Summer Fridays and 5 more beauty brands that reward you for recycling empty containers

Your skin might be loving all the new skin-care products you try every month, but the planet? Not so much. The beauty industry is known for producing a lot of waste. Many products come in containers made up of mixed materials that can be hard to recycle, which means they probably end up in landfills. Fortunately, some of our favorite brands are making the effort to be more eco-friendly by launching recycling programs.

Summer Fridays recently introduced a program to “help keep the Earth a little cleaner” by rewarding customers who recycle their empty containers. For every five empties you collect and send back to the brand to be recycled, you’ll receive a free Jet Lag Mask ($25). But Summer Fridays isn’t the only beauty brand that will give you a pat on the back for recycling.

5 beauty brands with sustainable recycling programs (and rewards)

1. Kiehl’s

For every one empty full-size product container you return to Kiehl’s, you receive a stamp. And when you have 10 stamps, you get a free travel-sized product.

Product to try: Kiehl’s Midnight Recovery Concentrate, $49

2. Lush

If you save and return five clean black pots to your local Lush store, you’ll receive a free fresh face mask.

Product to try:Lush Rosy Cheeks Fresh Face Mask, $13

3. Pacifica

If you send your empty and rinsed-out products to Pacifica (up to eight at a time!), you’ll get 100 loyalty points added to your account. The brand even gives you a pre-paid shipping label.

Product to try:Sea & C Love Vitamin Serum, $16

4. Côte

When you bring in any used bottle of polish into a store, you’ll receive 10 percent off your next polish purchase.

Product to try: Côte No. 13 in Shimmer, $18

5. MAC

As part of the Back-to-MAC Program, when you return six empty containers to the brand, you’ll get a free lipstick of your choice.

Product to try: Mac Pro Longwear Paint Pot in Painterly, $22

The right way to apply lipstick:

Become more eco-friendly in other areas of your life as well by sticking to these sustainable clothing brands and only going for planet-friendly bedding.