Earth Day (Thursday, April 22) is the perfect time to reflect on how we can all help heal the planet.
It’s no secret that there are many small changes we can all make every single day to be more conscious of our environment, so why not start with your beauty shelf?
Below, BD has put together a bumper-guide of some beauty brands doing their part this Earth Day, and every day.
1. Arbonne
As a Certified B Corporation, Arbonne has received third party recognition for the positive impact it places on supply chain, customers, community, employees and the environment, always balancing purpose over profit.
For instance, Arbonne Botaniques Concentrated Gel requires little water to lather up and encourages and enables saving water; Arbonne Dissolve the Day Facial Cleansing Cloths are compostable; and most products in Arbonne’s AgeWell range have glass packaging.
Additionally, Arbonne’s free recycling program, ArbonneCycle, has recently gone global. This force for good for both people and planet means that any Arbonne packaging that can’t be recycled through standard procedure can be sent back to the company.
2. Biologi
Biologi has a large number of initiatives in place that support our environment. For instance, it has recently launched Biologi Bottle Swap, Powered by TerraCycle, in a bid to reduce our environmental impact. The program gives customers the ability to return their empty Biologi bottles for recycling whilst offering them a 15% discount on their next order.
Biologi products are also created using a plant-to-bottle process using locally-sourced fruits and putting them in the bottles, however the brand has continually searched for a more environmentally friendly alternative to its packaging. Given the nature of its serums, Biologi is limited to the current plastic offering which is crucial for its serums to contain their activity in the bottle (with the exception of Br Rosehip Oil, which is housed in a glass bottle).
The program with TerraCycle means Biologi can continue to deliver customers 100% active serums whilst contributing to a reduction of waste.
As a bonus, Biologi is one of the very few water-free skincare brands that delivers potent goodness in every drop, so what you’re getting is all the good stuff, sans the water.
3. Bondi Sands
Bondi Sands is pleased to announce it has a big sustainability focus for April. Its objective is to leverage World Earth Month to introduce its sustainability pillars and what sustainably means to the brand, while also driving its charity partnership and donation to Take 3 for The Sea.
“Sustainability is always on at Bondi Sands. However this month, we want to highlight what our brand is currently doing in the way of sustainability and educate our community on what we can do collectively to continue to care for our planet,” said Bondi Sands in a campaign statement.
The pillars include Brand (a commitment to change through reducing environmental impact), Community (lead the conversation and educate the global community), Supply Chain (reduce environmental footprint) and Employees (building sustainability into Bondi Sands’ workplace and communities.
4. BOOST LAB
BOOST LAB works with Greening Australia via i=change on its 'restore the reef' program and donates $1 from each sale to a vital fund which helps improve water quality on our Great Barrier Reef, rebuild eroding gullies, and restore vital coastal wetlands across the catchment.
This work is carried out locally, and works closely with landholders, communities and Traditional Owners and will reduce and prevent more than 400,000 tonnes of sediment from polluting the Reef each year, improve water quality, and the Reef’s resilience to climate change.
5. Burt’s Bees
Burt’s Bees invests globally in communities that support its supply chain, helping to safeguard access to clean water, support women’s and children’s empowerment and promote health, safety and biodiversity.
The brand’s packaging is recyclable curbside or through TerraCycle, and there is an average of 52% post-recycled (PCR) content in all its plastics. It avoids over-packaging, limits mixed materials and uses innovative recycled materials where possible, with its lip balm labels extending just enough to prevent tampering, which means we avoid 2,896kms of plastic shrink wrap annually.
Burt’s Bees also works with Wheen Bee Foundation with an annual campaign to Bring Back the Bees, and Terracycle to create the ‘Recycle On Us’ program. This program accepts all Burt’s Bees branded personal care, lip care, and beauty care packaging. TerraCycle will sort, shred, and melt the items down into plastic pellets to be used as an alternative to virgin plastic in the manufacture of new products.
6. Carmex®
Carmex® Naturally is an intensely hydrating lip balm that’s over 93% derived from nature and clinically proven to visibly smooth and soften the lips in just one application.
Not only is it packed with rich antioxidants, it also contains pure cupuacu and murumuru butters which are sustainably sourced, helping to preserve the Amazon rainforest and support its communities.
20% of Naturally’s ingredients are sustainably sourced from the Amazon, helping to maintain its rainforest as well as over 10,000 native families so they can continue to live there.
Glasshouse Fragrances not only has groundbreaking fragrances, but it also boasts products that are not tested on animals, free from parabens, PEGS and are vegan friendly.
The beautiful jars are the perfect vessel to repurpose for organising makeup, skincare or stationery.
8. Medik8
Medik8 is a sustainable brand that is both cruelty free and vegan and is mindfully reducing its environmental footprint.
The brand is making huge strides to improve its sustainability in every way. The ultimate goal? To be the world's most sustainable professional-led skincare brand. To get to this long-term goal, Medik8 started at its roots - the professional range and therapist community who perform treatments every day, across the world.
Medik8 has incorporated Post Consumer Recycled Plastic (PCR) into its professional bottles, uses 40% recycled glass, no pure palm oil in any of its products, and all of its formulas are 100% vegan-friendly.
Its next long-term commitment will be to move all its professional products to Ocean Plastic derived materials; plastic waste sourced from our oceans, rivers and seas.
Read more about Medik8’s many sustainability achievements and goals here.
9. Nu Skin
Nu Skin’s new bioadaptive skincare system, Nutricentials, helps skin adapt to environmental stressors like late nights and pollution while protecting against UV and blue light rays—for better balanced skin every single day.
And not only that, but the system is also made with sustainable packaging and clean formulas with worry-free ingredients so you can feel good about what you're putting on your skin. This all shows Nu Skin’s commitment to transparency, sustainability, and using only the best of science and nature.
10. Weleda
For Earth Day 2021, Weleda is highlighting some of its latest packaging changes, with a particular focus on the new Skin Food Body Butter in a glass jar made from 85% recycled glass.
Some of Weleda’s other sustainability areas include: Weleda being only one of two brands worldwide to be certified with the Union for Ethical Biotrade (UEBT) ‘Sourcing with Respect’ logo; Zero microplastics; preserving biodiversity in its biodynamic gardens and through fair trade partners; and TerraCycle collection for packaging.
Find out more about Weleda’s world of sustainability here.
11. Nutrimetics
Nutrimetics is proudly committed to sustainability of packaging and is a member of Australian Packaging Covenant Organisation (APCO).
The brand is constantly working on improving its products and packaging – and almost 90% of Nutrimetics packaging is recyclable. Any glass and cardboard packaging in tubes, jars, bottles and boxes is suitable for recycling.
- IRYNA Range – Clean beauty, 98% natural, vegan, cruelty free made in Australia.
- Sun Days- Sundays is reef-safe as it doesn’t contain the ingredients that affect coral.
- The NuriClean range is biodegradable and very eco-friendly.
- Soaps - The brand uses no plastic with the packaging of its soaps.
- Hand crème – Packaging is made with a combination of sugar cane and recycled plastic.
12. tbh Skincare
tbh Skincare is one beauty brand that is engaging in sustainability practices to offset its carbon production and more impressively become carbon positive.
Impact International has launched a first-of-its-kind sustainable forest initiative and in doing so, it becomes the first tube manufacturer in the world to offer the carbon emissions of the tubes it manufactures through its own infrastructure, i.e. its own forest.
tbh Skincare is one of the 10 founding partners with Impact International as part of its first initiative alongside Bondi Sands, Natio, De Lorenzo Hair Care, Lovekins, Breeze Balm, Ultraceuticals, Chroma Australia, Pump Hair Care and Soodox.
Impact International has a large solar farm, so the factory generates its own energy. Any energy that Impact International canon generate is purchased and is carbon neutral. Tubes are also manufactured using sugar cane plastic (a renewable resource that most of tbh Skincare products are housed in) and recycled plastic, which helps tackle Australia’s recycling crisis.
13. Schwarzkopf
The Schwarzkopf Cares Recycling Program allows consumers to recycle all brands of retail hair care, colour and styling products through TerraCycle’s innovative recycling platform.
According to Henkel Beauty Care Retail ANZ general manager, Peter Rigby, the program builds on Schwarzkopf’s commitment to taking action when it comes to sustainability.
“We’re proud to be launching the Schwarzkopf Cares Recycling Program in partnership with TerraCycle in Australia and New Zealand,” he said. “This is one step closer to our goals to ensure all packaging is 100% recyclable or reusable by the year 2025.
Our partnership with TerraCycle provides an opportunity for all consumers to recycle all brands of hair products. We believe that partnerships such as these are key in our sustainability journey and look forward to growing our sustainability movement as a key pillar within Henkel Beauty Care Retail ANZ.”
14. Invisible Zinc
Invisible Zinc is free from chemical UV filters and is made with zinc oxide, a mineral-based sunscreen active ingredient. Invisible Zinc helps to protect against surface UVB rays, and the deeper penetrating UVA rays by providing a physical barrier between you and the sun.
Certain UV filters found in sunscreens are suspected of damaging coral reef by contributing to coral reef bleaching.
15. Aveda
Aveda believes there is no responsible alternative to doing business other than through the pursuit of environmental sustainability and this belief guides every decision the brand makes. “Profit and environmental responsibility will increasingly work together as more industries find out that "nature works" for both sustainability and the bottom-line,” the brand said.
Aveda’s focus this year is its limited edition new Shampoo Bar, sustainable scrunchie sets with Take 3 For The Sea, No Wash Day products and litreship.
16. Garnier
Because Garnier knows how important making the switch to more eco friendly beauty options is, the brand is committed to a sustainable future.
Garnier’s brand new Micellar Reusable Eco Pads, for instance, are reusable and washable up to x1000 times per pad.
The brand also has key targets that involve plastic and packaging, product and formula, factories and manufacturing and solidarity sourcing.
17. Alpha-H
Australian beauty brand, Alpha-H, is committed to being at the forefront when it comes to sustainability efforts.
“It’s clear that the change needs to come from each and every one of us, and that’s why the team at Alpha-H are committed to making a difference,” the brand said. “At Alpha-H, we are committed and focused on reducing our impact on the environment. Sustainability is a long term iterative journey for us and our approach is a collaborative one. We keep abreast of the latest technology, consult global industry experts, take a total life cycle view and challenge ourselves to keep learning and making improvements with every change we make.”
This brand also has the following initiatives: Powered By The Sun, Reinventing Waste, Sustainable Packaging and Supporting Local.
18. Jurlique
For Jurlique, sustainability has always been at the heart of what it does – it’s part of the reason the brand has a biodynamic* farm in South Australian Adelaide Hills. Jurlique is constantly striving to make changes wherever possible to reduce its environmental impact.
At the Jurlique farm, using Biodynamic farming practices, everything is able to be repurposed, therefore there is almost zero wastage.
In 2018, Jurlique partnered with global recycling pioneers Terracycle. Jurlique encouraged customers to recycle their empty Jurlique products via post or in Jurlique standalone boutiques across Australia. Since then, Jurlique has collected 120,000 units of packaging in Australia. That’s almost three tonnes of waste that has been diverted from landfills and incinerators.
Jurlique has also moved the majority of its shipment from air-freight to sea-freight, which offers significant emissions savings. Since 2015, this freight management initiative has enabled Jurlique to reduce approximately 20% of emissions from transport.
19. LUSH
This popular beauty brand is well-known for its naked packaging, sustainability initiatives, ethical buying and much more.
And now, as part of LUSH's mission to ‘Leave the world Lusher than we found it’, all shops will be inviting customers to bring back any full-sized LUSH plastic packaging to their local LUSH shop to be recycled as part of its fresh new packaging returns scheme, Bring It Back.
For each plastic LUSH item returned, customers will receive a $1 deposit to spend on their LUSH basket that day. The initiative will launch in LUSH stores across Australia and New Zealand in May 2021.
20. Lovekins
Lovekins is very proud to be collaborating with its tube manufacturer, Impact International, to offset carbon emissions through Impact's very own forestry infrastructure.
The Impact International forest can offset the raw materials used in the manufacturing process, rounding up to approximately 30 million 100ml tubes each year - all while contributing to wildlife protection and rehabilitation.
“At Lovekins, we pledge to work with suppliers that have a vested future in sustainability,” the brand said. “With the nature at the core of our brand, we believe that nurturing the Australian wildlife as well as reducing the carbon footprint of our packaging and supply chain is what we can contribute to a healthier planet one tube at a time.”
21. Edible Beauty
In an effort to raise awareness for Earth Day and give back to the environment, holistic beauty brand, Edible Beauty Australia, is planting a tree for every order made in April via the One Tree Org. From packaging, ingredients, to an all-new initiative this beauty brand is doing its bit for the planet.
22. Sand & Sky
Sand & Sky is taking positive action by choosing responsible sourcing, no-nasties formulas, recyclable packaging, and mostly cruelty-free and vegan products (with the exception of their Flash Perfection Exfoliator, which contains calcium carbonate (Pearl Powder) that gives the skin that luminescent glow).
The brand’s accessories are also eco-friendly, vegan and made of recyclable materials when available.
23. Caudalie
Another brand doing the absolute most for our planet is Caudalie. The brand continues its pursuit toward being an authority in the sustainable beauty movement through the creation of the Vino Clean range, which is housed in 100% recycled plastic bottles, saving over 50.8 tonnes of plastic ending up in the ocean or landfill.
Additionally, there are three key sustainability initiatives Caudalie works on as a brand: 100% Plastic Collect, Zero-Waste Initiative and 1% for the Planet.
24. Fresh
Fresh is working to build a brighter future by releasing 30 commitments focused on the planet, people and products.
The brand has launched the Forever Fresh sustainability platform, which focuses on working responsibly with communities, and addressing climate action and eco-packing.
25. Ethique
In celebration of Earth Day 2021, global zero-waste beauty + lifestyle brand, Ethique, has launched new lip balms as part of its latest addition to the brand's award winning zero-waste range.
Almost 200 million plastic lip balm tubes end up in landfill every year, but Ethique has developed a unique 100% plastic-free, plant-wax lined twist tube that is home compostable at the end of its lifetime.
26. CLOUD NINE
To celebrate World Earth Day, CLOUD NINE is celebrating with its biggest ever commitments to caring for the environment.
Caring for more than just hair, CLOUD NINE is committed to significantly reducing its environmental impact and carbon footprint through various initiatives, including its existing world-first and only recycling scheme, eco-packaging, a tree planting partnership with Ecologi and low carbon shipping methods.
However this April, in line with World Earth Day, CLOUD NINE is planting ten trees around the world for every purchase made on the CLOUD NINE AU website during the month.
Every purchase made will also receive a complimentary eco-friendly Rose Gold Water Bottle.
