One of the most common questions we get about ÓCOMO is how single-dose capsules fit with sustainability. Wouldn’t a larger jar, a tube, or a dispenser be simpler?

It is a fair question. We had to work through it ourselves, because we have been inside this topic for a long time.

In our earlier travel projects, we went through every format available. Sharing full-size products within the group quickly proved impractical and not ideal from a hygiene point of view. Individual travel-size tubes sounded better, but we ended up with eight or nine per person per tour, each used once or twice, most of them carried around half-full and eventually discarded. Even 30-50 ml tubes turned out to hold far more than a real route actually requires.

We also tried sachets and sample capsules from the market. They were closer, but still not right: random selection, designed for bathroom shelves rather than travel, and almost impossible to source consistently.

That path is what eventually brought us to building our own capsule library. And it is also where the sustainability question became concrete.

When single-dose products become mass disposable amenities, placed everywhere because they look nice, the criticism is valid. We agree with it.

We are working with a different use case. On a journey, a person often does not need a full tube. They need one application, at a specific moment, under a specific physical load: after a long walking day, before a section of the route where friction is likely, after a flight and dry cabin air, or after a day with wind, salt, cold, or heat. Sometimes they need a small sequence of different products across the same journey.

In practice, the alternative is rarely one carefully chosen tube. More often it is five travel-size products bought “just in case”, used once, or carried around untouched.

And here the waste is double: the packaging and the product left inside.

There is also a deeper logic that we learned through years of working with real routes. A precise care step at the right moment can make later compensation less necessary. Sun protection before a mountain stage, barrier care before friction, hydration after a flight: these are small actions that may reduce the need to carry several extra products “just in case”. This is the part that a simple comparison of “one capsule versus one tube” misses.

We see capsules as filling a specific gap: between a traveller’s own care routine and the baseline amenities provided by the host. Those moments where a light, optional care layer fits naturally into the rhythm of the trip.

Because the product stays sealed until the moment of use, we can work with more restrained, focused formulas, designed with travel conditions in mind, where skin is often already under stress and people tend to be cautious about trying something new.

Materials matter as well. Recyclable solutions, recycled plastic, paper-based formats: options already available on the market that can help reduce the packaging load further.

And because this is a precise, relatively low-volume format, designed for specific situations and specific routes, the total volume of material stays limited by design. We are talking about three, five, seven capsules per journey. This is closer to a small piece of route equipment than to mass packaging.

Sustainability, as we see it, is about matching the format to the real pattern of use. Where a tube fits the situation, a tube is the right answer. Where one precise dose fits a specific moment of a journey, a capsule may create less waste than a tube that travels half-full until it expires.

This principle sits at the foundation of ÓCOMO: fewer unnecessary products, more precise formats, and scenario-based care designed around the reality of travel.