Shopping sustainably isn’t always an easy task—especially when it comes to beauty products. Between responsible production methods, ingredient sourcing and packaging, there are countless ways to mitigate the impacts of our purchases. The tricky part? Understanding how these factors play into one another to create a truly sustainable model. But what does it really mean when we call something “sustainable”? For Garnier, “sustainability” isn’t just a buzzword. With its Green Beauty Initiative, the brand looks at the bigger picture with one goal in mind: to make green beauty more accessible for all.

And it’s well on its way to achieving that goal, having committed to meeting and exceeding targets in four key areas, with a focus on solidarity sourcing, developing eco-designed formulas, using more renewable energy and, most recently, being Cruelty Free International-approved. By developing an end-to-end sustainability model that considers the life cycle of its products from start to finish, Garnier has cemented itself as a leader in green beauty, going beyond surface-level changes in order to work toward a brighter future.

Take, for instance, one of the key innovations the brand has committed to in 2021: cleaner manufacturing practices that use more renewable energy. In 2020, 49 percent of Garnier’s industrial production sites were deemed carbon neutral, including seven sites that achieved that status in the previous year. Sixty-one percent of all energy used at the brand’s industrial sites comes from renewable sources, showing that Garnier is inching toward its end goal of all its industrial sites being carbon neutral and using only renewable energy by 2025. How can this be achieved? Garnier is innovating its supply chains from the ground up by using locally produced renewable energy as well as creating renewable energy using biomass, biomethanisation and solar panels.

Adding to all this, 18 percent of Garnier’s production sites are “waterloop factories”—which means that all water is re-treated, recycled and reused in a loop—and that figure only continues to rise. With waterloop factories in Spain, Italy, Russia, Belgium and now Mexico, the brand’s industrial fresh-water consumption is significantly reduced—if not completely eliminated—in areas facing water-scarcity challenges. Another major target for the company? By 2030, Garnier aims to have 100 percent of its factories using a waterloop system—and in so doing, the company is signalling new ways to eliminate, use and manage waste, making planet-friendly purchasing easier for everyone.