Unilever's Love Beauty and Planet Shows Added Benefit to Shopping Early This Holiday Season: A Small Act of Love for the Planet

Love Beauty and Planet worked with Dr. Josué C. Velázquez Martínez, Director of the Sustainable Logistics Initiative at MIT, to determine that on average, rush shipping produces ~40% more carbon emissions than ground shipping¹. We can save 2.4M tons of carbon emissions – the equivalent of the carbon sequestered by 40 million adult trees over ten years² – just by finishing our online shopping before December 4^th, the week before shipping partners shift to rush shipping for the holidays, and not selecting next-day or same day delivery.

To encourage shoppers to take action, Love Beauty and Planet is introducing #PlanItForThePlanet, a pledge campaign to shop before December 4^th in order to reduce our impact on the planet. Until December 4^th, for every use of our #PlanItforthePlanet hashtag on social media ³, Love Beauty and Planet will donate $19.99 (the average value of rush shipping) up to $150K to the National Forest Foundation's reforestation efforts, which will support the planting of 150,000 trees. For more information on our sustainable holiday shopping effort visit www.lovebeautyandplanet.com/planitfortheplanet.

"We all can appreciate the convenience and benefits of shopping online, and it's easier than ever to get products shipped to us sooner...according to the growth rate, data forecasts a nearly 15% increase in rush shipping in 2021," says Dr. Josué C. Velázquez Martínez, Director of the Sustainable Logistics Initiative at MIT. "In my work with MIT's Sustainable Supply Chain Lab, we're working to shed light on what can easily go unnoticed when you select rush shipping – the impact on our planet."

Additionally, Love Beauty and Planet is rewarding holiday shoppers on Black Friday, November 26^th, from 10AM-4PM EST on Broadway in SoHo, NYC with warm beverages, sustainable tips and giveaways to encourage a cleaner, greener holiday season. 

"We were stunned to see the planet impact that rush shipping can have  and knew we had to lead with action," says Sonika Malhotra, Senior Global Brand Director of Love Beauty and Planet. "We love the spirit behind #PlanItForPlanet and how easy it is for holiday shoppers to participate with this small act of love for the planet."

For planet-friendly holiday gift options and tips for how you can Plan It For The Planet with Love Beauty and Planet, visit www.lovebeautyandplanet.com/planitfortheplanet.

ABOUT LOVE BEAUTY AND PLANET

Love Beauty and Planet was founded on the belief that small acts add up to a big impact for the planet. With products for nourished hair and glowing skin available in over 45 markets, we consider the planet in everything we do, and push ourselves to minimize our impact wherever we can. From packaging made with post-consumer recycled plastic, to committing to net zero emissions, using biodegradable ingredients in our all of our formulas and making 100% of our packaging recyclable, compostable or refillable by 2030, we believe that looking good and doing good should go hand-in-hand. We are on a passionate journey towards a happier, less wasteful planet and our promise goes beyond the bottle – supporting recycling initiatives and changemaker projects that contribute to making our planet cleaner, greener and a little more beautiful. For more information on Love Beauty and Planet, our beauty & personal care products, and our commitment to powering #smallactsoflove for the planet, visit: www.lovebeautyandplanet.com

ABOUT UNILEVER NORTH AMERICA

Unilever is one of the world's leading suppliers of Beauty & Personal Care, Home Care, and Foods & Refreshment products, with sales in over 190 countries and products used by 2.5 billion people every day. We have 149,000 employees and generated sales of €50.7 billion in 2020. Over half of our footprint is in developing and emerging markets. We have around 400 brands found in homes all over the world. In the United States and Canada, the portfolio includes iconic brand such as: Dove, Knorr, Hellmann's, Lipton, Magnum, Axe, Ben & Jerry's, Degree, Dollar Shave Club, Q-tips, Seventh Generation, St. Ives, Suave, TRESemmé, and Vaseline.

Our vision is to be the global leader in sustainable business and to demonstrate how our purpose-led, future-fit business model drives superior performance. We have a long tradition of being a progressive, responsible business. It goes back to the days of our founder William Lever, who launched the world's first purposeful brand, Sunlight Soap, more than 100 years ago, and it's at the heart of how we run our company today.

The Unilever Compass, our sustainable business strategy, is set out to help us deliver superior performance and drive sustainable and responsible growth, while: 

• improving the health of the planet;  
• improving people's health, confidence and wellbeing; and  
• contributing to a fairer and more socially inclusive world. 

While there is still more to do, we are proud to have been recognized in 2020 as a sector leader in the Dow Jones Sustainability Index and – for the tenth-consecutive year – as the top ranked company in the 2020 GlobeScan/SustainAbility Sustainability Leaders survey. 

For more information on Unilever U.S. and its brands visit: www.unileverusa.com
For more information on Unilever Canada and its brands visit: www.unilever.ca 

¹ Based on case study conducted in Mexico. Assuming 10kg packages are shipped a distance of 2,900 miles.
² CO2 Emissions in the U.S. (tons) for items up to 10KG moved an avg distance for inbound transportation of ~2,900 miles; Greenhouse Gases Equivalencies Calculator - Calculations and References | US EPA. (2015)
³ On Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and TikTok

CONTACT: Casey Andrews, [email protected] 

SOURCE Unilever