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Whether they admit it or not, every skincare fanatic is willing to answer the call and ditch their daily routine. But if you think about it, do you really know what can help brighten your skin or treat acne?
Beyond reading the back of the package, can you tell us where the skin care ingredients come from, whether the formula is ethically sourced, or where the product goes after it's finished?
The truth is, most of us have no idea how our products are made or where they end up. That’s one reason Team Versed is deeply committed to transparency and disclosing how our products are made.
Of course, it goes beyond skin care, but since we know this area so well (ahem), we might as well start there. Below we delve into the life cycle of a typical product. Read below to learn more about the environmental impact of your skincare routine, from where ingredients are sourced to the waste generated during production.
Purchase. An ingredient can be obtained in two ways: natural or synthetic. Natural ingredients may sound more appetizing than synthetic ingredients, but when it comes to the environment, the opposite is true. Synthetic ingredients are made in a laboratory; formulators create chemical replicas of ingredients commonly found in nature.
However, when it comes to natural ingredients, things are a little more complicated. There is a need to trace the origin of a large number of ingredients, such as plants. The ingredients themselves must then be extracted and purified before they can be added to the formula.
However, not all natural ingredients come from abundant plants. Squalene, a hydrating ingredient commonly found in moisturizers, can be extracted from shark livers. Another skin hero, hyaluronic acid, may come from rooster comb cartilage. That's why our Hydrating Serum Booster uses a synthetic version.
Extracting these ingredients in this way harms animals and causes more environmental pollution than producing them synthetically in a laboratory. And it’s not just animal sources. Overharvesting of plants, especially when they are considered endangered species, can harm the survival of important ecosystems.
However, there are ways to ensure that natural sources do not have this negative effect. The bakuchiol we use in our Gentle Retinol Serum is CITES (Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora) certified.
We also only use FSC (Forest Stewardship Council) certified paper for our paper packaging. If an ingredient is not naturally available from ethical sources, synthetic alternatives may be a better choice.
Manufacturing. Once the raw materials are sourced, they are transformed into the products we use every day. Of course it's not that simple. Production facilities and laboratories rely on heavy machinery to do this work, which consumes large amounts of energy.
Not-so-fun fact: Labs consume more energy per square foot than any other industry except data centers. In addition to energy, a large amount of residual waste is generated during product manufacturing. According to research published by MyGreenLab, labs generate enough plastic waste each year to cover an area 23 times the size of Manhattan.
Side note: In addition to considering the impact on the environment, we should also know whether our products are ethically produced.
When we vet our partners, we ensure they adhere to a set of Good Manufacturing Practices (GMP), which includes requirements such as fair wages, safe working conditions and compliance with a zero-tolerance policy against harassment and discrimination.
Distribute. When you consider how much pollution we create driving around town (about 8,887 grams of carbon dioxide is produced for every gallon of gasoline burned, according to the EPA), one can only imagine the effort involved in transporting products to warehouses, retail stores, and factories.
Amount of contamination. Of course, for us it was eviction from the house itself. Products can be distributed by plane, train or ship, but either way, transportation consumes a lot of energy. In fact, transportation accounts for 25% of global energy consumption.
Use. However, a product’s environmental impact does not end once it is formulated, packaged and shipped. Even something as simple as cleanser can have an impact when we use it because it needs to be rinsed with water (washing your face for 60 seconds with the faucet running can waste up to 3 gallons of water).
Masks, facial scrubs, body washes…all rinse-off products whose ingredients cannot be broken down by wastewater treatment (such as synthetic fragrances) end up in our oceans through the tap. Unfortunately, these chemicals can accumulate in fish tissues and affect marine life.
end of life Where the product goes after it’s emptied starts with design. Some materials, like glass or #1 plastic, are easier to recycle than others. Some cannot be recycled at all. But consumers also have a significant responsibility. Even if a product is recyclable, statistics show that less than 14% of plastic ends up in the trash.
Those with good intentions may try to recycle something that is not actually accepted (called "wish recycling") and inadvertently end up in the recycling stream. If these habits continue, experts predict "12 billion tons of plastic will end up in landfills by 2050," according to National Geographic.
Efforts must be made to control our own emissions and waste streams. Think before you shop, reuse all items where possible, and always check your local municipality’s recycling guidelines before throwing them away
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