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Nature Inspiration Awards

Nature Inspiration Awards

On September 15th, 2022, it was announced that Cheekbone Beauty is a finalist for the Nature Inspiration Awards: Sustainable Business Category from the Canadian Museum of Nature. Other categories include:

  •  Youth Award
  •  Adult Award
  •  Community Action Award
  •  Not-for-Profit Organization (Large)
  •  Not-for-Profit Organization (Small and Medium)

9th Annual Nature Inspiration Awards 2022

In Cheekbone Beauty’s category, Sustainable Business, we are up against the Montana First Nation Solar Farm, which provides renewable energy options to those living on First Nation’s reservations, and Cowbell Brewing Co., a carbon positive brewery.

These awards are meant to “…recognize individuals and organizations whose leadership, innovation and creativity connect Canadians with nature, and work towards a sustainable future.” In support, organizations such as The Globe and Mail, Meta, Ontario Power Generation, NASCO and the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada have all committed as partners to the event.

Being nominated for any award is an incredibly exciting thing for us at Cheekbone Beauty, especially being a smaller organization and the world’s first Indigenous-owned clean cosmetics company. If you are a long-time follower of Cheekbone Beauty, you would know that we have made big changes in the way that we develop and sell our cosmetics, especially through our commitment to creating as little waste as possible. One of the biggest commitments we have made to sustainability is abiding by our Biinad Beauty Standards – “biinad” translates to “clean” in Jenn’s Anishinaabemowin language. The Biinad Beauty Standards let our customers know that our products are created without harmful or controversial ingredients. Our ingredients are sourced locally when possible. If not locally sourced, our ingredients are sourced from manufacturers that can prove that they respect the environment; these ingredients must be or meet:

  •  Biobased, plant-based principles of Green Chemistry,
  •  Fair-trade,
  •  Not tested on animals,
  •  Vegan,
  •  Meet the clean standards set forth by CREDO, EWG and Sephora.

In our research on becoming a completely sustainable company, we have also learned that in Canada, black plastic is completely non-recyclable; you can see more information on this in our Refillable is the New Recyclable blog post on our website. This is the reason why we have moved away from dark plastics at Cheekbone Beauty, and all of our componentry meets one or more of the following standards:

  •  Compostable,
  •  Biodegradable,
  •  Plantable (seed paper),
  •  Post-Consumer Resins (PCR),
  •  Forest Stewardship Council (FSC) Certified paper,
  •  Refillable and/or reusable,
  •  Vegetable-based inks,
  •  Polylactic Acid (PLA) materials.

We are hard at work everyday for the people and planet, and every nomination that we receive, whether we win or not, shows to us that our message is being received by others. For any business, sustainability practices become a little easier and more attainable when you have year-round support from customers, the media, and the rest of the business community.

Our sustainability journey has been very rewarding thus far, and that is because we look at this concept a little differently than most. In line with Jenn’s Anishinaabe roots, our sustainability journey embodies the blending of Western science with Indigenous Wisdoms, which is also known as Two-Eyed Seeing, a concept termed by Mi’kmaw elder Dr. Albert Marshall. This concept nurtures the strengths of Western science with Indigenous knowledge for the benefit of living things within our environment. In addition, we also honour and practice the 7 th Generation Principle, derived by the Iroquois peoples, to not only leave enough for the next generation, but to leave enough for our children in the next seven generations; as Jenn always says, Indigenous people are the OGs of sustainability. We demonstrate these practices through our development of products where we only take what is needed, as well as though the use of our Innovation Lab which allows us to periodically manufacture in-house to eliminate outsourcing and massive Minimum Order Quantities which can lead to excess waste. Cheekbone Beauty is also associated with 1% For the Planet, B.Corp, and the PACT Collective; all of which demonstrate our commitment to people and planet versus just profits.

The winners in each of the respective categories will be announced on November 14th , 2022, during the Award Ceremony and Gala in Ottawa. We are extremely excited to be nominated for this award and wish the best of luck to all of those who are nominated.

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