What’s a green girl to do about all those empty lipstick tubes and eyeshadow cases she’s bound to amass? The bad news is that municipal recyclers don’t accept mystery plastics like those that come with cosmetics. Too bad Origins hasn’t instituted its open-door recycling policy here at its U.S. counters you can drop off any cosmetics packaging. M·A·C only takes back its own chem-laced products.
What you can do in the future is look for refillable makeup packaging. Manitoba’s Pure Anada online shop has refills for foundation, and upon request for blush and eyeshadow (thepureboutique.com). Vancouver’s Sappho Organic Cosmetics (sapphocosmetics.com) offers blush and eyeshadow refills. Jane Iredale and Ecco Bella both have a wide selection of product refills, as does more mainstream Aveda.
By the way, you can also use empty lipstick tubes as mini-containers for everything from DIY sewing kits to emergency safety pins or bobby pins. And go DIY to recycle your whittled lipstick stubs by pressing them into one of those seven-day plastic pill sorters you can score at the drugstore. Talk about a personalized palette of recycled shades!
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