Activities 5i6p45

ACTIVITIES 1) FIGHTING ANIMAL TESTING

Fighting animal testing should be more than a slogan; it needs to be a genuine practice. Unfortunately, it’s become commonplace in the North American cosmetics industry to test products and their ingredients on animals in labs. Laboratory testing is done to substances that make up these cosmetic products, to see whether they are likely to harm people, or damage the environment when they are disposed of. LUSH had been against animal testing for over 30 years and will continue to inform, encourage and participate in the fight for animal rights. The founders of LUSH have been ionately fighting against animal testing during all of this time, long before LUSH was even an idea. Since the movement to stop animal testing started, policies have been created to work with cosmetics companies and raw materials suppliers to end animal cruelty. As a cosmetics company they care deeply about both the quality of their products and the safety of their customers, and we happily comply with federal safety standards. Cosmetic companies are responsible for providing safety assurances in whatever manner they deem appropriate. This can be done without any new animal testing by relying on the roughly 20,000 established cosmetic ingredients that have already been evaluated for their safety, and through the use of a growing number of proven, non-animal test methods.

Alternatives The science of cosmetics safety testing has progressed greatly in recent years, and there are now dozens of proven non-animal test methods accepted by government regulators of cosmetics. Examples include 3-dimensional human skin models, which can fully replace the use of rabbits for skin irritation testing, and cell culture tests for sunlight-induced “photo”-toxicity, genetic mutations, and other harmful effects. Non-animal methods have been shown to be scientifically superior – and usually take less time to complete, at a fraction of the cost of animal experiments.

Policy LUSH policy is the result of a personal effort to reduce animal testing, for companies who supply raw materials to change the way they test for safety and to stop money from going to companies who we believe are morally unsound. They operate their own unique Supplier Specific Boycott, which states they will not buy any ingredient from any manufacturer or supplier that tests anything they produce on any animals for any reason. LUSH ensure the safety of their products by only using ingredients with a long history of safe use, and by testing the finished products on a of human volunteers. We the development and

validation

of non-animal tests,

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campaign

against

legislation that requires animals to be experimented on. Not only is LUSH ionate about the animal testing policy, their ion also extends to the commitment they have to sourcing ingredients from suppliers that are congruent with their ethics and standards. LUSH extremely strict policy against animal testing is unique, and they want their peers in the cosmetics industry to adopt the same stance. They encourage customers to boycott cosmetics companies that engage in animal testing. While they have spoken out against animal testing for years, most of their efforts have been focused on their own strict policy and avoiding animal testing. But it is no longer enough for them to ively wait for animal testing to end. They decided to put their money where their mouth is and now offer the LUSH Prize, awarded annually. The £250,000 prize fund, the biggest prize in the alternative testing sector, focuses pressure on safety testing for consumer products in a way which complements projects which already address alternatives to the animal testing of medicines and awards prizes for Science, Training, Lobbying, Public Awareness, and Young Researchers. It is a way that everyone at LUSH, their customers, and the wider public can become involved in the fight to end animal testing.

2) FRESH INGREDIENTS Lush believes in making effective products from fresh, organic fruit and vegetables, the finest essential oils and safe synthetics. Fresh is at the core of the company. Fresh ingredients, fresh inventions, fresh campaigns and more. LUSH inventors started making products by visiting farmer's markets and flower shops, bringing their fresh fruits, vegetables and flowers back to their labs, and infusing them into their newest inventions. LUSH even lists them in quantitative order on every pot, bottle, sign, web page and in the LUSH Times. Why not use a synthetic alternative to fresh ingredients? It's simple. Using whole, fresh ingredients means you get the most effective product for your money. Helen Ambrosen, product inventor and LUSH Co-founder said it best: "It would be easier, but it wouldn't be as much fun! I could absolutely use synthetic alternatives to create effects, but where would the artistry be? Journalists always ask, "What makes it work? Is it vitamin E, vitamin A?" I always say, "It's the whole thing." It's the vitality and the freshness of the whole ingredient that makes it work." The culmination of years of work by the product inventors, every ingredient they use is listed in LUSHopedia, their very own ingredient encyclopedia.

3) ETHICAL BUYING LUSH had put an enormous amount of love and care into making their products, so it's important to them to find ingredient suppliers that do the same. They want to know where their ingredients come from and how they’re made. It’s the responsibility of LUSH Ethical Buying team to get out there to show how this happens. Their buyers travel worldwide, personally visiting their suppliers to trace the ingredients, to meet the growers and producers, and ensure care for the environment and fair conditions for workers. LUSH believe that what they buy should have a positive impact on the community from which they are harvested. Buying from small-scale producer groups affords LUSH the opportunity to drive positive change and form incredible relationships with people all over the world.