What do you do with empty packaging? For boxes? For tubes? For glass/plastic containers?
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I recycle what I can by putting it in the recycling bin (like not recycle in the sense of “I’ll find another way to use it”), because I’m trying really hard not to hang onto clutter.
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I have this huge box where i keep all my boxes e.g. Mac ones, collections from Mac boxes that kind of thing. I just cant throw them away! :’)I really should recycle…
With MAC I just put them into my Back to MAC bag. But with other brands I just throw them away. Now im thinking about recycling them.
i was keeping all my empty boxes too! i figured to just opened/cut opened these packages and lined the inside of my sephora box with them.. they make a nice collage! =)
I recycle all the empty packaging, unless I think it will be useful for storing more than one piece of make up then I will keep it.
i use empty boxes to store listicks, blushes msfs etc by cutting them in half and sticking them together
and any used up palettes get a new life as a lipstick palette, i melt the dregs of lippies and pour them into the palettes.
anything else gets recycled in the recycling bin or B2M
I keep all of them! I just can’t bear to throw them away. ;(
I also put them in the recycling bin. Small sample packaging I keep, they come in handy for sorting and storing small stuff like jewellry (earrings and such)
i tried to wave bye to those lovely packaging but just has the freak habit of keeping them in their original packaging.
like illamasqua blush, i put them back into their box after use for fear they would get scratches like what my bobbi brown one encounter.
I like to keep my Mac boxes, bags and containers. I have a spot for my Back to Mac stuff.
With all of my other stuff I just toss it.
I tend to hang on to most boxes even if I’m already using the products that came in them (just put the products back into the boxes), easier to store them like that (and I just can’t chuck them out, it doesn’t feel right, lol). This usually only applies to high end stuff, although drugstore make up hardly ever comes in boxes anyway. I did recycle quite a few Mac eyeshadow boxes though as I transferred them into my first ever 15 palette. 🙂 As I hardly ever finish anything, I don’t throw away much, but if I do, I recycle what I can (paper, glass, some plastic) and throw out what I can’t.
I actually use old packaging for new stuff.
Eyeshadows I totally hit pan on become the new packaging for pressed pigments. 🙂
PS: I found your blog yesterday, while watching the sigmashopping channel on youtube. I think you’re pretty amazing. And I already read a lot of your posts, even if I’m not able to buy about 40% of the things. (Unfortunately there is no Sephora in Germany)
Aww, so glad you found us 🙂 Hopefully you’ll be able to find a few things you can pick up in Germany!
At home, I keep the packaging as long as I have the product. I personally find it’s a lot easier to store things that way. My kit for freelancing however is packaging free so, where possible, all empty boxes get recycled.
I recycle them!!
Yeahhh….I have every bag box and receipt for every mac purchase ive ever made. For some reason i just cant bear to throw them away. I have a massive bag of them haha
I recycle the empty boxes and for the B2Ms I put them in a bag for safe keeping.
I keep all the boxes that MAC cosmetics comes in. Actually I keep all the boxes from any makeup company. I just can’t seem to let go. In my mind I keep them to justify the fact that I might want to return it, but that never happens either.
I recycle some and throw some out. For MAC, I B2M what I can. As for limited edition packaging, I keep it sometimes unless it is so damaged beyond repair then I would throw it away. If it is a pretty compact from Guerlain and it is limited edition like the Tsarina, then I will keep it. For limited edition box packaging ie hello kitty, heatherette and etc, I keep it and cut them up and paste it in a sketchbook when I can.
I recycle some of the boxes and keep others for no reason : ) I definitely recycle tubes and plastic packaging through Origins’ Recycling Program – they take packaging from any brand and give you deluxe samples!
Wow! You get deluxe samples from Origins for recycling. Over here, we get only 1 or 2 sachets, no matter how many empties we bring to their shop, and worse, many times, the SA will just tell us that they are out of samples! Stingy SAs!
I recycle empty packaging when possible. Prettier packaging I keep and store away. I try not to keep too much though as it becomes too cluttered.
I Back to MAC whatever I can, and even if I think it won’t count (i.e. lipglass minis), I’ll still give it to them.
Anything else, I just recycle in my recycling bins, except for if it’s super pretty. Then I might find a way to reuse it, or just stash it away somewhere. I’ve also reused some packaging – like the boxes that the face kits came in this year – to store mini lipglasses, lipsticks, etc.
I put all the boxes in one bag each month to see how much I buy and then recycle them after the month is up. Putting them in boxes gives me an idea of how much I spend. Then with empty containers I either throw them out or if they’re MAC I B2M them.
i just toss most of it, with the exception of Lush containers.
I B2M the MAC primary packaging, of course, but I usually recycle the rest. I do reuse some secondary packaging (boxes) for organizing or just for keeps if its pretty.
I keep all my MAC boxes, but I really should recycle them 🙂
I keep Benefit’s boxes, just because their boxes are SO cute and I love their packaging because none of it is the same. And boxes from MAC collections. But that’s it because it seems to me that most companies have boring packaging that I don’t want to keep… 🙂
I actually turn as many things as possible into art supplies.
I hang on to extra pretty packaging (Fresh, for example) as well to re-use in a variety of ways. Other stuff that I don’t want to up-cycle or re-use, I just recycle, or when not possible, regretfully throw away.
I never toss empty perfume bottles though. Too pretty. I’ll re-fill them with water, and use them for everything from dampening my hair to misting laundry while ironing.
Give them to Origins! 🙂
thin cardboard boxes like mac’s outer packaging go to the recycling bin and i feel masses of guilt for the amount of wastage!
very thick sturdy ones like korres gift sets or mac online delivery packaging get reused….to store makeup! i tend to collage images from fashion mags etc on them to ‘decorate’. sounds teeny bopperish, but i promise it isn’t. i have a couple where i’ve used beauty soap boxes…those are really good for storing paint pots and fluidlines for example…
anyway, glass and plastic jars usually get used for travel or homemade beauty remedies, or sometimes end up in the kitchen to store tiny stuff like spices, nuts, etc…
I use some of the fancier packaging for art projects (art class at school, yes I still have one of those) but otherwise I just throw it away/recycle so I don’t get a lot of clutter.
Keep It!
Well for all my MAC stuff I normally throw away the boxes they come in UNLESS it has limited edition stuff on it. Like I kept the boxes from hello kitty and style warrior because of the pattern. The normal black boxes I recycle though. I also kept le containers instead of putting them towards B2M. The left over normal containers I B2M though 🙂
I take my MAC plastic cases back.. they give you a free lipstick for every 6 you take in 🙂
some MAC eyeshadow boxes i have saved. i am a scrapbooker. they are going to come in handy soon 🙂
limited edition MAC packaging (neo sci fi, alexander mcqueen, hello kitty, fafi are getting saved. i am a scrapbooker 🙂
all plastic goes back to MAC. Oh and I save boxes of some things for ingredient lists. Specifically skin care. When the product is done, the packaging gets recycles.
I recycle boxes, and B2M the MAC empties.
I just throw them out but I’ll try to recycle from now.
Unfortunately, I have to admit I have a huge collection of empty packaging underneath my bedside table… I am not sure what Im going to do with them teehee. I started keeping it just in case I wanted to return or swap some items… and then some I kept because the limited edition packaging was too cute to throw away (MAC holiday pigments, Tsumori Chisato for Shu Uemura, etc) but… then I just kind of got into the habit of keeping everything…
i clean it and use it to hide money in
ohh i though we were talking about the jars and lipstick cases
I keep MAC and bring them B2M. And throw away all the others.
I recycle what I don’t use, and I keep the blush, palettes, and quad boxes for storage or if I have to travel..they’re much easier to keep in their boxes for that purpose.