Celebrating World Earth Day with Sunday Riley

Described as a brand where “science meets proven botanicals” and available exclusively in New Zealand at MECCA, Sunday Riley is one of the first names that caught my eye when the beauty super store opened all those years ago just up the road from my home (dangerous!) on Ponsonby Road. MECCA has since grown into the beauty powerhouse that it is today, and the Sunday Riley brand continues to innovative and inspire under the watchful eye of Sunday herself – not just the brand founder, but also the brand formulator. Every product still reflects her belief that in order for results to count, they have to be quick to show on the complexion. Her range features powerful, targeted treatment heroes designed to improve the quality of your skin, like cult beauty icon Good Genes, Pink Drink and more. But for this year’s World Earth Day, I wanted to focus on the brand’s latest sustainability initiative with CleanHub and Green Worms.
Sunday Riley continues to pioneer in sustainable beauty, announcing their partnership with CleanHub and Green Worms – a trusted and totally transparent global organisation that prevents plastic waste from reaching the ocean. The brand has funded the recovery of as much plastic as they emit to offset their impact on the planet, while providing critical jobs for women to collect and recycle plastic in the global south. With a goal to collect 52,022 kilos of plastic by September, Sunday Riley will not only support the environment but also fair wages for women in the process. To date, Sunday Riley has collected and incredible 15,462 kilos of plastic, which is equivalent to 1,704,466 plastic bottles. And along the way, they helped create over 200 safe jobs for waste workers.

Its founder says that “at Sunday Riley, every day is World Earth Day! As a B-Corp-certified beauty brand, it’s important to us that we always meet the highest standards of verified social and environmental performance, public transparency, and legal accountability”. In addition to the new initiative, they adhere to these key touch points:

A ‘Zero Waste Oil Process’
Every Sunday Riley oil is produced using a Zero Waste Oil Process. While the seeds they use to press their oils can contain as little as 10% of the material needed, the remaining 90% never goes to waste. The by-product is ground into a seed powder and put into various nutritional supplements and plant protein forms for animal and pet use. Any inedible seed material is then used in agriculture processes for fertilisation so that the nutrients are back into the ground they were grown.

They are Green Lab Certified
They have achieved the highest level of Green Lab certification, pledging to only produce clean, safe products and use green practices including manufacturing products in small batches.

They Get Their Hands Dirty, NOT The Environment
Since achieving B Corp Certification in 2021, they have planted more than 15,000 trees around the globe with a goal to plant 25,000 trees this year alone. This includes 50 trees a month in Australia, as part of our ongoing effort to make the planet a greener place.

They believe good things come in greener packages
The brand has have switched out the EVA foam trays in their packaging to recycled pulp boards, adopted more eco-friendly inks (like soy), and use FSC (Forest Stewardship Council) materials for boxes.

Proudly certified as cruelty-free by both PETA and Leaping Bunny and having always been a cruelty-free brand, Sunday Riley also purchase carbon credits to offset ALL of their freight shipments and group freight and shipments together, shipping by sea instead of air, whenever possible.
Pretty impressive stuff, huh? To track Sunday Riley’s live Impact Progress with Clean Hub and Green Worms, please head to: https://sunday-riley.cleanhub.com/ and Happy World Earth Day to all!