How One Beauty Brand is Saving the Ocean

July 5, 2016

A look into FOREO’s 2016 Save the Sea environmental conservation initiative. It’s easy to love the ocean. After all, it’s home to so many things that we hold dear: fascinating wildlife, majestic waves, and seafood fit for a king. But we have a cognitive dissonance between loving the ocean and taking the steps to protect the thing we love. Human beings have a profound impact on our ecosystem and every choice we make, from the products we purchase to the food we eat, affects the environment. We need to be willing to do more than just admire the sea: We need to take action to save it. At FOREO, we believe that there is a way to consume beauty and be environmentally conscious at the same time. So we’ve dedicated our resources to funding ocean charities that are helping preserve our oceans with our Save the Sea campaign. For the second year in a row, we’ve partnered with SEA LIFE Trust and GreenWave. 100% of the net proceeds from our Save the Sea special edition LUNA™ mini 2 and LUNA play set will go to our charity partners.

Last year, thanks to our campaign, SEA LIFE Trust was able to sponsor, rehabilitate, and rescue a sea turtle named Kilikya. Green sea turtles, like Kilikya, are especially in need of help. Millions of sea turtles are killed each year due to human activity. Turtles get tangled in fishing nets, hit by boats, hunted for their shells, and perish after consuming plastic in the ocean. More than half of the world’s sea turtles (52% of the world population, in fact!) have eaten plastic. If you imagine that everytime you touch a disposable plastic item throughout the day—your iced coffee container, your plastic straw, even the tiny plastic beads your face scrub—you’re contributing to that plastic pollution, the sheer amount of a human’s daily impact is disheartening. Andy Bool, head of the SEA LIFE Trust, says, “These microplastics end up in the sea where they are ingested by small marine animals. The LUNA mini 2 is a reusable item that reduces people’s reliance on face scrubs that contain plastic beads. By promoting alternative products, we can help to make a difference.” Last year, we also helped our partner GreenWave build five 3D ocean farms, an alternative to traditional methods that deplete the ocean’s resources. These 3D ocean farms can sustainably produce up to 30 tons of edible plants and 250,000 shellfish per year. By helping GreenWave, we are in turn helping ourselves. Brendan Coffey, COO of GreenWave, says, “Our oceans are in trouble. To overcome our shared challenges, we require innovative forms of partnerships. We really want to work with organizations that care about our oceans and FOREO cares how it’s making its products and its impact on the sea.” In 2016, the net profits of our Save the Sea campaign will be put to even greater use. Our initiative will provide the funds to sustainably produce seafood, ensure the safety of marine animals, and last but not least, inform the public (beauty lovers especially!) about the ways they can make environmentally friendly choices on a daily basis.

“We each have a responsibility to turn our negative ecological impact into a positive one. Through supporting our ocean charities, designing eco-friendly products, and making smart changes in our everyday habits, we will preserve our Earth,” says Justin Wang, president of FOREO.

Learn more about our Save the Sea Campaign.