World Environment Day: How skincare brands are moving towards sustainability and becoming more environment friendly On World Environment Day, observed every year on June 5, we look at how increasingly beauty products are consciously becoming sustainable and environment friendly.

A sustainable lifestyle is increasingly becoming the need of the hour, as it leads to a reduction in our utilization of resources. Once we realize that the earth and its resources need to be preserved for our future generations, only then shall we collectively realize the importance of safeguarding them. On World Environment Day, observed every year on June 5, we look at how increasingly beauty products are consciously becoming sustainable and environment friendly. This year, the theme for Environment Day is "Only One Earth'. The whole idea of spreading awareness on this day is to make people take action towards saving the environment.

"It's the 21st century, consumers disapprove when brands pay for their products or ingredients to be dripped into the eyes of terrified animals, force-fed or pumped into their stomachs in massive amounts, and rubbed onto their raw, shaved skin. As a brand, we believe in saving animals and are against the testing of products on animals. Hence all of our products are PETA certified, and many of our products are vegan," says Dolly Kumar, Founder of Skinella, a skin care line for women.

Skinella has recently introduced Facesheet masks that are made with 100% biodegradable cellulose sheets that make them eco-friendly. Along with the products, the packaging is also recyclable to keep it environment friendly.

Kumar explains that in it is important that the demand side of the sustainability equation should work alongside the supply side. To reduce the environmental impact, we must change how and what we consume, and should opt for biodegradable products and turn into a "green consumer', agreeing that these products are a bit more expensive, but they have a long-term effect on the environment.

Another recently launched brand called VinzBerry is paraben-free, cruelty-free and made of natural ingredients. They have launched a range of personal care and intimate hygiene products for women, acting on research which revealed that over 60% of women have reported experiencing a UTI at least once in their lifetime. With summers looming large in India and working women having to resume daily travel after two years of the pandemic, they are at constant risk of contracting UTIs.

"While travelling across the country, I faced issues with hygiene and contracted UTIs several times. I then started talking to women in the family, colleagues and friends who seemed to have had similar experiences," founder Vineeta Agrawal explains.

But what are the challenges in creating environment friendly products? At the end of the day, profitability needs to be taken care of. A sustainable business should take care of environmental, economic, and social issues and considers them in making business decisions. "A company without an appropriate sustainability plan can overwhelm the business. One of the biggest challenges is the technology and its direct linkage to the cost of the raw materials. Even after innovating new products, there is a challenge to price them at a certain amount for them to be pocket friendly for the consumers," says Kumar in conclusion.

One just hopes that governments and major corporations around the world start doing more to safeguard the environment, before the threat of climate change becomes too big to manage.