The four pillars of sustainable beauty

The cosmetics sector is one of the world’s most unsustainable industries. It uses vast amounts of natural resources to produce billions of consumer products that may be designed to go on our bodies, but inevitably end up in our waterways or our landfills. Most of these cosmetics have not been created with ecodesign principles in mind, meaning that our use of beauty products has the potential to pollute ecosystems around the world with nonbiodegradable formulations and packaging.

Despite this inconvenient truth, the beauty world has only recently started talking about sustainability at an industry-wide level, as historical conversations were focused mainly on the recyclability of packaging. However, a greater focus on the climate and ecological crises has forced a spotlight on the industry’s need to play its part. As a result, both consumers and brands are finally talking about sustainable and green beauty. 

We should breathe a collective sigh of relief that we are now having these important conversations. Much is at stake, should we choose to continue with business as usual. Our $500 billion+ global industry needs to dramatically change its behaviour in the coming five to ten years, should it wish to remain relevant in the long-term while also playing its part in mitigating the climate and ecological crises.