There are three most popular types of skincare packaging: aluminium, glass, and various plastics. Packaging is perhaps the most neglected aspect of green skincare. Even when the juice is all roses and zero chemicals, the bottle often contains some of the worst environmental offenders. If you are paying attention to what goes inside the bottle, you may soon find yourself wondering, what’s the very bottle doing to the environment – and ultimately, your health.
From the very start, on a shoestring budget when launching Petite Marie Organics, I wanted to go with glass. Amber glass is practical and recyclable, it leaches zero chemicals into the product, and it’s undeniably the most glamorous solution. However, there’s an issue of using glass around babies. While I have never had any accidents with glass baby bottles, I completely understand that not all moms are as confident about glass as I am (hey gals I’m still using bottles that are five year old to feed babies at play dates or feed herbal cough tea to my 5-year old when she’s ill). So I will probably try one of the safer plastics.
There’s no way I am using aluminum for my product packaging. While aluminum seems to be eco-friendly and easily recyclable, thereâ??s a concern about aluminum leaching into products, especially if they have a higher acidity. While the risk may be minimal, I’d rather err on side of caution. Many cautious doctors now recommend not baking food in aluminum foil and cooking in aluminum pots and pans.
Anyway, it appears that plastic is not the worst of evils. I needed to find a plastic that does not leach and is recyclable, and there are a few types of plastic that match my needs.
My number one choice is #5 PP (polypropylene). I will rather not use #2 HDPE (high density polyethylene), or a #4 LDPE (low density polyethylene) simply because I strongly dislike anything that involves 1,4-Dioxane-producing ethoxylation. But then again, these plastics are recyclable and do not leach anything harmful into products.
By all means I will stay away from formaldehyde-releasing #3 polyvinyl, carcinogen-releasing #6 polystyrene and #7 polycarbonate. The latter may leach bisphenol-A, a xenoestrogen. Bisphenol A is a a known endocrine disruptor, meaning it disturbs the hormonal messaging in our bodies. Synthetic xenoestrogens are linked to breast cancer and uterine cancer in women, decreased testosterone levels in men, and are particularly devastating to babies and young children. BPA has even been linked to insulin resistance and Type 2 Diabetes.
