Sustainable Innovation at Rituals: An Interview with Niki Schilling

In this interview, Impact Officer Niki Schilling explains how & why Rituals commits to supporting the planet.

At Rituals, we don’t just set high standards for our products—we set high standards for our processes as well. Our innovation team is working non-stop so that our products make less of an impact on the planet. Meet Niki Schilling, our Impact Officer, who explains how and why Rituals is stepping up.  

Why is our impact so important to Rituals? 

“Rituals is all about wellbeing—we value your personal wellbeing as much as environmental wellbeing. There is no planet B. That’s why we are determined to not just make you feel good, but also to do good. We strive to make impactful changes that help preserve and sustain our wellbeing as well as the planet’s.”

Rituals uses responsibly sourced ingredients. What does that mean? 

“Ethical sourcing is key to us. That means that our ingredients are obtained in a responsible way, that the workers involved in producing them are safe and treated fairly, and that environmental and social impacts are taken into consideration during the sourcing process. Our suppliers all signed a code of conduct as a way to ensure, among other things, that no child labour is used in the production of any ingredient, that there’s no discrimination, and that fair salaries and safe working conditions are guaranteed.”  

Refills are available for many of your products, but can you really help the environment by buying a refill?  

“It makes a difference. For example, a body cream refill has less impact on the environment and is easier to recycle than a new, regular body cream jar. We also really see our refill systems as the start of a new mindset where we view packaging as part of a circular manufacturing process. In 2022, 802,587 kg in materials and 19,3 million litres of water were saved thanks to our customers embracing refills.” You can read our sustainability report for more information. 

How is Rituals making sure the environmental impact is taken into consideration during its production processes? 

“We’re determined to minimise our impact on the environment and to make the right choices 

for the planet—every day, in all that we do. Sticking to our “reduce, re-use and recycle” principles, we’re constantly striving to improve. We do this by carefully designing our product packaging and choosing the right materials, for example by making our packaging recyclable or refillable whenever possible.  

“Another example: we’ve developed beautiful re-usable boxes for our gift sets, no wrapping paper needed. Besides, we’ve made these gift boxes more compact as well, to ensure we’re not needlessly shipping air, and we’ve replaced the plastic inlay with 100% compostable paperfoam. Considering that we annually sell around 6.5 million gift sets, these are improvements that really make a difference.” 

As the brand’s Impact Officer, what at Rituals are you most proud of? 

“Hard to pick one! I’m proud that we’ve substituted the plastic inlays of our gift sets with 100% compostable paperfoam, and that we our shower foam is packaged in a can which uses less aluminium. And, lastly, I think it’s wonderful that our Goodie Bag is hand-crafted by the women of the Tiny Miracles Foundation in Mumbai, providing them with new skills, a steady income and thereby empowering them to create a brighter future for themselves and their families.”