The whole idea of having no packaging at all I really like as it means that it is good for the environment but also more space in the bathroom rather than it being clogged up with products.
Sarah Ervine - Fashion Marketer 