It&#;s no secret how we&#;ve been head over heels in love with everything make up, cruelty-free, organic, and natural! Unfortunately, while most of us seek to reduce our carbon footprint, we tend to neglect the fancy containers that came with our stash.

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If you&#;re a makeup junkie like us, you know how easy it is to accumulate a mountain of makeup bottles and bric a brac. But finding new uses doesn&#;t just save you money, it saves the environment too! Here&#;s how to repurpose your old makeup containers.

10 Ways to Repurpose Cosmetic Containers 

#1: Store Bobby Pins in Old Lip Balm Containers

Recycling old makeup containers, cosmetic containers, and other types of receptacles is a piece of cake. Got old lip balm containers? How about bobby pins that seem to disappear the moment you buy them? Then an old lip balm tube can do the trick. Simply slip in and store.

#2: Store Hair Elastics, Earnings, and Other Jewelry in Compact Containers That Have a Mirror

Think empty compacts are hard to recycle? Think again! One way to repurpose this makeup container is by using it to store hair elastics, earrings, and other jewelry. Its small enough to slip into your purse for a girls&#; night out yet big enough to contain the tiny essentials for travel.

#3: Turn Perfume Bottles into Vases

We tend to accumulate empty perfume bottles simply because they&#;re too cute (and too pricey) to part with! So why throw them away? Repurpose these old cosmetic containers into vases and it becomes an elegant piece of home décor.

#4: Make Travel-Sized Containers

Lessen your trips to the dollar store by repurposing cosmetic containers into travel-sized receptacles. An old face powder pot can carry three oz. of moisturizer.

#5: Turn Shampoo Bottles into a Brush Holder

Shampoo bottles are the most versatile of containers. It can lengthen short faucets or be reincarnated as a scoop. Our favorite reincarnation is as brush holder. Cut an empty shampoo bottle a few inches from the bottom. Dull the cut edges, and voila! A holder for makeup brushes!

#6: Turn Any Old Compact Containers into a Perfume Holder

Go retro and store a solid perfume disc in an empty compact. Or you can make your own with this recipe:

• 1 TBSP carrier oil (around 14.5 grams)
• 2 tsp beeswax pellets (6 grams)
• 35-40 drops essential oil

1. Place the carrier oil and beeswax on a glass bowl over a small saucepan filled with water. Allow to fully melt.

2. Pour the liquified oil into a clean, empty compact and let cool for two minutes.

3. Gently stir the essential oil into the liquified carrier oil and beeswax mixture.

As the perfume matures, the scent intensifies. To apply, rub a clean finger across the solid perfume and apply to wrists. Perfume will keep for 12 months.

#7: Use Larger Makeup Containers to Put Together a D.I.Y. Sewing Kit

Our favorite hotel freebies are those nifty sewing kits that seem to contain everything! Make your own with repurposed makeup containers! Loose powder receptacles or even large eye makeup containers can hold sewing essentials such as tiny scissors, a few pins, safety pins, needles and a variety of different colored threads.

#8: Keep Pills in Old Lipsticks

Like how? Simply scrape out remaining lipstick debris and pop in your dose for the day. Old lipsticks make gorgeous repurposed makeup containers and are great substitutes for those boring and bulky pillboxes.

#9: Turn Jars into Beautiful "Pots" for Your Plants

Tiny plant jars are making a come back. Makeup containers as tiny as ink jars or even egg shells are perfect. Simply fill with potting mix, moss, miniature forget-me-nots or violas. Opt for plants with tiny roots and water regularly. Who would&#;ve thought that little pot of gel liner could be so versatile!

#10: Use Old Domestic Containers for Your D.I.Y. Skincare Creations

Taking your recycling efforts to the next level? Forget pricey receptacles. Use what you got. If you make your own skin care cleansers (ex: homemade apple cider toners, DIY facial wash, and facial oil moisturizers), up the recycling ante by using your empty gorgeous makeup containers.

Don&#;t Want to Repurpose? Recycle!

Strictly speaking, Repurposing (adapting for a different purpose) isn&#;t for everything and everyone. Some containers (such as those for nail polish) are not easy to repurpose because of nail enamel&#;s toxic qualities and harmful chemicals.

Which leaves us to recycling&#; recycling is the process of converting whatever waste into reusable material.

What are the benefits of recycling? We know the drill&#; it reduces the waste sent to landfills, saves energy, conserves natural resources, and prevents pollution by reducing the need for new raw materials&#; it&#;s a herculean effort that needs everyone&#;s collaboration.

Fortunately, some of the world&#;s best-known brands have thought this through. Here are brands that have taken their recycling efforts several notches higher:

1. AVEDA &#; Aveda in collaboration with recycling company, g2 Revolution, allows customers to bring in Aveda packaging and accessories to stores. At least 85% of Aveda&#;s hair care PET bottles and jars contain fully (post-consumer) recycled materials.
2. LE LABO FRAGRANCES &#; Customers are given 20% off if they return for a refill.
3. MAC &#; MAC accepts their primary packaging through the Back-to-M.A.C. Program. When you return 6 MAC primary packaging containers to any MAC counter or MAC Cosmetics online, you get a free MAC lipstick of your choice.
4. GARNIER &#; With TerraCycle as partner, Garnier accepts Garnier empties (bottles, bottle caps, hair gel tubes, hairspray triggers) with free shipping.
5. TENOVERTEN &#; This nail salon has partnered with Chemwise who then recycles leftover nailpolish bottles, as well as components such as the plastic cap and brushes.
6. CÔTE &#; This Los Angeles-based salon has partnered with an environmental services company to recycle nail polish bottles. Customers receive 10% off on their next purchase.
7. LILAH B &#; This minimalist make up brand offers a prepaid shipping label with every package. This allows customers to send back old beauty product of any brand, free of charge.

Tips on Recycling Cosmetic & Makeup Containers

Repurposing makeup containers, as well as recycling cosmetic containers, are now made easier by many concerned companies and organizations. Penny & Pine, for instance, is an eco-friendly and sustainable company. Together with the world&#;s best brands, our advocacies go beyond the product. Do your other favorite brands share the same values?

Here&#;s how to find out if your favorite brands support your advocacy:

Tip #1: Check and see if the container's company has a recycling program!

A good number of the world&#;s most known (and expensive) brands offer free shipping and freebies. Check out their product packaging and website for programs, partners, and details.

Tip #2: Recycle those caps

Hard plastic caps used on bottles and skin care products are more difficult to recycle &#; which is why very few offer programs that accept plastic caps. If the company doesn&#;t accept plastic caps, go the extra mile be sending yours to a cap recycling company such as Gimme 5 Caps Recycling or

Tip #3: Clean those containers before throwing them in the recycling bin

Cleaning out containers before throwing them into the recycling bin can be the most generous gesture you could do. It is this extra step that makes a world of a difference.

Tip #4: Contact your recycling company and ask about what you can recycle 

What you CAN recycle can astound you! Do ask around. As technology improves, many recycling programs are finding more ways to reduce landfill waste. All it takes is a call or a quick Google search. 

The pursuit of beauty doesn&#;t have to be destructive to the environment. Repurpose makeup containers and give them a new lease on life or walk that extra mile and get those receptacles into a recycling station!

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It&#;s a great gift we can give to ourselves and to the environment!

Got some tips that fellow make-up aficionados and earth warriors could use? Leave us a comment below!

You reach the last pump of your favorite vitamin C serum or hit pan on your blush and wonder what comes next. Do you toss the empty packing into the recycling bin, hoping the recycling facility will take care of it? Do you disassemble the packaging components and send the recyclable ones away for processing by a third party? Or do you just get overwhelmed and throw it all in the trash?

A report by Greenpeace found that only five percent of plastic waste produced by US households is actually recycled. Plastic recycling hit a high in at 9.5 percent and has been on the decline ever since. Glass, metal, and paper packaging have much better luck, though&#;around 31 percent of glass packaging is recycled. That number increases to 35 percent for aluminum packaging and 68 percent for paper and cardboard packaging.

Below, we detail how to take care of those hard-to-recycle containers responsibly as best you can. The solution is two-pronged: buy products with reusable packaging or glass, metal, or paper packaging. But when you can&#;t, follow these tips to ensure your plastic packaging has the best chance of being recycled and reused.

Find out what you can recycle at home.

First, do a quick Google search to determine the curbside recycling laws in your town or city. Some areas accept only plastic containers labeled with a 1 or a 2, and other regions might take plastic numbers 1 through 7&#;the only way to know is to look into it. 

As a rule of thumb, glass containers, cardboard packaging, and metal containers like hairspray can all usually be thrown into curbside recycling. Plastics like larger containers of shampoo or body lotion bottles can generally join. But when it comes to smaller makeup and skincare packaging, it gets trickier. Sometimes size matters. While plastic items like straws or bottle caps are often recyclable, some cities&#; programs can&#;t recycle items smaller than two inches by two inches.

As a rule of thumb, glass containers, cardboard packaging, and metal containers like hairspray can all usually be thrown into curbside recycling.

A note about labels&#;in general, you don&#;t have to remove an item&#;s plastic label before tossing it in the recycling bin. You&#;ll want to double-check the rules where you live to see if your recycling center requires that labels are taken off, but most don&#;t. If the label is paper, however, it&#;s worth removing it so the label can be recycled separately. 

When you&#;re not positive that an item can be thrown in the curbside recycling bin, it&#;s best to keep it in the trash. In a phenomenon called wishcycling, folks sometimes optimistically throw non-recyclable items into the recycling bin, which backfires when items like unemptied jars or thin plastic bags get stuck in sorting machines or contaminate loads of recycling.

So if an empty skincare or makeup container can&#;t be recycled at home (and most can&#;t), whether it&#;s plastic, glass, or metal, it&#;ll have to be taken care of by a third party.

Recycle your empties through programs like Terracycle.

One of the easiest ways to dispose of hard-to-recycle products: bringing them into stores that have partnered with TerraCycle to accept empty cosmetic containers. Nordstrom, Saks, and L&#;Occitane all have TerraCycle partnerships through which you can recycle cosmetic containers from any brand. Click on the brand name to find the closest dropoff point to you, and if there are none, you can print out a free label to mail in your empties via Saks or L&#;Occitane.

TerraCycle&#;s three beauty product recycling programs accept pretty much all types of waste that are typically impossible to recycle otherwise, like mascara wands, pumps, lids, lipstick tubes, and mirrored compacts. Learn more about what can be recycled at each link.

Colgate sponsors an oral care TerraCycle program through which you can drop off or send in any brand of oral care waste, like toothbrushes and empty toothpaste or floss containers.

Tons of other brands partner with TerraCycle for brand-exclusive recycling programs, like Burt&#;s Bees, Glow Recipe, Supergoop, Paula&#;s Choice, and Garnier. Collect a handful of empties from any of these brands to get a free shipping label and send them away for processing. Plastics recycled by TerraCycle are typically turned into outdoor furniture and decking, storage bins, or even playground equipment. 

Some brands even pay you to recycle empties.

Besides the long list of brands that partner with TerraCycle, others have their own independent recycling programs&#;and some even reward you for responsibly disposing of your cosmetics. 

Drop off your empties from any brand at Credo Beauty&#;s Pact Bin, and you&#;ll receive 10 Credo Reward points per empty. BareMinerals and Kiehl&#;s have similar programs&#;recycle brand-specific containers in-store (or via mail with BareMinerals) to earn rewards points.

Some even reward you for responsibly disposing of your cosmetics. 

At Osea&#;s Venice Skincare Studio, receive a $40 facial gift card for every six Osea empties you return. Mail in five Summer Fridays empties for a $25 Summer Fridays gift card. Aveda even has a returnable shipper program where you can mail your Aveda empties with a reusable shipping container instead of a cardboard box.

Consume cosmetics more sustainably in the future.

When it comes to recyclability, glass and metal packaging, take home the trophy over plastic as they can be recycled more easily and endlessly. Conversely, plastic can only be recycled a couple of times before it breaks down.

The best way to handle plastic responsibility is simply to avoid it in the first place. Brands like Cocokind, Beautycounter, Pacifica, Osea, and Kiehl&#;s use glass packaging for some or all of their products. Still, other brands like Glossier, Kjaer Weis, Milk Makeup, Youth to the People, and Glow Recipe sell refills for some of their popular products to help cut down on packaging. 

The most sustainable decision is usually to acquire only what you need and nothing more.

It&#;s even better yet to only buy what you really need&#;just like the slow fashion ethos; we should all consume cosmetics mindfully. The most sustainable decision is usually to acquire only what you need and nothing more. But whatever you do have, be sure to recycle it when you&#;re through. &#;

Natalie Gale is a Boston-based freelance journalist. When she&#;s not writing about art, food, or sustainability, you can find her biking to the farmers&#; market, baking, sewing, or planning her next Halloween costume. Say hi on Instagram!

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