How To Upcycle Your Old Beauty Products Instead Of Sending Them To Landfill

You don’t need to have watched Blue Planet to know we have a serious plastic problem, and unfortunately the beauty industry is playing a big part. While we may have made leaps forward when it comes to microbeads and face wipes, beauty products as a whole tend to be packaged in planet-damaging plastic. Zero Waste reports that more than 120 billion units of packaging are produced every year by the global cosmetics industry, and this is exacerbated by the fact that 50% of Brits don’t recycle bathroom waste.

As I discovered while trialling a plastic-free beauty routine, zero-waste options are few and far between when it comes to makeup, skincare and hair products. Choosing products in recycled, recyclable and refillable packaging is a good first step, but upcycling your finished beauty containers goes further to reduce the amount of waste that ends up in the bin.

From transforming old compacts into jewellery storage to using old eyeliner brushes for nail art, these clever hacks aren’t just Earth-friendly but will save you money too.