Is The Body Shop Sustainable or is it Greenwashing?
This article was last updated May 2024.
Welcome to the series where I see if brands and products are actually what they say they are.
Is The Body Shop sustainable or is it greenwashing? 👀
The Body Shop was founded in 1976 on the principal of creating social change (It was one of the first companies to prioritize natural, cruelty-free and ethically-sourced ingredients in 1976), however it’s gone through several owners since then, and most recently was bought by a private equity firm in late 2023.
It’s a B Corp, certified vegan by the vegan society, leaping bunny cruelty free, FSC certified, and the packaging uses a considerable amount of recycled materials like PCR plastic and even recycled glass.
The Body Shop has its own community fair trade program for ingredient sourcing and even sourcing their recycled plastic which is meant to ensure living wages and better working conditions. PLUS they offer in store refill stations in the UK.
They have the goal that by 2025, all their bath, body, and haircare products will be fully recyclable - I also found an easy to access 2022 sustainability report on their website.
I also want to mention they used to have a MLM branch in the UK and Australia but that closed down in February of 2024.
The Body Shop is interesting because they’ve received a lot of scrutiny with being bought several times over and which each new owner - the values shift a little. I almost feel like it’s too soon to tell with the newest owner to know if they’re going to keep these original values, but for now - they seem to be headed back on a sustainable path. 🫧
So is Seventh Generation sustainable or is it greenwashing?
SO I’m gonna say it’s sustainable - but what do you think? This month we’re doing an ENTIRE month of Sustainable or Greenwashing videos, so if there is a brand you want to see, stick around because it’s probably coming next! 🪴
XOXO,
Krys Gier
Sources:
https://www.retail-week.com/body-shop-acquisition
https://www.thebodyshop.com/en-gb/about-us/brand-values/vegetarian-and-vegan/a/a00014
sustainability report - chrome-extension://efaidnbmnnnibpcajpcglclefindmkaj/https://thebodyshop.a.bigcontent.io/v1/static/The-Body-Shop-Sustainability-Report-2022
https://www.glossy.co/beauty/inside-the-body-shops-social-selling-play-for-the-u-s/
https://behindmlm.com/companies/the-body-shop-closes-mlm-opportunity-in-uk-aus/
