Eco Tips
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Beauty and Skincare
The personal care market is worth some $500 billion and since the 1960 it is estimated that the amount of plastic packaging has increased by over 120 times with 70% ending up in landfill.
Here are some companies that are trying to make their products more sustainable in every way, not just limiting themselves to alternatives to plastic packaging.
Blomma Beauty – a company based in London that offer lots of sample kits to try
Evolve Beauty – a Hertfordshire based studio that make all their own products in small batches and focus on sustainability and locally grown ingredients
Dr Hauschka – made in Germany this brand has been making all natural products since the 60’s, and as well as being free from silicones, PEG, synthetic preservatives, dyes and fragrances, they have strong ethical policies and try to use recycled glass for most products.
BYBI – 80% of their vegan and ethical skincare products are packaged in glass and made in the UK, the remainder are packaged in plastic made from sugarcane waste. When empty, you can post the bottles back to them, freepost, in their papergrass boxes, for refilling.
Peace With the Wild – A small family-run company based in Linconshire that work closely with small independent brands like themselves, using only the best natural ingredients handmade here in the UK, packaged in reusable/recyclable/biodegradable materials for a greener future.
Here’s our round up of some great sustainable living websites
There are lots of sustainable living websites out there, here is our pick of some of the best ones. Do let us know of your favourites too..
Beeco – an amazon-affiliate website and online shop based in the UK which has useful guides and blog post about a multitude of subjects
Naturaler another UK based site full of tips and recommendations for living a more eco-friendly and chemical free lifestyle
Going Zero Waste – an online shop and blog, based in the US, with lots of good tips and guides
Moral Fibres – A Scottish based green lifestyle blog
Clothes and Shoes
An estimated £140 million worth (around 350,000 tonnes) of used clothing goes to landfill in the UK every year and the value of unused clothing in wardrobes has been estimated at around £30 billion.
Two-thirds of UK consumers buy or receive pre-owned (or second-hand) clothes, and there is a willingness to wear more, especially if a better range were available. We all know about Ebay and Depop (see below for Teens/kids Christmas present ideas) but here are some less well known ones ..
Oxfam has a great online second hand range of lots of clothes.
Thrift plus where you can find designer clothes in their “Boutique” section or shop from their high street selection.
Loopster sells second hand babies and kids clothes to age 6,
Build A Bundle sells second hand and new with tags clothes up to age 16
House of Vintage UK which specialises in Americana but has a range of other clothes too, for top-end designer clothes
HEWI specialises in second hand top-end designer clothes
Dukes Cupboard for hard to find vintage menswear
We are Cow not only have vintage fashion but also upcycled items
Christmas
This Christmas we’ll receive nearly 60 million unwanted gifts, and on December 25th we’ll waste the equivalent of around 4 million dinners. We’ll discard 108 million rolls worth of wrapping paper, and when it’s all over we’ll be wondering how best to dispose of 7 million real Christmas trees. If, like us here at DEN, you are keen to make your festive celebrations more sustainable, you might like to look at some of our favourite ideas below.
If you do send Christmas cards try and make sure they are made from recycled paper but consider emailing or phoning people instead. In terms of bedecking the halls, Pinterest has some great ideas for more sustainable alternatives to conventional Christmas trees and ways to decorate the house. If you buy wrapping paper make sure it is not coated in plastic but think about using newspaper, pinecones/seed heads and string for a rustic look or re-using old wrapping paper (you can iron most paper on a low heat), sewing/sticking wallpaper offcuts or strong magazine pages into bags or envelopes that you can holepunch and tie with string or ribbon and re-use multiple times, or wrap presents in vintage scarves or fabric.