Beauties, any tips for reducing the environmental damage of our beauty obsessions?

You seem to have all your bases covered Mandiimoo I don't know if their is much to add. I do like to use bar soap nowadays instead of shower gel in the big plastic bottles, even if they can be recycled. It's great that so many companies are waking up a bit and offering natural cotton or glass, things that are biodegradable or recyclable packaging.

There are a few threads on this already, but it's good to revisit this, MandiMoo!

I also use reusable makeup pads. I've got a keep cup & reusable straws. I used to buy paper stemmed cotton buds, but now I've got a reusable silicon one that I can use with makeup remover, but not nail polish remover.

I do a few Terracycle things, too. There are two dental clinics near me which collect empty toothpaste tubes, used toothbrushes & electric toothbrush heads, floss containers, &c I've got a few saved up, but haven't dropped them off, yet.

The Schwarzkopf Terracycle plan is good. I'm saving all my empty dye bottles & anything else which won't go in my council recycling. When I've got a boxful, they'll send me a free label to post it all off. They accept all haircare regardless of brand!

Terracycle used to accept empty beauty & makeup packaging, but they stopped their free option. I've been saving empties in case they restart it: I'll use Flora & Fauna from now on, so I appreciate hearing about that!

A lot of people don't know about Redcycle soft plastic recycling. Their website lists free collection points & what is accepted. My local Coles & Woolies are both collection points. I take in empty rice & pasta bags, frozen veggies bags - heaps of stuff!

It's always good to hear about more options!

Lush! I use their bar shampoo and conditioner. A lot less bottles.

H&M & Zara both have bins for recycling old clothes. I know at H&M they'll give you vouchers to use in-store for each bag you recycle (have collected quite a few over time, but they've all gone to waste since I don't shop there), so that's an incentive.

I too have now started taking soft plastics back to Woolies or Coles for recycling. They now have symbols on items that show you whether they can be recycled (the dark recycling symbol), have to be taken back to the store (normally a white recycling symbol that will say underneath something like "return to store") or they can be thrown away in your normal bin (just a picture of a bin). It's a great idea IMO.

Sheridan have a recycling program for sheets and towels. The Body Shop used to have one for their containers and packaging, not sure if it is still available.

Thanks for taking this initiative and great thread.

Just in case anyone is interested ... I received an email from Flora & Fauna today where they said that they now recycle empty blister packs. Here is a link to their website which includes information about TerraCycle:

https://www.floraandfauna.com.au/reuse-reduce/community/terracycle-boxes?filters=

I've been a customer of Flora & Fauna for a long time and I've always been happy with their customer service. They have a great range of eco-friendly products.

I belong to a local Facebook group called Buy Nothing (my suburb name not disclosed). If you do a search via Facebook, you will probably find a similar group in your area.

I have donated some items to people that were happy to receive them. If I had not been aware of this group, these items might have ended up in landfill. Sometimes I've been surprised at the type of items that have been offered as donations, and how some of them have been popular.

It's great being part of a community where the main focus is giving to others and reducing unwanted items going to landfill.