Envision this: You are a sitting window side on a charter bus from Ohio to Michigan, gaze fixated through the glass. You notice something seems odd about this mid-April day. The sky is grey and cold, the landscape bleak. Trees that once stood rigidly with blooming flowers and succulent green leaves decorating its limbs now stand lifeless and scanty with plastic bags effortlessly hanging onto those limbs, blowing in the wind, hovering over the litter-lined roads.
In 2013, The United States generated over 254 million tons of waste (EPA).
Each U.S. resident accounts for 4.4 pounds per day. These figures do not include large industry, construction or hazardous waste. Globally, over 2 billion tons of waste is produced each year. As the world's population and spending power increases, so will the amount of trash.
One industry that generates large consumer waste is the beauty industry, in 2008 it created 120.8 billion units of packaging.
As the beauty industry grows so does the waste it produces.
Having more revenue than cars and televisions, the beauty industry has reported a 6% annual growth rate for nearly a decade. This growth rate has produced gains for the industry with $450 Billion in annual profit for 2016 (Forbes, 2017).
Ironically, the world's quest for beauty is causing its premature aging.
A study by beauty brand L'Oréal concluded that premature aging is directly linked to the amount Greenhouse Gases (GHG’s) released into the environment. Those GHG’s are released from pollution and waste. The more waste that is generated the earlier people age, thus continuing an endless cycle with a nearing maximum capacity.
Landfills have migrated from land to sea.
The #1 proven method of decreasing pollution is recycling, followed by composting. These disposal methods also create jobs in your community.
ILERA Apothecary Founder has been passionate about beauty and the environment since a young age.
As a child, she loved getting new magazines so that she could create the products found in the DIY section. She co-founded her high school’s environmental club that tackled campus recycling by organizing classroom recycling collections and earned her Masters in Public Health, specializing in Environmental Health Science.
Sustainability, economic development, and education are core values for ILERA Apothecary.
We implore you to join us in preserving the Earth, one upcycled bottle at a time.