- What does World Ocean Day mean to you and why is it important?
- What are the biggest issues faced by skincare brands in creating products to reduce their carbon footprint?
- What is Codex Labs doing to honour this event and to protect our oceans?
- Can you tell us about the sustainability of your products?
- As consumers, what can we do better when it comes to protecting and restoring our oceans?
Codex Labs
Aiming to raise awareness about the critical role our oceans play in sustaining life on Earth, World Ocean Day is an opportunity to reflect on the immense diversity of our marine ecosystems while acknowledging the various challenges they face. From climate change to pollution, our oceans are under tremendous pressure. As we talk to Dr. Barbara Paldus, founder of Codex Labs, find out how we can help shape a sustainable future for our oceans. Let's dive in and celebrate World Ocean Day together!
What does World Ocean Day mean to you and why is it important?
To us, World Ocean Day is an important day for celebrating how much the oceans do for us and our Planet and reminding us to treat our oceans with respect.
Our oceans are critical to the Earth’s atmosphere: they produce 50% of our oxygen, capture 33% of our carbon dioxide, and absorb 90% of excess heat. They also make up 80% of the biodiversity on our Planet.
World Ocean Day is a reminder to everyone we are destroying our oceans with devastating industrial fishing, oil & gas drilling, deep sea mining, carbon dioxide emissions, and waste - especially plastics. 11 million tons of waste enter the oceans every year. 100,000 marine mammals and over 1 million seabirds lose their lives every year due to plastic waste. 800 species are endangered by plastics, not to mention all the species already lost. The famous “Pacific Garbage Patch” floating island is made up of a staggering 1.8 trillion pieces of plastic and is three times the size of France.
What are the biggest issues faced by skincare brands in creating products to reduce their carbon footprint?
Rising carbon dioxide levels in the air acidify our oceans. If the oceans become too acidic, many algae that produce our oxygen will die. This means that our air will become depleted of oxygen – every second breath we take comes from the oceans. With an increasing population, a decrease in oxygen is catastrophic, so we need to reduce our carbon footprint.
The biggest issues faced by skincare brands is the development of products that reduce footprint as well as the investment in packaging and ingredients that minimize footprint during manufacturing and transportation, without increasing costs to the consumer. In addition, as consumer behaviour has the greatest impact on the carbon footprint of a skincare product, ongoing education is a must for skincare brands. For example, switching from liquid soap to bar soap and taking a 3 minute shower instead of a 10 minute one can significantly reduce carbon footprint.
What is Codex Labs doing to honour this event and to protect our oceans?
We are educating our customers to plan their purchases so that they only purchase products four times year by online shopping, or, if they are going to buy products in store, to use public transporation or go by foot/bike. We are also offering an Ocean Soap with recycling cuttings from our other soaps to encourage customers to use bar soap, which does not have plastic packaging (the cartons and paper are compostable) and does not contain 70% water like bath soap.
Can you tell us about the sustainability of your products?
For example, the carbon footprint of our cold-processed bar soap is 14 times lower than average bath soap. The carbon footprint of our larger green PE tubes save the footprint of 1 mile driven in a car, so if you buy several products in one trip but drive, we offset your purchase.
As consumers, what can we do better when it comes to protecting and restoring our oceans?
There are five easy but very effective steps we can all take:
- There’s no excuse to still be using plastic bags, takeaway coffee cups and plastic water bottles - invest in reusable alternatives
- Beware of microplastics – it’s not just about skincare but also glitter in makeup or clothes
- Choose MSC-certified fish, and eat less of it – around 85% of the world’s fisheries are fully- to over-exploited, depleted or in a state of collapse
- Buy less new and re-use and recycle as much as possible
- Reduce your carbon footprint