The beauty industry is moving towards recycled ingredients and brands like The Switch Fix are already creating a niche of their own.
Currently, the beauty industry has been growing in leaps and bounds. And the growth has been phenomenal. Of course, it’s still a work in progress but we cannot deny the lengths it has gone to – homegrown beauty products, natural ingredients, Ayurveda significance, vegan produces, recycled paper packaging and many new innovative methods that brands have been actively putting forward in their ethos.
A generous amount of food waste occurs regularly and finding innovative ways to put food waste to productive use is an essential part of a healthy and sustainable lifestyle. Have you ever considered applying food waste to your face? Well, homegrown personal brand The Switch Fix is making it possible with their cleaner and more sustainable products.
Food Waste To Eco-Conscious Beauty
India is the world’s largest dairy producer. The dairy industry, with its methane burping cattle, adds an average of 250-500 litres of methane each every day, a pollutant 23 times more heat-trapping than CO2. Further, in a water-scarce country like ours, it takes about 900 litres of water to produce just 1 litre of milk. So, what’s the alternative?
The Switch Fix took the step by collaborating with Goodmylk, a plant-based dairy making platform towards creating a one-of-its-kind shampoo bar, having nutrient-rich oat and cashew milk. The ‘Mylky Way Shampoo Bar’ helps cope with the frizziness, lathers delightfully, remoisturizes and strengthens hair caused due to rising humidity.
Talking about the launch, Rhea Shukla, co-founder of the brand said, “As our country faces soaring heat and rising pollution, we need more effective as well as sustainable ways to cope. We love how Goodmylk is making plant mylk more accessible and easy to adopt in a dairy loving country. We couldn’t help but incorporate it, with all its protein-richness to help our collective tribe ace that plant-based lifestyle.”
Earlier, they also collaborated with Blue Tokai, a coffee roastery chain for repurposed coffee scrubs. Globally, 23 million tonnes of coffee go to waste every year. Rhea adds, “The Switch Fix is always seeking ways to make more conscious beauty options easily accessible to their tribe. We loved the sustainability efforts made by Blue Tokai and were thrilled to find a way to utilize their excess coffee and repurpose it into tremendous body scrubs.”
Starting With The Switch Fix
Our daily lives have become synonymous with stress, giving rise to the notion of ‘self-care. To cope with the stressful nature of our world currently, it makes sense to practice self-care. What doesn’t make sense is to practice self-care that’s replete with bad chemicals and further hurts our planet. That’s how the brand was born.
“It was increasingly becoming clear how much our health is being affected by the consequences of climate change. Knowing how much of an impact our consumption behaviour has on our planet and the busy lives we lead, we’ve created a fix for our planet that’s as simple as a switch. Hence, we call ourselves ‘The Switch Fix’.” tells Rhea.
One of their main product highlights would be the shampoo bars that allow for an easy green fix and they are the latest trend in hair care products. Because shampoo bars eliminate the use of plastic bottles, perfect for travelling, are mega concentrated (means you can save on your water usage) and generally last longer than bottled versions.
Rhea adds, “The idea stems from the notion – how best can we solve for new-age stressors like rising pollution, soaring temperature and anxiety without further adding to it? Our specialized and plant-based shampoo bars act as a fix to all these problems. The shampoo bars are water-saving, plastic-free and petroleum-free and help solve concerns like hair fall, dandruff and frizziness without being a cause of concern for our planet.”
Packaging Lays The Impression
Packaging can play a big role in the amount of waste caused by your beauty routine. However, many beauty brands call themselves to be eco-friendly only to be later found with products coming wrapped in plastics. These acts of greenwashing is a huge no-no.
However, this brand happens to be one that makes a long-lasting impression.
Producing in small batches, all of the products wrapped in minimal packaging using 100% recycled and FSC approved paper. The best part is that they don’t use any plastic to produce or supply their products in plastic. Having an interesting line of products including bamboo toothbrushes, moisturisers, conditioners, hair oils in upcycle-worthy containers. “When an individual switches to our products, they cut down 100% plastic shipping packaging,” comments Rhea.
The audience in India is waking up to the alternative and eco-friendly measures taken by the brands. Even, consumers are actively choosing healthier, or more conscious products. “Being home to the world’s most polluted cities, most of us are aware of the effect it has on our scalp, hair, skin and mental well-being. It stems from people’s own experiences with climate change and its consequences. The Switch Fix believes there’s a delicate balance between our health and our planet’s health.” tells Rhea.
Indian beauty brands are growing enormously and as is the culture of green beauty. But, this again leads to brands and consumers loosely using the terms “sustainable, eco-friendly, eco-friendly’, falling prey to greenwashing. “The Switch Fix has observed consumers being way smarter than older brands would like to believe. Consumers are looking for authentic sustainability efforts,” states Rhea. The Switch Fix believes there is a massive space with enough opportunity for multiple conscious brands to thrive.
Find The Switch Fix products here.
