Wellbeing World
Sustainability Stories: Kalahari Salts – renewability, respect and responsibility
You cannot get through a single day without having an impact on the world around you. What you do makes a difference and you have to decide what kind of a difference you want to make.”
—Jane Goodall
We have to decide collectively and as individuals, how we will go forward each day, what our footprint will be on this world…for our own tomorrow, for our children and for those that we will never know.
As consumers, indeed as humans; we devour the natural resources of our planet. The ability of people to develop and discover infinitely extraordinary innovations, advance science and technology, to rebuild and nurture, is only transcended by our ability to destroy at a selfish rate, in full view of disaster around us.
In 1987, the United Nations Brundtland Commission defined sustainability as;
“meeting the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs.”
It is generally accepted that there are three pillars of sustainable development upon which to conduct and measure a respectful, viable business that is creatively and professionally future-focused.
Economic – relating to job creation, profitability and proper accounting of ecosystem services for optimal cost-benefit analyses.
Social - relating to human health, resource security and education in community.
Environmental - focusing on environmental health, relating to issues such as water quality, air purity, environmental stressors, pollution.
Our responsibility:
Our creative legacy fuels a passion to scour the globe for ingredients which both suit our exacting purposes and uphold our belief in ethical production practices, respect and responsibility fuels our development, with compromise on the basis of margin.
We feel it is our responsibility to support our community to make future-thinking decision, without compromise to performance and efficacy. We understand that there is no such thing as “away”. We are simply putting something elsewhere, we are all collectively responsible.
Sustainability in action: Case study – Kalahari Salts
True sustainability is considerate of source and community.
Sometimes, finding the raw ingredients for our products, transports us to the extremes of global conditions, where communities work in harmony with nature to harvest resources without creating imbalance.
Our Bath Salts contain a blend of Dead Sea Salt known for its balneotherapeutic benefits, as well as the purity of Kalahari Salts. Mineral rich salts have been used in Balneotherapy (balneum, “bath” in Latin) to help ease skin reactivity, improve barrier function and support optimal skin hydration . This powerful combination helps deliver a transformative, relaxing and skin revitalising soak.
Sourced from a 50km2 underground salt lake, deep in the Kalahari Desert. The name Kalahari is believed to have been derived from the Tswana language of the Bantu people, Kgala, meaning "the great thirst", or Kgalagadi, meaning "a waterless place".
Seashells that still litter the semi-arid landscape hint to a past that was once richer in surface water coverage, with vast expanses of inland seas. that have long since disappeared after tectonic shifts changed the landscape, leaving salt pans that shimmer white in the beating African sun. Studies of some of these vast areas, show evidence of water that covered the equivalent of a country the size of Switzerland and signs of the emergence of early man.
Under the red sands of the surface, along with the discovery during the ‘80s of the world’s largest underground lake; lie underground streams that filter through rocks to continually feed the salt pans with minerals and trace elements.
It is from this rich bedrock of mineral rich waters that the purest, whitest, most unrefined salt, free from microplastics, pollution and toxins; rises to the surface to crystallise in the sun. There is no treatment of the salt, no refinement, it is simply harvested by local communities and supplied for cuisine, beauty and other cultural practices. Pure, unrefined and rich in minerals potassium, sulphur and magnesium.
Upholding the principles of the 3 pillars of sustainability; it is imperative that our sources encourage social enterprise, building schemes that support previously disadvantaged people to create and re-shape their future. Our Kalahari salt sources are no different, working with women within the supply chain in South Africa to empower and re-invest within communities. The Ukama Foundation helps run a feeding scheme supporting over 400 children a day in disadvantaged communities.
Sustainability is all about balance. While we accept that our footprint is elevated by sourcing these ingredients outside of the UK and Europe, we are contributing to support the socio-economic opportunity of underprivileged communities, which is less viable through their domestic economy. By backing the ability of future generations to be able, inspired and included in the wider world, we are all helping propagate a sense of inclusion and endeavour.
While sustainability is not about making ourselves feel good as a core motivation; it is a positive by-product that encourages us to make continually more conscious decisions and evolve our ethical choices.
Feel good. Do good. Feel better.
After all…
“The Earth is what we all have in common.”
—Wendell Berry