WATERLESS BEAUTY
With water consumption outstripping supply and The World Wildlife Fund predicting that two-thirds of the world’s population may face water shortages by 2025, the beauty industry is starting to realise that it needs to turn off its tap to water consumption.
Global water consumption is probably something that most of us currently take for granted and never think about. But when WWF share stark predictions and numbers, its up to all of us to listen. By the end of May 2020, we will have consumed 1,500,000,000 litres of water alone, with 20% of that used by industry. Fashion is the second largest industry consumer of water after oil, and it takes average of 2,720 litres of water is needed to make one T-Shirt. One!
To put this in perspective, this is as much as you’d drink in over 3 years! Its striking how much water is needed to sustain a typical modern-day lifestyle, so you can see why consumers are adapting their behaviour to better the environment. Waterless as a concept has been around for a while, but until recently, hasn’t really had much of a movement behind it - now though we think its time to make some significant changes.
WATERLESS BEAUTY
When we talk about the waterless trend in beauty, it’s easy to just focus on what is inside the bottle. Retailers release their curated edits of the latest waterless formulations and so it is understandable that consumers would be led into thinking that by opting for a powder cleanser or switching to soap bar, they are doing their bit to help conserve an ever-increasing scarce water supply.
However, to get true picture of water usage and where we can improve, we cannot focus solely on the formulation. True, water is the main filler used in many beauty products; making up to 70-80% of formulations, it has it’s benefits in keeping product costs down and helping sensorially. However, the amount of water used in formulations is just a drop in the ocean to the issue when considering the beauty industries total contribution to the water crisis, which spans much further than just what is inside the bottle.
The average beauty product consumes several thousand litres of water; from producing the ingredients and the packaging, to the manufacturing process and transportation. Therefore, brands need to address the full product cycle to tackle water scarcity. To reduce the overall water footprint of the beauty industry the approach must be holistic and there are a number of key questions we can be asking ourselves throughout the product development cycle:
Ingredient and packaging production:
What is the intensity of water consumption of each individual ingredient?Formulation type:
What is the aqua content of the formulation?Manufacturing process:
How water intensive is the method of manufacture?Transportation:
How does the transportation contribute to water pollution?Usage:
How much water is used when the product is consumed?Disposal and recycling:
How much water is needed to deal with the product waste?
BRANDS GETTING WATERLESS RIGHT
OWA Haircare are rethinking our beauty regimes in creating water-activated formulas in the form of powder shampoos!
Waterless brand, Pinch of Colour, are going above and beyond to do their bit to preserve water by giving back to communities around the world in need of clean drinking water, hygiene and sanitation.
Waterl<ss was born out of the Day Zero water crisis in Cape Town. Its range offers flexible non-wash solutions that can be used without water.
WATERLESS DOES NOT MEAN COMPROMISE
There are clear advantages in moving to a water conscious product strategy.
On average, products are smaller in size and lighter in weight, which means they have a lesser carbon footprint. Also, waterless formulations allow the consumer to benefit from more potent formulations which haven’t been diluted and, because they don’t contain any water, preservatives don’t need to be added which means cleaner formulations
So, lets start thinking waterless…
Start at the beginning - in the product development kick off phase, plan to formulate using water alternatives. For example, oils and extracts can form the base of skincare products instead of water.
Work with raw materials partners to source water-economic alternatives which use less water to grow and preserve biodiversity.
Support the Supply Chain by co-creating targets to improve the manufacturing process, adapting it so that it uses as little water as possible. Opting for formats and textures which require less equipment clean down; improving water usage efficiency and recycling; and using less virtual water in the manufacturing process can all help to keep water consumption to a minimum.
Whilst eco-friendly consumers can generally see how much packaging has been used or wasted in their products, it is less obvious to know the water consumption of a product. Sustainability is more so than ever influencing consumers purchase decisions. This, paired with water scarcity becoming an increasing concern, will mean that customers will rely on brands to not only cut down on their consumption, but to also be transparent with how much or little has been used in the end-to-end production of their products.
If you would like to talk to us about a waterless beauty launch, please get in touch for a chat.
THE BEAUTY BRAND COACH