Sustainability of Face the Flowers
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 |
|
Organic ground almond |
🟠 |
Natural exfoliator which does not cause plastic pollution (like microbeads) |
Water Thirsty. Requires massive irrigation (mostly grown in drought-prone regions). Commercial pollination stresses bee populations. |
|
Swiss healing stone |
🟡 |
Locally produced (low transport emissions). |
Mining process could be damaging. |
|
Organic Sunflower Glycerin |
🟡 |
Palm-oil alternative. Sunflowers are hardy, rotation crops that support soil health. Glycerin is a byproduct of oil production (waste reduction). |
Energy-intensive hydrolysis process to separate the glycerin. |
|
Organic Rose Water |
🟠 |
Hydrosol is a byproduct of rose essential oil distillation, utilizing more of the crop. |
Roses are very water-intensive to grow. |
|
Organic Almond Oil |
⚫ |
Trees sequester carbon. |
Water Thirsty. Requires massive irrigation (mostly grown in drought-prone regions). Commercial pollination stresses bee populations. |
|
Organic Lavender Flowers |
🟡 |
Hardy, drought-tolerant crop. Often grown without high inputs; provides habitat for pollinators. |
Can be water-intensive if grown in dry areas. Drying/processing requires energy. |
|
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. |
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. Nonetheless, based on my research, the almond oil is clearly the most problematic ingredient in this recipe.
What about the jar?
Embrace the Zest comes in a glass jar with a Bakelite (type of plastic) lid. The sustainability of this jar depends entirely on our actions ♻️when the jar is empty: the glass, which can be recycled infinitely, is fantastic; the Bakelite lid is problematic, as it can’t be recycled, and should be reused until it falls apart before being discarded.🗑️
What can I do to make it less unsustainable?
As noted above, almond oil is the most problematic ingredient in this product. I will therefore try removing this ingredient, or replacing it with another vegetable oil. 🥥🥑
Additionally I would like to research alternatives to ground almond as a gentle natural exfoliator. 🔎✨
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 lotion fully before buying a new one. 🙏When it is finished, return the jar to me (here’s how) and to thank you for helping to reduce waste I will give you a 5CHF voucher to use on any Kayan Naturkosmetik products.🎁
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.
