Brand That Are Making A Difference

Sustainable beauty is a murky world. Rituparna Som untangles the confusing facts and shines the spotlight on brands that are making a difference.

- Rituparna Som

Hey, remember that awesome #shelfie you put up last week? That glorious display of lotions promising youth, glow, multiple orgasms and what not. Did you know it’s not-so-slowly killing the planet too? Billions of plastic bottles hit landfills every year and an estimated 120 billion units of packaging are produced annually by the global cosmetics industry. Fun fact: it takes 200-700 years for these containers to break down into small fragments, aka microplastics that find their way into our food chain. As the Indian cosmetic industry is set to grow (The Economic Times predicts it will reach almost $20 billion by 2025), we predict a lot of waste. Thanks to a woke social media (its inherent problems aside), brands are being held accountable for excessive packaging and suspicious claims to sustainable and ethical practices (responsibility towards their employees, for example). But how many of us can afford the price tag that comes with these products? Sustainability means investing funds towards more than just best practices. Fair trade means you’re not getting the bigger piece of the pie. Justifiably, it’s the maker of the product who’s getting it. Responsibility is expensive and not all of us can splurge on these for regular basics, like shampoos and face washes.

All hope isn’t lost just yet. Here’s how you can start being a little responsible ’cause your favourite brands have decided to do the heavy lifting for you.

33.5 KG of CO2

That’s how much carbon dioxide Italian hair brand Davines offset by planting trees across the world. It has also cut back on its usage of raw packaging material, and works with recycled materials instead

A SHAMPOO A DAY… KEEPS THE CO2 LEVELS DOWN