How we incorporate sustainable practices at Primal Essence

Written by Marisa Conde on Feb 16, 23

Sustainable, Upcycled, Greener, reduced Ecological Footprint, Social Responsibility, Recycled, are the current words that bombard our social media and no clever marketeer can ignore.

The concept of ''sustainable'' is not a protected one and, just like the concept of ''natural'', can mean different things to different people. As an exercise of curiosity, try to google the definition of sustainability, and you will see that it means something totally different according to the different authors. 

Theoretical considerations appart, we believe that it is the social responsibility of individuals and companies to be vigilant of the impact of our activities on earth’s and ocean's lungs, and that the sustainability ripple effect is real.

We don't want to be one of those companies that say that they are sustainable and nobody knows why, transparency is one of our values after all. 

If you are curious and want to know why we consider ourselves a sustainable company, keep on reading!  

No Plastic Packaging, No problem!

In our Plastic Free July post, we discussed the impact of kicking the plastic bottles out of our bathrooms and how avoiding plastic results in fewer Co2 emissions from production, transportation, recycling, and disposing of waste materials, and how less plastic also makes our food and ecosystem cleaner and safer.

It is also cheaper for our wallets, as by swapping to soap and shampoo bars we will need to buy only 1/3 of the products we used to buy yearly. Why this 2/3 reduction? Liquid products usually contain 80% out of water, when you buy cosmetic bars you are buying 100% of product!

All our labels and boxes are Co2 neutral, printed in Amsterdam using recycled paper. We use glass and wood as containers for our creams, and they are 100% recyclable and reusable. It is a short-term goal to make them also easily refillable and returnable.

We make our cosmetics in a Greener & Biodegradable Way

We still make our cosmetics carefully by-hand, we handle water responsibly, we don’t use paper towels and use reusable gloves during production. Indeed, those are small gestures, but every little bit counts!

Our soaps are biodegradable, don't include phosphates, sulaftes or perfumes, which are the major pollutants found in store-bought soaps.

The saponified oils and butters present in our soaps will definitely allow it to be used in nature.

Take a look here to know how natural soap breaks down in nature and why you shouldn’t forget your biodegradable soap when you go camping. 

We don't use Palm Oil in our cosmetics 

Using palm oil in cosmetics is a polemic and complicate subject and we discussed previously in our blog if sustainable palm oil even exists. 

For as heated up as the discussion regarding (possibly) the most hated cosmetic ingredient in the world might be, it is important for us to know where our ingredients come from, that they didn’t come from intensive agriculture and that fair labour practices were followed. 

The palm oil industry is very powerful and it is impossible for a company as small as ours to trace its origins, so we choose to exclude it from our cosmetics.  

We are 100% Vegan

When you choose a vegan cosmetic product you are, automaticaly, reducing your carbon footprint and pledging for a cleaner world. 

It is true that most non-vegan ingredients used in cosmetics like honey, milk, beswax, propolis, lanolin, shellac, squalene, tallow (used vastly in non-vegan soaps) are by-products from the bovine and fishing industry, but the main question remains: these industries are among the most polluting in the planet. Even if they are cruelty-free, there will be animal derived ingredients in their formulation

When you buy from a vegan business like ours,  you know that we are commited to doing our part to help protect our planet and to prevent animal cruelty.

Our soaps are Petroleum free 

Most of us dont know this, but most of the mainstream sold soaps, shampoos, dish-washing liquid or laundry detergent contain a petroleum-based cleansing surfactant (sodium myreth sulfate), that has been associated several times with risk of cancer. 

Plus, extracting petroleum isn't exactly an eco-friendly process, and it becomes a source of pollution once it goes down the drain.  

The impact of Shipping  

The environmental impact of cardboard pollution is long known. To try to minimise this impact, we use reused shipping boxes. Most of them are the same that our ingredients and jars were delivered in or that we collect from our co-workers. We use paper tape and no plastic filling is used to protect your orders. 

We ship in the cleanest possible way, encourage local pickup and that you order with your friends: cheaper and less impactful.

 

This is our small contribution to reducing the impact of the cosmetic industry on our planet. If you have other ideas that are beneficial, let us know here!

With love,

Marisa