Lush Advice for Green Entrepreneurs
by Bonnie Alter, London 
on 11. 6.07
Small ethical companies selling out to big corporations has been a big topic lately. One proprietor who has not (yet?) sold is the founder of Lush beauty products, Mark Constantine. In fact he hopes to open another 500 stores. Many small entrepreneurs sell to large companies because they need the cash to expand their markets and products. Constantine would also like to broaden the ownership of Lush shares but is nervous about going to the stock market. He believes it can force businesses to water down their principles. He says " Maybe what we need is another kind of stock market where [ethical] companies can trade and it’s understood they will abide by certain [rules] above others." Constantine is considering distributing free shares to his employees.
Given his strong stance, he has some wise warnings for green entrepreneurs.
● Do not sell shares to investors whose moral priorities may be different from your own. If you do, you may come under pressure to take courses of action that are inconsistent with the ethics of your business. ● Campaigning should come as naturally to an ethical business as its core activity. ● An ethical business does not have to be an inefficient business. Many have “cut down their energy consumption because it is economic as well as green”.● Conventional wisdom is often wrong. Those are fighting words. :: Financial Times
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And as soon as Lush stops putting carcinogenic parabens in their products, I will start buying them again.
Wow, that's exactly what I was about to say. I love LUSH stuff, but ultimately I'd rather use something paraben-free that doesn't smell as good. Before I switched to paraben-free, LUSH got lots and lots of my money, and I'd love to see them do away with parabens so that I can resume cheerfully giving them more money.
Great Point! That is the problem that I always have, once I hear that a company is ethical I look at the ingredients and it is full of carcinogens or petrol based ingredients. Why can't they do both? The European Union recently banned most of these types of ingredients but I can't reconcile shipping my products from oversees