Impact - environment & community

Over two billion plastic razors end up in the landfill every year in the US alone. A small, seemingly inconsequential object can have dire effects when you consider the global scale—and we know that the communities most affected by waste and environmental discourse are those that are marginalized and underserved.

Not shaving is the most sustainable option, but if you choose to remove your body hair, our sustainable self-care essentials are the next best thing. As a brand, being sustainable means leaving as little of a mark on the earth as possible, and as humans, it means making considered choices—taking only what you need, when you need it.

1 We don’t do plastic packaging.

The beauty industry has been exploitative in nature for many years, heavily resourcing raw materials, using child labour in Africa and South Asia, and producing 120 billion units of packaging annually, which contributes to the loss of 18 million acres of forest every single year.

What we're doing to help

All of our packaging is recyclable, compostable, or reusable
We avoid plastic wherever possible
We keep waste to a minimum, putting it back into circulation when we can

2 More than two billion plastic razors are thrown away every year.

Back in the ‘90s, the Environmental Protection Agency estimated that over two billion plastic razors are discarded every year in the US alone—some twenty plus years later, that’s over 40 billion plastic razors that are languishing somewhere in the landfill.

What we're doing to help

Our sustainable safety razor is designed to last a lifetime
Our razor blades are made of stainless steel
We’ll recycle your used blades for you with our blade bank program

3 Yes, the internet has a carbon footprint.

The internet’s carbon footprint is 830 million tons, which is on par with the aviation industry—and if it was a country, it would rank sixth in the world for electricity usage.

What we're doing to help

Switched to a green host
Made a dark mode version of our site which means it uses less energy—kind of like turning the lights off
Less coding, less fonts, smaller images, and reduced video content means less energy consumption, too

Our self-care essentials are intentional and considered—and we’re open and honest about what we’re doing and what we could do better. Many months of research, testing, and education goes into the design and production of each and every one of our products, so we’re confident that the impact on the earth is as small as possible. There are endless ways to do better as an industry, so we broke our commitments into four areas – made without, packing, ethical production, and end of life – explore what that means below and on each of our product pages.

1. Made with, made without

The beauty industry – and even many ‘clean’ beauty products – contain synthetic and chemical ingredients with names you don’t recognize and benefits that are unclear. We only use natural, plant-based, organic ingredients, carefully chosen for their minimal impact on the earth and the bountiful benefits they offer your body and mind.

2. Packaging

Lots of plastic wrapping; giant boxes for tiny objects; dare we say it, styrofoam. The beauty industry is a huge contributor to plastic waste—but it doesn’t need to be this way. Our packaging is made from recyclable materials, FSC-certified paper, and organic materials like mycelium (that’s a fancy word for mushroom). On all of our packaging and shipping materials, we’ll clearly tell you what it is and how you can recycle or reuse it.

3. Ethical production

Some things seem so obvious to us that we forget to mention it: like the fact we’d never (ever) test our products on animals, or that we know exactly where each product comes from and who made, packaged, and shipped it. We also believe deeply in providing fair wages, good working environments, and offering our employees flexibility and compassion in that challenging space where life and work meet. We also partner with organizations like the Stewardship Program that provides free meals to children who experience food insecurity in Mexico, with the production of our agave cloths and soap savers.

4. End of life

We take responsibility for the impact our products leave on the earth—that’s why we only use natural, plant-based ingredients and packaging that can be recycled or reused. Waste is a bad word in our studio so we’re always looking for new ways to repurpose, recycle, or reuse, and we hope you’ll do the same.

Growing and evolving

Well Kept is a small brand that’s always growing, evolving, and striving to do better in every aspect. We know that environmentalism extends beyond the products we put into the world and affects people and communities, too. This philosophy of protecting both people and the planet is known as ‘intersectional environmentalism’, and is attributed to the work of civil rights activist, and critical race theory scholar, Kimberlé Williams.

We don’t believe in the mass consumerism attached to Black Friday and instead donate 10% of our revenue on that day to a charity of our choice. We advocate for equality, equal representation, good ethical working environments, and materials that leave as little impact on the earth as possible. We don’t always get it right but we’re always learning.

Your body houses a soul and many stories—something we celebrate regardless of your body type, gender, sexuality, race, or culture. We invite powerful conversations and uplift those in our community who have different experiences of self-care and beauty.

See our journal ↗