Aveda Sets Standard in Sustainability for Beauty Industry
Global sustainability leader Aveda today announced it has become the first beauty company in the world and only the second U.S. company in any industry to receive a Cradle to Cradle (C2C) sustainability endorsement, with seven Aveda products achieving Gold Level C2C certification.
Today’s endorsement comes from sustainability consultancy McDonough Braungart Design Chemistry, LLC (MBDC), the firm that pioneered the concept of Cradle to Cradle design, and the implementation of eco-effective design principles. Cradle to Cradle product certifications, completed by MBDC and its affiliate, the Hamburg, Germany-based Environmental Protection and Encouragement Agency (EPEA), recognize Aveda’s recent extraordinary efforts to develop products and processes that conform to the world’s most advanced standards for intelligent design, sustainable stewardship and reuse of materials.
C2C endorsement recognizes companies’ efforts in developing environmentally-intelligent products with a goal of eliminating waste entirely. EPEA, founded by life-cycle expert, Professor Michael Braungart, and MBDC, co-founded by Braungart and renowned designer and green architect, William McDonough, are the global leaders in certification of sustainable processes, products and services.
The endorsement by MBDC adds to Aveda’s impressive record of environmental sustainability. Throughout Aveda’s 30-year history, the company’s accomplishments have included the pioneering use of wind energy in the beauty industry, leadership in the use of recyclable packaging and support of organic agriculture.
Aveda’s C2C certification and endorsement are the culmination of 30 years of socially and environmentally responsible business practices. This latest milestone comes at a time when the U.S. administration and national governments around the world are issuing calls for businesses to adopt energy and operational practices to advance environmental responsibility and help stimulate economic growth, an approach Aveda has pursued since its founding in 1978.
“As the first beauty company to achieve Cradle to Cradle endorsement, Aveda is recognized as a leader in intelligent design,” said Aveda President, Dominique Conseil. “Designing and manufacturing products can be environmentally responsible when environmental goals are factored into the concept at the very beginning. At Aveda, we believe that authentic beauty cares for the environment which we inherited from elders, and will leave to generations that follow.”
Conseil noted that Aveda’s adherence to its core environmental values has been nurtured alongside growth in sales and profit. The company has made remarkable progress in energy conservation and the use of renewable energy and is currently the largest buyer of green energy in Minnesota and the 32nd largest purchaser in the US. And these strides have been made without compromising business performance. The company’s sales have grown five times in 10 years.
The C2C endorsement recognizes Aveda not just for the products it creates, but for the company’s overall commitment to ingredients, materials, and processes to create a positive environmental footprint.
Aveda received Gold C2C designation for seven key products and Silver C2C designation for its packaging. The Gold certified products are: Aveda Smooth Infusion Shampoo; Smooth Infusion Conditioner; Aveda Dry Remedy Moisturizing Shampoo; Dry Remedy Moisturizing Conditioner; Aveda Men Pure-Formance Shampoo; Aveda Men Pure-Formance Conditioner; and Green Science Firming Face Creme.
To date, no other beauty products have been awarded Gold C2C certification.
“Aveda has been at the forefront of the environmental movement within the beauty industry since its inception and they continue to innovate by fully embracing Cradle to Cradle design,” said Professor Michael Braungart, CEO of EPEA. “Aveda is making a difference and ensuring that what they design is beneficial to the biosphere.” In 2006, EPEA also endorsed Aveda’s Green Ingredient Policy, which it developed to help ensure product ingredient integrity.
MBDC co-founder William McDonough praised Aveda’s accomplishments and the company’s vision. “For our society to flourish, we must design products and systems based on patterns found in nature, eliminating the concept of waste entirely and creating an abundance that is healthy and sustaining,” he said.
Aveda’s C2C endorsement is expected to signal an important change within the beauty industry and catalyze sustainable product development and manufacturing. “We can change the world by changing the way the world does business,” said Conseil.
Aveda, The Art and Science of Pure Flower and Plant Essences, was founded in 1978 with the goal of providing beauty industry professionals with high performance, botanically based products that would be better for service providers and their guests, as well as for the planet. Aveda manufactures professional plant-based hair care, skin care, makeup, Pure-Fume and lifestyle products. Headquartered in Blaine, Minnesota, Aveda is available in Aveda stores, on www.aveda.com, and in nearly 7,000 professional hair salons and spas in 29 countries worldwide.
Aveda’s numerous corporate and social responsibility associations include CERES (Coalition for Environmentally Responsible Economies), ISO (International Organization for Standardization), Coop-America/Green Business Network, SVN (Social Venture Network), BSR (Business for Social Responsibility), Environmental Grant Makers, American Botanical Association, Organic Trade Association, National Recycling Coalition, and the U.S. Green Building Council.
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Interesting post. I’ve always enjoyed Aveda’s products.