Holistic Health

The Glass vs Plastic Question

Our containers are chosen specifically for their safety and the plastic PET containers we use for some of our products are considered to be one of the most inert forms of plastic. This plastic is the only plastic approved for beverage packaging where the beverage contains alcohol, which is of course a strong solvent. Its very important when using herbal extracts and essential plant oils to understand that these raw materials have the ability to react with lower grades of plastic bottling (higher numbers). They can then cause the plastic to leach into the product and a plastic smell will then clearly emanate from the cream, lotion or soap.

The Victorian Garden products are hand crafted so we make them only in small batches of about 50 bottles or so at a time, they are sold quickly and used within a fairly short time so are not sitting in the plastic bottles for long periods of time unlike most skincare products which require a long shelf life.

We have spent a lot of time researching the best and safest packaging available but there really is not a perfect solution so we do the very best we can given the information we have gleaned. Glass is not entirely safe as of course it can be dropped and broken, it is heavy when posting (so doubles the price of the product on air freight costs) and can be smashed however carefully we pack it. Environmentally wise, glass has an extreme impact and the manufacture of glass is of concern because it requires large amounts of fossil fuels to generate the very high temperatures required to shape the glass containers. The increase in fuel oils needed to transport heavy glass packaging is another issue. Burning huge amounts of fossil fuels creates air pollution throughout the world and damages the ozone layer which protects the earth from the sun. Air pollution and ozone damage are both attributed to the increased in cancer world wide. Therefore glass is not as “environmentally friendly” as most people believe.

We will continue to try to source completely phthalate free plastic containers but have so far not had any success. The plastic containers which we use for our products are the best and safest available at the current time, and where possible both plastic and glass containers are recycled by the factories manufacturing them to adhere as best we can to our firm “green” philosophy.

 

Our products are made with love and care by our team of experienced bio chemists well versed in the art of creating Natural and Organic skincare products to international standards.   We are registered with the *CTFA of South Africa (Cosmetic Toiletries and Fragrance Association and The Allied Health Professions Council of South Africa, Our products are approved by Beauty Without Cruelty.
*Note: The Cosmetic, Toiletry & Fragrance Association of South Africa is the industry's voice committed to maintaining the high quality and safety of cosmetic products. The CTFA guides members on the Self-regulatory Codes of Practice & Standards to ensure that the South African cosmetic industry flourishes.

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