Naked LUSH Employees Protest Excess Packaging in 24 U.S. Cities
by April Streeter, Gothenburg, Sweden on 08.26.08
First a disclaimer: I've always found offensive the trail of heady perfume that hangs around in the street outside any LUSH store, whether in Stockholm or San Francisco, Oslo or Orlando. And yet, I've never discovered a body care product line that does as much to reduce packaging as LUSH. Well, for minimalists, Dr. Bronner's tops LUSH for multiple uses, but leaves some of us with brillo-pad hair.
Two percent of global GHGs from packaging
So perhaps a bunch of LUSH employees wearing nothing but aprons, leaving their backsides bare naked is an appropriate publicity stunt to get people to think about the extreme and excessive amount of packaging in nearly every product we buy and consume. On August 27 in 24 U.S. cities this year - the campaign launched last year in a smattering of global LUSH stores -- LUSH employees (how many requested a day off?) will help educate passersby, pointing out that 2 percent of our greenhouse gas burden is from packaging - its production and (non) destruction. With 80 million tons of packaging consumed annually by U.S. consumers, we're all part of the problem.
Half of products 'packaging free'
Of course, LUSH isn't perfect - as their product lines have expanded, so have their bottles (around 58% of products are 'package free' though you still need paper, plastic or your reusable tins to get them home). They have yet to eschew parabens, sodium laureth sulfate, and other synthetics. But the company claims that by taking the water out of its shampoo bars, conditioners, soaps and massage bars, it 'saved' 3 million bottles from being made and shipped around last year. LUSH also from this month switched to using 100 percent post consumer recycled plastic for its bottles - a mixed accomplishment, but still better than virgin PET. Via ::LUSH
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Ugh, I hate Lush. They can lecture me when they stop putting Sodium Lauryl/Laureth Sulfate and propylene glycol in their bar "soaps."
I don't buy into the whole SLS causes cancer thing, but I can tell you that for me it causes dry itchy red skin, dandruff, and a general feeling of discomfort. And there really is no need for it in a bar soap. Saponified oils lather just fine. They can just add some castor oil to the mix before saponifying if they want to make sure it has loads of lather.
I guess it is good that they use minimal packaging, I just wish they would follow the same philosophy with their products and cut out the unnecessary synthetic detergents and other additives.
The smell! One word: Noxious! Every continent I've visited you smell that god awful Lush smell before you see the Lush store. It is olfactory pollution, simple as that.
Sweet. If one fashion boutique can convince the counter girls to wear peek-a-boo outfits to promote sales in the name of some vaugely environmental impact reduction why can't all or them.
Of course a few rounds of of this kind of behavior and the sales floor at Old Navy will be as skimpily dressed as Olympic Beach Volleyball.
Watch those "secret tats" ladies; your job might be requiring you to display them for a promo.
Or we could just penalize excess packaging everywhere and let the ladies dress decently.
Where are the stores doing this promotion?
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I believe it's only one day each year.