About Green Luxury Guyide
Philosophy
Luxury doesn’t exclude sustainability – quite the opposite. Hence, I strongly believe in green luxury. In recent years one can actually notice a change of values in society: companies who act sustainably gain positive recognition. The consumer is asking for the sustainability and transparency of brands. Therefore it might be time to redefine luxury.
I believe that sustainability can be glamorous and of high aesthetic value. A precious experience, an unforgettable scent, a soothing fabric, a wellness treatment, or a delectable dinner – all this is luxury for me. This includes products free of toxins and a traceable supply chain.
Values
Quality standards are important. All brands, products, and places we write about on Green luxury Guide are vetted to fulfill the following standards:
Material
- They use regional, organic, recycled, recyable or renewable materials
Production
- The production chain is traceable
Packaging
Labor
Offer fair working conditions and fair pay
Quality
- Products are of high aesthetic and qualitative value
To make sure, these measures are taken, I look for transparent documentation for small niche brands, and for larger companies, I look out for such certifications as Fair Trade, GOTS, Grüner Knopf, Demeter, or ECOCERT Fair Trade, GOTS, Grüner Knopf, Demeter, oder ECOCERT.
About Isabelle
My name is Isabelle and I’ve created Green Luxury Guide in June 2020. I live in Munich and have been working in communications for luxury and consumer goods brands, as well as cultural institutions for many years.
I was exposed to a conscious lifestyle from a very young age. For example, my mum would order organic food only and our diet was mainly vegetarian. Thus, I grew up with such brands as hess-natur, Weleda, and Dr. Hauschka just until I started using my pocket-money to shop as much fast-fashion as I could.
When I moved to California in my early twenties, I experienced a revival of my childhood: organic food, clean cosmetics, and wellness were celebrated. Surrounded and inspired by this Californian lifestyle, I started consciously changing my diet and skincare regimen. This resulted in me launching my skincare blog ‘Ginger & Aloe’ in 2013 in New York, where I was living at the time. However, I wasn’t really thinking about plastic pollution then. But when the product samples came in and I accumulated lots of packaging, I started to change my focus and look out for cosmetics that come in recyclable and more natural packaging like glass containers.
Mountains of Plastic Garbage on the Beach Made Me Change My Mindset
Finally, when I was on a South East Asia trip, I had this one experience that completely changed my perception and I started understanding the scope of pollution we’re causing. I had just arrived on a Vietnamese island when I changed into my bikini and excitedly ran to the beach. What I then saw, shocked me: instead of a white sandy beach and turquoise water, I discovered a wide streak of plastic trash. It was stretching along the entire beach, while the waves kept bringing in more garbage. The following days, I spent my time at the beach brooming the trash pieces into piles. This way they wouldn’t be swept away again by the water and the local clean-up crew could pick them up. It was an impressive and quite horrible experience to see how we as humans destroy our beautiful nature.
So, this is how I developed the idea for this green luxury guide over the years. My vision is to live in a world, where we are mindful of our environment and support sustainable innovation.
