Water is critical natural resource; and one that the cosmetics and personal care industry relies on and endeavors to protect in numerous ways. Waterless, concentrated, and solid products are one example as is Capsum’s new manufacturing facility in Austin, Texas, that uses water drawn from an on-site saltwater aquifer rather than from municipal or agricultural water sources.
And of course, philanthropic initiatives such as Mary Kay’s support of the Nature Conservancy are another way the beauty industry support water conservation. “Water is the most valuable resource on our planet, and it’s essential that we do our part to protect it,” says Deborah Gibbins, Chief Operating Officer at Mary Kay, in this month’s media release about the beauty company’s expanded water conservation initiative.
“When we began scaling our partnership with The Nature Conservancy last year, we focused on the waterways surrounding our home state of Texas,” says Gibbins. “But we’re a global company, and we knew the need for support stretched far beyond the Gulf of Mexico. We’re thrilled to advance ecosystems and biodiversity conservation globally,” she tells the press.
While Lily Verdone, Director of Freshwater and Marine at The Nature Conservancy, calls Mary Kay “a natural—and welcome—partner for The Nature Conservancy.”
“We’d already seen such impactful change in Texas,” she says, “and we’re thrilled to see what their contributions will help us accomplish in communities across the world.”
Mary Kay supports water protection efforts around the world
Mary Kay company headquarters are in Addison, Texas; and as Gibbins remarks suggest, the beauty maker’s first Nature Conservancy project supports fisheries in that state. But now the company has taken its partnership with the organization global, helping to fund water protection programs in Mexico, Colombia, the Solomon Islands, Canada, New Zealand, Australia, the UK, Germany, Spain, and China, as well as a program to lessen plastic pollution in the Indo-Pacific Ocean.
And company leaders from around the world are involved and inspired by the newly expanded partnership:
“Sustainability has been at the core of our company since its inception in 1963, and Mary Kay has made huge strides in the past several decades in contributing to preservation of precious natural resources all over the world,” says Elke Kopp, General Manager of Mary Kay Germany, Switzerland and The Netherlands, in her remarks to the press. “Economic development, industrial contamination, urbanization and intensive agriculture,” she says, “have placed increasing pressure on water resources in Europe. So, it is an organic partnership for us to collaborate with The Nature Conservancy to re-establish the oyster reefs in the North Sea and beyond.”
And Gema Aznar, General Manager of Mary Kay Spain, explains that “Water has always been a sensitive issue in Spain, and it will be a matter of years before the situation becomes more difficult. As an environmental leader, we look forward to being part of the positive change by contributing to the launch of a water fund to help shape policies that consider sustainable solutions and mobilize a much-needed investment.”
