Published! Minimizing plastic waste in beauty

With everything going on, I’ve been distant to my passion for fashion design, but I hope that changes soon. In the meantime, I’ve been working on something for the past few years that has finally come to life! Being in the Fashion Law MSL (Masters in the Studies of Law) program at Fordham Law taught me about areas of fashion that I was aware of, but didn’t realize there were more to. 

Particularly on the sustainability piece, which I’ve always been keen on. Especially working at an up and coming beauty company (yes beauty is fashion 💅), I was able to see first hand the environmental impacts the production of our favorite products can have. We always hear about how consumers need to “recycle”, but no one is really talking about what goes on inside the companies either. Even working at a sustainable brand that tries its best in reducing its environmental footprint, it’s hard to avoid any impact given the current industry and government infrastructure. I put “recycle” in quotes because there are many things the common consumer is unaware of - like are we actually recycling? 

I was able to work with the Critical Studies in Fashion & Beauty journal (through Intellect) to publish my work that speaks on these concerns, plus many more. I propose some solutions for the industry to try to mitigate some of its environmental impact, although it won’t be perfect. 

I’m so excited for this to be finally published! Sharing the link and abstract below. Feel free to share any thoughts! 

READ HERE

ABSTRACT:

The cosmetics industry is rapidly contributing to unmanageable volumes of plastic waste and expanding the global recycling crisis due to lesser-known factors like consumer behaviour, brand misinformation and legal limitations. After examining the US recycling and legal frameworks, this study makes it clear that cosmetics are inherently at a disadvantage when it comes to recyclability within the country’s broken recycling system. Solutions presented such as a Cosmetics Collection Framework, adjusting the US Federal Trade Commission’s Green Guides, guidance on refillability and instituting US federal grants for plastic-alternative research, among other solutions, aim to mitigate the industry’s environmental impact and change the consumer mindset on cosmetics recyclability.