Lush – following through, being awesome, taking names
By Karina | November 24, 2008
I posted over the summer that I’d heard a LUSH RUMOR: that they would be dropping the use of plastic bags all together. I think it’s really happened! I was gifted with a bag of soaps from Lush this weekend and the bright yellow bag itself had this written on it: “YELLOW BAG ASKS: ‘Is there live after Lush?” RECYCLE. Once it’s lost its usefullness, put it in with your paper recycling.” Reading this refreshed my memory, and I double checked with their webpage and learned learned the following (since my last visit):
The total recycled content in all LUSH packaging is about 89% (including paper bags, aluminium tins, gift wrap, ribbons, boxes, tags and inserts). That means that for every ton of material bought by LUSH, 900kg come from recycled sources.
- Our pots and bottles are made with 100% post-consumer recycled (PCR) plastic, saving about 65 tons of CO2 and 90 tonnes of virgin plastic, or 800 barrels of oil, each year. Visit our Customer Forum for fun ways to reuse your LUSH pots.
- Our carrier bags are made with 100% post-consumer recycled paper, saving 100 tonnes of CO2 each year. They’re now 2 grams lighter too which reduces emissions even more.
- We use biodegradable plastic bags and eco-friendly packing tape to protect products for shipment. Our packing tape is fully recyclable, tamperproof, tamper-evident, and is stronger per square inch than polypropylene (the old plastic stuff).
- Our gifts are lovingly wrapped with recycled paper and protected using shredded wood or recycled shredded paper, both of which are 100% biodegradable
I’m pretty excited that Lush is still moving towards less waste. I love how they make a point of saying on the yellow bag “once it’s lost its usefulness.” And I am *really* excited about the happy gift of soap from my friend.
Any thoughts about packaging? Have you been able to minimize the amount of packaging you bring home with you in any way?
Topics: Waste | 3 Comments »
i love lush and their philosophy, but sadly, their products break me out. ) :
i’m trying to minimize the packaging, but it is TOUGH. so much cardboard and plastic for a little jar of face cream. makes me so angry.
i love cargo’s lipstick packaging! you probably know this already, but you wet their packages, and plant them… they grow into wildflowers!
I love Lush but hope they’ll still have plastic packaging as an option because you can realllly feel the scents through the paper bags. Lush is nowhere near where I live, so I typically carry their products on a train for hours and as an allergy sufferer myself I would hate to give someone else an asthma attack…
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