How to Make Your Beauty Routine More Sustainable With PCR Plastic

By Corinne Lee

Published on Sep 2, 2021

Flat-lay image of REFRESHMENTS Velvety Body Cream in Citrus Spritz, Pearly Body Wash in Citrus Spritz, and Breezy Deodorant in Lavender Splash on cream-colored plate Mobile

These days, making sustainable choices is more important than ever—including in our personal care routines. Many products are usually made with virgin plastic packaging and are shipped straight to us from our favorite online stores, which requires even more packaging. While there’s no arguing the convenience of deliveries, there are some ways we can make our routines more sustainable. The key is striving for progress, not perfection. And even small choices can add up. So what can we do to improve our environmental impact? One of the easiest options is seeking out brands that use recycled plastics instead of single use, like PCR (more on this below).

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What the heck is PCR plastic, anyway?

In short, PCR stands for post-consumer resin, a.k.a. recycled plastic. Moving away from virgin plastic is a step in decreasing brands’ carbon footprint. This option helps reduce our impact on landfills by giving recycled plastics a second life. Yes, it’s the more expensive option (a major reason why everyone doesn’t use it), but it’s also a more sustainable option. That’s because PCR plastic not only uses less energy and fossil fuel to create, but it also helps brands move away from single-use plastic.

Speaking of Sustainability, Are you Recycling Your Beauty Products Correctly?

Everyone knows how important recycling is—but what isn’t as well known is that simply throwing things in that blue bin doesn’t cut it. If things aren’t recycled correctly, they’re almost guaranteed to end up in the landfill. Plus, according to Greenpeace, you run the risk of contaminating the entire batch of recycled goods. In fact, only nine percent of recycled plastic has actually been remade into something usable. We were as shocked as you to hear that stat!

So how can you do your part and recycle your products the right way? Here’s a quick lesson:

Fully clean the container. Make sure it’s totally empty, then give it a quick rinse or wipe it down. If you’re rinsing things, also make sure you give them time to dry.
Separate the parts. Most of the time, common items on beauty products, like mirrors, magnets, and pumps, can’t be recycled, so those pieces should go into the trash.
Remove any stickers, residue, labels, etc. Otherwise, it will most likely be rejected, and end up in the landfill.

How is Refreshments making a sustainable difference?

At Refreshments, we’ve already committed to using a minimum of 20 to 30 percent PCR plastic in all of our plastic component packaging. It’s our top priority to raise that minimum percentage, but for now, we’re going beyond that wherever we can. For example, Pearly Body Wash is made with 100 percent PCR plastic. Choosing products that use PCR is one way to reduce your environmental impact and show Mother Nature some love.

Wanna join the party? Sign up for a free month of our Refreshments membership through IPSY! Already an Ipster? You get to try us for free, too! Head to the Refreshments tab and don’t forget to follow us on IG and Tik Tok @myrefreshments.

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