So with the high likelihood of humanity trotting its way to impending doom via global climate change in the near future— not to be dramatic or anything—, there is constant buzz across social media and real life on what consumers can do to lessen their carbon footprint. Ditching single use plastics, Meatless Mondays, composting, upcycling, shaming anyone who dares asks for a straw; you get the idea. I try to be environmentally sound where I can, and I began thinking about hair care since as a curly haired person, I end up buying a ton of products, most of it being plastic bottles out the wazoo.
Between conditioners, treatments and stylers, it’s hard to not be wasteful when you want healthy, happy and good-looking hair. But surely there has to be ways to compromise on that waste to have the hair you want, save money, and be kind to the planet. So I looked over the products I own and brands which other folks talk about, and I researched on consumer hacks and DIY methods for sustainable hair care.
The results? Well, let’s break down the three most doable options and their pros and cons.
Switching from Bottles to Bars
Instead of buying bottle after bottle, you can switch your shampoo and conditioner over to bar form. It’s all the same ingredients without any of the plastic. Shampoo and conditioner bars last anywhere from 50 to 80 washes depending on your hair length and frequency of washing. Best of all, they’re great for travel without fussing about liquids accidentally spilling in the rest of your toiletries or TSA’s fussing on the right number of ounces.
Jason And The Argan Oil with a Lush round metal tin
One of the best known brands for shampoo and conditioner bars is Lush. This company prides in reducing waste with package-free products, recycled packaging and using the freshest, ethically-sourced ingredients. Not only do they have shampoo and conditioner bars, but their solid hair care products also include oil treatments, henna hair dyes, a styler, and a co-wash. However, most of their products still use sulfates, which doesn’t sit well with most curly haired folks. I still use my Lush shampoo bar on days when I’m super grimy, and thankfully, my hair doesn’t dry out, but I’m careful to not overdo it as a precaution. Certain Lush fragrances can also be overpowering, and because some products are heavy in oils, if you accidentally use too much, you’ll weigh your hair down.
Thankfully, Lush isn’t the only brand on the bar hair care game. Shea Moisture has a small variety of shampoo bars, which I definitely need to try out. JR Liggett’s is another common brand I see popping up alongside Lush, and I’ve seen another called Ethique at Target which I wanna explore more of. You can also make your own shampoo and conditioner bars if you have the time, all the ingredients, and the right recipe. DIY is quite an investment, but if you’re itching for a new project and knowing for sure what’s in your products, the options are there.
However, there are a couple drawbacks to switching to bar form:
1. You can’t replace your whole routine: Aside from Lush, I have yet to see any variety of bar stylers, and I seriously doubt anyone figured out how to compact deep conditioners and gels into bars. Most conditioners can be easily converted into leave-ins, but that’s really it as far as bar hair care goes. So depending on your hair needs, you’ll probably still have buy some plastic containers. And of course, with trying any new products, you may come across items your hair won’t like, and you’ll have to do some trial-and-error to find a cocktail which works for your needs.
2. You have to be diligent to make the bars last: Unlike bottles where you can just leave them on the shower shelves, no big deal, you can’t do that with bars. If left in the shower without proper containers, the bars will slowly dissolve and crumble, stick to the shelves, and, heaven fucking forbid, may become a breeding ground for mold and mildew. The last thing you need is money going down the drain. Just throw down the extra few dollars for bar containers, and you’ll be good to go!
This was the main catalyst for me exploring environmental sustainability in hair care since I use a plastic cap every wash day for deep conditioning. Sometimes I’ll reuse grocery bags when I’m feeling really cheap (and I hoard them under the sink out of habit), but it’s still using plastic week after week. Disposable plastic caps are too easy to go to since they mostly adjust to any size of head with any hair type and length, so we usually don’t think of more eco-friendly alternatives like freaking reusable shower caps. Yeah, the solution is so stupid simple, I don’t know why I haven’t done this sooner.
This requires a bit of research, because a lot of product descriptions don’t want to be specific what material lines the inside of the caps, and you don’t just want to throw on whatever and hope it works. I recommend focusing on products with enough customer reviews to gauge if a certain reusable cap is right for you, especially if you have long or afro-textured hair. I found one from Lulu Beauty through Ulta which seems promising enough, so I have my fingers crossed that it’ll suit my needs and I can stop wasting plastic. Most options I skimmed through in a couple stores range from $5 to $10, maybe $15 to $20 if you want it made out of King Midas’s silver or whatever. And in the long run, I know it’s going to be way cheaper than constantly buying packs of disposable shower caps.
One of the biggest issues in switching over to a reusable cap is that it’s very difficult to find a wide variety of such in most retail stores. That’s when the temptation to just go to Amazon kicks in, and I’m trying to not make that my automatic go-to site for shopping unless absolutely necessary. I don’t like giving Amazon my money as much as the next person, but I’m also a tired millennial without a car who loves convenience and options. Just the little joys of trying to be an ethical consumer in late stage capitalism. It’s worth checking through Ulta or Target or anywhere else first if at all possible. But if Amazon provides the best variety of what you’re looking for, I won’t shame you; I don’t have time for that, and I don’t know your life.
And speaking of companies and ethical consumption, that brings me to my last point…
Support Sustainable Companies & Pressure Others to Follow Suit
Left to Right: Maui Moisture’s Nourish & Moisture Conditioner, Smooth & Repair Shampoo, and Nourish & Moisture Weightless Oil Mist
Individual choices are fine and dandy, and any little effort we make helps. But to make the biggest impact, we gotta hone in on the companies that genuinely care about environmental sustainability, both in packaging and ingredients.
A lot of major go-to brands for curly hair already have a knack for ethically sourced ingredients and recycled packaging. All of Maui Moisture’s packaging is post-consumer recycled, and some select Shea Moisture packaging is made out of recycled resin. Not Your Mother’s is constantly pushing their Naturals lines to deliver salon quality with 98% naturally derived ingredients. And some brands which focus on solid beauty bars, like JR Liggett’s and Ethique as mentioned earlier, make it a mission to go plastic-free and ethically source all their ingredients
Another brand which sticks out most on environmental sustainability is Love Beauty and Planet. While I only tried out their rose hair mask, I appreciate their intensive dedication to do right for hair care and the planet. They admit their shortcomings and the difficulty to be perfectly sustainable, but they’re always looking for ways to do better with tangible goals in mind. They even recently changed their shampoo formula to sulfate-free! If you haven’t seen their website or social media on their sustainability goals, I definitely recommend doing so.
The fun thing about beauty companies is that they pay attention to demographic shifts, and they will do everything to target certain consumers to guarantee higher profits. Fenty Beauty starts off with 50 shades of foundation, which includes dark skin tones? Time to broaden the variety of foundations! Curly hair folks lean towards sulfate and silicone free formulas? Change up the formulas and throw in natural extracts!
Garnier Fructis is one of those brands really itching for the curly hair market by shifting towards more natural formulas without sulfates and silicons. Their One-Minute Hair Masks are the most impressive of this feat, especially with the recyclable containers and the list of ingredients. I actually love that the larger size uses all that space to break down where each ingredient comes from; I don’t know why most products of anything don’t do this, cause I think consumers get too paranoid on ingredients when there’s a big word they don’t automatically know. While Garnier Fructis is taking baby steps compared to most other brands, at this point, any progress a company can make to do better by their customers and Mother Earth is better than no progress. With companies and corporations being the largest producers of unneeded waste, we can’t afford to give them too much leeway anymore.
Sadly, I haven’t found any methods to go completely waste free as far as hair care goes. And that is completely fine. A lot of dialogue in reducing waste, especially plastic use, focuses far too much on shaming consumers for not being perfectly ethical, and I’m not here for that. We can always make the effort to do so, but it takes time to shift purchasing habits, and some alternatives may be too expensive. The best action we can practice is showing support for companies aiming for environmentally sustainable. We only got one planet Earth, and we all need to do our part to help it heal!
Environmental Sustainability & Hair Care: Is it Possible? So with the high likelihood of humanity trotting its way to impending doom via global climate change in the near future— not to be dramatic or anything—, there is constant buzz across social media and real life on what consumers can do to lessen their carbon footprint.
