Green Elephant Show
Green Elephant Show
B Corp Month 2021 Interview: Jo Chidley from Beauty Kitchen
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Hello and welcome to our special series of Green Elephant interviews during March 2021, supporting the annual B Corps month.

B Corporations, or B Corps for short, are businesses that meet the highest standards of verified social and environmental performance, public transparency, and legal accountability to balance profit and purpose

Throughout March, we are chatting with key people in companies which have chosen to certify as B Corps and become a Force for Good.

00:35 Interview with Jo Chidley from Beauty Kitchen

  • 04:00 “Beauty is not known for sustainability”
  • 05:00 Bewildering chemicals, why?
  • 08:00 Built on B Corps ideals
  • 10:00 B Corp Certification process
  • 12:00 Why seek certifications?
  • 14:00 What about labelling?
  • 17:15 And the packaging?
  • 18:15 Return, Refill, Repeat
  • 22:40 “We don’t need a handful of people doing zero waste perfectly, we need millions of people doing zero waste imperfectly”
  • 25:47 “If you innovate, you have a competitive advantage”
  • 28:21 Recertification is a walk in the park?
  • 29:15 Cradle to Cradle principles
  • 31:25 Multi-Attribute certifications
  • 32:45 Why do you value the B Corp movement?

35:04 Action

  • If you’re considering becoming a B Corp – find a B Corp business and connect with the top people and ask for 10 mins of their time; or
  • Go to the B Impact Assessment website and instinctively run through the assessment
  • (Russell’s Addition) Search LinkedIn for your nearest B Local (look at companies and groups) and ask to join or follow them – you will find many helpful B Corps and B Leaders there.

37:01 Recommendation

39:19 Fact or Fake

  1. The beauty industry in the UK, how big is it £10bn, £20bn, £30bn
    1. 1.3% of UK GDP – £30bn (FACT)
  2. How many times faster did B Corp certified brands grow in the last year; 5 times, 12 times or 28 times
    1. 28 times (FACT)
  3. How many microplastic ingredients can you have in the cosmetics industry, still used today; 500, 1000, 2000
    1. 500 (FACT)
  4. Every day, the average woman applies 372 synthetic chemicals to her body (FAKE)
    1. Every day, the average woman applies 515 synthetic chemicals to her body (FACT)
  5. Almost 60% of all cosmetic products contain parabens (FACT)
Extra (not in the show)
  1. Since it first came under FDA (USA) purview in the 1930s, the industry has had only nine chemicals banned from use. Nearly 9,000 chemicals are approved for use today (FAKE)
    1. Since it first came under FDA purview in the 1930s, the industry has had only nine chemicals banned from use. More than 12,000 chemicals are approved for use today (FACT)

Connect

Find Jo Chidley and Beauty Kitchen here:

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We really hope that you’ve found this special B Corp Month episode both informative and entertaining. Make sure you don’t miss any of the 31 interviews with B Corporations who are striving to be a Force for Good.