The Body Shop was founded in 1976 in Brighton, England by an Italian immigrant with a simple desire to save the whales. (I know, I know ... isn't that what everyone who opens up an enormous bath product company really wants?)

Thirty four years later, The Body shop is a multi-national business with some 2,500 stores in over 61 different countries. Anita Roddick, the woman behind the production, began selling skin care products in the interest of supporting her two daughters while her husband was absent, travelling. What started off as a small organization in between two funeral homes in England launched into a major corporation advocating for sustainability, women’s self esteem and human rights.

In the early days, Roddick started recycling simply because she didn’t have enough containers for her products. Eventually, the Body Shop would turn its resourceful values into a partnership with Greenpeace in 1986. After this, Roddick began to launch other promotions tied to various social causes, obviously attracting public attention to her products. For her, “campaigning and good business is also about putting forward solutions, not just opposing destructive practices or human rights abuses”.

Roddick has been referred to as “one of the country’s true pioneers”, campaigning not only for green issues, but also women’s self esteem. A 1997 advertising campaign utilized the familiar image of Barbie to make a statement that would earn them a lawsuit for copyright infringement from Mattel. A mascot for The Body Shop was created in the form of a doll in Barbie’s likeness, except for the fact that she was a size 16 and had red hair. The slogan for the ads in which she was depicted read “There are 3 billion women who don’t look like supermodels and only 8 who do”. Her name was Ruby, and she caused the Body Shop to be forced to rethink their ad campaigns. I always thought she was pretty cute.

Anyone who has visited the Body Shop’s website will be aware of their pride in a small ecological footprint. The company states an aim to reduce waste by 9 million bottles per year. All the packaging used is made with 30% recycled plastics, and a greater percentage is currently in the works. The ingredients used are a significant part of their sustainably approach to business. Their popular hemp line in particular demonstrates an effective use of this environmentally friendly crop. Hemp requires little fertilizer and no pesticides in its cultivation, due to few natural predators. The Body Shop makes note that hemp is one of the most environmentally friendly crops they have found yet.

Unlike palm oil, which entails incredibly destructive cultivation process. 90% of the palm oil we use is located in Malaysia and Indonesia, which is bad news for the wildlife that also resides there. The Body Shop was one of the first retailers to join the RSPO (Roundtable on Sustainable Palm Oil), which promotes the growth and use of more sustainably cultivated palm oil. On top of all this, the Body Shop has never tested their products on animals.

While the company boasts a range of efforts pertaining to sustainability, their website leaves a lot to be desired. The ingredients are said to be “inspired by nature” – (a term almost as vague as “all natural”), and their corporate offices claim to be “energy efficient”, as well as some of their new stores. (What about the old ones?) They state a goal, on their website, to be carbon neutral retailer by 2010 ... this is now. I wonder if this has been achieved?

At least the Body Shop is making a genuine effort, which is more than can be said for most other corporations of its size. The woman behind all this is pretty inspirational any way you cut it. She is actually said to have single handedly shaped ethical consumerism. Her strong sense of values pertaining to human and animal rights and sustainability is one to be admired. I can get behind any organization that makes sure its personal massagers are certified by the Forestry Stewardship Council. Talk about self gratification you can truly feel good about.