Sustainable Body Care: What is It & Why You Should Care

What Is Sustainable Body Care?

Why Sustainable Body Care Matters

The prioritization of body care is positive for our mental and physical health. However, it can negatively impact the world around us if the self-care we are purchasing is not sourced with sustainability in mind.

There are numerous elements to consider when discussing the impact of body care on the world around us. We’ve pulled out a number of key points to consider below.

• Packaging: How a product is packaged is paramount to its environmental impact. Many brands use plastic, of which only approximately 9% actually gets recycled. This contributes to a vast amount of waste in landfills and in our water, which poses a serious threat to marine wildlife and their eco-systems.
• Synthetic Ingredients: It’s not just what is on the outside that counts. Chemical-rich synthetic ingredients can contribute to microplastics within our products, with some research noting that only approximately 13% of beauty products are entirely microplastic-free. Additionally, microbeads (the tiny beads used as an exfoliating agent in some products) pose a serious threat to marine life and waterways. And it’s not only outside our bodies that these chemicals can affect, ingredients such as parabens, phthalates, sulfates and synthetic fragrances are all considered detrimental to skin health and human health.
• Unethically Sourced Ingredients: That said, naturally-occurring ingredients aren’t off the hit-list either. Ingredients such as palm oil and soy can lead to staggering environmental impact (such as deforestation and soil contamination), jeopardizing the habitats of many animals.
• Social Impact: There are also many ingredients with a negative social impact, sourced by people who are not properly paid or granted safe working conditions. How an ingredient is sourced can also contribute to carbon emissions - around 30% of the beauty industry’s CO₂ emissions are from sourcing raw materials.
• Creation and Transportation: The manufacturing and distribution of beauty products is imperative, often accounting for the use of large volumes of water and high carbon emissions, which contribute to global warming.

Key Features of Sustainable Body Care Products

So, what should you look for when selecting your self-care? We break it down for you below.

• Natural Ingredients: Look for brands that prioritize use of ethically sourced, cruelty-free and vegan natural ingredients - these not only supercharge skin health, but ensure minimal impact on the environment around us. Ensure your products are free from microbeads and synthetic, chemical-laden ingredients to limit the amount of microplastics in our water systems and negative effects on our health.

• Eco-Friendly Packaging: Seek out self-care that uses eco-friendly packaging materials in the most minimal way possible, whether it is glass, paper or recycled plastic. These can offer biodegradability or recyclability, and can also have a lower carbon footprint than virgin plastic. Furthermore, a reduction in packaging weight can reduce carbon emissions from transportation. If offered, it’s also important to consider buying in a larger size to reduce the occurence of discarded packaging. Finally, check if a brand offers refillable self-care solutions to reduce overall product packaging and waste.

• Ethical Sourcing and Manufacturing: Look for brands that are committed to ethical sourcing and highlight carbon-minimizing manufacturing processes, or that are created locally to avoid high CO₂ emissions from transportation.

How to Start Your Sustainable Body Care Journey

Ready to swap out your self-care for a more sustainable routine? Read our top three tips below.

• Research: Don’t rush out to buy a whole new self-care collection. First, read up on the products you are currently using that work for you - do they use eco-friendly packaging and ethically sourced ingredients, do they work to reduce CO₂ emissions and waste within their business? If so, sticking with what you have is working for you and the environment. If not, it’s time to do some due diligence on your next body care buy - and check sourcing, packaging and production policies.

• Refill or Reuse: Check if your self-care supplier offers refills, or has packaging that you can repurpose in another way. If they have bulk sizes available, this is often a plus for the world and your wallet.

• Recycle: Check if packaging is recyclable per the suppliers instructions, but make sure you also refer to your local guidelines, as what can be recycled at curbside pick up varies region to region. You may need to consider alternate recycling options such as TerraCycle.

Joonbyrd's Commitment To Creating Self-Care That’s Good For The Planet

We want to ensure we are practicing responsible self-care. So we drew up a commitment of six actions that hold us accountable.

1. Reuse and Repurpose: the design of our products prioritizes reuse and/or repurpose.
2. Recyclable Materials: we incorporate recyclable materials throughout our product ranges. And for items that are trickier to recycle via traditional waste collection, we have partnered with TerraCycle to repurpose your waste into new, reusable raw materials.
3. Responsible Sourcing: we utilize naturally-derived ingredients, responsibly sourced from certified suppliers. We produce our products in the UK, to reduce emissions from transportation where possible.
4. Refills: we offer refillable packaging wherever possible - currently on MOON SWIM Body Wash, LITTLE LOVE Body Lotion, VIOLET HAZE Body Scrub and SUNDAY SOFA Body Butter, which we are constantly working to expand. Our refills have the benefit of reducing overall product packaging and waste.
5. Recyclable FSC Certified: our outer paper cartons and sleeves are recyclable and produced by an accredited B Corp supplier.
6. Reinvention of Packaging: we are committed to ongoing packaging innovation as technology evolves. Our emphasis is on limiting single use plastic for all future product launches.

The Debrief Digest

Need a sustainability sum-up? Here’s the digest on planet-and-person friendly self-care. 

• Packaging, ingredients, production and transportation can all have an impact on the world around us, and on our personal health.
• As such, it's important to look out for brands that use ethically-sourced natural ingredients, eco-friendly and / or minimal packaging, offer refills and are committed to ethical manufacturing.
• Joonbyrd is committed to responsible self-care that brings JOY to body, mind and planet.