Lush (the toiletries store).

Environment
Lush's approach to the environment was not as strong as we would've hoped. When we checked their environmental policy in March 2019 it presented some positive policies stating that 90% (by weight) of Lush's packaging material was recycled and that the company aimed to have 100% recyclable or compostable packaging. It also mentioned that the company's pots and bottles were made with 100% post-consumer recycled plastic, its carrier bags were made with 100% recycled paper and its gift wrap was 100% biodegradable. The company also commented on their efforts to reduce the amount of energy used to produce, transport and sell their products.

This kind of environmental reporting demonstrated Lush's reasonable understanding of their impacts, but unfortunately, it lost out by failing to set any quantifiable environmental targets for the future, and for this reason, Lush received Ethical Consumer’s worst rating for its environmental reporting.

It also scored a worst rating for its toxic chemicals policy and a middle rating for palm oil sourcing.

In 2017, the company stated that it was no longer using palm oil or palm kernel oil, and was in the process of removing palm oil derivatives from all products. “One of our biggest opportunities to remove palm oil from ingredients was in our soap base, which is manufactured in the UK and used to be palm oil-based. We worked with the manufacturer to get them to develop palm free soap flakes and palm free soap noodles for us that we now use as standard globally.” However when we looked at their website in 2019 it stated that the company continue to use some palm oil derivatives due to difficulties finding suitable alternatives. The page listed the products that contained these derivatives. Lush's website also claimed that it had stopped using approximately 250 tonnes of palm oil.

Courtesy of The Ethical Consumer

The Forage and Sustain website says” Holding giant like Lush accountable for their misleading advertising is important”;and lusts the chemicals that Lush uses that greener manufactures have discarded.

lists

AmberSpyglass

I’m a huge fan of Lush, especially their political campaigns. I’m proud to stand with them on their support for the trans community. Obviously there’s no real ethical consumerism under capitalism, but this is a very positive move by them.

AmberSpyglass - you really support the binder promotion from Lush?

"If anyone is unsure what a breast binder is, there are several pages on Transgender Trend about them, while one study found over 97 percent of 1,800 young women who used a binder reported at least one negative outcome attributed to binding. The BBC once had a doctor answer questions about trans issues, and one of them was from a girl who wears a binder, and was in pain because they had resulted in her ribs popping out."

thecritic.co.uk/woke-lush-have-done-it-again/

Yes. I really support it. And Transgender Trend can go to hell, quite frankly. One of the most harmful organisations in the UK today.

I have known people who have worked in Lush,most only do it once.!
I remember when they were Cosmetics to Go too. In recent years they have gained almost iconic status . They may be slightly more ethical than some manufacturers but I would look carefully behind there publicity. The majority of their products are certainly not natural !

It's a bit narcissistic to accuse others of putting You (LUSH) in "danger" when in fact it's the other way round! We just found out some of your nasty ingredients, some facts about your company that you'd rather we didn't and also that you were willing to USE young girls to try and boost your profits without a single care for their emotional or physical wellbeing.

When someone calls someone else out for something they are, it's called narcissistic projection. Think about that, LUSH Go away and rethink your toxic attitudes.

If parts of the body are bound then it must cause problems.

Chinese girls had their feet bound many years ago to make their feet smaller and more dainty.
It didn't stop their feet trying to grow - it made their toes drop off and caused other physical problems.

Binding is unnatural and dangerous.

Yes it is Calistemon I've done research about the poor Chinese ladies feet and it's very upsetting and wrong for them to have suffered in that way. Quite disabling, literally!

I just can't get my head around 'ethical' when a company produces things we don't need.

If Lush really wanted to help these girls, they would donate to research on Autism, social anxiety and depression - all of which are associated with the desire to transition. Treating these things, rather than leaping straight to the conclusion that the problem is being ‘born in the wrong body’ might save a lot of heartache and complications for vulnerable young people.

I didn’t even know they had a Facebook site, website or anything similar. I never go near the shops, they smell. Waste of money.

The smell is certainly overwhelming and smells so artificial. It makes me sneeze