At Bond Clean Beauty, founder Clare McGrowdie believes there is an important connection between humans and nature and the effect our beauty products and daily routines have on our environment.
In terms of the highly curated product range Clare stocks at Bond, sustainability is at the core of her business, she even offsets shipping from incoming stock and customer orders. Clare also has a Terracycle box instore, where customers can bring their empty beauty containers.
Clare and I caught up to discuss how to best recycle our beauty empties, click through to the video to find out which products we are loving - based on our empties.
What motivated you to partner with Terracycle at Bond Clean Beauty?
I had the intention to share Terracycle with our customers because, as a company in the beauty industry, I believe it is our responsibility to be liable for our actions and the products we stock. It is up to us to help create solutions where we can for our customers rather than transferring the issue.
When an incredible company like Terracycle comes on the scene that helps create a solution for packaging in the beauty industry for both you and the consumer, you participate. It is so important to me to be a part of a sustainable future in the beauty industry.
Many consumers don't realise that their beauty products can't go into your general waste recycling, by having the box in-store it has helped us have that conversation with our customers, whilst providing a solution for them.
When curating items for your store, do you take into account each brand’s packaging?
Absolutely! Although the beauty industry has a long way to go, we certainly look into the behind the scenes with every company we share with our customers.
Vapour Beauty is a great example here, Vapour has a Sustainable Packaging Committee dedicated to sourcing eco-friendly options and evolving their packaging as quickly as possible. They have also partnered with Terracylce. They are 100% daylight solar at their headquarters, manufacturing, warehouse and research facilities in Toas, New Mexico.
Rahua is also beyond 100% carbon neutral as a company. They have sustainable refill options for their shampoo, conditioner and shower gels that reduce the usage of plastic by 90%. They are committed to many environmental and conservation projects in The Amazonian Rainforest.
Axiology has created the world’s first zero waste lipstick that is made from and housed in a recycled red box, no plastic container
The beauty industry has a long way to go, but I am so proud to be working with and sharing companies that focus on their impact on the world, creating sustainable futures.
What is the difference between at home recycling and Terracycle?
Terracycle recycle the unrecyclable! Your home recycling is essentially still pretty basic in that it can recycle paper, plastic, glass, etc. However, home recycling cannot separate small parts.
The beauty Industry has a lot of packaging that is made up of multiple materials and generally very small parts! For example, a foundation might have a plastic container, but it will also have a pump, that is made up of many different materials, an eyeshadow palette is the same, as is a lipstick tube.
Terracycle sort and process these materials back into raw materials that can be reused again rather than be sent to landfill! Beauty brands can then repurchase these materials from Terracycle and make their packaging again. It becomes a circular loop.
How should beauty product empties be prepared/cleaned prior to drop off?
The containers/bottles should be emptied of product as much as possible prior to bringing them into the store. Whether that’s scraping or pumping as much of the remaining product, essentially using up every last drop. Terracycle do say it’s not necessary to wash out your containers as you may use more water than they would use, however they will not accept any returns that still have product in them.
Which beauty product packaging components cannot be recycled?
Perfume bottles, aerosol cans, nail polish and nail polish remover bottles, electrical items such as hairdryer, curling wands, straightening irons and bio-medical/hazardous waste.
Do you only accept empties from products you sell?
At Bond Clean Beauty we accept any empties from the beauty industry, ie. Skincare, hair care, cosmetics, etc, as long as it is not from the list of items that Terracycle cannot accept.
You can find Clare at Bond Clean Beauty which is located at 37B Elizabeth St, Paddington NSW.
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