Reducing Single-Use Plastics

We all know that plastic—especially single-use plastic—is bad for the environment. That’s why we have a separate recycling bin just for plastic packaging. (But even so, only 10% of the world’s 8 billion tons of plastic is recycled. The rest is piling up in our landfills and our oceans. The idea that anything should be made with the intention of being used only once is novel in the past 70 years, and it’s just so wasteful.)

Only 10% of the world’s 8 billion tons of plastic is recycled

But what isn’t so widely discussed is that plastic actually leeches tiny particles of itself into the foods and drinks it is temporarily housing, and in the case of longer term plastic products (like toys, electronics, and storage containers), these microplastics actually make it onto our skin and into our air. This means that we are literally eating and breathing in plastic. In fact, one 2019 study out of the University of Newcastle in Australia concludes that the average person is ingesting 5 grams of microplastics per week. This is roughly the amount of plastic in a credit card. Per week.

While studies of the direct effects of microplastics in the body are in their infancy, this cannot be good for us. It is widely known that plastics contain harmful chemicals that can adversely affect brain development and disrupt hormones that are linked to fertility in both men and women. Some of these chemicals have already been publicly demonized. People know to purchase products that are “free from” BPA and phthalates, for example. Others—like PFAS, styrene, and PCBs—are less well known but have similarly terrifying effects (nervous system issues, cancer, hearing loss, and most recently lower sperm count, shrinking penis size, and smaller volume of the testes). These stealth chemicals are currently free to roam in the plastics we might not even realize we’re using every day.

At Healthybaby, we are doing everything we can to reduce single-use plastics in our environment. Our Cleaning, Laundry, and Skincare Concentrate systems come with reusable stainless steel bottles, saving an average of 100 single-use plastic bottles per year.

And we are always looking for non-plastic packaging for our products.

Our dry wipes are biodegradable, made of 100% GOTS certified pure, organic cotton grown in the United States. And because they have no formula or liquid added, we can package them in cardboard instead of plastic.

Not all luxury bath products come in bottles. Our soap bar is enriched with manuka honey and pre and probiotics, and is packed in nothing but a simple paper wrapper. Sustainable luxury.

Stay tuned for more non-plastic packaging innovations from us. We will continue to hold ourselves to a higher standard and find the safest packaging options for our—and your—environment.