Beauty brand Aveda has received
the Cradle to Cradle (C2C) endorsement, which recognizes the company's efforts towards sustainability.
Aveda received Gold C2C designation for seven products and Silver C2C designation for its packaging. The Gold certified products are: Aveda Smooth Infusion Shampoo and Conditioner; Aveda Dry Remedy Moisturizing Shampoo and Conditioner; Aveda Men Pure-Formance Shampoo and Conditioner, and Green Science Firming Face Creme. The endorsement comes from sustainability consultancy McDonough Braungart Design Chemistry, LLC (MBDC), the firm that pioneered the concept of Cradle to Cradle design, and Hamburg, Germany-based Environmental Protection and Encouragement Agency (EPEA), its affiliate.
Aveda's president, Dominique Conseil, said in 2002 he opened up the company's "trade secrets and formulas" to the EPEA to get feedback from a third party authority on toxicity, ingredients and packaging. While Aveda was praised for many of its efforts, for example its reuse of box comps to make company-branded folders, not everything was agreed upon, said Conseil. EPEA objected to the company's use of a certain ingredient used in one of Aveda's salon color products.
Because there is no natural ingredient to substitute for the chemical in the hair color product, the ingredient is staying put and EPEA recognizes that if you want to color your hair, you have to use some chemicals. Aveda, which is owned by Estee Lauder, is the first beauty company to receive this endorsement and only the third company worldwide to receive it at all.
