Today is Earth Day, and while some may gloss over this holiday, it's quite important to us at Luminance. As a very small company, we are able to see firsthand just how much of an impact a business like ours can have on the environment, and we think it's our responsibility to do good for our planet in every possible way. Here's how we do it.
3 Ways Luminance Stays Earth Conscious
1. Sourcing Properly
Sourcing ingredients for skincare is tricky business. For us, it's not enough to find ingredients that will do good things for your skin. They also need to be grown correctly by people who care about the environment as much as we do. When we find an ingredient that we like, we do our due diligence in learning how it exists in nature and the methods that are used to extract it from its habitat. For us to consider adding a particular ingredient to one of our jars or bottles, it must satisfy a strict set of prerequisites. It must grow abundantly in nature, that is to say that it is not an endangered or troubled species, but rather it grows freely and helps the environment in some way. It must be harvested responsibly and without greed, and it must be handled with gentle care every step of the way. No big factories that give off harmful emissions, no pollutants, no pesticides. All earth-loving tactics and people who really care.
2. Mindful Packaging
We know that our responsibility doesn't end with sourcing ingredients. The way we bottle and ship the products out to our customers matters just as much. Wasteful shipping methods and non-sustainable packaging can do incredible damage to the environment. The crazy part is that there's a better way to do it, and it's every bit as simple. We use glass bottles and jars whenever we can, and in the rare instances that we can't, we use non-outgassing plastic*. When we pack up your goodies and ship them out, we use biodegradable packing peanuts (they'll dissolve with a little water, try it out!) so that we aren't contributing to landfills and ocean pollution.
3. Critter-Friendly Products
Just as we tend to the land, sea, and sky, we must take care of all of the creatures that roam the earth with us. Everything that comes through our studio is vegan and completely cruelty-free. It's just as easy to make products without testing them on sweet little bunnies, so why put them through it? All of us at Luminance are animal lovers, so we take cruelty-free very seriously. We never test our products on anything other than ourselves (and our loved ones—thanks guys!) and we never use ingredients that come from animals or does harm to an animal's ecosystem.
Earth Day only comes around once a year, but it's worth celebrating every day! There are so many small changes you can make in your own life that will make a significant impact on the world around you. If you do decide to do something eco-positive this year, let us know! We're always excited to hear what you come up with to make our planet a healthier, happier place. For now, go ahead and do yourself and your Mother Earth a favor and use earth-friendly skincare!
Note* We're always looking for more environmentally-friendly ways to package and ship our products, and one of our most recent discoveries is that it takes considerably more energy to produce and recycle glass bottles than it does to use and recycle new starch based bio-plastics.
In the future, we may consider switching some of our products to plastic, airless containers so that we can be sure that we're making the best decisions for the planet at large. Stay tuned for more on that in a few weeks!
