Founders Q+A: Lavender and Lemon
Lavender and Lemon on sustainable, safe cleaning products
Founder of Lavender and Lemon, Morgan Bagshaw, started her business determined to ditch the nasty chemicals in traditional cleaning products, creating sustainable, safe alternatives for people and the planet. Her mission is to transform household cleaning with her eco-friendly, cruelty-free, vegan products.
Morgan has taken the time to let us know the inspiration behind her business and the steps she has taken to ensure her products are high-quality and sustainable.
ESGmark®: What inspired you to found Lavender and Lemon?
Morgan Bagshaw (MB): I was inspired to start Lavender & Lemon during Covid. All of my local stores were out of hand sanitiser so I began searching online for a DIY recipe and came across an article about the dire long-term health consequences of cleaning products and the indoor air pollution they create. Specifically, the article mentioned that female housecleaners regularly inhale toxic fumes equivalent to a pack of cigarettes a day which I found so awful. I ended up going down a rabbit hole learning all about the impact that traditional cleaning products have on our health and on the environment, which led me to start making my own cleaning products from ingredients I had around the house. However, I quickly discovered that I really dislike the smell of vinegar, and it can’t be used on delicate surfaces, so I set off developing an environmentally friendly cleaning spray that was also gentle on all surfaces. My husband and kids used to joke that I was mixing potions in my utility room.
ESGmark®: Could you tell us a bit about what makes Lavender and Lemon different to the generic cleaning products in the market, in terms of impact on health and the environment?
MB: In terms of health, Lavender & Lemon does not contain harmful chemicals found in most traditional cleaning products or any ethoxylated ingredients that may be contaminated with trace amounts of carcinogens. I also list all of the ingredients on the website and on product labels because I believe it’s important to be 100% transparent so consumers can make informed choices.
As for the environment, all Lavender & Lemon ingredients are plant or mineral based and biodegradable so they will decompose in the environment naturally. Most of the ingredients are also organic and / or EcoCert certified which means they are farmed and developed using the most environmentally friendly and socially conscious practices. The entire range is also certified vegan and cruelty free by the Vegan Society.
ESGmark®: It's great to see that you are striving to make Lavender and Lemon climate positive, could you tell us a bit more about what this means?
MB: Sure! As a business, I know that everything Lavender & Lemon does has a carbon footprint. It was really important to me that, from the start, I put practices in place that would minimize Lavender & Lemon’s environmental impact as much as possible.
To start, Lavender & Lemon donates a portion of revenue to support verified carbon offset projects and plants one tree for every sale via Ecologi. I also use the Shopify Planet app to track total emissions generated by our shipped orders and then purchase carbon removal credits to ensure our shipping is carbon neutral.
Beyond the tech, I only work with UK suppliers who are equally environmentally conscious and I ensure all of our packaging is refillable and can be recycled. I’m also currently working on putting a closed-loop system in place so customers can easily return their empty containers so they can be reused over and over again.
In my studio where I make the products, I re-use as many packing materials as possible, reduce as much waste as I can and try to be as efficient as I can with energy and water consumption.
ESGmark®: How have you navigated finding sustainable packaging for your products?
MB: As a small business on a very limited budget, it’s been difficult to be honest. I spent a significant amount of time researching packaging and speaking to suppliers when I was in the product development stage. My office at home is full of sustainable packaging samples, and I must say, there are some amazingly innovative options out there that I would have loved to use.
Unfortunately, a lot of the most sustainable packaging options are prohibitively expensive so I’ve done the best I could with the budget I had to launch. Despite the challenges, I’m very happy that I chose aluminium as my main packaging material - it’s beautiful, durable, infinitely recyclable, and can be refilled over and over again.
ESGmark®: What have been the biggest lessons in business that you have learnt since launching Lavender and Lemon?
MB: The biggest lessons I’ve learnt since launching have been based around money: cash flow, stock management and margins. It’s been a steep learning curve, to say the least, and one that I’m glad I’ve learned sooner rather than later in the business.
ESGmark®: What do you see as the main challenges facing ethical and sustainable businesses?
MB: I think there are many challenges facing ethical, sustainable businesses. Mainly: staying true to their values when it might be financially challenging to do so, competing against brands you know are greenwashing, and supply chain transparency.
For Lavender & Lemon, the biggest challenge has definitely been staying true to my values, not because I’m wavering in my dedication to them but simply because the barriers to remaining ethical and sustainable sometimes feel overwhelming for a tiny start-up like mine. For example, the organic ingredients I use are a lot more expensive than traditional ingredients found in most cleaning products and I could source my aluminium containers much cheaper overseas, but I refuse to increase my carbon footprint with international transport and I want to support local manufacturers as much as possible.
It’s a constant balancing act making sure I remain true to my values while ensuring my margins make sense. I suspect this is the same challenge for many ethical, sustainable businesses.
ESGmark®: Where do you see Lavender and Lemon in 2 years time?
MB: In two years' time, I hope to have Lavender & Lemon stocked in refill shops across the UK and on its way to becoming a household name.
ESGmark®: What are you reading at the moment?
MB: I’m currently reading 365 Ways To Save The Planet by Georgina Wilson-Powell.
For more on Lavender and Lemon, head over to their website.
Speaking to our founders is central to keeping the ESGmark® community connected - read our other interviews with Spark and Bloom on business’ responsibility to take action, Prosody London on natural fragrance and business karma, or Dandelion Branding on holistic branding.
