Ethical and Green

At long last Ethical and Green have found some eco-friendly beauty products that are not only organic in nature but they work and look great.  Thank you Liz Earle!  If you have not heard about Liz Earle Naturally Active Skincare Products then here is some background to the UK based company.  We’ll be reviewing some of her products as they make great presents, so pop back soon.

For now take a look at Liz Earle’s eco-credentials:

Today, much focus is placed on creating and sustaining a “green lifestyle.” For many people, this goes well beyond a simple trend. Liz Earle, co-founder and creator of the award-winning Liz Earle Naturally Active Skincare collection, lives and breathes this lifestyle from the office, to her home and beyond.  Liz resides close to the Isle of Wight on an organic and all-natural farm where she grows much of her own food. 

Beginning her career as a health and beauty editor at Woman’s Journal, a top women’s magazine in the UK, Liz Earle developed a special knowledge of botanicals and natural remedies, the foundation of her skincare range, while focusing on the impact sourcing these ingredients will have on the environment.  

Being a botanically based skincare company, Liz Earle Beauty Co. has always been aware of the benefits of working with the environment rather than against it, not least as they rely so much on nature’s ingredients to ensure their formulations really work. 

Over the years they’ve been working hard to improve their environmental impact in many small ways, all of which are starting to add up to make a big difference.  They’re not perfect but they do try and find the balance between creating great skincare and the inevitable consequences of consumption, for Liz Earle Beauty Co. it is about progress not perfection: 

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  • Their new headquarters on the Isle of Wight which houses their staff is called ‘The Green House’ as it was built to incorporate more environmentally friendly ways of doing simple everyday things and wherever possible harness the power of Mother Nature.  Geo-thermal heating has been installed, which involves drilling into the ground and using natural heat to keep them warm.  This heat is also used in the water supply to provide hot water.  They also harvest the rain water which falls onto the Green House; this is then filtered into the bathrooms to flush toilets.  These are just 2 of the initiatives Liz Earle Beauty Co. are adopting to make this new home a greener place to be.

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  • Liz Earle Beauty Co. also has its very own Liz Earle ‘Green Team’ whose role is to be their conscience and to always be there to remind them how to be better and who are committed to improving their environmental impact. For example, the offices have become a greener place to work by following the principles of ‘reduce, recycle and re-use.’ They recycle everything from cardboard to computers and only use plant-based cleaning products.  Their ‘Turn It Off Campaign’ has also been a great success.

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  • The products do not contain mineral oil and are never tested on animals. The range uses plant oils and botanicals as the active ingredients which are a much more eco-friendly alternative to petro-chemical synthetic ingredients. A full time ethno-botanist is employed whose job is to not only source the newest, and safest ingredients, but to ensure that their impact on the environment is as minimal as possible.

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  • In line with their commitment to improve their environmental impact, Liz Earle Beauty Co. has recently undertaken an environmental review of all the literature which accompanies customer orders.  The ingredients leaflet is now printed on 100% recycled paper and over the last 3 months they have been able to reduce the amount of literature sent out to customers by 42%. 

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  • Liz Earle Beauty Co. has been working hard to reduce the number of plastic bags they have to use as a business and the in-house Green Team has been able to cut these by 95% - laid end-to-end this makes a massive saving of over 13 miles!

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  • To help further reduce their environmental impact, all the Liz Earle brochures, leaflets and newsletters are now printed using 100% vegetable inks - and they use one of the UK’s leading carbon-neutral printing companies.

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  • Liz Earle Beauty Co. was recognized for their Green achievements at the Island Business Awards by winning the Green Business Award at the end of 2006.

To learn more about Liz Earle Naturally Active skincare, please visit www.lizearle.com.