THE GREEN REPORT
“Clean.” “Green.” “Natural.” For planet-conscious beauty
consumers, these words can have a strong gravitational pull.
But dear global citizens: The secret to saving our reefs and
oceans, our forests and trees, is to do so with actions, not
words. It all starts with your routine. Some actions can be
small (don’t buy a new moisturizer until you’ve depleted the
one you have). Some are big (seek out biodegradable or
recyclable packages, or skip plastic packaging entirely). And
some actions, of course, don’t rest with you, but with beauty
companies. (Screaming into the void: Will anyone ever
develop a truly earth-friendly mascara? Read on for intel.)
Ultimately, words like “clean,” “green,” and “natural”
often have little to do with the buzzword we should really
be focused on: “sustainable.” It’s the umbrella term
for products that protect the planet’s resources, and the
idea can seem, rather ironically,
unsustainable. That’s precisely why
we went straight to the women who
are making a concerted effort, every
day, in their own ways, to reduce
their impact on the earth. They’re
environmentalists, business owners,
makeup artists—and they’re all
unapologetic beauty enthusiasts.
THE ENVIRONMENTALIST
AMBER JACKSON
After earning her master’s degree at
Scripps Institution of Oceanogra-
phy, Jackson (and her classmate
Emily Hazelwood) founded Blue Lat-
itudes, an environmental consulting
firm that helps energy companies
determine whether decommis-
sioned offshore-drilling structures
can be turned into artificial reefs.
She practically lives in the elements,
which dictates her beauty regimen.
Protect everything. “Being on
boats and offshore diving, we need
to make sure that we keep up with
our sunscreen but always use
formulas that aren’t going to run off
our skin and into the water column,
and contaminate reefs and fish spe-
cies. I like Badger Balm—it’s zinc-based. I’m a very fair red-
head with freckles, so it’s super important for me to have
protection, and this formula stays on in the water.”
Think micro impact. “Some of the biggest problems in our
oceans are microplastics, like the microbeads in face
scrubs.” The U.S. banned plastic microbeads in 2017, but
there’s no way to know if every company has adhered to
the ban. So avoid products with these Ps: polyethylene,
polypropylene, polyethylene terephthalate, and polymethyl
methacrylate. “Those get washed down the drain, are con-
sumed by fish, and then bioaccumulate, so you eat that
plastic yourself. I love to exfoliate, and I use an Origins
scrub that uses nutshells.”
Travel lightly. “We carry our own reusable bottles that we
fill at home and forgo the disposable hotel options.”
THE ADVOCATE
KATHRYN KELLOGG
The author of 101 Ways to Go Zero Waste, Kellogg began
chronicling her experience with reducing her trash and recy-
cling output—down to nothing—on her blog GoingZeroWaste.
“Living a zero-waste lifestyle encompasses so much more
than just ‘Don’t throw it away,’” she says. “It means not wast-
ing water and not wasting food.”
Eliminate the middleman. “I put toner in an upcycled spray
bottle so that I don’t waste the product by having it absorb
into a disposable pad. I just spray it directly on my skin.” [Edi-
tor’s note: Follow with moisturizer while skin is still damp to
avoid drying out skin.]
Consume wisely. “I like the ‘one in, one out’ rule. If I want awhat I have. Also, ask questions of
the people you’re buying from. I
buy some of my beauty products at
farmers markets, and it’s been
empowering to be like, ‘I love your
product and want to try it, but I
don’t use plastic. Can I get it with-
out that?’ So many times they’re
willing to accommodate.”
Be realistic. “There are very few
options for completely plastic-free
mascara, aside from a couple of
brands that make cake mascara,
like Bésame. It’s also hard to find a
zero-waste alternative for sun-
screen. I wear Marie Veronique
tinted facial sunscreen as my foun-
dation. It comes in a glass bottle,
and I upcycle the bottles. I put
homemade hand sanitizer in
them—half vodka, half water—and
keep that in my bag.”
But be proactive, too. “We should
be doing more work with busi-
nesses and emailing our govern-
ment representatives to get larger
systemic changes passed, like
the Safe Cosmetics and Personal
Products Act.”THE BUSINESS OWNER
CINDY DiPRIMA MORISSE
As cofounder of the all-things-natural-beauty destination
store CAP Beauty, DiPrima Morisse spends much of her days
analyzing (and reassessing) which products are worth space
in her business—and in her life.
Cut yourself some slack. “Any company that’s shipping is
creating some waste and pollution. The best thing we can do
is to work with vendors who are prioritizing the same things
we are and making sure that their practices are not creating
too much stress on the environment.”
Shop smarter. “We encourage our customers to choose
thoughtfully. We always say, ‘If you’ve got products in
your cabinet that have been sitting there for a year, you’re
not using them, and you need to simplify. Find productsFOOD FOR
THOUGHT
What good is a recyclable plastic bottle if it still
ends up in a landfill? Tina Hedges, a former Estée
Lauder and L’Oréal executive, asked herself that
when she created LOLI Beauty. Hedges sells raw
balms, powders, and elixirs derived from organic
food waste (like pressed plum seed that would have
been disposed of after the fruit was harvested)
and packages them in recyclable glass containers
that she encourages consumers to upcycle for
food storage. The products are waterless (water is a
filler ingredient that just creates extra weight to
ship), and can be used alone or mixed to expand
their versatility—her face powder, for example,
can become a scrub or a mask. “I would like the
entire experience to be circular zero-waste,”
says Hedges, who is now working on refillable
packaging and going entirely compostable.