Plastic Free Beauty Day is back for a second year running with a vengeance against plastic usage by the beauty industry.
Founded by Yolanda Cooper of WE ARE PARADOXX, Plastic Free Beauty Day is a day dedicated to challenging the use of plastic packaging in the beauty products we buy. It is a call to take action against the over-dependance on plastic by beauty brands.
On Plastic Free Beauty Day 2020, as the world adapts to the ‘new normal’ dictated by the global Covid-19 pandemic, it is more important than ever that we work to reduce our use of plastic where we can. Covid-19 has forced a huge spike in single-use plastics; some necessary, like the millions of pieces of personal protective equipment required for the safety of front-line staff, and some not so - pocket-size hand sanitisers, disinfecting wipes, plastic shopping bags and online shopping packaging.
The coronavirus pandemic is the basis of a campaign to postpone the implementation of the Single-Use Plastics Directive, intended to ban the use of many single use plastics that are polluting our environment and killing our wildlife.
The UN declared the global ocean plastic pollution a ‘planetary crisis’ in 2017 and recent research by the Plymouth Marine Laboratory has suggested that the volume of microplastic pollution in our oceans has been vastly underestimated. We are not going to be able to recycle our way out of this situation and so we have to drive a circular economy - replacing plastic packaging with long-life materials that can be infinitely repurposed, like aluminium and glass. It is not enough to simply recycle or use recycled plastic - that is a delay tactic, not a solution.
The amount of plastic waste generated during the coronavirus lockdown has surged and the dependence on plastic in certain areas looks set to continue. This year, Plastic Free Beauty Day is championing beauty brands who are making strides in the war against plastic pollution, and calling for other beauty brands follow suit.
In collaboration with WE ARE PARADOXX, KANKAN, Circla and Vanderohe, Plastic Free Beauty Day 2020 is supporting Plastic Oceans UK - a non-profit organisation dedicated to reducing the use of single-use plastics that end up in our oceans. Profits from the sales made by these industry-leading, plastic-free beauty brands on Plastic Free Beauty Day, June 17th, will be donated to Plastic Oceans UK.
We are also calling on supporters to celebrate Plastic Free Beauty Day in two ways. Every day, around 8 million pieces of plastic pollution find their way into our oceans. We are asking supporters to commit to one plastic-free day on June 17th.
Additionally, we would like supporters to share their repurposing of beauty packaging, to drive home the message - reducing and reusing is better than recycling. On June 17th, inspire others by sharing your favourite repurposed packaging idea on Instagram.
Follow @plasticfreebeautyday and tag us in your post to receive 30% off all our partner beauty brands for one day only.Reducing plastic pollution will take a unified effort. Visit WWW.PLASTICFREEBEAUTY.ORG for more information and advice on how you can reduce your dependence on plastics.