At the Sustainable Cosmetics Summit North America, Colin Beavan will give insights into how the cosmetic & personal care industry can help consumers lead a zero impact lifestyle. Colin has been dubbed the ‘no impact man’ after attempts for him and his family to lead a lifestyle with zero environmental impacts for a year in New York.
Reducing Environmental Impact
The experiment involved purchasing locally grown food, using no carbon-based transportation, producing no trash, and using no paper products.
According to Colin, existing systems of consumption are wired against sustainability. The products and services we use emit carbon emissions and / or cause environmental degradation. The challenge for the cosmetic & personal care industry is to help consumers maintain a good quality lifestyle whilst not harming the environment.
Addressing environmental footprints is a major focus for the cosmetics industry. Large multinationals, such as L’Oreal and Unilever, have made pledges to reduce their impacts whilst expanding their overall business. In a recent Ethisphere survey, five cosmetic & personal care companies were listed in the 2019 World’s Most Ethical Companies List. Considerable effort is going to reduce carbon emissions, water impacts, energy usage and waste output. However, designing products for sustainability and changing consumer behavior are major challenges for the cosmetic & personal care industry.
Reusable Packaging Systems
In his keynote, Colin will call for companies to have an overhaul of production, distribution, and cultural systems associated with their products. Giving the example of reusable packaging systems, he will show how companies can connect customers with their products and close system loops. He will also show how cosmetic & personal care companies can help consumers lead more fulfilling lives by giving them a sense of purpose.
Hosted in New York City on 8-10th May, the Sustainable Cosmetics Summit will showcase some of the innovative ways companies are addressing their impacts. The Korean company Innerbottle will give details of its new green packaging innovation.
TerraCycle will give an update on its loop shopping platform, which encourages consumers to move away from single-use packaging. The Ellen MacArthur Foundation will give examples on how chemicals can be designed for a circular economy. Innovations involving food side stream ingredients, hemp-based and bio-based materials will also be discussed.
Source: Ecovia Intelligence