Our oceans are in crisis. Every single day, roughly 8 million pieces of plastic threaten underwater ecosystems. Retailers are, undeniably, a huge contributor to all of this waste. But Target is trying to make changes.
The department store chain has revealed a new initiative called Target Zero. The idea is simple: every refillable, reusable, compostable, or recycled beauty, personal care, and household product will be marked with the Target Zero icon in stores and online. By doing so, Target hopes to signpost its most sustainable items and encourage consumers to shop mindfully.
The initiative is a key part of Target’s wider sustainability strategy, Target Forward, which pledges to design, but also elevate, sustainable brands. The strategy also lays out plans for Target to reduce the virgin plastic in its own brand packaging by 20 percent by 2025.
Reducing beauty’s significant environmental impact
It’s vital that beauty brands, in particular, do everything they can to reduce their impact on the environment. Every year, the industry produces around 120 billion units of packaging.
One example of a beauty brand set to carry the Target Zero badge is Burt’s Bees. The carbon-neutral company isn’t vegan, due to its reliance on beeswax and honey, but it is committed to sustainable packaging. It has even designed lip balms encased in plastic-free metal tins, exclusively for Target. Vegan, cruelty-free beauty brand Pacifica will also carry the Target Zero icon. And another brand, called PLUS, has developed a waterless, solid body wash for the retailer.
According to Target, this is one of the first times it has sought to engage its brand partners in its Target Forward strategy.
The retailer’s senior vice president of corporate responsibility, Amanda Nusz, said: “Target Zero unlocks important progress toward our Target Forward ambitions, each of which requires collaboration from our partners and action from our guests to be realized.”
Jill Sando, Target’s executive vice president and chief merchandising officer, added that the retailer’s aim is to “give brands investing in reduced waste products and packaging an opportunity to have those products highlighted by Target.”
Learn more about Target Zero here.
