This year’s World Environment Day is taking place on the 5th June and marks the launch of a decade of restoration, calling for urgent action to revive our damaged ecosystems.
Ecosystems, from farmlands to freshwater and forests to cityscapes, are an essential part of our lives. The condition and diversity of these ecosystems are at the basis of our prosperity but they are still being degraded, with over 4.7 million hectares of forests - an area larger than Denmark - being lost every year.
This loss is depriving the world of carbon sinks - anything that absorbs more carbon dioxide from the atmosphere than it releases - such as forests, which has led to global greenhouse gas emissions growing for three consecutive years and the planet heading towards potentially catastrophic climate change.
What’s The Solution?
Restoring our ecosystems means coming together as a planet and repairing billions of hectares of land – an area greater than China or the USA – so that people have access to food, clean water and jobs.
In the long term this means bringing plants and animals back from the edge of extinction, but in the short term there are so many things that we could all do to help from recycling and reducing our waste, to growing trees and rewilding our gardens.
What We’re Doing At Evolve
At Evolve, our aim is to move beyond sustainable and to eventually aim to become regenerative. Regenerative means our impact is not zero, it is actually positive: restorative for the planet and restorative for body and mind. Here are just a few of the initiatives we’re currently running!
Grass Paper Packaging
We have switched from our old wood paper cartons to fully compostable grass paper cartons which will produce 75% less CO2 emissions than wood pulp, and save 99.9% in water usage.
Around 120 billion units of packaging are produced each year by the global cosmetics industry, and we’re very excited to lead the way in reducing some of the waste produced with our cutting edge grass packaging.
Our grass paper packaging is uniquely natural. It is made with up to 40% natural grass fibres which are harvested close to the factory where the cartons are crafted.
This natural production process results in cartons that are not only FSC certified and recyclable, but also completely compostable in your home compost bin.
With nature playing a leading role in the production process, you will notice that no two cartons are the same. Each carries a unique grass speckled pattern, and a subtle smell of freshly cut grass. This is packaging that is as natural as our products.
Becoming Climate Positive
Our carbon footprint is our responsibility, and that’s why our plan to eliminate it is already in action. Firstly we need to measure our emissions, then put an act into place to ensure an immediate reduction in carbon emission, and then finally we can take steps to offset the emissions that are remaining. This plan will result in Evolve becoming a Climate Positive company by 2023.
Whilst we are on our journey to net zero carbon emissions, we believe that we need to take responsibility for the environmental impact we are having now. So we’ve joined forces with Earthly to offset 110% of our measured emissions by supporting their BAM project in the Amazon Rainforest which is helping prevent deforestation and reduce carbon emissions.
This project is focussing on rainforest conservation in the heart of Peru, and it aims to reduce deforestation in over 300,000 hectares of Peruvian Amazon and reduce millions of tonnes of carbon dioxide entering the atmosphere due to illegal deforestation.
Alongside this project we also use 100% wind power with energy efficient lighting to run our workspace which saves an average of 5.4 tonnes of Co2, use around 200 organic ingredients which means that an average of 3.5 tonnes of extra carbon dioxide per hectare is sequestered by the soils compared to conventional farming, and we have also switched from wood to grass paper cartons which will save 75% of Co2 emissions.
The UK’s First Plastic Negative Beauty Brand
Thanks to our partnership with rePurpose Global, we are now contributing to the removal of twice as much plastic from the environment as we use in our packaging and shipping, making us the first Plastic Negative beauty brand in the UK!
Our Plastic Negative accreditation means that we are taking out twice as much plastic from the environment as we introduce to it. We will be helping to fund our rePurpose Global partner, CARPE India and impacting on a project that is focussing on multi-layer plastic packaging recovery in Aurangabad, India with the goal of removing as much multilayer plastic packaging from the environment as possible.
The organisation is focussed on ethically collecting and disposing of hazardous MLP (Multi-laminate plastic) waste. This type of plastic is virtually indestructible and accounts for 53% of the plastic waste in Indian cities. If it is left uncollected, it will remain in oversaturated landfills for hundreds of years, or eventually leak into the oceans where it will break down into microplastic and be ingested by marine wildlife.
Sustainable Palm Oil
Palm oil, which is used in 70% of personal care products, is a major source of deforestation and it also contributes to the destruction of the habitat of some of the world's most endangered species such as the Orangutan, Pygmy elephant and Sumatran rhino.
Directly or not, we have an impact on both of these areas and that is why we are putting in place a plan to lessen our reliance on both trees and unsustainable Palm Oil.
We have been working hard to reduce the amount of palm oil we use in our range, and our goal is to replace all of our palm oil sources with sustainable sources that are certified by the Roundtable on Sustainable Palm Oil.
Dump The Pump
Plastic is a useful material because it is durable, unbreakable and light to transport. However if it ends up in landfill and is not recycled, it can be harmful to the environment. 60% of our components already contain some recycled content, and all of our plastic bottles are also recyclable, but our pumps cannot be recycled in household waste because they contain metal components, and they cannot be made of recycled material because they contain precision parts that need to fit together very exactly to work properly, making them a single use item.
As well as making sure all of our plastic components can be recycled, we want to make sure they actually are recycled. 50% of Brits don’t recycle their bathroom waste products such as shampoo, conditioner and shower gel bottles simply because it’s inconvenient. This equates to 2.7 billion plastic bottles hitting our landfills every year.
We’re inviting our customers to reuse their plastic pumps in our ongoing Dump The Pump campaign to save on single use plastic. We want to encourage our customers to make one small simple change to their beauty routine which, when done across the entire Evolve family, will make a huge difference to the number of plastic pumps we send out. So we’re asking you to Dump The Pump next time you shop, and reuse the pump you already have.
Our long-term goal is to make every product we sell pump-free. This means that if you would like a pump with your product you will need to request one, and that receiving a pump free product will become the default for the Evolve family.
However, we understand that the transition needs to be gradual, and that is why we have a large range of pump free products. To encourage more people to choose our pump free options you’ll be able to save £1 per product, per purchase when you Dump The Pump.
Become Part Of #GenerationRestoration
There are so many small ways that you can take part and make a difference this decade of restoration. Steps such as turning to green alternatives, like organic skincare, and reducing your plastic waste are all steps in the right direction, and if we all take small steps together we can make a truly positive impact on our planet.
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