If you use any kind of personal care product, you’re probably familiar with their tendency to stack up under the bathroom sink as they reach the end of their life. It can be hard to know where to send these containers — in the recycling or straight to a landfill?
As a viral video shows, Nordstrom can help you dispose of those pesky packages with its free BeautyCycle recycling system.
The clip, shared by sustainability influencer Bianca (@theblybasics), explains how to take advantage of this awesome program. The video has exploded on TikTok, gathering over 470k views.
@theblythebasics Recycle empty personal care containers @nordstrom beautycycle ♻️✨ #ecohacks #tipsandtricks #recycle #makeuphacks #foryou ♬ Chillest in the Room – L.Dre
“So the thing about personal care products is that they are really hard to recycle,” Bianca’s voiceover explains in the video. “But here’s a tip; instead of throwing them out, save them all in a box.”
You can save things like empty skincare and hair care bottles, toothpaste tubes, empty makeup containers, and plastic pumps.
Bianca then films a box in the beauty department of Nordstrom, where you can drop off all your empty containers for free as part of its BeautyCycle program.
Recycling plastic beauty care products can be challenging due to the mixed materials, contamination, and limited recycling infrastructure. Services like Nordstrom’s BeautyCycle are an important step in moving towards a more sustainable recycling program.
There are many benefits to recycling plastic properly. Recycling plastic requires less energy than producing new plastic from raw materials. It also gives the environment a break, since plastics that end up in landfills can take hundreds of years to break down and can have negative impacts on wildlife and ecosystems. By recycling plastic, we can help to protect the environment and reduce these negative impacts.
It has economic benefits, as well, since recycling plastic helps create jobs and support local economies. It also helps reduce the demand for new plastic, which can help lower prices and make recycled plastic products more widely available.
People in the comments were excited about the easy way to recycle their products, with one TIkTok user commenting: “This changes everything!”
Another expresses their relief, writing, “I have been hoarding my empty bottles and containers under my sink for so long because I didn’t know what to do with them.”
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