Why It’s Earth Month

every month

 

Caring for our planet, 365 days a year.

Every day we’re inspired and moved to care for the planet and its people. After all, we believe we have three homes: our body, community and earth. Each is interconnected; each is essential to our collective well-being.

Earth Month—marked by the celebration of Earth Day on April 22—offers a special opportunity to pause and reflect on our unwavering commitment to protecting the planet. Below, we’re discussing some of the ways we care for the Earth 365 days a year, plus share how you can create a positive impact this Earth Month.

 

Partnerships for the planet

 

We’ve engaged many partnerships with like-minded organisations, individuals and enterprises in our mission to honor the Earth. While no means are exhaustive, some examples include:

 

PROTECTING BIODIVERSITY WITH THE YAWANAWÁ

The Yawanawá are an indigenous people of Acre, northwestern Brazil. Since our impactful partnership commenced, we’ve helped the Yawanawá protect 450,000 acres of ancestral land from devastating events like deforestation. In these efforts, we have assisted in preserving biodiversity, helping save thousands of endangered plants and animals, including the blue morpho butterfly and red-eyed tree frog.

 

CLEAN WATER : CLEAR MISSION

Aveda is delighted to be partnering with Take 3 for the Sea, an award-winning and celebrated leader in sustainability, with a mission to reduce global plastic pollution through education that inspires participation. The non-profit organisation, headquartered on the Central Coast of New South Wales, Australia, aims to increase participation in simple actions to reduce waste and plastic pollution.

 

Their simple call to action encourages individuals to Take 3 pieces of rubbish before leaving the beach, waterway or… anywhere. The global #Take3fortheSea movement has recorded participation in 129 countries and removes over 10 million pieces of rubbish from the environment every year.

 

SUPPORTING SUSTAINABLE FARMING & CAREFUL INGREDIENT SOURCING

Our planet’s generousity is tremendous—but not limitless. We have embarked on a broad array of programs that prioritise sustainable agricultural development, including partnerships that promote responsible ingredient sourcing.

For example, our work with Asia Network for Sustainable Agriculture and Bioresources (ANSAB) has helped provide Nepalese farmers with a source of income by supporting sustainable farming development through the Public-Private Community Alliance (PPCA). This alliance provides education, training and support on sustainably growing and harvesting certified organic vegetables to sell to local and regional markets.

We’re also working with several international partners to mindfully source our ingredients, always keeping the Earth at heart. For instance, our partner Nisarga—an Indian firm that grows Ayurvedic herbs—encourages farmers to convert to organic agriculture. Turmeric and amla, two of the star ingredients in our invati advanced collection, are sourced through this partner. A similar partnership is taking place on the other side of the globe with Beraca, a Brazilian-based company that purchases buriti oil from local cooperatives using Indigenous farming techniques.

The list goes on. But the passion remains the same: protecting the planet through thoughtful collaborations.

 

Transformative changes start with us

 

While our partnerships span the globe, we’ve also made essential choices here at home to advance environmentally conscious causes.

 

PLANET-CONSCIOUS BEAUTY FIRSTS

We’re proud to be the first beauty company to manufacture 100% wind and solar power in our primary facility in Minnesota.1 In this vein, we are now offsetting 100% of carbon emissions for every U.S. order placed on Aveda.com—the first program of its kind for any beauty company in the United States.

 

This passion for planet-conscious programs extends into our packaging choices, too: 85% of our skin care and hair styling PET bottles and jars contain 100% post-consumer recycled materials. We’ve decreased our use of virgin plastic by 800 tons—and we’ve only just begun.

 

CRUELTY-FREE SINCE DAY #1—AND NOW, 100% VEGAN

We’ve been a cruelty-free company since our inception in 1978, never testing our formulas on animals. Today, the Aveda headquarters is home to 100,000 honeybees, an essential pollinator. We’ve provided our honeybee friends with access to pesticide-free food, shelter and water, earning our honeybee facility the designation of wildlife habitat by the National Wildlife Federation.

Recently, we transitioned to 100% vegan formulation, removing all animal byproducts from our formulas and products. This includes beeswax, an ingredient commonly found in conventional beauty products.

We’re proud of these accomplishments—but need your help as we strive for more planet-conscious firsts.

 

Help support the planet and its inhabitants this Earth Month

 

We can all be agents of change, making small choices for the planet with resounding ripple effects.

We are raising $100k that will support Take 3 for the Sea to work with education, social and community groups nationwide to remove 1.5 million pieces of rubbish. For every $10 raised 15 pieces of rubbish are removed from the environment. Aveda encourage you to fundraise or donate to help stop plastic pollution! Learn more here.

 

 

 

We celebrate our planet today—and every day—and you can, too. Help us make a positive impact this Earth Month.

 

 

 

 

1 Product manufacturing is powered by Aveda’s solar array and/or wind energy through renewable energy credits and carbon offsets.