05.25.11
Online Exclusive: Meeting the Sustainability Challenge
The Sustainable Cosmetics Summit returned to New York, to educate – and challenge – the organic and natural cosmetics industries.
Leaders in the organic and natural cosmetics industries converged on Lower Manhattan, May 12-14, for the Sustainable Cosmetics Summit. Organized by Organic Monitor, a specialist research, consulting and training company that focuses on the global organic and related product industries, the conference at the Marriot Hotel New York Downtown featured an engaging – and sometimes provocative – speaker lineup, and attracted an enthusiastic crowd of more than 180 beauty executives from various sectors of the industry.
While the summit’s sessions often focused on formulations and ingredients – origins, supply chains, certifications and standards – there was plenty of information and insight relating directly to packaging. And during a few of the sessions, packaging was the focal point.
How P&G Meets the Challenge
Jenny Rushmore, global sustainability director for Proctor & Gamble (P&G), discussed the personal care giant’s strategies in regard to meeting the sustainability challenge. She said, “P&G is a company about consumers, and we try and root out what the consumer wants in regard to sustainability.”
P&G conducts extensive research on consumer behavior and opinion. Rushmore said that according to a recent survey, 70% of consumers worldwide say they want it (sustainability), but are not willing to sacrifice performance – or pay more. “P&G wants to key in on that 70%,” Rushmore said.
For P&G, Lifecycle Assessment is critical, according to Rushmore. She surprised many in the audience with one of the company’s findings. She asked, “Where is the carbon emissions on a bottle of shampoo? It’s not in the packaging. Lifecycle Assessment tells you exactly where the carbon footprint is.” The answer? “Ninety percent of the footprint is in the hot water used in the shower,” she said, adding, “This is the type of information we use when trying to improve formulations and packaging.”
And when it comes to its packaging, P&G is committed to sustainable design and recyclability. The company’s long-term goal, Rushmore said, is to have no waste go to landfill. “The most important thing to do in packaging is reduce. Consumers aren’t willing to have trade-offs, so that’s the challenge,” she added, giving an example of a recent success story. “Gillette Fusion has decreased its packaging by 25%, and it’s the number one selling razor in the world.
“But reduction can only take you so far,” said Rushmore, noting that another means of achieving sustainability is through finding alternative materials. She then discussed a new sugar cane plastic that P&G has developed. Rushmore stated that Pantene will soon start using up to 59% sugar cane content in its packaging.
Celebrate Diversity
“We’re all indigenous to the Earth,” declared Bill McDonough, at the start of this talk on “Positive Impacts on Cosmetics Products by Cradle to Cradle (C2C) Design.” McDonough is the co-founder of MBDC, a global sustainability consulting and product certification firm, and his presentation was somewhat provocative. He asked, "How many of you know there are toxins in your products? Negligence is knowing better and doing it anyway." He also rhetorically asked, "Is it your intention to destroy the planet, is that your business strategy?"
McDonough would go on to encouraged attendees to “make products that are sustaining, not just sustainable.” He said, “Reducing the negative footprint should be about increasing the positive footprint.” In the quest for sustainable best practices, McDonough suggested that competition is good. He cited the once often-heard decision shoppers had to make between paper or plastic. “Each has their advantages,” he said, encouraging the industry to “celebrate diversity.”
McDonough showed how the Cradle-to-Cradle design approach can be used to create positive impacts on the environment and social communities. Examples were given on how C2C can utilize waste materials when a product reaches the end of its lifecycle. According to McDonough, “a global population of 9 billion is not a problem, but an opportunity for the beauty industry,” since it creates additional demand. He states the problem is managing this growth by designing beauty products that do not have just zero impacts, but positive impacts.
CEO Roundtable
Another highlight of the 3-day summit was the CEO roundtable. Here, CEOs of leading natural personal care companies formed a roundtable to discuss key industry challenges. On the question of standards, the general consensus was that certification was secondary to product efficacy. As one speaker stated, “a poor certified product lets everyone down, as we have to try twice as hard to convince consumers to try an organic product again.” Another CEO stressed the importance of positive marketing, ‘it is better to accentuate the positive elements,’ rather than undertaking fear-based marketing that focuses on paraben-free, SLS-free, etc. Another CEO re-affirmed that the major challenge for natural & organic brands was providing greater authenticity to consumers, especially with so much confusion about what is “natural.”
When the discussion turned to packaging, Ido Leffler, founder of Yes to Carrots, offered, “You look at what works, what’s available, and what makes your consumers happy. Packaging that might be sustainable, but falls apart – that’s no good.”
Biomimicry
Joshua Onysko, founder of Pangea Organics, led a session during which he described his inspiration and approach towards packaging. Onysko spent two years traveling abroad – visited many developing countries – and saw a lot of garbage. After this, he said he became “somewhat obsessive” about minimizing packaging.
Biomimcry is a tool that plays a key role in Pangea’s packaging concepts. Onysko explained that the idea is based on “innovation inspired by nature,” – bio equals life, and mimicry equals imitate.
“Look at a banana,” he said. “It’s a fruit that grows its own packaging, and has a full cycle system. The packaging decomposes and allows more plants to grow. This led to us using egg crate cartons, shredded newspaper and hot water – plantable packaging.”
Onysko also focused on glass packaging, inspired by the cornea of the human eye. “Light starts deteriorating the medical values of skin care in 48 hours. Glass is impervious – it promotes shelf life. There are lots of benefits to using glass,” he said. However, Pangea did recently move its mud mask product from glass jars to a plastic tubes. “Now, there’s no risk of bacteria getting into the product from hands, and the tube allows us to double the amount of product without raising the price.”
For more information, visit www.sustainablecosmeticssummit.com.
The Sustainable Cosmetics Summit returned to New York, to educate – and challenge – the organic and natural cosmetics industries.
Photo: GreenMUA
|
While the summit’s sessions often focused on formulations and ingredients – origins, supply chains, certifications and standards – there was plenty of information and insight relating directly to packaging. And during a few of the sessions, packaging was the focal point.
How P&G Meets the Challenge
Jenny Rushmore, global sustainability director for Proctor & Gamble (P&G), discussed the personal care giant’s strategies in regard to meeting the sustainability challenge. She said, “P&G is a company about consumers, and we try and root out what the consumer wants in regard to sustainability.”
P&G conducts extensive research on consumer behavior and opinion. Rushmore said that according to a recent survey, 70% of consumers worldwide say they want it (sustainability), but are not willing to sacrifice performance – or pay more. “P&G wants to key in on that 70%,” Rushmore said.
More than 180 beauty executives from various sectors of the industry attended the summit. (Photo: GreenMUA) |
And when it comes to its packaging, P&G is committed to sustainable design and recyclability. The company’s long-term goal, Rushmore said, is to have no waste go to landfill. “The most important thing to do in packaging is reduce. Consumers aren’t willing to have trade-offs, so that’s the challenge,” she added, giving an example of a recent success story. “Gillette Fusion has decreased its packaging by 25%, and it’s the number one selling razor in the world.
“But reduction can only take you so far,” said Rushmore, noting that another means of achieving sustainability is through finding alternative materials. She then discussed a new sugar cane plastic that P&G has developed. Rushmore stated that Pantene will soon start using up to 59% sugar cane content in its packaging.
Celebrate Diversity
“We’re all indigenous to the Earth,” declared Bill McDonough, at the start of this talk on “Positive Impacts on Cosmetics Products by Cradle to Cradle (C2C) Design.” McDonough is the co-founder of MBDC, a global sustainability consulting and product certification firm, and his presentation was somewhat provocative. He asked, "How many of you know there are toxins in your products? Negligence is knowing better and doing it anyway." He also rhetorically asked, "Is it your intention to destroy the planet, is that your business strategy?"
McDonough would go on to encouraged attendees to “make products that are sustaining, not just sustainable.” He said, “Reducing the negative footprint should be about increasing the positive footprint.” In the quest for sustainable best practices, McDonough suggested that competition is good. He cited the once often-heard decision shoppers had to make between paper or plastic. “Each has their advantages,” he said, encouraging the industry to “celebrate diversity.”
McDonough showed how the Cradle-to-Cradle design approach can be used to create positive impacts on the environment and social communities. Examples were given on how C2C can utilize waste materials when a product reaches the end of its lifecycle. According to McDonough, “a global population of 9 billion is not a problem, but an opportunity for the beauty industry,” since it creates additional demand. He states the problem is managing this growth by designing beauty products that do not have just zero impacts, but positive impacts.
CEO Roundtable
CEO Roundtable (Photo: GreenMUA)
|
When the discussion turned to packaging, Ido Leffler, founder of Yes to Carrots, offered, “You look at what works, what’s available, and what makes your consumers happy. Packaging that might be sustainable, but falls apart – that’s no good.”
Biomimicry
Joshua Onysko, founder of Pangea Organics, led a session during which he described his inspiration and approach towards packaging. Onysko spent two years traveling abroad – visited many developing countries – and saw a lot of garbage. After this, he said he became “somewhat obsessive” about minimizing packaging.
Biomimcry is a tool that plays a key role in Pangea’s packaging concepts. Onysko explained that the idea is based on “innovation inspired by nature,” – bio equals life, and mimicry equals imitate.
“Look at a banana,” he said. “It’s a fruit that grows its own packaging, and has a full cycle system. The packaging decomposes and allows more plants to grow. This led to us using egg crate cartons, shredded newspaper and hot water – plantable packaging.”
Onysko also focused on glass packaging, inspired by the cornea of the human eye. “Light starts deteriorating the medical values of skin care in 48 hours. Glass is impervious – it promotes shelf life. There are lots of benefits to using glass,” he said. However, Pangea did recently move its mud mask product from glass jars to a plastic tubes. “Now, there’s no risk of bacteria getting into the product from hands, and the tube allows us to double the amount of product without raising the price.”
For more information, visit www.sustainablecosmeticssummit.com.