Mindfully Made Products for Conscious Consumers
You may have noticed more brands are investing in certification programs in order to hold themselves accountable and earn consumer trust. This is especially true with personal care products. After all, the ingredients inside the bottle are only part of the equation. A company must also take responsibility for its long-term impact on the environment.
Below, we explain two of those third-party certification programs, EWG Verified™ and Zero Waste, to help you verify before you buy. What is EWG Verified™?
EWG Verified™ is a verification program designed to help consumers avoid potentially toxic and harmful ingredients commonly found in personal care products.
The EWG Verified™ program was launched by the Environmental Working Group (a third-party consumer advocacy group) in partnership with Healthy Lifestyle Brands in 2015. It was created to bring consumers peace of mind and make shopping for personal care products easier.
Products that bear the EWG Verified™ mark meet the quality and standards established by the EWG’s many years of experience and research. These standards are clearly defined across the extensive Skin Deep® Database.
Skin Deep features in-depth profiles and ratings of over 9,000 ingredients and 60,000 cosmetic and personal care products. Each ingredient and product are given a safety score from 1 to 10. In order to be EWG Verified™, a product must be Green on this scale. Green = a safety score of 1 or 2.
What is Zero Waste?
In 2005, the Zero Waste International Alliance began working towards a world without waste and defined a set of waste control standards for businesses and communities. With a goal of unifying workers, suppliers, customers, policymakers and the public to better evaluate sustainability, ZWIA is leading the charge in the way companies measure their environmental accountability.
In order for a company to claim Zero Waste, they must divert 90% of waste (or more) away from landfills and incinerators. Meaning, 90%+ of solid waste generated as a result of production must be sustainably recycled, repaired, reused or composted. No more than 10% of discarded material can reach a landfill or be incinerated.
Every time you purchase a product bearing the EWG Verified logo or support a Zero Waste company, you’re not only participating in these companies’ positive efforts, you’re putting upward pressure on the industry at large to adopt similar practices that ultimately benefit the greater good. Remember, we’re all in this together!
In the information age, it’s easier than ever to become educated and empowered on issues that mean the most to us. Try using the Skin Deep Database (ewg.com/skindeep) to score the products in your home and read more about EWG Verified at ewg.org/ewgverified or Zero Waste at zwia.org.
Kelly Cess is the Copy Manager for EO Products, a family-owned and -operated personal care manufacturer based in Northern California. She has spent the last three years researching the personal care industry and works with a talented team to tell the stories behind the company’s two brands: EO and Everyone.






