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Our Environmental Ethos

Reducing our impact on the earth

Our vision is to create a cosmetics revolution to save the planet.

We believe in the empowerment and protection of people, animals and the environment. We take environmental stewardship seriously, and we’re constantly evaluating how our products and business practices impact those around us. Our commitment flows through our products from our hands to yours. Every movement we make in this journey is an opportunity to leave the world lusher than we found it.

CLIMATE EMERGENCY

We recognize the urgency of the climate emergency and the responsibility we have to take action – to innovate and lead our staff, suppliers, customers and industry to redefine/reimagine the impact we have on our planet.

How we choose to respond will define whether we continue to co-evolve with life or not. It’s imperative to align ourselves to what science is telling us. In 2019, we shut down all our shops, manufacturing, distribution, and digital business to participate and support the youth-led Global Climate Strike. Following this event, we made a commitment through the Science Based Targets initiative to ensure our next steps are backed by the latest climate science. Our key actions to address the climate emergency include:

  • Transition away from fossil fuels to lower-carbon sources and invest in new renewable energy projects for our direct operations.

    A lush look at Guatemala’s sprawling landscape.

    A landscape shot of a lush, green forested area in Guatemala with blue sky in the background.
  • Continuously improve energy efficiency and management of our processes, equipment and building systems across manufacturing, distribution and retail shops.
  • Use and prioritize cleaner transport in the movement of our goods - choosing rail over truck, and ocean over air. Recognizing that we source fresh ingredients from all over the globe, making transport one of our top opportunities to reduce our carbon footprint.
  • Protect and plant forests to restore the health of the planet and sequester the greenhouse gas emissions that we’re responsible for, while supporting the communities which grow our raw ingredients.

HOLD WATER SACRED

We recognize the water crisis and strive to be water stewards

Water is critical to our business and our people, whether it’s in the production of ingredients, the manufacturing of products, or the final use by customers. Everyone needs clean water, yet through overuse and pollution it’s becoming unavailable for large areas of the planet. Unlike carbon emissions, however, the effects of water-related problems are much more local. To become water stewards means guaranteeing that our dependence on water is socially just, environmentally sustainable, and economically beneficial for all. To be stewards of water, we’re focused on:

  • Being regenerative for the communities and the watersheds we operate in, safeguarding their needs for the future.
  • Optimizing water consumption in our direct operations and those of our suppliers.
  • Improving product formulation to use water-efficient and non-ecotoxic ingredients. We use only mineral-based pigments and plastic-free lustre and glitter in our products to avoid polluting our rivers, lakes and oceans with micro-plastics.
  • Protecting water quality across our value chain.
  • Inspiring customers to become water stewards.

ZERO WASTE

Our long-term commitment is to become fully circular.

From the early beginnings of inventing the shampoo bar in 1988, minimizing packaging is at the core of our philosophy. Since then, we have created and expanded our collection of package-free products and continue to pioneer materials recovery, recycled and recyclable packaging and, best of all, avoiding it altogether. We would rather put our efforts into sourcing the ethical and quality ingredients that go into our products than the packaging wrapped around them. Our zero waste and circular way of thinking informs our actions. As part of our zero-waste culture, we’re working on:

  • Being naked, avoiding single-use materials, using regenerative materials when new materials are needed, and buying quality materials that last.
  • Avoiding landfill, incineration and recycling exports, and recovering legacy materials from the environment.
  • Collaborating with our suppliers and partners to practice a similar philosophy through take-back programs and localized composting initiatives that are key for a circular economy.

As a business that sources our own raw materials, creates and produces all our own products, we’re in a unique position to embed our values and zero-waste philosophy throughout our operations. At our factories, we’re working towards zero-waste and take-back programs with our suppliers. Our employees participate in sorting competitions across all areas of our business to raise awareness about waste, recycling and composting. We continue to partner with local organics recycling partners where available to help with waste diversion at our shops.

Stay tuned for more!

We’re committed to do more. If you have any questions or feedback, please let us know by contacting us at sustainability@lush.com.