LUSH believes taking care of the environment is everyone's responsibility including all of their staff and our customers.

Since LUSH began, their founders and staff have been aware of how the products they manufacture and sell interact with the environment. They have always used creative solutions to make a positive impact on the planet, like the invention of the first-ever solid shampoo bar.

Environmental issues are at the heart of our company and trickle through to the decisions they make on a daily basis. For example, LUSH uses almond and olive oil, not mineral oil, partly because they think fields of trees make our lives much richer than oil fields.

LUSH keeps on top of legislation and welcome new regulations that genuinely reduce their impact. They like to support environmental groups that take part in creative direct action to help change the law

They are committed to becoming more sustainable the more they grow, by using their buying power to drive positive change.

Here's how they're been doing it:

Packaging

Their passion is to get rid of packaging when designing a product. LUSH uses as little packaging in the shops as possible and give you the choice to go completely naked; they mean the products, not yourselves. About half of their products can be taken home with no packaging. They save nearly 6 million plastic bottles globally from selling shampoo bars alone.

When packaging is unavoidable, they prefer to use recycled materials. 90%, by weight, of their packaging material is recycled, and they’re working on the remaining 10%. LUSH likes for their packaging to be reused, recycled, or composted at the end of their lives and aims to have 100% of their packaging recyclable or compostable.

They also enjoy looking into new materials, and for the future, legislation permitting, they would like to start using refills and to increase the amount of reusable packaging used to transport products between their factories and their shops.

Raw materials

LUSH takes great care when buying their raw materials. LUSH prefers to use ingredients that are produced in a sustainable way and avoid those that aren't. Palm oil, for example, went into their black book and was replaced by more earth-friendly oils in their soap base. LUSH is now working to remove it from all products, as well as encouraging other companies to do the same.

Over 70% of their range is self-preserving, and they are always looking at ways to improve on that.

LUSH will keep on putting masses of natural ingredients in their products, dreaming up self-preserving cosmetics, worrying about their environmental impact, and working with their suppliers to minimize that. They choose to give their love (and money) to suppliers that respect the environment and the animals and people living there.

Communication

LUSH would like to report on our environmental performance on a yearly basis and make sure they maintain green issues alive in the hearts of our staff, ensuring that this policy delivers on what it promises. Although the green message comes from the top, the organization needs a network of people to spread it. So they will continue to encourage and support all the people who want to help and will make them Green Helpers.

They also believe in campaigning with our customers to bring to light important topics, while also having a lot of fun. They like to empower those around us and are especially fond of turning passion into action.

For more information on their Water, Energy, Waste, and Recycling, visit lush.com.

Photo: LUSH

Program subject to change. Contact the store directly for more information.