LUSH Celebrates Earth Day: April 22, 2010

Lush Bubbles

Environmental awareness may only just be creeping into the consciousness of the beauty industry, but there’s one company who has been pioneering in this field since its inception - LUSH fresh, handmade cosmetics. April 22, 2010 will mark the 40th anniversary of the first Earth Day, when 20 million Americans protested against the damage being done to the planet. 2010 also marks Lush’s 15th anniversary and they are as committed today to ethical trading and sustainability as they were all those years ago.

Being green and environmentally aware doesn’t necessarily mean you have to spend a fortune, or give up all your favorite luxury products. When you buy from Lush you are guaranteed the most beautiful, fresh, effective products possible … you can also be happy in the knowledge that the company does all it can to help preserve our planet the way it is. As we like it that way and don’t want to loose it.

Lush's innovative range of solid products allow minimal or no preservatives and packaging, which means less waste heading to landfill. 67% of their current product range is ‘naked’ and in 2009, in the UK alone, they sold over 5.9 million naked items.

200,000 of these items were shampoo bars, meaning that 15 tonnes of plastic was avoided. Lush shampoo bars are small, convenient, easy to carry and easy to use. Use them just like soap to effectively clean the hair of everyday dirt and grime. Each bar lasts for over 80 washes, the equivalent of 3 bottles of 250g shampoo, which is both kinder for the environment and your wallet. Choose from ten varieties, including Squeaky Green (Php345.00) or Godiva shampoo and conditioning bar (Php525.00)

Lush Godiva

Lush’s other solid products include bath ballistics, bubble bars, body butters, massage bars, cleansers, shower jellies, sugar scrubs and soap. Lush has started to produce palm-free soaps from the London factory that’s set to be rolled out worldwide. The soaps have a base that’s palm oil free, which means a reduction in their annual palm use by approximately 250,000 kg.

Lush Ballistic

It’s imperative other businesses do the same, as until global levels of palm use are cut dramatically, and plans to use palm oil as a biofuel are scrapped entirely, there is little hope for a workable sustainable palm oil industry, and the future of the forests, animals and people of Indonesia and Malaysia is bleak. By choosing products not containing palm oil, like Lush soap, you are doing your bit to help preserve the only remaining habitat of the orangutan, as if things continue as they are then they will be extinct within 10 years.

Lush also has a very strong commitment to the communities and areas from which they buy their ingredients. They feel that all ingredients should be bought in a respectful way and that they tread as lightly on the planet as possible. In order to understand the impact of their purchasing decisions, for many years they have had a policy of trying to eliminate the ‘middle man’ wherever possible and going straight to the growers and processors in order to learn the true story of each ingredient. This also enables them to check the impact their buying has.

In the Philippines, Lush is exclusively distributed by Stores Specialists, Inc. (SSI) and is located at Glorietta 4, Power Plant Mall, Shangri-La Mall, Greenbelt 3, Mall of Asia, and Bonifacio High Street. You may also visit us online at www.lush.com.ph