We all likely have one or two beauty or skincare products we can admit to buying but neglect to use. One influencer is taking this pervasive issue to a whole new level, as shown by one Redditor.
The photo — a screenshot from a video — was shared on the r/Anticonsumption forum and depicts one room in an influencer's home. The caption on the video reads, "I have a full-sized Sephora store," and shows shelves on the room's walls filled with an array of beauty and skincare products. "No one person needs all this," the poster wrote above the photo.
The use of single-use plastics and toxic chemicals in the beauty industry is pervasive. The global beauty industry produces close to 120 million units of packaging each year, which accounts for nearly 70% of the waste in the industry.
When the packaging is disposed of in the landfill, it breaks down and contaminates the environment via microplastics or chemicals leaching from the plastic into the soil and nearby waterways.
Some companies have stepped up to enact recycling programs to help keep recyclable materials out of the waste stream. Some Sephora and L'Occitane stores have made it possible for consumers to bring their product packaging back to stores so it can be properly sorted and recycled. Other businesses, like MOB Beauty, offer recyclable or refillable packaging for customers.
Other users were taken aback by the wastefulness of this influencer's stock. "This would all go bad before you could use it. Ridiculous waste," one commenter wrote.
Some commenters criticized how the influencer is acting as a poor role model to a world plagued by plastic waste and chemicals. "I'm trying to imagine what the carbon footprint of this room alone is," another user shared. "And it's for the edification of who knows how many followers this influencer has somehow become the 'role model' for."
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