Phasing out Plastic
In April & May, we touched base with you re. our commitment to the creation of an increasingly ethical product, by finding ways to minimise the impact we have as a business on this planet. The beauty industry is a major culprit in the amount of plastic that is produced and consumed. Below you will find the strategies that Rasasara will be implementing as of July 2019 to further reduce our use of plastic.
Image taken from Plastic & Health, The Hidden Costs of a Plastic Planet.
“Roughly two-thirds of all plastic ever produced has been released into the environment and remains there in some form—as debris in the oceans, as micro- or nanoparticles in air and agricultural soils, as microfibers in water supplies, or as microparticles in the human body.”
Recently, we came across a new study, Plastic & Health: The Hidden Costs of a Plastic Planet. It’s the first of it’s kind – it looks at the health impacts at every stage in the life cycle of plastics – from their beginnings in the extraction of the fossil fuels that make them, to their use in consumer products & packaging, the toxic releases from waste management & their permanent existence in the environment. For us this study, and it’s implications regarding human health on a global scale, not to mention the damage it is causing our planet, really hit home… so we got to work on some solutions…
— Solution #1 —
We have already introduced our intention to move more towards glass – and we can see from your orders since – that this has been positively received.
Following on from this, we wish to let you know that we are going to slowly phase out our black PET bottles, currently an option at checkout for our larger sized products.
We realise however, that for many of you, glass in the bathroom, especially in showers, is impractical. So we are in the middle of sourcing an aluminium alternative. Aluminium, like glass, is infinitely recyclable, with the added benefit of weighing much less!
This of course, means it has lower transportation emissions and requires less packaging (to prevent breakage) during shipping. Aluminium, in combination with our refill program (clarified below), is a truly eco friendly choice, for those of you wishing to reduce your environmental footprint. We will keep you up to date with our progress, and soon hope to be offering you the choice of glass or aluminium at checkout!
Most of the 142 billion units of packaging created by the beauty industry last year ended up in landfill or the ocean.
8 million metric tonnes of plastic enter the world’s oceans each year.
— Solution #2 —
Until some significant technological advances are made, we are still forced to use lids with plastic components for our products requiring droppers, pumps or mist sprayers. So it is here that we ask for your help to reduce our collective environmental footprint.
Like we did with the Glass or PET option at checkout, we will soon roll out an alternative aluminium lid option. If you are simply replenishing your staple products, in their regular size, we ask that you retain your dropper, pump or mist sprayer, for reuse with your fresh round of skin or hair care.
This aluminium lid option will become our default lid for all purchases online, however, should you require a dropper, pump or mist sprayer, these will be available options at checkout – at a slight additional cost (in part to incentivise the use of infinitely recyclable aluminium, and in part to offset the impact of our use of plastic on our environment.
— Solution #3 —
If you would like to take advantage of our refill program, simply follow the steps outlined below:
- Email us at enquiries@rasasara.com and let us know you would like to send your empty bottles back for refill.
- We will provide you with a unique discount code which entitles you to free shipping at checkout.
- Place your order as you would usually, for the replenishment product/s you are wishing to have refilled, utilising the discount code, should your order total less than our $150 free shipping minimum.
- Pop your empties in the post, addressed as below. Be sure to include a return to sender name and address, for the purpose of identification (so we know who the bottles belong to).
- We will replenish & send your products back to you, along with a small gift to say thank you for choosing to help us reduce, reuse & recycle!
Send to:
Rasasara Skinfood,
27 Rose Avenue
Surrey Hills, VIC, 3127
If you have any ideas re. other ways you think we as a business and/or community can make a difference, we would love to hear from you. Contact us via the email link below.
