Ethique

Ethique has made ingredient commitments to lower its environmental impact, including by avoiding parabens, phthalates, other petrochemical-based ingredients, uncertified palm oil, PFAS, and microplastics. While it has made commitments, it may still use some palm oil-derived ingredients that pose a significant threat to the climate. It can be very difficult to eliminate these entirely, especially for small brands with limited resources. It carries products that are certified vegan and cruelty-free, and it is B Corp certified.

Ethique has made efforts to minimize the amount of material used in all of its product containers, and shares specific efforts to avoid excessive materials. All of its container materials are plastic-free and home-compostable. It has also made efforts to minimize the impact of material used in its secondary or tertiary shipping packaging.

Ethique shares high-level information on its energy strategy. It has started to incorporate renewable energy to power its corporate offices, but doesn't share the proportion or source. Ethique doesn't share targets for expanding its use of renewable energy and it doesn't provide information on any water conservation strategies. It has a global production span, which is standard for the industry.

Ethique utilizes alternative models to avert waste for most products, including offering waterless formats and ephemeral packaging. It doesn't offer any take back programs for its product containers, but it has eliminated the need for traditional containers for the majority of its products.

It's unclear if this brand releases new items seasonally or otherwise frequently, which can create excess waste.

Commons is still evaluating this brand's marketing emails.

Ethique has a prominent sustainability page with high-level details on its climate strategy. It shares a complete list of ingredients used in its products, on a per product basis.

Ethique measures its emissions with help from a third party, Ecologi, but it doesn't share its process or findings. The last shared update was from 2020 or earlier.

Commons couldn't find emissions reduction targets for this brand. Ethique is certified climate neutral by Ecologi and it offsets emissions from its full value chain. It offsets more than 100% of its emissions in select categories and prioritizes high-quality offsets.

Ethique publishes some information about its supply chain partners, but doesn't provide details on geography or traceability. It doesn't publicly share a supplier code of conduct. Ethique doesn't have a stated policy of regularly auditing its supply chain partners. This may increase human and environmental risks.

Commons wasn't able to find evidence of any trade association memberships or any relevant policy for this brand. Ethique isn't a member of any key advocacy organizations that are blocking climate policy but it's also not a member of advocacy organizations advancing climate policy. It doesn't employ any state lobbyists and it didn't donate more than $100k to climate-obstructive candidates or PACs from 2018-2024.