As India’s pioneer Clean Beauty curators, we at Sublime Life consider sustainability as more than just an underlying philosophy! As our muse as well as mission. While the Clean Beauty space is largely about non-toxic ingredients that are better for the skin and its health, it is also about being mindful about the massive impact on the environment and managing it in the best way possible. This drives us towards the optimal utilisation of available resources, and makes it an ongoing commitment for us that has now become a conscious lifestyle choice and a deeply rooted aspect of our ethos as a brand.

At the heart, our values of transparency, honesty and authenticity ensure that all our dispatches are 100% plastic-free and include the usage of recycled as well as recyclable materials. While this helped us reach our goal of trying to reduce our carbon footprint, we decided it was time to do something about the waste generated in the beauty industry as its plastic footprint has ballooned out of control. Used plastic empties are accumulating and overcrowding at landfills, polluting our planet and making the disposal of waste something that requires immediate attention. This led to us re-evaluating our commitment to the environment, and has given birth to an initiative called ‘Sublime Recycles’, which is our attempt at recycling your old, used empties and helping you to earn points for both yourself and the environment.

How does the Sublime Recycles program work?

1) Collect 

You simply begin by collecting all your personal care, beauty, skincare and makeup empties you have at home and wish to recycle. Ensure that you wash them well before discarding them.

The best part is, we do not discriminate between brands, and accept empties from any brand as long as they have been well cleaned.

2) Click 

Please photograph the empties you wish to recycle, and email them to us at hello@sublimelife.in to get points (wait, you get a reward to recycle? Find out more below!)

3) Courier/Get Them Picked Up

The next step is to either courier the empties to us or arrange for a pick up!

If you courier the empties to us, please ensure that you follow the below mentioned steps:

• Clean out and wash empties thoroughly and make sure there is no product left inside the containers.
• Click a clear picture of the empties and then pack them in a box. Send an email to hello@sublimelife.in with the pictures of the empties and the number of the empties that you are sending. 
• Courier the box to 1st floor, Ador House, 6, K Dubash Marg, Kala Ghoda, Fort, Mumbai 400001 with Sublime Recycles mentioned on the box.
• For every empty you send, you get 250 sublime points, equivalent to Rs. 25.

If you arrange for a pick up of the empties, here are the steps that you need to follow:

• Clean and pack your empties in a cardboard box. Write 'Sublime Recycles' on the box.
• Fill this form with your address and contact information.
• Our customer care team will reach out to you for confirmation and arrange a pick up.
• The box will be picked by our courier partner within 2-3 days post confirmation.
• Once the box with the empties is delivered to us, our team will review it and credit the reward points accordingly. 
• For every empty in the pick up process, you'll be rewarded 100 sublime points, equivalent to Rs. 10.

Kindly note - 

• You can redeem these rewards on the website.
• If the empties aren't cleaned properly, no reward points will be given for those!

What all can we recycle under #SublimeRecycles?

We accept makeup, skincare, personal care or hair care empties (tubes, jars, lids and pumps) made of the following:

• Washed plastic beauty empties
• Glass Empties
• Aluminium beauty empties

However, we do not accept:

• Plastic water bottles
• Plastic lids or pumps
• Cardboard
• Plastic sachets
• Paper packaging
• Colour cosmetic empties like colour palettes, mascara containers & others
• Medicine empties, toothpaste tubes
• Polyethylene plastic bags
• Jute bags

How does the #SublimeRecycles reward system work?

So to ward off the curiosity, here is how you can earn points for both the planet and yourself. For every empty container that is couriered to us, it is worth a whopping 250 Sublime points. This translates into Rs. 25 as a cash discount, that can be redeemed across all products on the website. So if you save up 4 empties for example, that is 1,000 Sublime points and worth Rs. 100 on the website.

What do we do with the recycling empties and how do we repurpose them?

At Sublime Life, we believe in taking your used empties and sorting them out for you to ensure that they reach the right place. We are working closely with organisations, NGOs and initiatives that will recycle, repurpose as well as upcycle plastic in an innovative manner. For every tube, bottle or container we receive, it is given life in the form of a completely new product. This can be a t-shirt, a toiletries pouch, a diary and much more!

Why do we believe in recycling empties from all brands and not just our own? 

As individuals, we have a collective responsibility towards Mother Earth, and it is in our hands to ensure that we make sustainability and mindfulness a deeply rooted part of our lives. Through this program, our aim was not only to engage with a large group of Clean Beauty and sustainability enthusiasts, but also create a community of like-minded people who are looking to step up and make changes in their lives for the planet. We wished to create advocates for the entire Clean Beauty and sustainability movement by encouraging people to of course, recycle and mitigate plastic waste, but also to consume in a more mindful manner.

How do we wish for the #SublimeRecycles program to grow?

With this initiative, we wish to create a large number of Recycling Warriors, who not only actively participate in the program, but also are strong advocates for them and help spread awareness about it. We wish to see more and more people getting inspired as well as involved to contribute to this cause, to save our planet and for a greener tomorrow. For it is sustainability and recycling that makes the world go round, literally!

- By Krisha Jhaveri