to think Lush products can't be THAT envriomentally friendly

[marenmj]

when they put so much CRAP down the drains?

glitter?

confetti??

NUTS???

Honestly. I like some of the soaps. The lemon soap tastes like lemon, so can't be all bad in my book. prairielandherbs doesn't ship to the UK so I make do with Lush.

I have a catch on my drain so I don't put loads of my hair and bits of food washed off DD down the pipes, but why make products that require cleaning the bath AFTER?

I just had to clean a blardy shea butter and SAND bath ring because DD got her hands on an "exfoliating" bar that someone gave me whilst pregnant - which I had on the shelf by the bath but had forgotten about

I don't put bacon grease down the drain because of the fat, why the hell would you put shea butter down???

(following a visit to the shop where I was told that the solid-fat massage bars can be used in the bath/shower!)



Seems like bragging about green credentials is a bit much when one of your ingredients is confetti

[Pheebe]

confetti = paper = biodegradable
nuts = food = biodegradable

glitter - can't defend that one

Shea butter has a low melt point and emulsifies easily and so is V unlikely to block drains unlike pork/lamb/beef fat

Agree though that it is ridiculous to have to clean the bath (as opposed to a quick rinse) after using their products

[pjmama]

The overpowering smell of the place makes my eyes water from about 20 paces away from the door, so I don't brave it any further! I've had things bought from there from time to time, but have never rated them much. Gimmicky, strong smelling or just plain wierd and best left to the young 'uns bah humbug etc

[marenmj]

Home made brand? Please tell! I am a sucker for handmade soaps.

I know shea butter has a low melt point, it just seems that anything that is solid at room temp or below shouldn't be going into pipes that are not continuously filled with hot water .

The sand won't be good for the pipes though. I fail to see why salt or sugar wouldn't do.

Just seems to be a series of weird decisions re ingredients. Like they all live in houses that are dutifully cleaned by someone else - someone who is also willing to clean glitter off the clothing, bedding, furniture, and -in my case- the cat.

[TheCrackFox]

IMO any unnecessary products are, by their very nature, environmentally unfriendly. Nobody actually needs most of the tat Lush sells regardless of whether it is bio-degradeable or organic.

I have noticed most of its stuff comes in plastic bottles.

[marenmj]

pjmama, they gave me a sample of something last time I was in to buy a present for my SIL who is having a baby any minute. It smells overwhelmingly of Hot Topic, a chain of teeny-bopper goth stores in the US. For some reason the stores have a very distinct smell. One that I do NOT want in the bath

[marenmj]

'They do make bath bombs without crap in them - avobath, ickle baby baff etc.'

'tis not especially hard, in fact, nearly by default. When I am feeling slightly less lazy I plan to do this.

DH put one of the baby bath bombs in with DD, who promptly tried to eat it. Have you tasted them? VILE. Much better for mummies than babies

[TheCrackFox]

I feel sorry for their staff. I get a migraine just walking passed a Lush store. can you imagine working with that smell for 8+hrs a day?

[RustyBear]

marenmj - presumably you don't actually want your baby to eat it, so isn't it a good thing that it tastes vile?

[marenmj]

lol, yes, in the long term

When usually-easygoing DD started sobbing afterwards DH and I both had a tiny lick and it was PAINFUL. Not just bad, but worse than eating-washing-powder bad.

I feel they should never be put in the bath with an actual baby and should say so on the label

[notagrannyyet]

As others have said I feel sick/headachey just walking by the shop.

[Morloth]

I love the smell of Lush. DS is always asking me to get him some bath bombs.

[ThingOneofYourNightmares]

Lush is vile. Yes cosmetics to go was a pioneer but that's twenty years ago. You can hardly be super-ethical selling stuff that makes people ill just by inhaling.

[BarakObamasTransitVan]

I love, love, love lush. So does ds. He had one last night as a treat, funnily enough. I kid you not it made little popping sounnds, like little explosions, all over the bath (aside from the normal fizz). Amazing. Like Space Dust. I think it was this one

[Morloth]

Yup Barak we had the cinders one last week - DS loved it!

[marenmj]

hee hee! now there's a perfect use for the pop rocks my office handed out last week!

I'm sure DD will get to an age where squishing things is more fun than chewing on things, but she's getting her front teeth atm, so I'm careful with what goes around her as all of it eventually ends up in her mouth.

Lush soaps are particularly good for that IME. The bath bombs not so much.

(of course, I didn't stop her thinking, ah - it's just a bit of baking soda and citric acid, won't taste good, but won't harm either... my mistake)

[MorrisZapp]

YABU

I don't get why it has to be 'all or nothing' on green issues. I don't like Lush myself but they clearly have much better environmental policies than, say, Boots or Superdrug.

But becuase they say 'we care about the environment so we do x' some people think they should go the full hair-shirt mile and become totally dedicated to nothing but environmentally friendliness.

I'm of the view that doing something is always better than doing nothing. I'm sick of all the lazy naysayers saying stuff like 'yeah well if so and so is so green why do they drive a car' etc, as if anybody who engages publicly on green issues should live in a mud hut or shut up. It's always people who do feck all for the environment themselves who slag off anybody else for doing anything vaguely un-green and calling them a hypocrite (in general, not you OP).

None of us are going to live in a mud hut. We need to be able to make small changes and not get shot down for it - many many small changes make for a big change.

[marenmj]

Of course not, but bragging up and down about how terribly good they are to the envrioment seems a bit weird when they are happy to put confetti in the bath bombs.

I mean, isn't that such a small thing to change? They try on other fronts, which they should be commended for, but would it be too much to have someone say in a meeting "you know folks, maybe we should only put things in our bath products that can go down the drain..."

Yes, there's the argument upthread that confetti and nuts are biodegradable, and they are - eventually, but I wouldn't put them down the kitchen sink either (they would go out into the compost).

It just seems like SUCH a weird choice for a company that prides itself on being good to the environment and MUCH easier to address than, say, packaging (which they have done), and shipping miles (they make a point of highlighting how low theirs are).

I'd say when they are making how green they are a selling point to customers (they do), they are opening the door for comment.

I don't think they are the worst offenders, by far, and I'm not perfectly green myself (sat here on a computer on the internet etc etc). It's still a weird thing to put everything and the kitchen sink in a bath bomb.

[MorrisZapp]

Maybe they've found that people really like the confetti and stuff. If they didn't buy the Lush confetti stuff, they'd buy Boots mass chemical stuff instead, so the Lush stuff is still better?

I'm not prefectly green either, I don't know anybody who is. It's just people making changes, and often then opening themselves up to criticism because the changes aren't enough - when making no changes at all doesn't draw comment.

[MookySpinge]

Hm, I refer you to my Lush thread in the tack room - since when was hunt sabbing an environmentally friendly activity either?

[marenmj]

had to google "hunt sabbing" [not a native]. but not surprised. Seems a little strange as I know many people who hunt, but they are not in England so it is not The Hunt and they eat what they kill.

I can't say how "green" sabbing would be - no experience with it and google has little to offer.

Where is the tack room?

[MookySpinge]

Thanks, sorry I couldn't do a link on here - not easily anyway.