Like many women (and some dudes), I make a decent amount of hair, cosmetic and skincare purchases.  I try to choose products that are made from recycled goods or from natural ingredients.

It can be difficult to make the ‘green choice’ when staring at  seemingly endless options at the store.  But if you familiarize yourself with some of the greener cosmetic companies, you’ll find there’s a good array of affordable, environmentally conscious selections out there.

Here’s the rundown on a few of my favorite eco-friendly cosmetic lines:

Aveda: One of the most environmentally conscious product lines around.

• Recently launched a Recycling Caps initiative program.  Aveda stores nationwide will take the tops of your bottles, which they’ll recycle into shampoo caps.
• The majority of their products are made from recycled materials.  Aveda uses polypropylene for most of their packaging (polypropylene contains only hydrogen and carbon atoms so it’s friendlier to the earth than other plastics when disposed.)  Their goal is to use the cleanest post consumer recycled materials possible. Recently they started using 25% PCR in their products with disc top closures.
• In 2007 the WWD Beauty International recognized Aveda as the first beauty company manufacturing with 100% certified wind power.  Check out details here.

Aveeno: Another company that’s aligned its brand message to the eco-conscious consumer.

• They use natural ingredients like soy, shea butter, jojoba oil, oatmeal, etc. in their products instead of chemicals and animal tested ingredients found in many cosmetics.
• They sponsor green projects across the country.  Click here for more examples of projects Aveeno has sponsored.

Burt’s Bees: markets itself as an all natural line. I’m a big fan of their lipcare (which has a lot of products that contain SPH.)

• Instead of using potentially toxic ingredients like the sodium lauryl sulfate found in many other haircare products (which is lethal for fresh water fish) they use fennel seed and green tea.
• Their product researchers and developers are touted as ‘natural chemists’ who constantly look to develop greener products.

Posted by Beth

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Beth is a Health and Wellness expert who believes sustainability goes hand-in-hand with self care. She’s the girl whipping up kombucha cocktails at parties, and extolling the benefits of canning vegetables to anyone who will listen. View all posts by Beth Funari