Ingredients | Healthy Living | Environmental
The Naked Chemist Sustainability Development Goals
Sustainability, to me, is not one ingredient that is sustainably sourced or an action taken that makes a brand.
It’s a dynamic journey in an ever-changing world requiring thoughtful action.
Sustainable beauty can mean many things.
Recyclable packaging and ingredients that are sourced responsibly.
Even supporting local growers.
We sit down with our founder, Samantha Miller, to discuss what sustainability means to the company.
We also discuss the improvements and accomplishments so far.
And the company’s sustainable development goals for the future.
THE INTERVIEW
QUESTION. What does sustainability mean to you?
ANSWER: Sustainability is the practice of making everyday choices that are geared toward green, natural, organic, vegan, cruelty-free, and socially responsible products and practices.
From a very young age, I was fascinated by harnessing the healing power of plants, capturing the fragrance of petals, and making them into perfumed waters.
It’s as if my whole life was building up to where I am today. It’s a labour of love, a calling if you like.
When I went on to develop my first formulas, beauty products weren’t categorised as clean, vegan, organic or natural.
Sustainability involves making everyday choices that support green, natural, organic, vegan, cruelty-free, and socially responsible practices.
Growing up in a rural area, I have always been environmentally conscious. Being surrounded by such diverse nature in New Zealand, I am highly conscious of our consumption and its impact on the natural world.
The mindset of living rurally is one of interdependence, rooted in the understanding that what we put on our skin sets off a chain reaction.
- It goes down our drain
- into the ecosystem
- into the water table
- which in turn either feeds and nourishes our plants or animals
- Or it poisons them
Yet these are the things we rely on for life, which is why I believe our skincare products should support long-term ecological balance.
This planet is far too precious and beautiful to waste.
QUESTION. Should your consumer know that using Naked Chemist products is a sustainable choice?
ANSWER. Absolutely. When we create our products, we analyse our entire supply chain, both upstream and downstream. What we mean by this is that we look at all the processes that get the ingredients into our formulas.
Since our inception, we have worked closely with New Zealand producers to ensure full traceability of how our ingredients are grown and processed.
We affectionately term this ‘from seed to skin,’ focusing on sustainable production methods that eliminate harsh synthetics.
Our products are formulated, batched, filled, and shipped from our premises in New Zealand.
We continually monitor the environmental impact of our operations, from formulation through to extraction.
QUESTION. You said you want to make a significant impact with your sustainability development goals.
ANSWER: We believe in harnessing the power of nature to enhance your natural beauty.
With this in mind, we source our plant-based active ingredients from our backyard and are incredibly proud to produce exclusively on New Zealand shores.
We handle ingredients carefully, as we don’t want to reduce their natural potency.
We carefully select non-toxic preservatives to maximise the effectiveness of each precious ingredient while prolonging the product’s shelf life without compromising safety.
If we use an ingredient that isn’t available in a natural or organic form, we choose the safest, most sustainable, and least toxic option.
We are committed to ethical sourcing; however, some plant-based ingredients, such as palm oil, are ubiquitous in consumer products and are associated with the unjust treatment of workers or with devastating impacts on our planet.
That’s why we ensure our ingredients don’t add to this problem at the Naked Chemist. So, we don’t use palm oil in any of our products.
We aim to raise awareness to help reduce habitat destruction, clear-cutting, and climate change, among other issues; you can learn more about them here.
We want our products to be as gentle on Mother Nature as they are on your skin, so we work hard to ensure that our ingredients, materials, and farming practices are not detrimental to the environment.
In our cosmeceuticals, we use skin-identical ingredients. Why? These are proven to be biologically compatible with your skin and hair.
ANSWER: When designing our packaging, we make conscious decisions at every stage because we want to do justice to the natural, potent, luxurious formulas within.
We are moving towards more eco-friendly packaging, and one of the changes our clients will immediately see is our new packaging.
Our packaging design is not only an advancement in sustainability with a focus on recyclable varnish and vegetable–based inks and finishes on our boxes, but many of our containers are moving to glass or the widely recyclable mono-material polypropylene (PP).
Because no single solution fits every piece of packaging, we have had to assess each product individually to determine which packaging solution is right for the formula we are using, i.e., whether it is sensitive to light exposure, usage, and environmental impact.
It is all of these elements that have helped to shape our packaging selection.
ANSWER. This is not a straightforward answer because, whilst plastic is harmful to the environment, it has the lowest carbon footprint.
So switching to plastic does, in some respects, replace plastic pollution, but it certainly doesn’t solve all of our planet’s problems.
Recycling is a pervasive issue because even if a brand says its product packaging is recyclable, the subtle details that make up the packaging, such as finishes and the colour or metallic caps, can mean that the packaging you put in your recycling bin ultimately ends up in a landfill.
As a result, we choose to take the following approach.
- We use plant-based materials wherever possible, as they are a renewable resource.
- We use sustainable packaging components, either renewable or recyclable.
- We seek to ensure that our packaging can be recycled where possible.
- We choose not to use petroleum-based packaging, which is a nonrenewable resource.
Question. Finally, what are your sustainable development goals for the future?
Answer. Whilst we don’t have all the answers yet, we choose to ask with our minds and lead with our hearts.
Our sustainability development goals are ever-evolving, a learning journey where we constantly strive to improve and do our best.
Sustainability development is a dynamic journey in an ever-changing world where technology advances quickly. Staying ahead of the game is not easy; it requires continued, thoughtful action.
At the heart of the Naked Chemist philosophy is transparency in beauty; therefore, we don’t want to rush into implementing something to claim we are doing it for the sake of sustainability. Instead, we want to ensure it has the intended effect for the environment’s benefit.
In an ideal world, every day would be Earth Day, but we can only do our part by implementing small steps towards sustainability to guarantee a happier planet.
And if that happens to be a more eco-friendly beauty routine for our users, not just for how it makes them look, but also to help them feel better about using skincare.
And one that has a more positive impact on our planet than that. It is a step in the right direction for the company and me.
As the founder, I’d like to think that our company is making a positive impact on society and the planet.
Follow the link to learn more about our approach to natural beauty.