Interview with Green People

Where did Green People originate and why?

Charlotte, founder of Green People, began her pursuit for an organic lifestyle nearly twenty years ago when her daughter Sandra, who was then aged two, developed eczema and skin allergies.

Coming from a nursing background and with experience in both herbal medicine and the pharmaceutical industry, Charlotte set out to find the cause of Sandra’s health problems.

Discovering that we are exposed to an abundance of harmful chemical compounds every day – most of which are synthetic and man-made – inspired her to create natural and organic products for the whole family... and so Green People was born.  In 1999 Charlotte was invited to be a part of the Soil Association committee, playing a key role in setting the first standards for natural and organic cosmetics.

How has the brand developed since inception?

20 years on, with a wealth of knowledge and experience Green People is proud to offer over 100 certified organic products in high performance award-winning ranges for all the family including specialist skin conditions.

Our products are packed with over 90% active natural and organic ingredients to protect, nourish, balance and, most importantly, respect your body.

How would you sum up your brand in two sentences?

Green People ranges celebrate the amazing soothing and nourishing properties of the quality certified organic and natural ingredients we use. Sticking fast to our values to never substitute performance and quality for profit and to never use SLS, Parabens, lanolin, phthalates, alcohol and petrochemicals (to name but a few!) means we stay at the forefront of the industry, we are a brand which has championed organic long before the organic trend emerged.

What difficulties have you faced as an ethical brand?

One of the key difficulties we face everyday is trying to raise awareness with consumers regarding the importance of using ethical ingredients and practices to help sustain the planet.

How do you differ from other organic beauty brands?

From the beginning, we have always given total transparency in what we do, disclosing full ingredients listings and organic percentages before it became law, to help consumers make informed decisions. To this day we continue to strive for excellence, creativity and innovation at all times, and will not compromise the quality of any Green People product and will never put profits ahead of our ethics.

We will continue to adapt and evolve to ensure that our social responsibility is always ahead of the curve. By being credited to certification boards such as EcoCert, The Soil Association and the Organic Food Federation we adhered to a strict code of ethics and will never test our products on animals.

We are proud of the significant contribution we make to charities and will continue to do so as well as set a benchmark for the responsibility of companies in the beauty world and will never compromise our ethics. 

 Here at Green People we have made a conscious effort to not only make our products to the highest standard of organic levels as possible but use fairly traded produce. For example, ingredients such as Shea butter, Coca Butter, Myrrh and essential oils are all sustainably sourced and Green people work in conjunction with many co-operatives to ensure that fair wages are paid as well as working with projects to provide jobs, financial independence, employment and schooling for local communities.

What big change would you like to see in the Cosmetics industry?

At Green People, we would love to see organic beauty standards on par with the organic food industry so it becomes government legislation. This would mean that brands would not be able mislead the consumer by claiming a product as ‘organic’ unless they have gained full certification. 

Where can consumers find your products?

Green People products are available in Whole Foods, Planet Organic, Ocado and selected Waitrose stores as well as on our website.