the unwash review
Ries is making the chicest refillable travel bottles you can get your hands on. Founded by a former Conde Nast staffer, Megan Graham has created sleek refillable containers with sustainability at the core. When it comes to traveling, we often buy travel-size personal care items or refillable containers that we throw away mindlessly. Graham found herself running into this problem when traveling for work and wanted to find a better solution.
Ries is a line of TSA-size approved refillable containers retailing at $18. The bottles are crafted from post-consumer recycled plastic and created with the purpose of consistent reuse. Graham saw the plastic problem in the beauty industry and wanted to innovate how we reuse plastics. Being a new brand, this is just the beginning for Ries. The brand continues to test different materials for use to be as conscious of its sustainability as possible. Ries puts value on the circularity of their product and hopes choices like using up-cycled materials will become more of a norm in the beauty industry.
“I just thought, ‘There has to be another way, there has to be a less wasteful, more sustainable way of doing this.’” – Megan Graham, Ries Founder
Travel containers especially with a pump are hard to come by, and even harder to find when looking for something durable that is made to last. Ries a play on the word toiletries as the brand is dedicated to ensuring easy travel and storage for all of your toiletries. Whether you travel with a plethora of products or have a minimalist routine, Ries simplifies travel and on-the-go. The brand combats the issue of leaky, overpriced, and flimsy drugstore travel bottles that ultimately create more stress when packing. This solution comes with a sustainability aspect as well and this minimizes the use of virgin-plastic bottles and single-use plastic travel containers.
A large part of the inspiration behind Ries came from Megan’s experience traveling as a Black woman and needing ample storage for her needed haircare products. Single-use travel bottles not only create unnecessary waste but ultimately are also exclusionary for various hair care needs. These innovative travel bottles allow the user to maintain their routine and remove the all too common compromising that happens when on the go. After a successful year in Sephora’s accelerator program, the brand can now be found in-store at Sephora. Ries makes it easy to ditch the plastic waste that comes when traveling but also prioritizes the need for consumers to stay committed to their beauty routine even when away from home.
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Genusee
Genusee’s eyewear line consists of prescription grade optical, sunglasses and blue light glasses. These come in a wide range of different colors and styles. You can feel good knowing that with every purchase made fifteen plastic bottles are upcycled and 1% is donated to the Community Fund of Greater Flint.
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Back Beat Co.
Back Beat Co, is a “people, planet and then profit” brand that gives a $$$$ about you and the planet. The brand is focusing on making sure their consumers are doing more than just shopping sustainably and has created a community through their clean ups and donation drives.
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Everist
Everist is derived from ingredients that will naturally break down overtime and not pollute water systems. Their shipping cartons and mailers are recyclable or compostable and they offer a buyback program for the cap of the product to be upcycled for future Everist products.
