Kate Hall: Sustainable sunscreen options

Warmer days are on their way, and sunny days bring with them increased risk of skin damage. 

There’s plenty of sunscreen brands and SPFs on the market, but not all of them will treat the planet as well as they’ll protect your skin. 

Kate “Ethically Kate” Hall joined Jack Tame for a chat about what to look for when hunting for sustainable sun protection, and what else you can do to protect your skin. 

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Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:07):
You're listening to the Saturday Morning with Jack Team podcast
from News Talks, that'd be.

Speaker 2 (00:12):
Time to catch up with US sustainability commentator Kate All
aka Ethically Kate. More than a good morning suns out,
guns out, and that means that it is time for
us to talk sustainable sunscreens because I feel like there
are so many things you got to think about with
sunscreen these days. Okay, so you've got to think about sustainability.
You've also got to think about getting sunscreen that doesn't
bleed when it's on your face, because there are few

(00:35):
things that are worse in summer than when your eyes
sting from having running sunscreen. You know that feeling, Yes, absolutely,
that's the part. So does sustainability mean that you just
have to accept you're going to have sunscreens they're going
to be bleeding into your eyes.

Speaker 3 (00:50):
To be honest, the sunscreens I have used for the
last several years, which obviously more sustainably made and a
better packaging, are like the least leading sunscreen.

Speaker 1 (01:00):
Oh, because they are a bit sicker, Okay.

Speaker 3 (01:02):
Kind of compromise a little bit of that a bit thicker,
so you're may be potentially a little bit paler, you know,
but you don't get that bleedy factor as much because
a lot of that, you know, running sunscreen to your
eye is because sunscreens generally, kind of the mainstream ones

(01:23):
have a lot of water content and like different fillers
and kind of yeah, a whole lot of stuff, which
mean I can definitely tell a difference when you know,
borrow my friend's sunscreen. That's not my classic kind of
thicker paste, you one, it's just not as pleasant and stinging.
You can you can tell the difference between good ingredients
and not so good.

Speaker 2 (01:44):
That's a that's great there, so we can be more
sustainable and we can avoid having stinging eyes across somewhere.
It sounds like it's a class line.

Speaker 3 (01:50):
I think.

Speaker 1 (01:50):
So.

Speaker 3 (01:51):
I think it's been like a little kind of silver
lining between yes in my personal experience stopping to better sunscreens.
But and it has hard. I've learned a lot about
the sunscreen space just from a few friends who make sunscreen,
and it's their business, and it's really complicated because, like
you said, you're thinking about, Okay, is this actually good

(02:11):
for my skin? You know, like we're putting the sunscreen on,
should be putting it on? Relatively regularly, especially in our face.
It's really kind of an intimate product you to think
about is this good for our skin? What about you know,
we're going into the ocean and we know that sunscreens
can affect marine environment too, And then also the packaging

(02:33):
as well. Right, a lot of sunscreens are in plastic
tubes and basically non recyclable. So like without, I'm not
a chemist or like a sunscreen expert, though I'm really
I've been diving in unintended to this topic a little
bit more because it's so fascinating. But kind of the

(02:54):
key basics for me is I avoid sunscreens with oxybenzone.
And I always get this word wrong, but Opteno states, yeah,
there are two really common sunscreens. Because people shut their
sunscreens and out there are two common ingredients that and
your sunscreen which aren't really FDA approved and aren't great

(03:17):
for our bodies. So looking out for ones, and there's
plentity on the market which don't have those ingredients. So
the main active ingredient in more stamily made sunscreens is
often zinc zinc oxide. Even then, you'll see a lot
of sunscreens, even some of my favorites that I use,
say reef safe, you know, ocean friendly. But there's studies

(03:40):
coming out recently just saying, look, we actually don't know
how zinc effects are coral reef. We actually we can't
say that it does or doesn't, and those terms like
reef safe aren't regulated. So for me, it's more about,
like I use sunscreen. That how you my favorites soon,
But I use sunscreen like you know, on my face

(04:02):
and as a kind of basic measure. But it's about
covering up and stuf in the shade and not.

Speaker 2 (04:07):
Actually just relying on sunscreen.

Speaker 3 (04:10):
Yeah, because we can't. Yeah, we don't know enough about
what does and what doesn't affect marine life. So for me,
sometimes I'll have a little dip and then I'll go
sit in the shade and put on screen on then
you know.

Speaker 2 (04:25):
Yeah, it's especially for people who have a complexion like
you and I that's kind of important. Yeah. So okay,
so that's a really critical point. Reef safe doesn't necessarily
mean reef safe. That's kind of one of those things
that everyone can just say or sometimes makes things look
like they're better than they are. It's kind of like
low fat, you know, you're like, well, hang on, so
what do you recommend in terms of sunscreen brands.

Speaker 3 (04:48):
So I have done a lot of different sunscreen trials
in the last few years, and my top kind of
four favorites back to the World that's made in the
South Island, but also Q Family Goodbye Sunscreen that's really good,
especially for people who are more like sporting and outdoors
sunshine and Midge Sunscreen. So most of those are also

(05:11):
in like tins that can be recycled or reused, repurposed
as well. Yeah, and yeah, made by really cool local people,
so we have options. You know, those are you know,
very viable, and a lot of them much more cost
effective these days too. And actually I think when people

(05:31):
think about sustainable sunscreen, they think they just gonna you know,
put this like white paste on me and look like
a geek at the firstly, like own it. My brother
is really good. Actually he is like really strong colored
like zinc kind of space yeah.

Speaker 2 (05:46):
Yeah, yeah, like a like a cricketer in yeah.

Speaker 3 (05:50):
Yeah, like you know, we're going to own this. This
is our house, you know, this is the most sustaable sunscreen,
you know, I think it's the one that we use.
You know it's not sustainable to go out there and
to yeah, be fried in the sunshine. So using those options,
but then also staying in the shade, covering up and
kind of staying out of that hole I need to

(06:12):
tan kind of culture.

Speaker 2 (06:14):
Oh superb, Thank you so much, Kate, really appreciate that.
Our sustainability commentator, Kate Hall. You can find her on
all of the social media channels and she does have
very interesting content. Actually it kind of makes you laugh,
makes you think as well. You can find her by
searching ethically, Kate. That's the easiest way to do it.

Speaker 1 (06:32):
For more from Saturday Morning with Jack Tame, listen live
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