Australian brand Kevin Murphy announced they will be making a simple switch that will save 360 tons of plastic per year! The cruelty-free hair care brand, popular with high-end salons around the world, will begin to source their bottles from 100 percent recycled ocean plastic!

The push to make a change in the way the brand’s products are packaged came to Kevin Murphy, founder of the eponymous company, after learning about the plastic pollution that is to be found on the beaches in Bali, Fast Company reports. After returning from their travels, Murphy’s friends shared with him that the beaches, although pristine in the mornings, would always be covered in plastic waste by the afternoon. The wave of trash is impossible to control considering some 8.8 million tons of plastic enter the oceans every year. This waste not only litters beaches, but it poses a massive threat to marine animals as well.

Pack Tech, a Denmark-based packaging manufacturer which works with the brand, has started sourcing ocean plastic for the bottles, which the company plans to launch by 2019. When Pack Tech approached Murphy and suggested switching to recycled packaging, the founder did not hesitate. “It felt like kind of a no-brainer,” he said.

Because of how new the concept is, sourcing ocean plastic to turn it into packaging is still around five times more expensive than using virgin plastic. As a result, the products will see a price increase of about seven percent. “We have swallowed a lot of the cost ourselves to make this happen,” Murphy said, “but we feel the issue is so important to the future of the planet that we need to make that sacrifice.”

The more popular making packaging out of recycled ocean plastic becomes, the cheaper it is going to be, which makes it especially important that brands like Kevin Murphy are willing to take the plunge and go with the option which will help the planet and contribute to further changes in the industry. Although small in comparison to the most popular brands, Kevin Murphy is growing at a fast pace and is extremely popular among high-end salons. Murphy is also willing to make the company a mentor for other brands that want to make a similar switch.

Replacing plastic grocery bags with a reusable tote and plastic water bottles with a refillable bottle are among the simplest things we can do to reduce our use of plastic. These swaps are very easy, but avoiding plastic can be more challenging when it comes to personal care products – like shampoo or cosmetics (although there are many easy DIY solutions to those too!). Fortunately, more and more brands are slowly waking up to the need for packaging that is plastic-free or made from recycled plastic. If more consumers stand up and voice their support for plastic-free products, we’re sure to see a wave of changes like those Kevin Murphy is making. With this in mind, be sure to spread the word!

If you are looking for more ways to reduce the amount of plastic you use and throw away, check out One Green Planet’s #CrushPlastic campaign.

Image source: Kevin.Murphy Australia/Facebook