Sunscreen Guide
/Searching for the holy grail - sunscreen that’s good for you, the planet and not packaged in plastic!
It is now becoming more widely known that chemical sunscreens are not good for us or the planet. It has been suggested that it is best to avoid chemical based products as their safety has not been sufficiently tested. This is explained brilliantly by Dr Gregor in his video Choosing the Safest and Most Effective Sunscreen. As well as not being safe for us, many of the chemicals used are listed on the HEL LIST, a list of chemicals that are known pollutants in many different environments (freshwater streams, river, beaches, and ocean systems) or to wildlife (e.g., corals, fish, birds, marine mammals, sea turtles). All of them pose a threat to Ecosystem Health.
As a result it is advised to use a mineral based sunscreen - zinc oxide or titanium oxide. We opt to look for non-nano zinc oxide, the "non-nano" part means that the particles are not small enough to be absorbed by the skin or enter the bloodstream, which makes it a safer and a more effective choice than nano options. This does mean there can be a slight whiteness when applying but we’ve found with careful application this isn’t too noticable.
In our search we’ve found 3 sunscreens we enjoy using, all avoid plastic packaging:
Shade - in an aluminium tub which can be recycled/reused, a recommended Ethical Consumer product -which we stock in the van
Upcircle Beauty - glass packaging, offer a great postal refill service (use this link to get £10 off your first order!)
Le Rub - packaged in a recycled aluminium tube that can be recycled- good as it has a factor 50 option!
Let us know if you have any others to share?!
Information from: