Cosmetic Companies Growing A Little Bit Greener Every Day

According the the EPA, approximately 1/3 of landfill waste is made up of cosmetic packaging such as glass and plastic jars, bottles, tubes, caps, lipstick covers.

Those small little tubes and caps and containers sure do add up -- how many do you think that you've thrown away in your life time?

I'm sure that most women "in the know" are aware of Origins recycling program (Return To Origins) which was recently launched in an effort to positively impact the bottom line and encourage more consumers to step away from their garbage cans in favor of a better alternative.

In effect, they encourage everyone to bring their old cosmetic containers -- no matter what brand they are -- to the closest Origins location and in exchange for your efforts, they will offer a free sample of one of their most popular products.

That's a nice little way to lure us to do the right thing, and it's a clever marketing tactic on their end.

All plastic or glass resin bottles, jars, caps and tubes are separated and sent to recyclers who will grind, wash and re-palletize or isolate recyclable components so that they can be reused in new items, such as bottles, jars, closures, paint cans and park benches.

Materials that can not be recycled, such as secondary packaging like sample containers, cosmetic applicators and tools, puffs, sponges, spatulas, swabs, sharpeners, etc. are instead used for energy recovery.

What that means is that mixed municipal waste is fed into large furnaces dedicated solely to burning trash and producing power via the production of steam and electricity, "while strictly controlling emissions."

While it's not a perfect system, it is a step in the right direction.

Aveda and The Body Shop have been staunch proponents of recycling their packaging, but do you know of any others that are walking a greener path?

I don't want to dismiss Origins admirable eco-efforts, but do you think that it's slightly hypocritical of them to offer a sample size of one of their most popular products given the fact that the packaging is going to end up landfill-bound or incinerated?