Anita Roddick is a legend in the cosmetics world as well as an icon for the environment. She founded the world-famous The Body Shop cosmetics company, whose principles on animal testing, fair trade, community trade, and high quality products have made the company what it is today – a pioneer and a leading example for the rest of us. She has paved the way for revolutionary incentives and products in the cosmetics world that has benefited minorities throughout the world, and even animals, and for that she is well-loved.
The Body Shop was first opened in 1976, in Brighton, England. Anita Roddick’s primary goal for opening the shop was to support her two daughters and make an income. Due to its immense success, the Body Shop saw more than 700 branches, and in 2004 it grew to 1,980 branches worldwide. During its inception, the Body Shop’s products already made use of recycled products due to limited supplies. The Body Shop was already involved with Greenpeace, and community trade suppliers from India. The Body Shop’s humble beginnings saw Anita Roddick begin a chain of inspiring albeit controversial events that made the Body Shop a legendary firm.
Anita Roddick ensured the environment was incorporated into every level of operations in the firm; and they were also the very first to do so. Furthermore, every shop in the United Kingdom had an environmental adviser. Other environmental practices were instilled into the brand. One of these was the practice of refilling, which made the Body Shop the first internationally recognized brand that made use of a refilling system for its products. She made alliances with a number of issues and organizations around the world, which made her brand synonymous to equality and activism. Among these are Amnesty International, Stop the Burn Campaign, Make Your Mark Campaign, Children on the Edge, domestic violence, missing persons, the Ogoni Campaign, and the Blue Corn Community Project.
She also pioneered unique incentives for Body Shop employees. This included opening a shop in the gay district of Castro Street in San Francisco, the most famous gay locale in the world. Anita Roddick also provided insurance for same sex partners who worked at the company, and was one of the first in the United States to do so.
Anita Roddick started the Body Shop Foundation in 1990, as a means of putting together all charitable efforts provided by the brand and its friends. The foundation’s trust works together in deciding which initiatives around the world will receive support. Among those it supports includes organizations that have pioneered social and environmental change, groups who have little chances for conventional means of funding, and those who would like to create greater awareness.
All Anita Roddick’s efforts have not gone unnoticed. She has garnered several awards, including: Officer of the Order of the British Empire, Women’s Center’s Leadership Award, United Nations Environment Programme Honoree for Eyes on the Environment, and an Honorary Doctorate of Public Service, among others.
