Why do Green People use plastic packaging?

The plastic we use for our packaging is either PP or PE. In both cases, the material consists of long molecule chains made from Carbon and Hydrogen. Both of these are recyclable and are collected by local authorities for this purpose throughout the whole of the UK. Modern recycling processes allow both of these plastic types to be recycled many times, not just the once. Therefore, there is absolutely no need for our packaging to ever go to landfill, or to end up in our rivers, lakes or seas.

There are three main reasons why we have chosen to use PP or HDPE for most of our product range:

REASON 1: REDUCES THE RISK OF CONTAMINATION

This packaging offers the best protection to the product as it reduces the risk of bacterial contamination. Putting creams, lotions and toothpastes into jars would create ideal conditions for product contamination, either from airborne microbes or from fingers or, in the case of toothpastes, toothbrushes touching the product inside the container. Someone with normal, healthy skin will have around 3,000 assorted bacteria just on the skin of their hands. Whilst most of these are harmless to our health, many of them will have the ability to thrive in conditions found in creams and lotions which contain water and nutrients – perfect growing conditions for many microbes.

To prevent such microbes growing in these products we would need to use high levels of powerful preservatives – ingredients which not only cause skin irritation in many instances, but which also have toxic effects on the environment.

REASON 2: 100% RECYCLABLE

Advances in plastics manufacturing mean that the material we use is overall less environmentally damaging that some other forms of packaging. It is recyclable, can be burnt without releasing harmful or noxious gasses and costs far less in cost and fuel to transport.

REASON 3: INCREASED CONSUMER SAFETY

As many of our products are used in the bath or shower, the use of glass could pose safety risks if dropped.

THE GREEN PEOPLE PHILOSOPHY

As a company we are very conscious of the environmental impact of plastics, particularly with respect to marine wildlife. For this very reason we work closely with the Marine Conservation Society, the leading charity dedicated to keeping our shores and seas clean and pollution-free. In 2017, we donated over £19,000 to this charity and over the past 7 years we’ve raised over £70,000 for this important cause.

The plastics and indeed all of the packaging materials that we use are checked, assessed and approved by Soil Association, Organic Food Federation and EcoCert, each of who have very strict standards on the environmental impact of cosmetics and their packaging. We are the only cosmetics company to be certified by all three of these internationally recognised independent certification bodies, and we pride ourselves in having environmental standards that are amongst the highest in our industry.

We are also passionate about producing cosmetic products that have minimal environmental impact from the growing and sourcing of our raw materials, to the end use of the product, and we endeavour to stay true to this principle throughout our manufacturing process. It is a condition of our organic certification that our processes are energy efficient and, to keep wastage to a minimum, we ensure that all the electricity at our office and warehouse facilities is provided by 100% renewable sources. Our main manufacturing site also uses wind-generated electricity and heat sourced from the earth to enable us to continue to create the products that you love without harming our environment.

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