Sustainability

image of the Rocky Mountains in Canada.

Every day we are humbled by the power and beauty of the Canadian Rockies that we call home. Living with gratitude for our surroundings impacts every decision we make, especially when it comes to sustainability.

“We believe products are only truly natural when the combination of ingredients, outer skin, and the environment in which they’re prepared and sold are all toxin-free.”
– COO, Cam Baty

We have an admittedly intimidating goal of becoming a zero waste company, and each year we move closer to making this a reality. It’s no easy feat, however. We are constantly figuring out new ways to divert waste from landfills throughout our entire process — from how we build our workspaces to how we produce, pack and ship our products. 


Packaging

packaging

We use recyclable or compostable packaging and reuse shipping boxes and materials when we cane. We're continually coming back to our commitment to remove toxins from the world and improving our processes to achieve that goal. 

"We really try to think through every nuance of the business."
 – CEO, Karina Birch

Right now in the beauty industry, there’s a huge gap between how long a product lasts and how long the packaging lasts.

 

“A lip butter, if you used it regularly, may only last three months whereas as the container lasts approximately 300 years in the landfill.” 
 – CEO, Karina Birch

Quality packaging doesn’t need to mean indestructible.

When it comes to our packaging, we don’t use ‘secondary’ packaging for our products. What you see is what you get, there are no extra boxes.

Why does that matter?

The cardboard that envelops perfumes, serums and moisturisers contribute to the loss of 18 million acres of forest each year. Straight up, that’s not acceptable.

“After extensive research with The Sustainable Packaging Coalition, we found that plastic is the best option for the environment in terms of energy consumption and recovery in municipal recycling facilities.” 
– CEO, Karina Birch

Image of hand reaching for 1L refill format of natural liquid soap from Rocky Mountain Soap Company.

We’re currently working on switching over to the best alternatives in terms of plastic using bio-based and post-consumer resins. Our Hand Cream packaging is actually bio-plastic, derived from sugar cane!

We offer most of our liquid soaps, conditioner and shampoos in 1 Litre refill formats. This larger plastic bottle saves 59% of plastic that might end up in a landfill. Not only does it save on plastic, you can return the 1L to our stores where we will take them back to our workshop, sanitize and reuse them!

Learn more about our Rocky Returnables program. 


Our buildings

Workshop

Our Eco-friendly workshop and stores follow a similar ethos using recycled and eco-friendly materials as much as possible. We use:

  • Reclaimed marble from offices in Toronto
  • Reclaimed light fixtures
  • LED lights
  • Recycled carpets
  • Salvaged and reclaimed wood
  • Our building is powered by renewable energy using Bullfrog Power and our rooftop solar panels, saving more than 69,850kg in CO2 emissions.

Ingredients

Our commitment to simple, natural ingredients has a two-fold benefit. Not only are they better for you, your hair, skin, and nails, but they are better for the environment. When it comes to sourcing our ingredients we won’t use any ingredients that lead to the destruction of animal habitats, a species or the environment like palm oil, derivatives of talc or lanolin, for example.  

We also take simple actions like updating our soap recipes so there is no waste to help us reach our goal of removing toxins from the world. 

Not only do we work to reduce our waste in production, but because of the natural ingredients we use our products also don't harm the planet when they go down the drain.