Eco-Friendly Skin Care & Beauty Products
Skin Care & Beauty Products Go Green
We're all trying to live greener lifestyles and why should it stop at our beauty products? At How on Earth our ethos is all about being green and gorgeous!
From ingredient sourcing to biogradability, manufacturing and transport methods to packaging, we love that companies are making such a huge effort to make our skin care and beauty products more environmentally friendly.
Eco-Friendly Skin Care & Beauty Brands
Here's a hint at what some of our favourite eco-friendly skin care and beauty companies are doing...
Badger Balms - Most of their packaging is made from recycled materials and it is all recyclable. They donate at least $10,000 of their profits to local charities including environmental education for children and only source sustainably-grown palm oil.
Burt's Bees - Burt's Bees are working to implement 100% renewable energy, a zero waste scheme and ISO 14001 certified green building.
Ecosoapia - Donate 10% of their profits to Iracambi Rainforest Research and Conservation Centre.
Gossypium - Use sustainable farming and production methods. The products biodegrade or can be returned for recycling.
Green People - Donate 10% of their profits to charities linked to green or environmental issues.
Natracare - Produce organic, biodegradable, compostable and chlorine-free sanitary products.
Pai Skincare - Handmade luxury skin care. SEE (Social, Environmental & Ethical) Accredited.
Pukka - Carbon Neutral Company (certified by Climate Care) and invest in renewable and sustainable energy projects as well as reforestation programmes.
Simply Gentle Organic - Awarded ISO 14001 (the International Environmental Standard).
Trilogy Skincare - Certified carbon neutral with CarboNZero.
Urtekram - The first organic company in the world to certified in accordance with ISO 14001 environmental management and only use renewable energy.
Weleda - Both in their skin care and health products, Weleda ensure their ingredients are sustainably sourced, including growing many themselves in their biodynamic gardens.
What We Look For
* Free From Parabens & Mineral Oil. All our products are free from these ingredients which we not only think is best for your skin but both are derived from crude oil which is an unsustainable resource and its extraction and processing is very environmentally damaging.
* Eco-Friendly Packaging. The cosmetics industry is renowned for producing vast amounts of excess packaging. We look for companies that have taken great consideration over the materials and quantities they use for their products, especially whether they are recycled and reusable or recyclable.
* Organic & Biodynamic Ingredients. These have been grown using sustainable methods and without petrochemical-based fertilisers and insectides so we give them the thumbs up every time!
* Wild-crafted Ingredients. Some raw ingredients are collected by hand from naturally growing plants and these are picked to make sure they continue being fruitful year after year.
* Biodegradable. It's easy to forget, but what happens to products after we've used them is as important as where they came from (think about what happens to your shower gel, cleansing wipes, sanitary products...). We look for products with 100% biodegradable and environmentally safe ingredients.
* Minimal Transport. We've not only picked the best natural and organic skin care & beauty products made in the UK (which saves on beauty miles!) but we also look at how the brands we source from abroad get to us.
* Carbon Emissions. Several of our suppliers have been certified carbon neutral and others are working towards this.
* Support of Environmental Charities. Many of our brands donate to not-for-profit organisations that are educating people about green issues or taking action to improve our environment.
* Green Energy. We support any companies who have made the move to renewable energy.
* Handmade. Some of our boutique skin care and beauty brands are handmade which not only means your product is made with extra care and attention, but it also means that it's labour-intensive, not energy-intensive.
* Green Business. Like us, the companies we buy from work on the small things as well as the bigger things to try to minimise their impact on the earth - from using eco-friendly paper and printing methods to recycling and minimising energy usage.
How on Earth's Eco Footprint
We live and breathe eco products and it's only natural that we try and lead the way in implementing eco-friendly business practices in-house.
Some of the things we do include:
- Using 100% renewable energy in our office and warehouse.
- Always buying recycled or
FSC certified paper, stationary and packaging products.
- Our warehouse was fitted out using sustainably-grown wood shelving.
- We recycle or reuse all the packaging received from our suppliers.
- Try to minimise car and plane journeys by our staff.
- Making sure our pcs and other equipment are turned off when not in use and especially overnight.
- And we even use an eco-kettle (with fair trade and organic tea & biscuits naturally)!
And of course, we select skin care and beauty product manufacturers that are producing more sustainable, eco-friendly brands.