Purposeful Initiative of the Year: The Tampon Tax Back Coalition
In 21 states across the U.S., menstrual care products are taxed as though they are luxury items. Nadya Okamoto, founder of the period care brand August, has been fighting the tax since her brand’s inception, and this year, she gathered seven like-minded brands to join her, including The Honey Pot, Rael, Lola, Cora, Diva, Here We Flow and Saalt. Together, they formed The Tampon Tax Back Coalition, and collectively they have pledged to reimburse people within 24 hours for any taxes they’re charged when buying feminine care products. To be reimbursed, customers enter their phone number on the Tampon Tax Back website, starting a text chain where they can submit a receipt and receive a reimbursement within 24 hours via PayPal or Venmo. For Okamoto, the coalition is a long-term commitment and she’s reached out to other period care brands like Tampax and Kotex to join. “We need everyone on board,” she said earlier this year. Said Amy Fisher, the chief executive officer of Lola, “Consumers vote with their wallet and they vote for brands that show a sense of community. They’re going to see the enormous support that we’re getting for this initiative and join.”
Sustainability in Beauty: Future Society by Arcaea
The orbexilum stipulatum was a flowering plant last seen in North America in 1812 — but this year the biotechnology company Aracaea recreated its scent, as well as that of five other extinct flowers in a new lines of fragrances called Future Society. The Boston-based company used DNA sequencing technology to understand the scent molecules the flowers produced, then shared that data with top perfumers including Daniela Andrier, Olivia Jan and Jerome Epinette. The result is the Scent Surrection Collection, a line of six fragrances that launched at Nordstrom. “Fragrance has always been rooted in powerful storytelling and sensory experiences,” said Jasmina Aganovic, the CEO of Arcaea. “We’re excited to show how biology can create new stories and product experiences. Science is about more than clinical studies,” she continued. “It also represents new creative tools.”
The CSR Award: Beekman 1802 Kindness Initiative
Beekman 1802 has built its business off of an ultra-gentle approach to skin. It’s also taking the same approach with its company culture and employees. The Eurazeo-owned brand is driving employment performance and happiness with a proprietary kindness index that it co-created with the nonprofit organization Kindness.org. “My background as a physician was in functional medicine and the genetics of aging, but 90 percent of what I had to do in my practice is counsel people on preventative medicine. What we’re learning now through the science of kindness is that that’s equally as important,” said Beekman cofounder Brent Ridge. The brand created a way to track kindness and is using artificial intelligence to prompt and measure kindness in the workplace, defining kindness with the ABCs: an action, intended to benefit someone and typically at a cost. The results from giving or receiving kindness are manifold, from a decrease in cortisol levels and inflammation to happier employees. “You actually change the way the DNA repairs itself in the surface of the skin,” said Ridge, “just by giving and receiving an act of kindness.”
Source: WWD