The Body Shop is a brand that holds a special place in our hearts because of its steadfast and unapologetic commitment to sustainability as its number one business objective. This year Body Shop Canada is celebrating its 40th anniversary and is continuing to make waves in innovation and environmentally sound practices when it comes to skin care, body products and beauty collections. To help take a closer look at the brand’s lifespan, we chatted with Chris Davis, director of campaigns and corporate responsibility, and Marc-Alexandre Risch, the general manager of The Body Shop Canada. After our conversation with them, we fell even harder for this iconic brand. Here are five reasons we love The Body Shop that will make the tree-hugger inside of you jump with joy.
- The Bio Bridges project
Through discussions with scientists, The Body Shop learned that deforestation practices, in addition to destroying forests, cut off animals from each other, which, as Davis explains, cuts off the animal gene pool. In attempts to fix this issue, the brand has committed to regenerating deforested areas in the world”with the first project being in Vietnam”in order to bridge these groups of animals back together. Unifying animals; simply beautiful.
- Body Butter tubs made from air pollution
To start 2016 off with a bang, The Body Shop partnered with a startup in California in order to create sustainable packaging for their iconic Body Butters, one of the core and bestselling products. With this partnership, Riche explains that The Body Shop has managed to create a sustainable packaging that uses air pollution along with methane, oxygen and a biocatalyst. Putting air pollution to good use”that’s just amazing science!
- The human factor
In addition to harvesting natural ingredients for their products, Riche explains that The Body Shop builds strong relationships with the people who live in the communities of its various initiatives so they can guarantee the ethical nature of the ingredients. Just in time for Mother’s Day the brand has launched it’s British Rose Body Collection that uses organic roses harvested by a husband and wife team in the U.K. named Emma and Lee. Emma and Lee grow their roses completely without the use of pesticides. Their goal as farmers is to grow the roses high enough so that the birds can nest in them.
- The fearless targets The Body Shop has created for 2020
This infographic says it all; these are bold commitments to make for a company as large as The Body Shop, but the brand isn’t afraid to push boundaries to nurture both the environment and the people who live in it.
- The positive differences made for real women in Ghana through the Shea Foundation
The Shea butter body care range is another bestselling range. Did you know that each Shea butter tub has the butter of 27 nuts in it? Yep, we were amazed too! In 1994 The Body Shop developed the Shea Foundation, an organization that gives back to the community of women in Ghana who harvest the Shea nuts. The Body Shop pays premium price for the butter from these women so they can reap the economic and sociopolitical benefits from their labour. The Shea Foundation now employs over 500 women, has empowered the community to build ten new schools for their future generations and helped over 40,000 people in Ghana build better lives. Enough said.
