Mindfully Sourced Ingredients
We consider lots of things when sourcing the ingredients in our products. Of course, we want to know they are effective! But importantly we also want to know that how they are being harvested or manufactured is with the most earth-friendly approach possible. We have several criteria we look at, with the long-term objective of getting to 100% of all ingredients meeting these criteria.
Level 0 is our basic requirement and therefore is not included in the above, table, only ingredients that hit the requirements of Level 1 - Level 3.
Natural Origin
Level 0 - Minimum requirement: Standard agricultural methods are employed that ensure the absence of deforestation or intensive farming methods. None of our naturally derived ingredients are listed on CITES (the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora).
Level 1:
- Harvesting techniques that sustain the crop or protect biodiversity
- Agricultural techniques that reduce the amount of energy, water or land required
Level 2:
- Produced from an upcycled ingredient or utilises waste products
- Utilises plant biotechnology or green chemistry which significantly reduces the amount of land, water or energy required
Level 3:
- Carbon neutral or negative production
- Provides social or economical benefits to local communities
- Wild harvested leading to protection of biodiversity
Synthetic Origin
Level 0 - Basic requirement: Manufactured using standard chemistry practices. Ecovadis silver certified
Level 1:
- Processes reduce the amount of energy or water required
- Ecovadis gold certified
Level 2:
- Manufacturer utilises green chemistry to produce ingredient resulting in a significant reduction in use of energy, water or waste
- Manufacturer upcycles waste materials in order to produce ingredient
- Ecovaids platinum certified
Level 3:
- Production process is carbon neutral/carbon negative
Getting To The Source
It's important to us to know exactly where our ingredients, particularly those of natural origin, are coming from. Because of the way some ingredients are traded this can sometimes be much harder than it seems (more info below!). Our long term aim is to get to 100% traceability to source. Here's where we are now.
Traceability
Level 0 - Minimum requirement: Feedstock traceable to continent
Level 1: Ingredient traceable to country
Level 2: Ingredient traceable to region, country
Level 3 – Optimum: Ingredient fully traceable to farm or specific location (i.e. cooperative of local farmers)
The Challenges
Some commodity ingredients are often made up of several ingredients think (Citric Acid, Glycerine) and contain what is called a feedstock, that is of natural origin, like maize or corn. Because these ingredients are traded openly, tracing this element to origin is extremely complex as the source could change regularly. In these instances it is often only possible to would expect to trace to a country (Level 1).
Some of the natural ingredients are sourced from a large number of farmers or cooperatives, or are wild harvested across large areas so getting directly to origin, (i.e. known farm address) can be challenging – in these situations being able to pinpoint a tight region of harvest is important (Level 2).
Tracing to source is more important for certain materials than others, for example soybean oil from Brazil carries a high risk of deforestation and would need to be pinpointed to a specific region or farm(s) (Level 2/3) whereas Sunflower seed oil from France carries a much lower risk to ecosystem (Level 1).
Cruelty Free
Selfless by Hyram believes that beauty products should be cruelty free. We are proud to be Leaping Bunny approved. A global programme, Leaping Bunny requires cruelty free standards over and above legal requirements.
All of our own brand cosmetic and personal care products are approved under the Cruelty Free International Leaping Bunny programme, the internationally recognisable gold standard for cruelty free products. We adhere to a fixed cut-off date policy and proactively monitor our suppliers to ensure that our products continue to adhere to the Leaping Bunny criteria. Our supplier monitoring system is also independently audited.
For more information about Cruelty Free International, Leaping Bunny and Leaping Bunny criteria, please visit www.crueltyfreeinternational.org