Should We Be Celebrating Big Beauty Corporations’ Sustainability Commitments?
Recently, a number of major players in the cosmetic industry have announced their commitments to work towards sustainability. While this may seem like encouraging news, many consumers are left with lingering questions…
Should the companies address past failures in sustainability?
Many of the most famous cosmetic companies in the Corporate Beauty industry have been around for over a hundred years. When you consider that each year the beauty industry creates 120 billion units of packaging, the combined damage that they’ve inflicted on the environment is monumental. This production of unnecessary plastic waste, combined with endangering wildlife, and contributing to throwaway culture are all part of a history of staggering disregard for the environment.
Without the beauty industry acknowledging the enormous damage they have done to the environment, how can the public trust them to honor future promises?
Are the changes substantial enough?
Not really. Several companies have pledged to use 100% recycled plastic for packaging. The good thing is that if they keep their promise, roughly 18,000 tons of virgin plastic will be saved each year. The problem is… Recycled plastic is still plastic. Even if the plastic is reused once as beauty packaging, it’s likely that it will still ultimately end up in a landfill or the ocean. It’s a short term solution to a long term problem. A much better option would be to switch to alternative, biodegradable packaging.
Will the changes happen soon enough?
Probably not. According to a 2016 report by the Ellen MacArthur Foundation, in partnership with the World Economic Forum, plastic in the ocean will outweigh fish by the year 2050. Dealing with the problem now will be much easier than waiting until the situation deteriorates even further.
The good news…
The fact that these big beauty corporations are making any changes at all shows that public pressure for environmental protection is mounting… which could potentially lead to even more significant changes.
Another bit of hope is that the failure of the larger companies to act in a meaningful way opens up the door to smaller beauty companies which, instead of making the difficult changes to be more environmentally friendly, were built upon the very concept of sustainability. Because of their size, these smaller companies are also in a better position to adapt quickly to whatever new advances or news about sustainability that come to light.
In the end, it may be these smaller, locally-owned companies that lead us all down the very necessary path towards sustainability in the beauty industry and elsewhere.