We’ve been heartened by the many and various press releases which pinged into our inboxes this week, heralding Earth Day 2020 today. But to be honest, every day is Earth Day for us. 

We first wrote The Green Beauty Bible back in 2003, reflecting a shared passion for the environment which has really only grown since then. At the time, there weren’t nearly so many brands to write about – and ‘greener’ formulations were primitive, in the form of oils and balms and scrubs. At the time, Jo was chairing the Soil Association’s Organic Beauty Standards Committee, and there was much talk about how ‘green’ beauty wouldn’t really ever take off until the products rivalled those of, say, Clarins.

Well, now they do. And beyond. And consistently over the years many top-scoring products in our Beauty Bible Awards have been awarded ‘Best Natural’ as well as Gold, Silver or Bronze Awards. (Lots and lots of Golds, actually.) In almost all categories of the Awards – which you can see a run-down of, here – you can find a great ‘green’ product, often from a small and committed start-up brand. (NB ‘Green’ shouldn’t always be confused with ‘clean’, though. There’s a lot of talk about ‘clean’ beauty, but that doesn’t equate to a commitment to sustainable sourcing.) 

Just before #lockdown, we attended a breakfast event at Bamford Haybarn in Knightsbridge (below) for the reveal of the Soil Association Organic Beauty and Wellbeing Market 2020 Report. A great deal has happened since then but to mark Earth Day, we thought we’d rewind to that day to highlight below some of the amazing statistics and nuggets that emerged at the breakfast – to show just how far we’ve come.

We believe that, when we emerge from this extraordinary global ‘pause’, green beauty and responsible consumerism are going to come of age. We have literally all had cause to think about what we need, literally to survive in some cases, and what our priorities will be moving forward. For many, that may mean supporting brands which have a sustainability mission, or are focused on social responsibility – or just supporting small businesses which may currently be fighting for survival. For a lot of people, we suspect there’ll be a paring back and more emphasis on the basics – literally ‘less is more’.

This report, though, was put together even before that. We’ll be fascinated to see how this movement escalates – as we predict it will – before 2021’s is published. Meanwhile? Some highlights…

• 64% of consumers are looking for products with recyclable packaging, with 55% wanting more refill points in stores. (Ah, stores. We remember those…!) Very relevant since 40% of our total plastic use is from cosmetics overall, with over 80 billion plastic bottles disposed of annually from shampoo and conditioner alone.

• Sales of certified and natural products have risen by over 23% over the past year – the ninth year of consecutive double-digit growth.

• 27% of consumers are now trying to reuse water or use less..

• 87% of consumers feel passionately about supporting environmental initiatives.

There’s still much work to be done – notably on making it illegal, ultimately, to make organic and natural claims if they’re not true. (You can’t do that in the food world, but organic beauty isn’t governed by law in the same way.) We do much scrutinising of packaging and sustainability claims here at Beauty Bible HQ – but we’re aware that it’s easy to be taken in by what some brands say -versus what they actually do.

All in all, though, we are hugely encouraged by the shift we see in beauty towards sustainability.

Happy Earth Day, one and all. Let’s celebrate – and move towards a sustainable future. ‘We’re all in this together’ doesn’t only apply to the current crisis…

soilassoociation.org

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