The Water Saver showerhead came from a partnership between the Swiss startup,\u00a0Gjosa,\u00a0and\u00a0L\u2019Or\u00e9al, the global beauty\u00a0brand\u00a0and Fortune 500 Europe\u00a0member.\u00a0At its most basic, Water Saver makes water, well,\u00a0wetter\u2014fragmenting the water streams to\u00a0create droplets\u00a0better suited to rinsing hair.\u00a05,000 salons now use it across Europe.\u00a0<\/p>\n L\u2019Or\u00e9al<\/p>\n<\/figure>\n Science and engineering underpin much of what businesses do\u2014whether that is making\u00a0concrete or lipstick.\u00a0Ten years ago, during the sustainability gold rush, you could not move for clever company professors proffering solutions to sustainable packaging\u00a0and non-fossil fuel energy. Then came\u00a0COVID,\u00a0the return of inflation,\u00a0and Donald Trump\u00a0brandishing\u00a0lurid\u00a0allegations\u00a0that the climate agenda was nothing but\u00a0a \u201cgreen scam\u201d.\u00a0 Many companies\u00a0pivoted away from\u00a0trumpeting\u00a0environmental\u00a0policies\u00a0as a result.<\/p>\n But sustainability is not just for Christmas.\u00a0Politically,\u00a0the atmospherics have changed but the essential nature of the challenge\u2014living\u00a0well\u00a0on\u00a0our\u00a0planet\u00a0for\u00a0the next hundred generations\u2014has not.\u00a0<\/p>\n 85<\/p>\n L\u2019Or\u00e9al\u2019s rank on Fortune 500 Europe<\/cite><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<\/figure>\n Consumers, however,\u00a0do\u00a0need a different message. For too long,\u00a0action on climate was wrapped up in the language of virtuousness and morality. Both may be useful, but consumers are\u00a0frankly\u00a0more concerned with dollars and cents.\u00a0L\u2019Or\u00e9al\u00a0calls this\u00a0\u2018dual excellence\u2019\u00a0sustainability, bringing together climate and economics.\u00a0Producing sustainable products\u00a0can be\u00a0cheaper at scale,\u00a0boost\u00a0consumer engagement\u00a0(new products\u00a0are\u00a0exciting)\u00a0and improve\u00a0financial bottom lines.\u00a0Others know it as\u00a0the\u00a0\u2018double bottom line\u2019,\u00a0encompassing both\u00a0planet and profit.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cWe\u2019re going to pursue superior financial results and also exceptional social and environmental impact,\u201d\u00a0Ezgi Barcenas, chief corporate responsibility officer for\u00a0L\u2019Or\u00e9al,\u00a0tells\u00a0me.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s\u00a0a business model.\u00a0You are not only offering the consumer\u00a0the\u00a0choice of a product with a lower environmental footprint, but also an accessible price point, and\u00a0it\u2019s\u00a0a way for us to attract new consumers, not only creating loyalty, but also attracting new consumers into the category, right? So,\u00a0it is solving for\u00a0the\u00a0environmental, social,\u00a0and\u00a0economic dimensions of sustainability.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n Earlier this year,\u00a0L\u2019Or\u00e9al\u00a0announced the next stage of its\u00a0\u20ac100m ($120m)\u00a0partnership with Cambridge University\u2019s Institute for Sustainability Leadership.\u00a0Thirteen\u00a0firms\u00a0have been chosen\u00a0to\u00a0collaborate\u00a0on sustainability projects.\u00a0<\/p>\n Packaging is one of the most convoluted challenges.\u00a0L\u2019Or\u00e9al\u00a0has set its own ambitious target of making\u00a0100\u00a0%\u00a0of its plastic packaging reusable,\u00a0refillable,\u00a0recyclable\u00a0or compostable.\u00a0Via\u00a0various\u00a0partnerships, they are now exploring\u00a0making\u00a0sugarcane\u00a0materials\u00a0heat resistant,\u00a0using\u00a0plant fibers rather than plastic to make lids,\u00a0and\u00a0exploring\u00a0packaging\u00a0constructed\u00a0from seaweed which grows without the need for fresh water,\u00a0land\u00a0or\u00a0fertilizers.<\/p>\n \u201cThe idea behind it is to really go after those solutions that are market-ready, so that we can quickly pilot and test them and then bring them to scale depending on the solutions and the results that we get,\u201d Barcenas said.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201c[The companies] are\u00a0solving for\u00a0the same shared challenges that we collectively face today, and they are very resourceful and thoughtful in their own unique ways. We can send clear demand signals to the innovation ecosystems around the world so that,\u00a0year over year, we can articulate what\u00a0we\u2019re\u00a0looking\u00a0for\u00a0and we can inform those innovation pipelines as well.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n Read more: The CEO of Capgemini has a warning: You might be thinking about AI all wrong\u00a0<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n This is not early-stage work, but what is known as\u00a0point\u00a0\u201cTRL 7-9?\u00a0on the product development map, a\u00a0\u201ctechnology readiness level\u201d\u00a0that is\u00a0almost at\u00a0the point of in-market commercialization.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cThe idea behind it is to really go after those solutions that are market-ready, so that we can quickly pilot and test them and then bring them to scale depending on the solutions and the results that we get\u201d<\/p>\n Ezgi Barcenas, chief corporate responsibility officer for\u00a0L\u2019Or\u00e9al<\/cite><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<\/figure>\n \u201cWe\u2019re really excited about this process of offering\u00a0our partners\u00a0mentorship, access to our internal\u00a0teams, access to external experts and partners as well, and then ultimately turning this into a successful pilot to bring these solutions to scale,\u201d Barcenas said.\u00a0<\/p>\n The chemist,\u00a0Eugene Schueller,\u00a0founded\u00a0L\u2019Or\u00e9al\u00a0in 1909 with a new type of\u00a0hair\u00a0dye that was kinder to hair. Consumers now want more than good-looking locks.\u00a0Whatever the politicians say, many\u00a0want to be kinder to the planet as well.\u00a0As long as it is at the right price.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n #Trump #brand #green #scams #companies #LOr\u00e9al #quietly #pouring #millions #sustainability<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Few would choose the humble sh… <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":23215,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[2],"tags":[4035,648,6051,1283,13671,9641,9642,801,13672,606,3803,773,599],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/microvibenews.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/23214"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/microvibenews.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/microvibenews.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/microvibenews.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/microvibenews.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=23214"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/microvibenews.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/23214\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/microvibenews.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/23215"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/microvibenews.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=23214"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/microvibenews.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=23214"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/microvibenews.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=23214"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}![\"\"](\"https:\/\/fortune.com\/img-assets\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/Water-Saver-e1771498047482.jpg?format=webp&w=1440&q=100\"\/)
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