Sustainability of Blossom Breeze Deo
Based on my research from each of all the ingredients in this recipe (which you can read about by clicking on each ingredient in the ingredient list, or by browsing the ingredients page), I have created the following summary table. (🟢= sustainable ingredient; 🟡= unsustainable, but has many positive factors; 🟠= unsustainable, concerning; ⚫= very unsustainable.)
Remember: these are my ratings, other, potentially less honest people may give more favourable ratings to certain ingredients.
|
Ingredient |
Rating |
The Good |
The Bad |
|
Corn Starch |
🟠 |
Often locally sourced (Europe). |
Corn is typically a huge monoculture crop, often requiring high water and fertilizer inputs, even when organic. |
|
Bicarbonate of Soda (Baking Soda) |
⚫ |
Natural mineral salt, common household ingredient. |
Energy & Mining. Not agricultural, but produced via an industrial chemical process (Solvay process) or deep earth mining (Trona). High processing energy. |
|
Organic Mango Butter |
🟠 |
Upcycled ingredient. It is produced from the kernel (stone), which is otherwise waste from the fruit industry. No extra land needed. |
Processing the hard stone requires energy/machinery. Refining the mango butter requires a lot of energy. Mostly imported (carbon miles). |
|
Organic Coconut Oil |
🟠 |
High yield per acre (better than other oil crops). Tree crop (carbon sequestration). |
Transport distance. Heavy product to ship globally. Farmers often face extreme poverty (requires Fair Trade). |
|
Organic Local Beeswax |
🟢 |
Lowest Carbon Footprint. Transport emissions are near zero. Supports local pollination ecosystems. |
none |
|
Organic Lavender essential oil |
🟠 |
Crop is hardy, beneficial for pollinators, and can be grown in poor soils (low inputs). |
Energy Intensive. Requires vast amounts of plant material and high energy/water for steam distillation. |
|
Organic Ylang-Ylang essential oil |
⚫ |
Supports rural communities in sourcing regions (Madagascar, Comoros). |
Deforestation Risk & High Energy. Traditional distillation consumes vast amounts of wood fuel. High Labor for hand-picking at dawn. |
It is important to note that this is a simplification of the many complex and often interrelated issues 🤯 when it comes to assessing the sustainability of a product, and that for most ingredients I can only make generalisations as, despite my best efforts,🔎I don’t know much about the exact provenance of my ingredients.
The most damaging ingredients are the bicarbonate of soda and the ylang-ylang essential oil, however the essential oil is only used in tiny quantities so it is clear that the biggest impact comes from the bicarbonate of soda. Unfortunately this is a difficult ingredient to replace as it is central to the absorption of sweat and smell in this recipe. Nonetheless, it should be noted that although it uses a lot of energy it is not a harmful or polluting ingredient and can safely be used on skin.
What about the push-up tube?
The push-up tube is made of cardboard, and although it can’t be re-used it can definitely be recycled. ♻️The production of these tubes is likely energy-intensive, but by recycling the cardboard the environmental impact of these tubes is much lower than the plastic tubes normally used for deodorants.
What can I do to make it less unsustainable?
Currently I have no solution for removing the bicarbonate of soda from this recipe, while still ensuring it works well as a deodorant. However I do have 2 plans to increase the overall sustainability of this deodorant:
- Remove the ylang-ylang essential oil and replace it with another scent which is less damaging. However I will only do this change once I have fully used up all my organic ylang-ylang essential oil, as I do not want to waste it (thereby increasing the environmental impact even more). 🚫🗑️
- Replace the mango butter with unrefined mango butter. This will significantly reduce the environmental impact of this ingredient as much of the energy costs associated with its production come from the refinement process.🥭⚡️ Using unrefined mango butter will affect the texture and smell of the deodorant so several tests will need to be run. 🔬
Watch this space, or subscribe to my mailing list 💌 to be the first to hear how it all goes!
What can you do to make it less unsustainable?
As with everything, sustainability starts with using only what you need and not wasting. Therefore, please use your deodorant fully before buying a new one. 🙏 And please don't forget to recycle the push-up tube when you have finished your deodorant. ♻️
Want to do more?
Together we have done a lot to reduce our environmental impact when it comes to this body butter! 🥳 But if you really want to do more, you could offset the impact of your body butter by donating a few francs to one of these NGOs:
- Waterkeeper Alliance: 🌊 targeting water scarcity and pollution (problematic for almond oil production).
- Rainforest Alliance: 🐸targeting tropical deforestation (problematic for cinnamon essential oil and vanilla essential oil productions)
- WWF: 🐼 targeting nature conservation worldwide.
