Organic September: Our Organic Essential Oils and Why They’re Good for You and the Environment
26 September 2023
Organic September is a month-long campaign focussed on raising awareness of the hard-work and dedication that goes into organic farming and the benefits to our health and the environment. Emissions from fossil-fuel based nitrogen fertilisers are contributing significantly to the climate emergency. Despite this, the UK government’s current net-zero strategy does not include any plan to tackle this problem. To sign Soil Associations petition to fight this, please click here.
What is “Organic”?
Soil Association defines organic as:
“A system of farming. Organic farmers aim to produce high-quality food […], using methods that benefit our whole system, from people to plant, plant health to animal welfare.”
Organic farmers must abide by a strict set of standards, ensuring that they maintain health of soils, ecosystems, animals and people. In practice, this means fewer pesticides and no artificial fertilisers.
There are a number of organic certifications as well as Soil Association, including ECOCERT COSMOS, which our partners at Payan Bertrand use. For ECOCERT certification, 95% of the plants in a product must be organic. In addition, materials/products must show:
- Environmentally friendly production
- Responsible use of natural resources
- Respect of biodiversity
- No petrochemical ingredients
- No GMO
- Recyclable packaging
Why Organic?
A study by M. Shepherd et al. concludes the following benefits of organic farming:
- Wildlife conservation – Organic farms demonstrate, on average, a more positive benefit to conserving wildlife as it is generally only these farms where relevant management of the system is routinely and systematically carried out.
- Soil Quality – Soil structure can benefit from regular returns of organic matter. The low concentration of soluble nutrients in the soil and absence of most pesticides is shown to benefit soil organisms.
- Reduced Pesticide Pollution (water & air) – Due to the vast reduction of pesticides used in organic farming, subsequent pollution is drastically reduced. For example, herbicides used in conventional farming have presented a particular issue for water pollution.
- Energy Efficiency – Organic farms generally use less energy per unit area resulting in lower fossil fuel emissions.
- Controlled Waste – As organic faming processes rely less on external inputs, waste is generally lower. There is also little-to-no need for disposal of pesticide washing as there is in conventional farming.
Our Organics
Our essential oil partner, Payan Bertrand, offers a range of ECOCERT certified organic oils. Many of these are sourced through working with external partners, but their Organic Olibanum oil is manufactured at their Grasse site.
Olibanum Oil (Boswellia Carterii Birdw.), also known as Frankincense, is most notably used for perfumes, aromatherapy, and spiritual purposes. Eastern countries have used this material for hundreds of years, originally as incense. Now, it is used to soothe inflammation, as an antimicrobial and an antioxidant.
These effects have found use in cardioprotective applications and for liver health. Olibanum lowers blood lipids and reduces plaque to protect the heart, and its antioxidant properties has been shown to be good for liver cell protection.
For Payan Bertrand’s full list of organic products, samples and pricing, please contact our F&F team!
References:
https://www.healthline.com/health/olibanum#cancer
https://www.soilassociation.org/
https://www.ecocert.com/en/certification-detail/natural-and-organic-cosmetics-cosmos
