woman's hand writing address on envelope

Letter Asking for Low-Waste Lip Balm

Week 23

This week I learned about the environmental impact of lip balm and how both the plastic packaging and petroleum based ingredients are problematic. I made a list of sustainable lip balm options, but there are still plenty of companies that need us consumers to ask for change. Burt's Bees already uses all-natural ingredients for their products, but everything is still packaged in plastic. So, this week's letter requesets that they phase out plastics and offer low-waste lip balm options. Use this template to write to your favorite lip balm brand.

Good afternoon,

My name is Ali and Burt's Bees lip balm is my family's favorite since it uses all natural ingredients instead of those icky petroleum based ones. This year, I’m making a conscious change to reduce my carbon footprint and I’ve started to notice how much waste I’ve been contributing to our earth. This includes waste from your plastic lip balm tubes.

I’m writing to see if you’ll consider making a more environmentally friendly lip balm. I know that you offer a recycling program via Terracycle, but that feels like a temporary solution since the EPA has reported that only 8% of plastics are actually recycled. The rest end up in landfills, where they will take hundreds of years to break down, or in our waterways, where they break down into microplastics that cause 100,000 marine animal deaths every year. In fact, it’s estimated that by 2050, there will be more plastic in the ocean than fish. Not to mention the manufacturing of plastic uses oil and causes pollution.

I’m aware that nothing can happen overnight, but at least working towards phasing out plastics would be a huge step in the right direction. Perhaps you could look into compostable paperboard tubes or infinitely recyclable glass and metal tins.

It's no secret that plastics have become increasingly problematic and our earth is suffering from the exorbitant amounts of waste produced by humans. More and more people are becoming aware of these issues and working towards a brighter, cleaner future for the next generation, so I'm certain your consumers would be thrilled to see Burt's Bees take a stand in reducing waste and protecting our environment.

Thank you for your time,

Ali Hall

The Environmental Impact of Makeup →