Unlike the organic foods industry, there is no legal standard definition of the term organic or natural for the cosmetics industry; however, the USDA does offer organic certification of cosmetic goods. In order to meet USDA organic standards, products must contain a minimum of 95 per cent ingredients which have been produced without pesticides or synthetics, a standard which is also enforced by the Soil Association, a British organic certification board. Cosmetics may also receive certification from French national certification body Ecocert, whose website states, "the name of the certified product should not refer to the term 'organic' unless it is a 100 per cent organic product, or there is a phrase specifying what is organic."
"Origins has always been a very eco-friendly line," says Ann Bois, director of global communications at Origins. "The whole trend of organic products is arising and it stems from our initial philosophy to push natural products even further and work with products certified by the USDA which are very nature friendly." Besides using organic ingredients, Origins has partnered with Community Energy Inc., with plans to completely offset 100 per cent of their C02 emissions, an endeavour which is equivalent to planting 3800 acres of trees.
Another certification is Burt's Bill Natural Standard, a label established by natural beauty brand Burt's Bees, whose Web site states that all their products which are labelled "natural" must "be made with at least 95 per cent truly natural ingredients, contain on ingredients with any potential suspected human health risks, and use no processes that significantly or adversely alter the purity/effect of the natural ingredients." Furthermore, as members of the Campaign for Safe Cosmetics, Burt's Bees aims to use completely natural product formulas and biodegradable packaging by 2020.
Perhaps the most environmentally friendly eco-cosmetics are lines such as Dr. Hauschka and Weleda that pursue manufacturing and development of products that are biodynamic, a concept which is also referred to as organic-plus.
"This method, developed by Dr. Rudolf Steiner in 1924, regards the garden as self-contained system," says Melissa Kalba, Marketing Coordinator at Dr. Hauschka Canada. "Most of the seeds, compost and potting compost are self-produced. The gardeners use various plant preparations which aid the composting process and strengthen the resistance of the plants to pests and disease." Like organic agriculture, biodynamic agriculture farms without pesticides or chemical fertilizers, but also considers how the product will affect the soil after its disposal.
With so many options being made available by cosmetics companies, it's easy to choose how green you want to go. So regardless of your sentiments about the environment, if you want to be fashionable, the eco-cosmetics trend is rising faster than the glaciers are melting.
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