The consumer is responsible for more than half of the CO2 emissions from a cosmetic product. We are assured of this by world leaders in the beauty industry. Unilever has calculated that you and I are responsible for 66% of the carbon footprint of cosmetics. In the Weleda layout, the figure is 58%. International Director of Sustainability Garnier (L’Oreal) clarifies: 80% of the responsibility for the carbon footprint of hair cosmetics lies with the consumer.
That is, on the way to their plans for carbon neutrality, they calculated everything and now they blame us, they say, you guys don’t know how to wash your hair in an environmentally friendly way. When I mentioned this in the comments, they were rightly indignant: where did these numbers come from? And aren’t such calculations shifting the responsibility onto the consumer?
Let’s start with the basics.
The world is striving for carbon neutrality – that is, such a reduction in greenhouse gas emissions that would be easily compensated by nature. In order to reduce emissions, it is necessary, at a minimum, to count them. For this purpose, many methods have been developed. Among them there are quite accurate, but there are approximate ones. There are so exemplary that it’s just ridiculous – most of the ready-made ecotrace calculators, simple and affordable, can be attributed to these.
Going back to shampoo, although it could be a plastic bag, a soy sausage or a sheet mask, consider the amount of CO2 emissions at all stages of a product’s life. From raw materials (where and how it was grown, how it was brought) to disposal (whether the packaging was recycled). This is called “counting by life cycle”. That is, not only emissions and the amount of energy spent on the production of a bottle of shampoo at the factory are taken into account (by the way, all beauty giants have a minuscule amount of emissions here), but also the costs of transporting raw materials and the finished product, and even financial transactions.
Nice eco-friendly bathroom advice:
Why do you have to purchase a bath tray? A bath caddy tray is one of the most exciting things to have in your bathroom as it makes your bath experience much more joyful and relaxing. We recommend you to purchase a Royal Craft Wood bath caddy, as it is made of organic bamboo wood, the most beloved material by the eco-warriors due to its natural characteristics (see more).
Also, consider how you use shampoo at home. That is, they lay down some average parameters – and drive them into the table. How much shampoo did you use per wash? How much water has leaked? What temperature was the water? Did you spill some of the shampoo? Ali is not washed enough the first time? Oh, shampoo in a jar you can’t pick up the leftovers? Was the package taken to the trash can or washed (by the way, how much water did it take?) – and recycled? In a good way, the parameters of the biodegradability of the shampoo and how to clean the wastewater from shampoo surfactants and silicones should also be laid down.
But let’s think about who is responsible for the fact that from the bottle (even if at least ten times from recycled material) you can’t get shampoo or cream enough for another 3-4 applications? Or who should be responsible for the fact that the packaging is redundant and not recyclable, so it went into the trash. And who can make it so that the shampoo was washed out of the hair better and washed out the first time? Do you understand what I’m getting at?
