CSR at Lush: The biggest independent green cosmetic company

Lush is one of my most favourite cosmetic companies and I am a faithful customer, more so because of their CSR initiatives. I first discovered them as a student in Glasgow and the smell of the Lush shop on Buchanan St. is still one of those things that bring back pleasant memories of student life. UK-based Lush is famous for its fresh, hand-made products, its deli-type store layouts and is the purveyor of some of the most sustainable cosmetics around.

It is also famous for selling its products 'naked' i.e., without packaging. 65% of its products come without packaging and the ones that do have packaging comes from post-consumer recycled waste. Lush  is against animal testing; all its products are vegetarian and less than 30% contain animal products such as beeswax, honey, free-range unfertilized eggs and lanolin.

The company has a strong stance on eco-friendly, ethical, fairtrade products and have constantly partnered with the most sustainable suppliers to bring the best of raw material into their products. They work with communities from where they source their products and work with them from ground-up. Lush supports different charities based in the UK, Ghana, Kilimanjaro and Gambia and their employees are actively involved in CSR efforts. 100% of the proceeds from their cream called Charity Pot goes towards supporting these charities.

In 2007 , while investigating potential packaging materials that would be more eco-friendly, Lush hit upon the idea of using popcorn instead of polystyrene beads. In accordance with their CSR policy, Lush also runs campaigns against unnecessary packaging and has eliminated palm oil from their products. They sell a conditioner called Jungle and 100% of the profits will be donated to the Rainforest Foundation. They have also teamed up with Sea Shepard to bring awareness to shark finning and ocean wellness. More recently they are using a supplier of sustainable sandalwood from Australia for their sandal-oil. Similarly they have ethical sourcing standards for every one of their raw materials.

When I emailed Lush to ask about the chemicals they use in their products, they replied back saying that they use their synthetic materials carefully and are "usually chosen because of their long safety record and history of use." 75% of their products do not contain any synthetic preservatives at all, including their deodorant range. When preservatives are used, they are used in much smaller quantities which means that the product automatically has a much lower shelf life (12/14 months vs. 4/5yrs on other products). Lush does use plant-based paraben derivatives in their liquid products only and are currently working towards a better preservative in lieu of recent speculation.

Lush is the last large, independent green cosmetic company that hasn't been taken over by a multi-national and I do hope it stays that way. Mark Constantine one of the founders opines that, "Green businesses looking to expand need investment capitol, and the biggest challenge is securing that capitol in a way that won't leave them open to a buyout by an unethical multinational."

Thanks to Vicky Jansson at Customer Care for her time