A Pioneer of Natural Living

You’ll probably have heard of Steiner Waldorf schools, which are based on a system of education that provides a typically more creative and outdoor culture than schools that follow the national curriculum. They’re popular with parents frustrated with today’s increasingly exam-based education system, which arguably puts greater emphasis on a child’s ability to pass tests than his or her inner development.

While the clue to its origin is in the name for this approach to education, a lesser known accolade equally attributed to Steiner is that he was a founding father of the organic agriculture movement in Europe. In 1924 Steiner delivered what was possibly the world’s first organic agriculture course in Koberwitz, which he described as ‘a course of lectures containing what there is to be said about agriculture from an anthroposophic point of view.’

While the terms ‘biodynamic agriculture’ and ‘organic farming’ appeared in the decades that followed, these lectures and the advice they contained constituted an early response to the proliferation of chemical or more industrialised agriculture. Steiner warned that the long-term use of soluble mineral fertilisers caused ‘a loss in the nutritional value of the crops’, and identified that ‘cosmic vital forces’ have a big impact on plants and animals.

In the case of both Steiner education and organic agriculture, their anthroposophic underpinnings require humans, society and Nature to be understood as a dynamic whole, in which our daily activities have a direct impact on the wider environment.

Today, the visionary understanding of the connection between humans and our wider environment couldn’t be more relevant; in an era defined by cheap, chemical quick-fixes for our bodies, we’re using more plastics than we can recycle and polluting our land, oceans and bodies with chemicals that are known carcinogens and hormone disruptors.

In contrast, Weleda operates by the principle that human health can only flourish if it’s exposed to ingredients the body recognises and is able to process, in their most natural and potent form. As you might expect, Weleda sees biodynamic farming as central to unlocking the innately healing and nourishing potential of the plants used in its products. The art of creating a diverse, balanced ecosystem with harmonised vital life forces is understood to boost the quality and potency of the yield and, therefore, the finished product.

The ways in which Weleda chooses to farm and source the natural ingredients that end up in our bathroom cabinets has a big impact; the company manufactures over 120 natural and organic cosmetics and more than 1,000 pharmaceuticals. Sustainable sourcing is crucial: over 1,000 natural ingredients go into these products each year.

Around 81% (over 2,000 tonnes) of all the plant ingredients used at Weleda are organic, making the company one of the world’s largest buyers of organic raw materials. In addition to its long history of helping to boost organic and biodynamic farming, Weleda has recently become the first beauty brand in Europe – and only the second in the world – to receive certification from the Union of Ethical BioTrade (UEBT).

The UEBT is a non-profit that provides a globally recognised standard for the sustainable sourcing and use of raw materials. Weleda became a full member of the UEBT in 2011, and used its membership to reaffirm its traditional principles of ethical business practice, applying the UEBT standard to its raw material procurement.

UEBT values such as conservation, the sustainable use of biodiversity and the fair compensation of all partners in the supply chain correspond with Weleda’s own long-standing principles. UEBT certification will help consumers see that they are buying products from a company that treats people and biodiversity with respect. Watch out for the new logo, which will start to appear on Weleda packs from 2019.

People often say that when something’s right it just flows – and things are certainly flowing for Weleda. Today it operates in 52 countries across five continents, and has over 50 global sourcing partnerships and projects.

Sustainability is in this company’s DNA, but it doesn’t stop at Steiner. The company’s environmental commitments cover everything from the ethical procurement of raw materials and biodiversity to sustainable packaging and the reduction of water, waste and greenhouse gas emissions.

The products are all made with conscious intent, as they were in Steiner’s day, using natural ingredients grown and harvested with respect. They’re still designed to kick-start the human body’s natural ability to heal itself, without the synthetic chemicals that strip away our natural defences. Thankfully, Weleda has had the integrity to stick to the founding principles of a true pioneer of conscious business – and in doing so has evolved to become an inspirational brand for the 21st century.

This article first appeared on MyGreenPod.com.