It is absolutely fantastic that there's a much greater focus and awareness of eco friendly packaging. Unfortunately, there is still a huge amount of excessive packaging out there, with everything from toys to bananas in disposable plastic bags and trays!
You can discover more information at Why is plastic a problem? Did you know in the UK alone we produce over 300 million tons of plastic each year, of which over 50% is single use!
The supermarkets (and many other companies) simply aren't doing enough to change this and neither are the manufacturers. 'Not currently recycled' is a phrase we all see far too often. It's just not good enough!
So what is it about our eco friendly packaging that makes it special and why are we different to other companies? Did you know we are also an Ethical Consumer Best Buy!
Here at Conscious Skincare every month is a 'Plastic Free July'. For the last 10 years we have always done our best to minimise waste and use great materials for packing and containers.
Our key values
We think long and hard about our packaging and it's not an exercise you do just once. A lot of experts told us that to look 'higher end' we should have all our products in boxes. Yes, they would look lovely on the shelf but what happens to that box as soon as you get it home?
A key goal is to 'Leave No Trace'. Whilst we're not there yet, we really do what what we can to strive towards that end goal.
We've replaced our standard and sample PET plastic bottles with glass, meaning our range is now packaged in glass and aluminium!
Refill sizes, packaged in 100% recycled BPA free plastic bottles (which are fully recyclable) help to extend the life of your face wash, hair and body products. In addition larger refill sizes will be coming soon!
Eco friendly packaging from Conscious Skincare includes:
- We also offer the option to purchase 500ml refills made from 100% recycled plastic waste
- Option to purchase all products without plastic pumps, or the option to purchase once and then re-use
- 100% biodegradable product labels added to moisturiser, serum, exfoliants and oils range
- Cardboard shipping boxes for all orders, fully recyclable and made from 100% recycled material
- Cardboard gift boxes and paper shred fully recyclable (and re-usable, great for storage!)
- Biodegradable brown, paper based solvent free packing tape
- Biodegradable clear sticky tape
- Aluminium bottles and caps, fully recyclable
- Glass jars, fully recyclable
- Acid Free tissue paper made from recycled paper
- Paper Jiffy bags composed of 60% post-consumer waste - with the lining made from shredded newspaper. 100% recycled paper fibre cushioning. Fully recyclable (we use these for shipping samples and small products)
- 100% recycled paper used for printing
- 100% recycled paper used for customer letters
- Packing paper is fully recyclable and 100% recycled
- Corrugated card (made from 100% recycled cardboard) used to wrap bottles for protection
- Paper bags for the spoons, pumps / samples that go in your order
- Gift bags and face cloths made from certified organic cotton
What materials do we currently use for our containers?
Glass - fully recyclable and part of the UK's most successful council operated recycling schemes
Aluminium - lightweight and recyclable and one of the UK's most successful council operated recycling schemes with aluminium having been recycled many times already.
HDPE 100% recycled plastic made from post consumer waste - lightweight for shipping and fully recyclable. Low energy required in recycling process.
Conscious Skincare Eco friendly Packaging plans in the future:
Top of the list is making sure that for anything we can't recycle or compost, that it has a recycling destination. We have found recycling companies who take bulk plastic, turn it into chippings which are then used to make other useful things such as windows.
We'd love to explore materials like cardboard and vegetable wax to create a container that can hold liquids successfully but looks great at the same time.
Ideally we would like fully biodegradable, compostable containers sourced from 100% recycled materials and we hope the packaging manufacturers can step up and manufacture these containers in the near future!
To see more of what inspires us in all things packaging, you can also check out our Packaging Inspiration on Pinterest!
