With the end of the semester looming, I’ve begun to declutter and downsize before I move out of my dorm room. I knew that I could donate gently worn clothes, shoes, and decor but I faltered when it came to decluttering my cosmetics. A lot of it was old and I wanted to dispose of it, but I also wanted to dispose of it all responsibly. In honor of Earth Day and in the spirit of Spring Cleaning, these are some of the tips I’ve found to dispose of old makeup more responsibly for those of you who also need to free your counters from old and unused makeup.
1. Gift unused products to a friend!
I have a lot of products that I’ve either never used or only experimented with once, so I gift those to friends! It feels good to give a product to someone who will appreciate it and use it more than I would!
2. Reuse and Repurpose Containers!
If you have a really cute perfume bottle, you can use it as a little flower vase! If you have a little tin, you can even DIY your own lip balm using old lipstick!
3. Take it Back to M.A.C.
M.A.C. may even gift you a free lipstick if you bring in 6 old M.A.C. product containers if you’re a M.A.C. Select member! Just be sure that you’re dropping off empty and clean containers. Unfortunately, the only option to dispose of the makeup product itself is to toss it and send it off to a landfill, but at least you can recycle the containers!
4. Consider Terracycle
Terracycle partnered with Garnier to provide a mail-in recycling service! They accept skin care, hair care, and other cosmetic product containers. Just clean out the excess product, allow the container to dry, join the program online, and ship it off (for free)!
5. Hand it over to Origins.
Origins is a pretty amazing company because they are dedicated to reducing their environmental impact. They accept containers from ANY makeup brand and create their packaging mostly from recycled materials. Drop off your product containers and feel good knowing that you’ve done your part to reduce landfill waste!