Aveda

Aveda Corporation is a company headquartered in Blaine, Minnesota, that manufactures skin care, cosmetics, perfume and hair care products, and trains students in cosmetology, and esthiology at the Aveda Institute in Minneapolis, New York City, Washington, DC, and many other cities. The company was founded by Horst Rechelbacher in 1978. Today it is part of Estée Lauder Companies Inc., based in New York. Rechelbacher sold Aveda to Estee Lauder in 1997 for $300 million, [Canedy, Dana. cite web | title=Estee Lauder Is Acquiring Maker of Natural Cosmetics | work=New York Times | url=http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9D01E3D8173BF933A15752C1A961958260&scp=1&sq=Estee+Lauder+Is+Acquiring+Maker+of+Natural+Cosmetics+&st=nyt | accessdate=January 25 |accessyear=2008] although Aveda continues to be run as a separate entity. Aveda was one of the first beauty companies to endorse a set of principles designed to encourage greater environmental responsibility in business known as The Ceres Principles.

Business

Aveda sells products ranging from skin care to hair care which are organic if possible. Aveda also maintains a variety of partnerships with salons and spas that use their products. Many of these locations also offer treatments certified by Aveda. Aveda offers training to employees of its affiliated salons and spas. They also run several institutes for cosmetology education. [http://www.avedainstitutes.com]

Aveda has an on-going partnership with the Yawanawa Tribe of the Brazilian Amazon. This tribe uses a red seed called "uruku", derived from the Urukum Palm, to paint their bodies for different rituals. This partnership has helped to sustain the Yawanawa Tribe while helping to bring attention to the plight of their disappearing rainforest home.

In 1995, Aveda partnered with a community collective that the babassu nut breakers of the Brazilian Amazon had formed to obtain certified organic babssu for use in the creation of a foaming cleansing element known as "babassu betaine". Aveda has financed the construction of and training for a babassu processing facility, a soap-making facility and a paper press for processing babassu fibers.

Environment

Aveda set an industry precedent by introducing an aerosol hairspray that has a net-zero impact on the Earth's climate and an award-winning low 35% VOC formula. Through a partnership with NativeEnergy, an organization that supports and builds renewable energy products, Aveda has helped fund wind turbines. Aveda claims that it purchases enough wind energy to power its primary manufacturing facility. [Newman, Eric. cite web | title=Aveda Thinks You Would Look Better in Green | work=Brand Week | url=http://www.brandweek.com/bw/news/recent_display.jsp?vnu_content_id=1003674448 | accessdate=January 25 |accessyear=2008] The company uses "sends sustainability surveys to publications to help decide where to place its ads". [Story, Louise. cite web | title=The Hidden Life of Paper and Its Impact on the Environment | work=New York Times | url=http://www.nytimes.com/2006/10/25/business/media/25adco.html?ei=5088&en=09ac79cfbc5f3df4&ex=1319428800&adxnnl=1&partner=rssnyt&emc=rss&adxnnlx=1201303187-5L/Lg15hQb4wiw4oG+bE+w | accessdate=January 25 |accessyear=2008]

References

* [http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9504E6D81231F934A1575BC0A9669C8B63 The New York Times, August 27, 2000 – Taking the Sweet Smell of Success To a New Level of Literalness]