World’s First Carbon-Negative Deodorant Packaging Debuts

After months of testing, Each & Every brand natural deodorant became the first deodorant brand to use carbon negative material for packaging with the launch of 100% plant-based sugarcane tubes. Each & Every first launched the sugarcane packaging on the brand’s signature Lavender & Lemon scent in April 2020. On September 29th the brand announced that the packaging will be used across its entire scent range of gender-neutral, vegan, and cruelty-free beauty and body-care products made of clean, simple ingredients, and 100% natural essential oils.

Products include deodorants, rollerball fragrances, and shampoo bars.

Keys to the new packaging…

• Sugarcane, which is a 100% renewable resource, absorbs carbon dioxide as it grows, removing it from the atmosphere.
• During manufacturing, the sugar juice from the sugarcane is fermented, distilled, and dehydrated to convert it to a packaging material.
• The packaging is net carbon negative and earth positive — said to be the only carbon negative packaging material in the market.
• The sugarcane packaging is fully recyclable and accepted alongside plastic recyclables; the black packaging has a special colorant that can be detected by infrared scanners for recycling.
• Also, Each & Every sends all shipments in 100% home or commercially compostable envelopes made from corn biopolymers as sustainable alternative to plastic mailer envelopes.

Company CEO Lauren Lovelady offers the following additional information in this exclusive Q&A interview.

What sparked the idea for sugarcane packaging?

Lovelady: Sustainability is incredibly important to us and we are constantly looking for ways to reduce our footprint.  Our former package was petroleum-based plastic and we have always been working toward more sustainable options. Before we even launched the brand, we wanted to launch with sustainable packaging but because we use 100% natural essential oils and no synthetic fragrance, none of the sustainable package options we tried were compatible with our formula. The essential oils would break down the package materials. We ultimately decided to launch in plastic so that consumers would have access to our incredible formula; we decided that we would keep working on sustainable packaging in parallel.

Last year, we found a package that was made from post-consumer recycled material and we launched it for a limited time. This was a slightly more sustainable option, but consumers told us that while they appreciated the effort, they didn’t see it as sustainable enough. We value the feedback of our incredible community and feel so fortunate to be able to have a two-way dialogue because this conversation led us to decide to look for other new materials instead of investing in a solution that they didn’t feel was sufficient. We have spent the last year looking for new materials and when we found the sugarcane packaging we became cautiously optimistic.

We spent a considerable amount of time understanding the supply chain to ensure it met our sustainability expectations and then we spent a few months compatibility testing. We then reached out to our community to get their thoughts and when they all came back with the thumbs up, we knew we were on to something.  We launched this package on our Lavender & Lemon scent in April and it sold out quickly, so we decided to bring it back across all of our scents.

Each & Every

Is there a third-party certification for this? And how is the carbon negative aspect messaged on the label/packaging?

Lovelady: Yes, the material is certified by Bonsucro, the global sugarcane platform, to ensure that the material is carbon negative. It also ensures that the sugarcane is harvested and manufactured with respect to human rights and labor standards, in accordance with local laws, and with respectful consideration to biodiversity and the ecosystem.

Would you care to credit your packaging suppliers?

Lovelady: Not presently, though we hope to soon!

What are the typical choices for this packaging?

Lovelady: The most widely available and cost-effective choices for packaging are petroleum-based plastics. Our ideal package not only needs to be sustainable, but it also needs to be functional, protect the product, and be compatible with our formula.  Many of the options we tested would check a few boxes, but not all. But there has been a lot of innovation in this space and more options than ever before. At the same time, we are seeing consumer demand for this increase, which will create more demand for sustainable packaging in the industry and make more options available.

Is this sustainable packaging more costly than traditional packaging?

Lovelady: Yes, because this material is not industry standard and not as widely available as petroleum-based plastics, it is more expensive.  We are not increasing our price to account for this difference and will instead invest in it as a step toward a more sustainable future. 

How packaging-savvy was your team before this project and how savvy is the team now?

Lovelady: It has been a journey, and we are still learning! There’s so much information out there, however, yet so little that is commonly known — so we are very much still on this journey. We are consulting with experts in waste, recycling, packaging, and manufacturing and are continuing to test options that we hope maybe even more sustainable. We see this as a step forward, but not necessarily our final destination, and we want to continue to raise the bar as we get more information.

We are savvier than when we started, but still educating ourselves.

Each & Every

All product shipments use 100% compostable envelopes made from corn biopolymers.

How many products will be in this new sugarcane packaging and what are the products’ pricing?

Lovelady: The packaging will be available for all our scents in the 2.5-ounce full size are $15 ($12.75 with subscription) and 0.5-ounce minis are available $20 four-pack or a total of 24 products total. 

What’s important for our audience of packaging and plastic professionals to know?

Lovelady: We are excited to bring a more sustainable package to market for our deodorants, and we see this as a positive step forward for a more sustainable future. We are impressed with the innovation in this space and are always looking to learn more, so we encourage consumers and experts alike to reach out and share their knowledge!

For more information, visit the Each & Every website.