The Importance of Sustainable Skincare

Packaging, Production, Ingredients: Sustainability is in our DNA. Learn more about our sustainable philosophy and discover some of our recommendations for a lifestyle that leaves a lighter footprint on the earth.

Eco-friendly inside and out: Sustainably produced skincare

Earth Day is an annual event close to our hearts. Focusing on natural processes, emerging green technologies, and innovative thinking that can restore the world's ecosystems, this year's theme for April 22nd is Restore Our Earth. At Susanne Kaufmann, we are guided by our holistic beauty approach and have been cultivating a philosophy of sustainability since we launched our first skincare range back in 2003. A philosophy that is mirrored by our Founder Susanne's deep respect for nature and people, by the quality of our highly effective plant-based skincare range and our eco-friendly production.

Ingredients

Growing up in the Bregenzerwald, an idyllic region nestled in the Austrian Alps and famed for its natural beauty, Susanne has always had a fascination with plants and the natural actives they provide. In this region characterised by rolling hills adjacent to rugged peaks, vast meadows and rare plant life framed by cultivated land, the knowledge of the healing power of plants has been passed down for generations. The strong influences of both nature and tradition gave Founder Susanne the inspiration for her collection of skincare and body products and their potency is harnessed in every formula.

Formulated with carefully chosen plant-based and botanical active ingredients, our entire range of products contains only natural preservatives. To ensure we do not lose any of the strength that nature has bestowed, we use cold-press extraction to obtain the plant oils and compounds for some of our skincare formulas. The water we source for our products comes from our manufacturer's own spring in the Bregenzerwald in Austria. It is filtered through a special water treatment system that cleans, energises and mineralises the water.

Production

In production, we rely on renewable energies, resource-saving processes and recyclable packaging - and we are working hard to continuously improve our ecological efforts and minimise our footprint on the planet.

Unique sustainable production machines

An example of a pioneering sustainability initiative is the state-of-the-art, solar powered, high-capacity emulsion and gel mixing unit in the Susanne Kaufmann manufacturing facility, Ingo Metzler. This unique machine utilises thermal energy, 100% of which is obtained from the in-house solar system. Everything is then recycled, ensuring no energy or water is wasted: once the heating curve has been reached, the residual heat is fed back into the underground pipes and stored for the next production, and the cool water is recycled again for use.

All other machines used in the production process are powered from a combination of energy sourced from the in-house photovoltaic system and certified green electricity. In addition, the solar energy ensures the right temperature in rooms, shelves, and cooling systems.

Visit our production site

Our producer Ingo Metzler is based in Egg, a 15-minutes car ride away from our HQ in Bezau and the Hotel Post Bezau respectively. Once a week, the hotel offers its guests a production tour. If Susanne Kaufmann is on-site, she'll show you around personally. We cannot wait to welcome you one day.

Packaging

Since the brand's creation, sustainability has been integral not only to the development of our skincare range but to the creation of eco-friendly packaging solutions. Our products come in glass bottles and jars, which can be fully recycled. As secondary raw materials, they find their way back into the production cycle.

Unique refill system

Since February 2021, we introduced the latest addition to our sustainable packaging solutions - and it's one of its kind: A particularly light-weight innovative refill system, which is available for six bestselling products: our Purifying Cleansing Gel, the Hair & Body Wash, Invigorating Hair & Body Wash, Hand Soap, Soothing Cleansing Milk and our Soothing Toner (all 250ml), all of which are formulated with natural, renewable sugar surfactants and particularly gentle on the skin.

To bring this unique sustainable option to the market, Susanne worked with Austrian family-owned company ALPLA, a global leader in the development and manufacture of plastic packaging solutions. One of the main goals of the new refill packaging is to considerably reduce the amount of packaging Our refills are made of 75% post-consumer material (rHDPE) and are up to 60% lighter than standard HDPE bottles.

The intelligently designed bottle does not require a cap, which reduces the amount of different plastic materials needed, and therefore ensures the packaging is 100% recyclable. A tether band is included in the design to ensure that the tip that gets cut off remains part of the full bottle component and does not separate. Small plastic items (such as lids, caps etc.) are not only a hazard to young children and animals, but they are also prone to leak into the environment. Every single aspect of the refill bottle has been considered to ensure our impact on the environment is as minimal as possible.

Short transport routes

As with our refill, we source all our packaging either from manufacturers in Austria or in nearby Germany. This keeps our transport routes short and our ecological footprint small. At the same time, we strengthen the local and regional economy.

4 easily implementable tips for more sustainable daily routines

Not all of us may be surrounded by green fields or the raw beauty of the mountains or the sea. But even without a daily visual reminder of how precious our nature is, we can start making little changes in our daily lives to help preserve the world's ecosystems. Discover our 4 recommendations for a more sustainable way of living.

1. Eat local and seasonal: Replace some grocery shopping days at your favourite supermarket chain with visits to local farmer's markets or a nearby farm shop. Buying organic food at your local supermarket is great, but buying it from local producers in your area helps cut CO2-emissions further through shorter transport routes and it benefits your local economy.
2. Support sustainable brands: From skincare and fashion to energy companies, support sustainable brands and purchase eco-friendly options. Many energy companies today offer green energy options. Green energy is solely is generated from natural resources, such as sunlight, wind or water and don't harm the environment through factors such as releasing greenhouse gases into the atmosphere.
3. Choose glass over virgin plastic: We are polluting the ocean with tonnes of plastic a year, and the damage we are doing to marine life and our ecosystem is becoming irreparable. We rely on the ocean to regulate our climate, absorb CO2 and it is the number one source for protein for over a billion people. So, it is vital for each and every one of us to cut down our use of plastic. Start by choosing water bottles over plastic.
4. Walk and cycle: Ditch your car in favour of walking and cycling – especially for shorter distances. This doesn't only help lower greenhouse gas emissions but is a subtle and natural way of enhancing your diet and fitness efforts. Walking also helps avoid heart problems by lowering high blood pressure and cholesterol levels and by improving blood circulation, contributes to muscle tone and weight loss and increases oxygen flow in the bloodstream. This helps train your lungs, as well as eliminate toxins and waste.