But when the commercial world knows we’re looking for sustainability initiatives, how does one separate the good guys from the opportunists? How can we be ‘thoughtfully imperfect’, shopping with those who put genuine effort behind their messaging?
Haircare brand Aveda is a wonderful example of a big, global business with integrity at its heart. The first beauty company to use 100% post-consumer recycled plastic packaging, Aveda now packages around 90% of its products in completely recycled materials. They recycle around 90% of their total waste, manufacture using only wind and solar power, use no sulphates, silicone, petrol, paraffin, polythene, talc or synthetic fragrance in their products. And, oh – they refused to test on animals from day dot and will be entirely vegan by early next year (including their Thickening Tonic, my holy grail blow-dry spray, which – like everything Aveda makes – smells heavenly).
REN is another huge corporation-owned brand who takes seriously the responsibilities of global influence. In recent months, many of their hero products (hello Ready Steady Glow Tonic and Perfect Canvas Clean Jelly Oil Cleanser) have been rehomed in 100% recycled packaging, and the entire brand has the bold, measurable ambition to be zero waste across manufacturing and distribution by 2021.
Luxury skincare guru Tata Harper takes a smaller scale, but similarly principled, approach. Harper’s Farm-to-Face ethos sees high-grade skincare ingredients grown sustainably on the grounds of her home in Vermont, blended in tiny batches and packaged in beautiful green glass bottles. Keen to circumvent the persistent need for plastic caps, Harper has recently launched Hydra Lock Moisturiser, a dewy, plumping, skin-drenching gel cream that can be refilled with innovative snap-in pods – allowing the same jar and cap to be used indefinitely (try after washing with the glass bottled Purifying Cleanser – one of the only rinse-off cleansers that doesn’t leave my skin parched). Her line-up is increasingly vegan, too.