Kiehl’s Urges Consumers: ‘Don’t Rebuy. Just Refill’

Kiehl’s Since 1851 is continuing its efforts to
drive a more circular packaging economy by encouraging consumers to opt for
refillable formats, when able.

Its newest campaign, “Don’t Rebuy. Just Refill,” was created to drive
consumers’ awareness of their single-use packaging habit and its costs to the
environment: Plastic pollution has now permeated the farthest reaches of the
Earth — from the depths of the ocean
floor to
the highest peak, Mount
Everest.

Kiehl’s collaborated with renowned stop-motion director Mark
Waring on the
campaign film — which transports viewers to Mount Everest, where animated
plastic trash sings to a purposeful parody of the hit single, “I Will
Survive.” The updated lyrics and animation convey how plastic can live for
hundreds of years as waste or be reused forever in a bathroom through
refillable product formats.

Kiehl’s offers a variety of face, body, and hair formula favorites in
refillable pouches —its #1 moisturizer, Ultra Facial Cream (UFC),
is the latest addition to the collection. UFC’s refill pouch is made with 61
percent less plastic packaging than one 50ml jar and can refill that same
jar three times.

Kiehl’s history with Mount Everest goes back to 1988, when the brand
sponsored the first ascent expedition on the mountain’s East Face without
supplemental oxygen. Climbers were equipped with Kiehl’s products to ensure
skin remained hydrated throughout the expedition, despite the mountain’s
harsh conditions.

Now, Kiehl’s is back in Everest — in partnership with Nepal-based NGO
Sagarmatha Next and Sagarmatha
Pollution Control Committee’s Carry Me
Back initiative
— to support the removal of plastic waste from the area for proper recycling. Over two years,
approximately 22 tons of waste left behind by tourists in Everest National
Park and the Khumbu region will be removed through the partnership.

Kiehl’s has also collaborated with artist and environmental activist,
Benjamin Von Wong, for a second time this year
to create a thought-provoking sculpture that will live at Sagarmatha Next’s
Centre — en route to Everest Base Camp. The installation draws attention to
the single-use plastic waste problem in the region while encouraging
trekkers and climbers who pass through to use refillable formats when they
can. Earlier this year, Kiehl’s first collaboration with Von Wong yielded
“Single-Use
Reflections”
— a striking installation that invited New York City viewers to reflect
on how both systemic change and small, individual lifestyle shifts can move
the needle on reducing global plastic waste.

For its part, Kiehl’s is part of a growing movement of beauty brands and
retailers embracing refillable and reusable packaging
formats.
The company says circularity is its mission in
progress — it has pledged to
be transparent about its imperfect journey while taking action and inspiring
others, both individuals and companies, to do the same. Kiehl’s is committed
to eliminating single-use plastic by designing 100 percent of its products
to be reused, refilled or made of recycled materials by 2030.

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Sustainable Brands Staff

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Published Sep 13, 2024 2pm EDT / 11am PDT / 7pm BST / 8pm CEST