‘We’ve rewritten the rules’: The first carbon positive beauty brand

The carbon positive accreditation comes from Toitu Envirocare, a leader in carbon mapping that works with brands such as Kathmandu, Maggie Marilyn and the Firmdale Hotels group, funded by the New Zealand government.

“They have never certified anyone to this level before. We had to do incredible work, seeking certification across our full supply chain, to discover our carbon numbers and identify areas that needed to change.” One of those changes was creating warehousing in Sydney to reduce air freight costs, with Australia the largest market for the range.

While most chief executives in the highly-competitive beauty industry would rejoice at an endorsement from genetically-blessed Oscar-winners and supermodels, a letter from anthropologist and primatologist Dame Jane Goodall makes all of the hard work worth it for Lewisham.

“Emma Lewisham may be setting a new benchmark in beauty, but they are also setting a
benchmark for how all industries should be operating – circular, waste-free and carbon positive,” Goodall wrote. “I wholeheartedly endorse Emma Lewisham’s Beauty Circle and all the systems they have put in place as a business striving to make the world a better place.”

At high school Goodall’s work was an inspiration for Lewisham, leading to a recent letter to the activist sharing her company’s mission statement.

“I was just excited by the fact that she might read something that I’d written,” Lewisham said. “She doesn’t really do endorsements so this was pretty cool.” It’s the closest the softly-spoken and analytical Lewisham comes to fangirling and letting her corporate guard down during our interview.

The business’s carbon offset payments are currently used to fund the regeneration of New Zealand’s Puhoi Forest, support the introduction of innovative cook stoves in Ghana and contribute to a wind power project in India. “We’d love to be in a position where we eliminate the need to offset altogether.”

Having achieved carbon positive status, Lewisham is also sharing her business model with the industry to generate further change. She will, however, be keeping the coveted products’ formulas a secret. “People aren’t going to buy something, no matter how good it is for the planet, if it doesn’t work.”

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