Company Ethics
Vegan & Cruelty Free products
We believe in compassion. A significant component of why Vedic Botanicals began is because there are an egregious number of things about the status quo of corporate behavior that offend basic human compassion and morale: from the treatment of employees to the treatment of the environment. Vedic Botanicals is something more, a company that reflects our values as stewards of the earth and members of a larger society. Among other sustainability practices, we are using plant sourced ingredients instead of animal sourced ingredients. Fun fact: not only are our products vegan, but so is our founder, Rachel Warnock, and half of our staff is also fully vegan. Vegan products made by vegan humans!
We understand that Ayurveda uses milk and honey in many traditional remedies and, in rare occasions, we will use ghee (clarified butter) or honey in our individually prepared, custom-ordered products. However, these are sourced in small quantities from small, local, no-kill farms. You’ll never see animal sourced ingredients in the pre-made products on our shelves -it wouldn’t be sustainable or ethical to take those ingredients in the bulk required for our business to operate.
Sustainable Practices
We believe that profit made at the expense of the Mother Earth is not worth making. It only robs future generations along with the other species sharing this planet with us. We vet the companies we source our herbs, oils, and packaging materials from -choosing companies with eco-friendly practices to maintain sustainability top to bottom.
- The Vedic Botanicals workshop is 100% solar powered, producing a surplus of energy every month for the rest of the grid.
- Our packaging is non-plastic and easy to re-use.
- The labels are made from a non- polyurethane (not oil based) plastic (being phased out in favor of new labels).
- Our labels are certified compostable and made from plant based plastic. We use PURE Labels from Elevate Packaging.
- We compost any products past their “sell by” date.
- We strive to uphold a waste-free environment in the workplace.
- We source ingredients and packaging from American companies to reduce environmental shipping costs.
- We utilize the Post Office for shipping to make maximum use of the trucks that are already on the road every day.
Organic raw materials
Our raw materials are USDA certified organic because, let’s be honest, there’s nothing eco-friendly, sustainable, or healthy about poisoning the soil with pesticides. Occasionally, an ingredient that is difficult to certify is included in a product. These are almost always made from a tree or resin, and thus tricky for the USDA. But this is noted in the description and on the labels, and we are still quite selective in choosing a high grade from a trusted company.
Stakeholders not shareholders
Part of the Vedic Botanicals business philosophy is to invest the in community. This means that we have stakeholders instead of shareholders. Whereas a shareholder’s first priority is economic gain, stakeholders have a vested interest in community betterment and growth. Stakeholders are employees, neighbors, teachers, customers, city councilors, etc. As much as we function as a retail store and a provider of herbal body care products, we strive to be a resource for our stakeholders. Whether a person buys our products, works for us, has a family member employed by us, or just engages in conversation for education’s sake, as a community, we have a vested interest in our mutual success.
People over profits
Falling in line with the communal philosophy, Vedic Botanicals puts people over profits. This means that we, as a business, don’t believe in paying someone minimum wage. We find that the concept of “minimum” to be inherently devaluing; we pay fair wages above minimum wage. If profits go up, everyone, top to bottom, shares in the bonus. The tide raises all boats!