Almost all cosmetic packaging is thrown away. But with a bit of forethought, it’s not hard to keep both your skin and your conscience squeaky clean
Change by degrees offers life hacks and sustainable living tips each Saturday to help reduce your household’s carbon footprint
Got a question or tip for reducing household emissions? Email us at changebydegrees@theguardian.com
Who hasn’t opened a bathroom cupboard on a cleaning spree, scanned the shelves of half-full volumiser, long-forgotten eye shadow palettes and blunt razors and tossed them in the bin – one guilty, satisfying clunk at a time? Very few of us, since 95% of cosmetic packaging is thrown away.
Given the Australian cosmetics and beauty industry was valued at $17.25b in 2025, this amounts to an incredible volume of waste. To add insult to injury, almost 60% of beauty packaging is made from plastic, with the complicated makeup of spray bottles, pumps and tubes meaning they are difficult to recycle.
Continue reading…
