Letter Asking for Plastic-Free Deodorant
Week 16
The deodorant industry produces over 15 million pounds of plastic waste every year and they should be held accountable for it. This week's letter is to leading deodorant brand, Degree, requesting more sustainable deodorant tubes. Please use this template to write your own letter asking for change.
Good afternoon,
My name is Ali and I’ve been using Dove deodorant since I went through puberty in middle school. Now, two decades later, I’ve been making a conscious change to reduce my carbon footprint and I’ve started to notice how much waste I’ve been contributing to our precious earth. This includes waste from your deodorant sticks.
I’m writing to see if you’ll consider making your deodorant tubes from a material other than plastic. The mixed plastics mean your empty sticks cannot be recycled. Even if they were recyclable, 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.
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. I’ve seen other natural brands use compostable cardboard, infinitely recyclable aluminum, or no packaging at all, making them significantly more sustainable.
It's no secret that plastics have become increasingly problematic and our earth is suffering from the exorbitant amount 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 Dove take a stand in protecting our environment.
Thank you for your time,
Ali Hall