Celebrating World Ocean Day

As advocates for planet-positive change, we’re proud to be joining supporters around the globe in calling for world leaders to protect at least 30% of our lands, waters and ocean by 2030 – 30×30. Join us and make your voice heard by signing the letter.

We all need to do our bit to look after our oceans, and today we’re reflecting on our own sustainability initiatives and goals, as well as taking a closer look at one of our favourite aquatic ingredients.

Our seaweed story

Seaweed is full of minerals that cleanse and revitalise skin – that’s why it’s one of our favourite ingredients and we love using it in our Seaweed & Arnica collection.

To make these products, we use nothing but the finest, air-dried organic Bladderwrack seaweed (Fucus vesiculosus) from the British Isles and Nordic region, including wild harvesting operations in Norway, Iceland, Ireland and Scotland.

The organic wild Bladderwrack that we love so much is carefully selected, then hand cut and dried within hours at ambient temperature with no fossil fuels.

In addition to being organic, it’s also non-allergenic, raw, vegan, and kosher for passover certified, as well as being naturally alkalising and antibacterial.

Protecting our oceans

At Neal’s Yard Remedies, we’re proud to be ethical pioneers and advocates for sustainability. Here are some of the ways we’re committed to protecting our oceans and the planet.

Biodegradable organic products

One simple step we can all take to keep polluting chemicals out of our waterways is looking for the Soil Association (SA) or COSMOS organic logos – something you’ll find on all of our organic products.

The SA is a charity set up to help protect our planet, all its inhabitants and ecosystems, including the oceans. So when you see the logo, you’ll know a product is made using biodegradable ingredients and is free from harmful chemicals.

Packaging, recycling and refills

We are aiming for all our plastic bottles to be made using 100% post-consumer recycled (PCR) plastic by 2025.

We’re well on our way to meeting our PCR plastic target, having switched to 100% PCR plastic for our most common blue plastic bottle in 2009. Currently all our blue plastic shower, hair and skincare bottles up to 300ml are made from 100% recycled material and are widely recyclable curbside.

Banning plastic microbeads

We have never used microbeads, only use natural exfoliating ingredients such as rosehip seeds for our scrubs and polishes. We successfully lobbied the UK government, alongside Fauna & Flora International to #BanTheBead in 2018, and we are now looking to expand the ban worldwide and have already contributed to an EU consultation on banning microplastics.

Water recycling

Freshwater is a limited resource, so we take active steps to limit our usage. We have a water recycling system at our eco-factory which recycles up to one million litres of water every year.

Greywater from manufacture and rainwater goes towards non-sanitary uses such as flushing toilets. This accounts for around 20% of our water use and we intend to remain at 20%, even as our production grows.

We also fund freshwater availability projects, such as rainwater collection tanks for our suppliers of tea tree oil in Kenya.

How will you be celebrating World Ocean Day this year? Take a look at our commitments for more information on our sustainability goals.