When you put on a t-shirt or a pair of shoes, you probably don’t wonder where the cotton or leather used to make them comes from. So, you probably also don’t ask yourself this question when applying cream or putting on your favorite scent.
Much of the raw materials used to make clothing and beauty products come from farms or forests, specifically deforested areas. Therefore, our environment is paying a heavy price. The fashion and beauty sectors are major players in deforestation and the loss of biodiversity. Nevertheless, a few big brands are trying to turn the tide.
Natura & Co, the cosmetics group from Brazil that owns the brands Avon, Body Shop and Aesop, announced ambitious goals last June to fight against deforestation in the Amazon in connection with the production of its cosmetic products from here in 2030. His plan seems to defy all logic, since it is a question of “exploiting” the forest more than ever.
Today, the group uses 38 ingredients extracted from plants from the Amazon rainforest to compose its creams, soaps and perfumes. Its objective is to complete this palette with 55 additional ingredients, so as to multiply its “Forest Footprint” almost by two.
The strategy is to preserve the forest by asking local communities to harvest the seeds and fruits that grow on the trees, while paying them better than if they cut the trees.
Natural ingredients for cosmetic products can be worth hundreds of times the value of the tree they grew on. For example, Buriti oil, extracted from the fruit of the tarpaulin palm and found in Natura hair oils and soaps, can be worth $ 200 per kilogram (or € 170) in Europe. By buying the fruit directly, brands spare the trees, protect wild flora and fauna and preserve a land that sequesters a significant amount of carbon.
“The Amazon is one of the richest ecosystems in the world”, explains Silvia Lagnado, responsible for sustainable growth at Natura & Co. “With more than three million species sheltered by the rainforest, more than 2,500 tree varieties and a third of all tropical trees existing on Earth, it must be the priority of all of us.”
Committed to preserving the biodiversity of the Amazon for 16 years, the cosmetics group is one of those companies in the fashion and cosmetics sector that comb through their supply chains to study the impact of their products on biodiversity. They then make courageous promises about their methods to protect the species of our planet.
