What Is Sustainable Skincare?

Before we get into the details, let’s get one thing out of the way: there is no such thing as fully sustainable skincare. There’s actually no such thing as sustainable anything—not sneakers, not toys and certainly not an entire corporation.

Patagonia’s founder Yvon Chouinard put it best:

"Everything man does creates more harm than good. We have to accept that fact and not delude ourselves into thinking something is sustainable. Then you can try to achieve a situation where you're causing the least amount of harm possible."

No entity that pulls something from the earth to make a product they package and sell can ever be fully sustainable. But all businesses can (and should) try to act responsibly, reduce harm and use its resources to support positive change. Here are some of the ways we work toward making a positive impact for your skin and the planet each day.

When we created our products , we did our homework to make sure we delivered the safest and most effective formulas. All of our products are free of chemical SPF filters, sulfates, parabens, phthalates, artificial fragrance & color, and drying alcohols.

We exclude these things because they aren't great for our skin and can be absorbed by our bodies (not to mention some of them aren't great for the environment either). Instead, we opt for powerful botanical ingredients like yuzu, kukui nut, and giant seaweed which work with your skin, not against it.

From our packaging materials, to our shipping methods, we reviewed every step of how we get our products from the source to you. For example, we chose recyclable plastic packaging for our products, as it’s much more durable than glass packaging and around four times lighter, meaning fewer carbon emissions from shipping and a smaller chance of it breaking. We are also able to utilize pre-consumer waste, taking waste plastic from manufacturing other products and using it in our packaging!

For our shipping packaging we use small FSC certified cardboard boxes that use soy ink for the graphics. Our default shipping method is standard in order to avoid the carbon inefficiencies of rush delivery. Additionally, in major metro areas like New York, we are testing a distributed warehouse system that delivers on bicycles with zero carbon footprint!

At Koa, we’re making an effort across our supply chain to be a more responsible and eco-friendly brand, but no business can be perfect. In fact, even the most responsible businesses out there will say that they can always do better. And we share that belief, too.

As entrepreneurs, we’ll never stop facing reality as we build this business, which means working to improve our environmental impact over time. As far as we’re concerned, sustainability isn’t a destination but a commitment to an ongoing process. Sustainable, responsible, environmentally-friendly - whatever you call it, it’s the standard for running a good business in 2021 and we believe we’re making progress.

Check out our full range of products here!