Your Guide to Low to Zero Waste Hair & Skin Care

“Zero waste” is an emerging trend within the hair and beauty industry that stems from the increased awareness we all have about protecting our planet. National calendar dates such as Earth Day and World Oceans Day have helped uplift such trends and have increased the demand for them, alongside other benefits often looked for in hair and beauty products such as natural, cruelty-free, and vegan.

But what does zero waste actually mean? Continue reading to find out everything you need to know about zero and reduced waste and how you can make changes to adjust your hair and beauty routine.

“Zero waste” hair & beauty can be defined in a number of ways, and while it’s impossible for any product to eliminate waste entirely, the term describes a product designed to create minimal waste and have the least amount of impact on the environment as possible. Examples include plastic-free products such as shampoo bars, products with waterless formulas, recyclable and biodegradable packaging, as well as products that are refillable.

If you’ve heard of the phrase ‘reduce, reuse, recycle’ then that’s pretty much the gist of it! The bottom line is to try and limit what you’re throwing away and therefore reduce the amount of waste entering landfill.

Reducing, reusing and recycling items has always been at the forefront of preventing waste from entering landfills and helping to reduce global warming. It takes 20 times less energy to make an aluminium can from recycled materials than from raw materials¹, and reduces the amount of CO₂ emissions from entering the atmosphere as a result of extraction, manufacturing and disposal.

Products with reduced water formulas are a great example of beauty products with reduced waste. Besides the extended product lifespan benefit, which is a great money saving perk, reduced water goods require less packaging and are more travel friendly as they’re not in liquid form. This is not only great for the environment, but also the economy in terms transportation and distribution. Shampoo bars, conditioner bars and toothpaste tablets are among a few solid beauty products currently on the market.

The zero waste approach is also great for the economy and creates on average nine times as many jobs through reducing, reusing and recycling systems, compared to disposal in landfills². Other jobs in product rental (i.e. clothing and furniture), product repair, and tailoring have also benefitted.

The idea of switching to a zero waste lifestyle might sound intimidating, but making minimal changes to your routine is easier than you might think. Even the smallest of changes can help to make a big difference.

Reducing the amount of plastic you use is one of the main things you can do to help you on your way to minimising waste. Start by learning how to reduce plastic in the bathroom. Switch to a shampoo bar without plastic packaging, use machine washable cotton rounds as an alternative to cotton wool pads, and opt for refillable product pouches wherever possible as another way to help to reduce plastic packaging.

Upcycling is one of the easiest ways to reuse items and avoid throwing them away. Some creative beauty ideas include using empty moisturiser pots as storage for homemade facemasks, or using one of our empty cruelty free hair mask jars as a plant pot. You could even use existing ingredients in your house, such as sugar, to whip up your own homemade scalp scrub.

When shopping for hair and beauty products, always keep an eye out for items that have recyclable packaging, or even better, products that are both recyclable and made from recycled materials. Alternatively, if you’re working in the professional beauty space, check out our article on how to make your salon sustainable and eco-friendly for some top tips.

As an eco-ethical hair care brand with sustainability at its heart, weDo/ are on a mission to help minimise waste wherever possible. All of our products are recyclable and are made with up to 94% recycled plastic. We are also committed to helping fight the global ocean plastic crisis in partnership with Plastic Bank, promising that for every weDo/ product bought by you, 8 plastic bottles will be collected from the environment.

Our award winning No Plastic Shampoo Bar is the first step in our journey to help minimise waste, but certainly not the last. Stay tuned for some exciting new product announcements to come!

Learn more about Our Brand with weDo/ and discover more about how to follow an eco-ethical lifestyle through our weBlog.

Keep in touch with weDo/ by following us on Instagram and TikTok for advice on sustainable beauty, tips on how to use our products and overall joy.

¹https://www.torontoenvironment.org/zerowaste_benefits

²https://www.ecocycle.org/zerowaste/jobs