Glass Bottles or Plastic for Sustainable Skincare Packaging?

Skincare and beauty shoppers seem more concerned than ever about their impact on the environment when it comes to their purchases. The Clean Beauty “trend” has now turned into a movement. Customers are more in tune to the terms eco-friendly, green, all-natural, and “clean,”

However, when trying to be eco-conscious and shop for our favorite skincare and beauty products, “sustainable” fashion is not so easy. The beauty and skincare arenas are filled with marketing lingo and jargon followed by empty promises and a shocking level of greenwashing.

For instance, you can easily recycle a glass bottle compared to a plastic one. However, if it was mass-manufactured and shipped into the US, miles traveled may annihilate sustainable gain.

Also, all the things we put in our green or blue recycle bin may not make it through the ENTIRE recycling process. YIKES.

Yet, earth-conscious consumption doesn’t need to be such a headache. From vegan-based formulas to carbon-neutral means and innovated alternatives to product packaging, there are numerous ways for us to do our part to lessen the negative effects on our planet.

Here at Nonie of Beverly Hills, we take the lead on clean, organic, vegan, and all-natural, ingredients when it comes to our products, and we are happy to help the future of skincare look more sustainable than ever.

Our focus on sustainable packaging is by using glass bottles versus plastic ones. We emphasize innovative formulations of creating all-natural alpha-hydroxy acids from natural and all-natural fruits and plants. So, which is it? Glass Bottles or Plastic for Sustainable Skincare Packaging?

The Big Decision

A significant debate for green and sustainable beauty and skincare brands is the dilemma of which is a better choice to use, glass or plastic when it comes to packaging their product.

Things taken into consideration are.

• Greenhouse emissions in transportation/production
• Cost
• Compatibility
• Recyclability

Some companies will go with plastic bottles, and some will choose glass to packaging their product. Whatever the case, the burden of glass and plastic when it comes to the environment alters as early as when basic materials are harvested.

How Nonie of Beverly Hills Helps You Make Greener Skincare Choices

We love our AHAs and our planet too, now what is a girl to do? Don’t worry, you can use your Alpha Hydroxy Skincare and be an eco-conscious skincare lover. We got you covered. Nonie of Beverly Hills is very conscious of the environment where we all live and breathe. With that in mind, all of our products are hand-filled into recyclable pyrex-glass bottles only days prior to shipment.

We do this as a contribution to help preserve our environment and to ensure our customers the freshest quality product that will never be contaminated by a disintegrating plastic bottle.

Our bottles also have a pump dispenser which is easy to use and prevents germs and dirt on your hands from ever entering the bottle.

Nonie brings this quality to you as each batch is still formulated by hand and guaranteed to contain the same all-natural ingredients that have been passed down over the years.

100% Natural

Our products are formulated from a blend of the finest natural ingredients, plant oils, organic juices, and plant proteins that are found in nature.

Vegan Approved

Our Alpha-hydroxy skin care products contain no detergent, animal derivatives, by-products, mineral oil, petrochemicals, parabens, perfume, or alcohol. We never test on animals, so they are excellent for the vegan and vegetarian communities.

No Water Needed

There is no water needed for Nonie of Beverly Hills products. Simply use cotton pads with your beloved AHA products until the face is clean and dry.

Selecting Eco-Friendly Skincare Product Packaging

If you carefully have a compost pile at your home or bring your bags to the grocery store, the important fact is that you are conscious about your impact on the earth.

With the crazy weather that has happened, snowstorms in Texas, your mind then turns to global warming. It’s difficult not to worry about your actions and their impact on our planet; we at Nonie of Beverly Hills think about it too.

For us, clean, green, or eco-friendly skincare, whatever label you want to put on it, the ingredients we use in our alpha hydroxy acid skincare come from a sustainable approach and are our number one focus.

We all get up every morning, venturing into our bathrooms happily that we did it again, changed up our skincare and beauty regimes to safe, clean, and eco-friendly alternatives.

Your products now contain vegan, organic, and all-natural ingredients. But wait for just a second; given all your new eco-conscious awareness, how can you be holding a PLASTIC bottle in your hands?

Wouldn’t it be a healthier solution for your body, skin, and not the mention of the planet if all your cleansers, moisturizers, and even the Aquafina bottles of water we drink from came in glass bottles and containers?

Despite the many advantages that plastic packing can have (lower costs), it has developed a not-so-cool reputation for its negative impact on our planet. Skin and beauty consumers and intense media attention have resulted in some positive skincare and beauty product packaging changes.

Skincare brands and beauty brands are trying to be more ethical and sustainable when it comes to the products produced and their packaging choices.

Most companies have offered the change to now glass bottles and jars as options to the old school plastic bottle.

Although these methods help to some degree, they still come with challenges that may not always be evident.

What Does it Mean to Live Sustainably?

Living sustainably means making choices that have less of an impact on the environment and human livelihoods. Sustainable skincare is essentially choosing products that will meet our skin and beauty needs, without harshly impacting the environment or safety of humans.

We all want to make good product choices, for the environment and for ourselves. It can definitely be overwhelming to think of all the potential impacts, the certifications you should follow, the ingredients, and the list go on and on… But it doesn’t have to be difficult to build a sustainable skincare routine.

Remember, we vote with our dollars — so choosing a better product makes the largest possible impact! It is our responsibility to make environmentally conscious choices… This involves a little bit of planning first.

Recycle Your Empty Skincare and Beauty Products

Over 29 million tons of plastic end up in landfills every year. The average American throws away 159 pounds of plastic every year, with more than half throwing away empty skincare and beauty products. But many of those empties are recyclable. Product packaging, lipstick tubes, eyeshadow pans, glass bottles, and plastic bottles are all recyclables. Always check the bottom before you chuck. If there is a 1 or 2 on the bottom, rinse it out and recycle it. FYI, our bottles are 100% recyclable.

How to Make Your Skincare Routine More Sustainable

A new season is upon us, and there is no time like the present to clean out your skincare arsenal and make a switch over to more sustainable skincare. Check out our blog, “Flourish into a New Season with the Perfect Spring Skincare Routine,” which can help you do just that.

It’s super simple to make little swaps for a huge impact.

How to Choose Sustainable Packaging

Reusable Packaging

• Reusable — glass bottles are multi-use, just clean off the label and clean out with a light 1–2% bleach solution (1 tsp bleach to 1-gallon water). Jars, spray bottles, lotion bottles and more can be reused for D.I.Y. glasses or for bulk products!

Recyclable Packaging

• Recycle ready — Glass and Metal are the easiest to recycle, but plastic can be recycled as well, try to choose PET, PETE (polyethylene terephthalate) HDPE (high-density polyethylene).

Compostable Packaging

• Compostable — Tons of products are available with natural ingredients, in bulk to fill your reusable containers (like clays, flour, botanical powders, oils, soaps, bar soap) or in compostable paper-based containers.

What are the Different Life Cycles of Glass & Plastic Bottles?

So, both plastic and glass bottles are made of non-renewable resources. Glass is primarily made up of silica. Silica is an oxide of silicon with the chemical components of o SiO₂, commonly most found in nature, ground-up sand, or quartz.

Plastic, on the other hand, comes from petrochemical (an example of this is oil). Grains of sand are a natural element found in mother nature, and oil is not. Moreover, the processing and extraction of petrochemicals are way more damaging environmentally than mining for sand.

Yet, polyethylene terephthalate or PET is the material that pretty much all plastic soda bottles and water bottles are made with. It is considered one of the top eco-friendly plastic materials out there.

PET does not release any toxic or harmful gasses when burned, or nor does it contain any harmful components like phthalates.

Because of the creation of suitable technology with the extensive and lower costs of plastics production, it has been pretty much the most used form of packaging in skincare and beauty products up until recently.

Pros for Plastic Packaging?

The biggest reason behind plastic packaging as a choice by companies is the massive cost savings it offers. There are also the benefits of flexibility when it comes to usage.

On the upside, plastic is light. If it’s single-use, from a carbon-usage-during-manufacture perspective, plastic is actually best because it’s lighter than comparative glass packaging. Its weight and durability are also beneficial in shipping since plastics can be packed tightly and take less carbon emission to transport.

Bad for the Environment

We’ve all seen it, maybe hiking in the woods, walks along the beach, plastic items disregarded in nature.

Not only can this hurt wildlife, but it is just bad for nature. Did you know that it can take up to 450 years for plastic bottles to break down? If these plastic bottles make it to a landfill, the disintegration will take thousands of years.

At the same time, plastic bottles can extract toxic and harmful chemicals into the air.

The Cons of Plastic Bottles

Producing plastic requires using crude oil/natural oil and lots of chemistry. The result is a polymer that gets shaped into soda bottles, fruit containers, and skincare packaging. As you may know, oil and natural gas exist in, well, the earth, which means creating plastic takes a lot of drilling and fracking that can have a negative impact on the environment.

Recycling is a great idea for these man-made bottles in theory, but not all plastic is fully recycled. Yep, you read that right. Even if it does end up in the blue bin, it has one or two more lifecycles at best depending on what type of plastic it is. Plastic sitting in landfills or at the bottom of the ocean causes harm to wildlife because most leache chemicals when heated.

If things continue this way, it's estimated that by the year 2025 there will be more plastic than fish in the ocean. Point. One. For. Glass.

Glass Bottles for Packaging Skincare and Beauty Products.

Now for glass. Old glass is part of all new glass recipes, meaning all glass containers are produced using some measure of cullet — chopped up, post-consumer glass. Recycling plants prefer cullet to pre-consumer glass (or virgin glass) for its ability to dissolve at a much lower temperature. To make more glass accessible, abundant earth elements like limestone or sand are used. Once recycled, glass never loses quality or durability meaning it has infinite lifecycles.

And glass is easier to recycle. Plastic containers that are fixed with other components, like metal springs or unmarked plastic, cannot be recycled. Glass, on the other hand, is 100% recyclable! Even if it doesn’t get made into another bottle, it can be used for things like tiles, sandblasting, or concrete.

There is One Downside to Glass Bottles.

However, on the other hand, glass bottles are more expensive for skincare and beauty manufacturers cost-wise and are more fragile and heavier. Some consumers often worry about shipping a glass bottle since they can be higher in price due to the product’s heaviness versus plastics.

Who is with us? Isn’t it more important for the safety of not only yourself but the environment as well, to spend a few extra bucks on shipping and get glass bottles? With one hand you have a pretty plastic container. In the other, a shiny glass bottle. In an eco-sustainable standstill, which one do you pick?

So, what is the Verdict When it Comes to Glass vs Bottle Packaging, Which One Do I Pick?

Next time you’re looking to pick up some new skincare products and want to be as eco-friendly as possible, consider choosing glass bottles, and a company that puts the earth first. Glass is the way to go as it can be recycled repeatedly.

Know that your AHA skincare products from Nonie of Beverly Hills are produced in a sustainable matter and shipped to you in a glass bottle. Have the peace of mind that at least one aspect of your life, your Alpha Hydroxy Acid skincare products, manufactured and purchased with Nonie, is not being contaminated by potentially dangerous chemicals, we care about and love the planet as much as you do.

Ready to Make the Switch? Try the Best Alpha Hydroxy Acids and not to Mention Ethically Sustainable Products by Nonie of Beverly Hills.

If you are currently using plastic skincare bottles, time for some spring cleaning. Change over to the eco-friendlier ones of glass bottles. New to Alpha Hydroxy Skincare? No problem. Make sure to read our blog, Aha or Bha? How to Pick the Right Exfoliant for Your Skin

Check out our excellent AHA skincare products. We have everything your skin needs to relax, release, restore and renew for the spring while maintaining a sustainable skincare routine.

Your skin can have that springtime glow by using our products made with all fresh and natural ingredients, giving glowing benefits for your skin.

Shop now, and get FREE 2-day shipping on orders over $100.00 to the US and Canada.