Since 1909, French beauty giant, L’Oréal, has become a staple name in cosmetics and beauty across 150 countries. With such success, came the brand’s responsibility towards the planet and; more importantly, preserving it.
And on that note, its subsidiary brand, Garnier, has recently launched its Green Beauty Initiative in Egypt, with hopes of further educating people on adopting sustainable habits. So, let’s take a look at how the beauty brand attempted to do so . . .
Garnier Green Beauty: Serving the People and the Planet
Inspiring change overnight isn’t realistic. But implementing that change yourself is. And that’s what Garnier did.
The company held a launch event at Manial Palace, to display its own efforts towards a greener and more sustainable future through The Green Beauty Initiative; which is Garnier’s vow to protect the environment through incorporating sustainability in every step of its value chain. And that vow comprised 3 main commitments.
100% Recycled and Recyclable Packaging
By 2025, Garnier intends to fully stop using non-recycled plastic (known as virgin plastic) in all its packaging and production operations. Instead, it will rely on reusable, recyclable, or compostable plastic.
The company partially realized this goal over the last few years. For instance, in 2022, they reduced their plastic usage by up to 12,200 tons. In 2019, they saved up to 3670 tons of virgin plastic. And their 2025 ambitious objective is to reduce their plastic usage by 37,000 tons a year.
What’s more, reducing plastic production isn’t too big of a challenge for Garnier. The company already uses 3 kinds of plastic that are commonly recycled several times around the world: PET (Polyethylene Terephthalate), PP (Polypropylene), and PE (Polyethylene).
Cruelty-Free Production
Since its establishment, Garnier has globally maintained a strict cruelty-free policy across its entire production; which is officially approved by Cruelty Free International (CFI) under the Leaping Bunny Program. CFI is a UK-based animal protection group that advocates the total abolition of animal testing.
The Leaping Bunny Program requires forensic investigation of brands’ entire supply chain, including all raw materials and individual ingredients. Naturally, Garnier has not only adhered to these investigations but has successfully maintained an entire portfolio of cruelty-free products because of it.
99% Vegan Formula
At the event, Garnier made it known that its ingredients are bio-based and sustainably sourced, and the company aims to reach a 100% vegan formula in all its products by 2023.
Garnier Introduces its Greener Sciences and Formula
Supporting its vegan formula, Garnier is deeply rooted in nature and strongly adopts Green Science; meaning that all its beauty products are inspired by and manufactured from nature.
To further demonstrate this, Garnier introduced its “Greener Sciences and Formula” lab section, showing all the scientific advances, such as biotechnology, that enable the company to develop effective, environmentally friendly ingredients and formulas that are best in class.
Garnier’s Green Beauty Initiative is powered by two principles, which were also made known at the event:
- Maximum Efficacy: Garnier is powered by Green Science that is based on natural and effective ingredients ensuring maximum satisfaction for its consumers.
- Minimum Impact on the Planet: Garnier aims to be a market leader in sustainable beauty, and to catalyze change in the beauty industry by reducing its global environmental impact and democratizing greener beauty.
Garnier’s “One Green Step”: Change Powered by People
As you can tell by now, Garnier’s launch event was the company’s pledge to create and sustain a greener planet.
Within that pledge, Garnier showcased its “One Green Step” campaign to promote greener lifestyles in day-to-day activities. Initially, “One Green Step” was first created in 2020 as a global study to showcase sustainable behaviors across many countries. In 2021, the campaign’s first video was aired to further inspire people and urge them to be more sustainable.
In 2022, the “One Green Step” report revealed that 83% of people want to be more sustainable, whereas only 5% were already acting sustainably, and only 30% are ready to take action for the planet now. Inspired by these findings, Garnier partnered with Plastics for Change to encourage people to share their own green steps and create a snowball effect of environmental action; with each share resulting in a total of 2 million recycled plastic bottles.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zSBeRc4HQYQ
A Team Effort: Garnier Joins Forces with National Geographic
What we believe was even more inspiring, is the collective effort other entities have exhibited in Garnier’s mission to preserve the planet. And who better to partner with other than the storytellers behind National Geographic?
In a collaboration with National Geographic Creative Works, Garnier developed episodes to educate consumers on how they can contribute to conserving natural resources. And if you want to learn more about their collaboration, you can watch their episodes, and see which habits you can adopt here.
What brands -even individuals- can take from Garnier’s initiative, is that no matter what line of work you’re in, and no matter what your job description entails, there is always room to change your habits and contribute to a greener future.
If you’d like to know more about Garnier’s Green Beauty Initiative, head over here.
