Many types of cosmetics exist in the US that are environmentally sound, biodegradable, and/or non-toxic to the environment. It is generally noted that organic certified products are often biodegradable and non-toxic to the environment. Many new types of facial scrubs are utilizing biodegradable ingredients such as organic coconut oil and organic olive oil as prime ingredients, both of which are biodegradable.
What does “biodegradable” really mean? The term biodegradable means any materials or ingredients that have the ability to decompose in the environment naturally. For skincare, there is not a strict legal definition in the US for how biodegradability applies as a “measurement”. So, this can actually be a subjective term!
A great example is that recently plastic microbeads – small plastic balls for exfoliation in shampoos and body scrubs or soaps – were ruled illegal in the US because of negative environmental impact. Billions of these small beads could be found in the sewer systems and were contaminating water systems as well as the environment. So much so that the US made them illegal in July of 2017. These plastic microbeads were NOT biodegradable and would remain in the environment for potentially hundreds of years.
We advise all of our customers to read the ingredients to find ingredients that are not environmentally friendly or non-biodegradable. If you want to be “green” and “organic friendly” with your skincare, avoid plastics and try to find more ingredients that are as natural as possible. For Fivesso soap, as an example, the lye, vegetable oils, essential oils, coffee, and distilled water used are all environmentally biodegradable.