Beauty and fashion brands do their part to protect the planet

Eco-friendly packaging such as easy refills save packaging and reduce waste. Photo: Ere Perez

Earth Day serves as a reminder to all to focus on the planet’s environmental issues and to highlight the efforts being made to protect it.

This year’s official date was April 22, but campaigns, programmes and product lines commemorating the occasion are being carried out continuously.

Fashion and beauty brands across the globe have taken steps to reduce over consumption and improve on sustainability components in production, manufacturing, shipping and so on.

All for slow fashion

Earthkind, a multi-brand platform offering a one-stop destination for sustainable and ethically made clothing and accessories supports ethical labels, creators and designers.

Together, they share the same vision and are paving the way for the slow fashion movement, through campaigns such as the Earth Month Campaign – “Echoes of Earth”.

Read more: How fashion tries to be sustainable by giving a second life to deadstocks

An initiative that aims to raise awareness about pressing environmental and societal issues while advocating for positive change, it is held throughout the month of April and includes a pop-up concept store and photo exhibition curated by local creatives.

The platform works with various parties to spread the word on sustainability, including Cloop, a circular fashion enterprise founded by Jasmine Tuan and Tan Yin Ling; Abe Lim, a youth climate advocate and founder of Purpose Plastics; Bay Doucet, an influential voice within the community and the co-founder of the curated secondhand store Looop; Re-store, who works with marginalised women to create products using upcycled textiles; and Plastify, a company that recycles plastic waste into furniture and homeware.

Restoring biodiversity

Clean Beauty Collective Inc., a pioneer in clean beauty, is partnering with Earthday.org, joining forces to safeguard the oceans and their essential inhabitants.

Earthday.org’s theme for Earth Day 2024, Planet vs Plastics, calls to advocate for widespread awareness of the health and planetary risk of plastics, demanding a 60% reduction in the production of all plastics by 2040.

The organisation and the brand aim to reach millions of people worldwide by partnering to support and restore biodiversity. 

Clean Beauty Collective’s existing collections are produced with partners that use green manufacturing practices, supply eco-conscious packaging and use responsibly sourced ingredients that give back to farmers and their communities.

Planet-friendly products

The road to reducing waste and over consumption begins with the products, and many brands are headed in the right direction where conscious beauty is concerned.

Sustainable beauty and lifestyle brand that embodies the essence of aromatherapy, Aromatica, is committed to organic farming and fair trade principles, which underscore its dedication to sustainability.

The brand continuously supports ethical sourcing and eco-friendly manufacturing processes that benefit both people and the planet.

Malaysian brand B&B Labs is taking skincare to new heights through eco-conscious packaging initiative to empower consumers who prioritise self-care and environmental sustainability with green choices.

Made with 100% natural plant fibres, the hypoallergenic and skin-hugging sheets are only biodegradable but also boast full compostability, making them an environmentally sound choice.

Read more: Fashion's 'green' efforts go to waste if shoppers still overbuy, says report

Every component of CustoMask 3.0 is designed for recyclability including the plastic sachet traditionally lined with a film of aluminium making it easy to open, but rendering it non-recyclable.

On the cosmetics front, brands like Ere Perez are setting the standards for refillable beauty products.

To protect the planet, they sought out to create eco-friendly packaging such as their Eco-Refillable Compact which is made of a mono-element: 100% aluminium.

The brand’s Corn Setting Powder is made using non-GMO, gluten free corn, while their Tapioca Cheek Refill makes it easy to replace your cheek colour when it runs out.

This saves packaging and reduces waste, a sustainable solution being adopted by more brands as the beauty industry focuses more effort into saving the planet.