Clean & Green: How Organic Beauty Products Help The Planet
As Earth Day approaches on 22 April, it’s the perfect opportunity to take a closer look at how we can make a difference to the future of our planet with our everyday choices. Maybe you have already made some positive changes, such as switching to reusable bags, recycling what you can, or cutting back on unnecessary journeys and cycling or walking more.
However, the environmental impact of our beauty routine can often be overlooked. Here’s a look at how switching to organic shampoo and other organic hair and skin care products can contribute to a greener future.
Cleaner waterways
Conventional beauty products often contain synthetic ingredients such as parabens, microplastics, silicones and sulphates. These chemicals end up in rivers, lakes and seas, where they do not break down, or break down very slowly (literally taking hundreds or even thousands of years to fully disappear).
As these chemicals build up in waterways, they can be ingested by fish and other marine life, and eventually they enter the human food chain. The full effects of the toxicity of non-biodegradable particles on humans is only just beginning to be fully understood.
However, they have been linked to oxidative stress, organ dysfunction, immune response, DNA damage, neurotoxicity, reproductive and developmental disorders, and a variety of other chronic conditions.
Organic products use biodegradable plant-based ingredients that break down much more quickly and do not have any harmful consequences for the environment.
Supporting eco-friendly farming practices
Under UK law, a product can only be labelled organic if it meets strict production methods. These include the requirement that at least 95 per cent of the ingredients are sourced from approved suppliers who do not use harmful pesticides or fertilisers, or genetically modified organisms (GMOs).
This supports eco-friendly and sustainable farming practices, resulting in improved soil quality and increased biodiversity. Artificial pesticides can kill off native insects that are a valuable food source for other wildlife, and pollinators that make a vital contribution to reseeding and the continued survival of native plant species.
Pesticides and fertilisers also get washed off fields during rainfall and run into rivers and streams, causing pollution and encouraging the growth of nuisance or invasive plant species.
This leads to further problems, such as a depletion of oxygen in the water that suffocates fish and other aquatic creatures; the blockage of drainage systems, leading to potential flooding; and the choking out of native plants and animals, which upsets the ecosystem and threatens wildlife populations.
Reduced carbon footprint and greater sustainability
The production of conventional beauty products relies on energy-intensive processes and petroleum based ingredients derived from fossil fuels. This depletes the earth’s natural resources and generates a high carbon footprint, contributing to the harmful greenhouse gases in the atmosphere and speeding up global warming and climate change.
Organic products often include a much higher percentage of plant-based ingredients that are locally sourced, sustainable and require less intensive processing. This all contributes to a much lower environmental footprint.
Vegan and Cruelty-free products
Organic and vegan-friendly labels do not have the same meaning, but they often go hand-in-hand and vegan products are also better for the environment. A beauty product that is labelled as vegan means that it does not contain any animal derived ingredients such as lanolin, beeswax or collagen.
Furthermore, many (although not all) vegan products are cruelty-free, meaning that they have not been tested on animals or caused them unnecessary harm or suffering.
Vegan beauty products help the planet, because animal agriculture increases greenhouse gas emissions, takes up land for grazing, which hastens deforestation, habitat loss and reduces the amount of food crops that can be grown; and also consumes significant quantities of water.
So, there you have it: organic and vegan hair and skin care products are not just kinder and gentler for you, they are also kinder for the environment and can contribute to a greener and more sustainable planet: a truly beautiful way to live.
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