INTRO
THINK
Aveda Earth and Community Care Report 2015-2016
OUR MISSION AT AVEDA IS TO CARE FOR THE WORLD WE LIVE IN,
FROM THE PRODUCTS WE MAKE TO THE WAYS IN WHICH
WE GIVE BACK TO SOCIETY. AT AVEDA, WE STRIVE TO SET
AN EXAMPLE FOR ENVIRONMENTAL LEADERSHIP AND RESPONSIBILITY,
NOT JUST IN THE WORLD OF BEAUTY, BUT AROUND THE WORLD.
HORST RECHELBACHER, FOUNDER
About this Report
This report reflects our Earth and Community Care activities for 2015 and 2016. It is organized around our Mission, which has guided us since our founder, Horst Rechelbacher, established the company in 1978. The elements of Aveda’s Mission—to care for the world and be an example for others on environmental sustainability and corporate responsibility—are embedded in what we do every day. It is literally part of how we think as we go about the tasks of creating, manufacturing and retailing high- performance, plant-based beauty products.
The Care for the World We Live In sections of the report (Products, Innovation & Product Experience, Aveda Manufacturing & Distribution, Supply Chain, Life Cycle, and Aveda, Employees, and the Blaine Campus) focus on the products that we make and the people of Aveda. Innovation has been at the core of Aveda’s product development efforts building on Horst’s experience with his mother’s herbal remedies and the Ayurvedic traditions he encountered in his travels in India early in his career. His holistic approach to beauty, that beauty in each individual is tied to the beauty that we see in the world, drives us to seek ingredients from organic and biodynamic sources that contribute to protecting and restoring ecosystems. We continuously strive to improve our manufacturing and company operations by using less resources and more renewable energy, treating water as the precious commodity that it is, protecting ecosystems, and being conscientious about keeping products and materials in use as long as possible through reuse, repair and recycling. Our focus on the professionals who use and recommend our products, be they in the salons that are part of the Aveda network or in our retail Experience Centers and spas, is to give them the tools to educate our guests as to both the performance and environmental benefits of Aveda products and the things they can do to “live” the Aveda Mission. Aveda delivers against our long-term commitment to environmental leadership on improving packaging for beauty products and keeping packaging materials in circular systems as “technical” and biological nutrients in the terminology of the Cradle to Cradle® principles we embrace. All of these efforts, from the origin of the ingredients and raw materials in Aveda products to the end of life for products and packaging, are the results of our employees’ talents and commitment to the Aveda Mission.
The Ways We Give Back to Society sections (Earth Month, Breast Cancer Awareness, Audubon, and Volunteering) look at our efforts to use our success for making the world a better place. We pioneered Earth Month, where Aveda, our employees, and our network of salons and educational institutions raise money for environmental causes. Earth Month continues to grow and the scope of what is raised and the associated funding to protect water and the lives that depend on water continues to expand.
In the sections on Environmental Leadership Not Just in the World of Beauty but Around the World (Sourcing Communities), we discuss our approach to leading by example on environmental issues both inside and outside the U.S. While we engage in new ways and in new areas regularly, we also maintain strong relationships over time, in some cases decades, to continue work that has brought significant benefits to communities and places that struggle with environmental and economic challenges. We also believe we have a responsibility in these long-term partnerships to foster self-sufficiency rather than dependence, as described in some of the stories highlighted in this section.
The last section of the report is a summary of our performance on our 2016 goals and a discussion of goals for 2018.
About Aveda
Aveda is a member of the Estée Lauder Companies, Inc. (ELC) (elcompanies.com) family of prestige brands, which purchased the previously privately held company in 1997. Aveda operates in a complex “business ecosystem” (the Aveda network) where Aveda’s operations are integrated with ELC and a web of suppliers, salons and spas, retail operations, educational institutions and individual hair stylists and estheticians. We strive to deliver high-performance personal care products and related services in a socially and environmentally responsible manner (additional information is available in our 2011-2012 and 2013-14 Earth and Community Care Reports). Development, manufacturing and marketing of plant-based personal care products in conjunction with the training and support of industry professionals continue as core Aveda commitments. Oversight of these activities is the responsibility of the Aveda Global General Manager and the Aveda Stewardship Team, which includes senior leaders of all major business functions.
Our supply chain touches all continents except Antarctica and our geographic distribution includes North America, Europe, Asia and Australia. Professional salons and spas remain our core distribution channel with supplementary channels that include Aveda and independently owned retail Experience Centers and Lifestyle salons and spas, Aveda and independently-owned Institutes that train industry professionals, select department stores and specialty retailers and online sales through aveda.com.
Our ongoing integration with ELC, particularly around research and development, supply chain, manufacturing, and quality, generates mutual benefits as Aveda shares and learns best practices with other ELC brands and gains access to systems that enhance efficiencies and consistency in multiple areas of our business.
This biennial report reflects Aveda’s promise to improve our earth and community care performance and to engage with key stakeholders–our employees, the Aveda network, our industry peers and our suppliers. We continue to seek to stay true to the Valdez/Ceres principles, in particular to being transparent about our performance, as we have since 1989 when Aveda became the first company to endorse this groundbreaking code of conduct.
The Ceres Principles
1) Protection of the Biosphere
2) Sustainable Use of Natural Resources
3) Reduction and Disposal of Wastes
4) Energy Conservation
5) Risk Reduction
6) Safe Products and Services
7) Environmental Restoration
8) Informing the Public
9) Management Commitment
10) Audits and Reports
Welcome to Aveda’s Earth and Community Care Report for fiscal years 2015 and 2016! When I joined Aveda at the beginning of 2017, I was truly inspired by the commitment of the Aveda teams in every function, in every part of the world, to truly honor the Aveda Mission. They are testimony to the fact that there is no better way to do business than by caring for the world we live in.
The Aveda Mission is at the core of the way we develop our products and operate our business. To Aveda, caring for the world is an expression of our responsibility to protect and support both the natural environment and our stakeholders – including our salon owner partners, the 50,000 Aveda Artists around the world, our sourcing partners and, of course, our guests.
With this report, we share insights and stories of how we lived the Aveda Mission during fiscal years 2015-2016, and our commitment to strive for continual progress. We know there is so much more to achieve and we must increase our efforts to protect habitats and ecosystems around the globe for the benefit of local populations and larger global communities. We have lofty ambitions but we are confident we can change the world by changing the way the world does business.
Barbara De Laere
Global General Manager of Aveda
Click to return to Think Report Home