Sustainable & Ethical Skincare
Mumanu balms are lovingly homemade in Somerset. This means we have absolute control over the manufacturing process, including certified organic cleaning supplies (even our tea towels are made from organic and Fairtrade cotton!). We know what is happening at each stage of production.
If it’s not third-party certified, you cannot guarantee it’s ethical. That’s why we’ve gone the extra mile and certified all our products with Soil Association and Fairtrade. We’re the only beauty company in the UK who’s done that (possibly the world but I would need to investigate that).
Click on the tabs below to find out about each aspect of Mumanu balms
Certified Organic With The Soil Association
The fundamental philosophy of Mumanu is love, kindness and connection. It makes sense then to certify our balms with the Soil Association and Fairtrade Foundation. We don’t like nasty pesticides or damaging farming practises so, the only way we can avoid them is to use certified organic products.
We prefer our balms to be packed full of goodness. For us, this means effective formulations made using organically farmed ingredients that have been grown without being genetically modified (non-GM) and with no herbicides or synthetic fertilisers.
Looking and feeling good shouldn’t mean ugly compromises, so when you see the Soil Association logo on a product you know it’s sourced and manufactured using sustainable ingredients, not tested on animals, free from harsh chemicals, nano particles, parabens, synthetic dyes and artificial fragrances.
Interesting Facts About Organic Farming
Organic farms help combat climate change:
Organic farmland stores more carbon – on average 3.5 tonnes extra for every hectare (the size of nearly two football pitches). This is the
greenhouse gas equivalent of driving your car around the world almost one and a half times (31,844 miles).
Farming organically can protect against flooding because organic soils store twice as much water and organic soils perform better during drought.
Organic farms have a more diverse range of microbes living in the soil – this helps the crops to grow without artificial fertilisers.
Organic farms are havens for wildlife and provide homes for bees, birds and butterflies. On average, plant, insect and bird life is 50% more abundant on organic farms.
Animal Welfare:
The Soil Association has the highest standards for animal welfare in the UK.
Ensuring all animals reared for meat and animal products have a good life is at the heart of Soil Association standards.
We use beeswax in Mumanu balms. If we weren’t certified Soil Association organic we would probably make vegan products. We trust the Soil Association standards and believe it’s better to support organic bees.
Why Fairtrade? Why wouldn’t we?!
We also want people to get a fair deal, be treated well and to ensure that communities are not taken advantage of. Using ingredients from South America, Africa and Asia, we want to know that the people we buy from are paid well and their community get direct benefits. The cocoa industry is rife with slavery; we don’t want to be part of that. Yes, our products are more expensive than non-organic, non-Fairtrade products but this is the real, fair price of goods… that don’t cost the earth.
By purchasing Mumanu balms, you contribute to Fairtrade’s efforts to empower Fairtrade producers to gain access to significant new market opportunities with the potential to deliver major social and environmental impact in their farms and communities.
A proportion of the purchasing price of products traded on Fairtrade terms is invested by farmers and workers in social, environmental and economic development projects.
There are strict Fairtrade standards designed to improve social sustainability and protect the environment where Fairtrade products are grown.
Recyclable Packaging
To Protect Our Planet
Jars, Tubes & Boxes: The containers we use for our balms and gift collections are made from paper with a greaseproof paper lining (just paper, no silicone or other liner). The ink and glue are water and plant based. We only use responsibly sourced paper with 70-80% recycled content.
The tamper stickers on pots are made from cellulose making them safely compostable.
The 15g mini pots you’ll find in the Miniature Sets are aluminium with an epoxy resin lining and polyethylene seal. These are the only products that contain any plastic.
Paper and aluminium are both widely recycled.
The paper posts are also compostable.
Labels: All our labels are made from 70-100% recycled paper. For environmental reasons we’ve chosen not to have a plastic coating on our labels, keeping them as natural and easy to recycle or compostable as possible. The 20g and 80g pot labels do not have glue to keep them in place. They are 100% paper.
Postage: When posting our balms to you we use Jiffy Green paper padded bags (no plastic). You might be a little sad that we don’t send your luxury balms in a fancy package as though it’s your birthday. We believe in keeping things simple with minimal packaging and minimal waste.
Please re-use/re-purpose packaging materials or put them in the recycling bin. Thank you!
Not Tested On Animals
Not Ever
We will never, ever test any of our products on animals or have anyone test them for us.
We first test our balms on ourselves, then we obtain an EU Safety Assessment for it to ensure all the ingredients are safe for purpose.
Any components of the ingredients that might cause irritation are listed in the ingredients. If you are worried about using Mumanu Balms and sensitivities, please get in touch or purchase a Sample Pack to do a patch test before committing to a whole pot.
The Mumanu organic balms are made from 100% natural ingredients with no nasty chemicals.
