You're dead to me, Olay.

Last week I went on a tirade about the excessive, non-recyclable plastic Olay uses in their Definity and Regenerist product lines. Sounds like lots of you are disturbed by it as well, so I just wanted to share with you Olay's response:

“P&G is committed to ensuring our products, packaging, and operations are safe for consumers and the environment. For products that go out with the trash, our approach is to reduce, reuse, recycle, compost, or incinerate waste (with energy recovered) prior to land filling, wherever it's environmentally and economically appropriate.” 

What are you talking about?

It’s not possible for me to reduce, reuse, recycle, compost or incinerate Olay’s packaging. That's the problem.

If I want to read something nonsensical, I’ll pick up a Dr. Seuss book. At least, that would have pictures and rhyme.

They also sent me a link to P&G’s site which talks about how much they care about the environment. 

“We're continually researching alternatives for more environmentally improved products and packaging.”

“Part of the science of assessing the ecological risk of any product is determining where a product goes in the environment after use, and how much goes there. Another question we ask is what impact, if any, a P&G ingredient will have on plants, animals and bacteria. All P&G ingredients must pass Environmental Risk Assessment before they are safely cleared for the market.”

Is everyone at P&G high?  Did you really think about that when you created the plastic monstrosity that is your Definity and Regenerist packaging? Really? 

Olay you're dead to me.  Until you change your ways and start caring about the health of your consumers, and our planet, I will never buy another one of your products. 

Please feel free to join me in this boycott, because while they won't listen to reason, maybe they'll listen to the sound of a non-ringing cash register.

This polar bear is begging you, Olay. Stop killing the planet.  

If anyone out there worked for Obama and knows how to organize (I’ve never seen such an organized campaign in my life) please contact me. I would love to figure out how to get Olay to listen and stop destroying the planet.

Comments

[Andra]

In addition to excess packaging, Olay products contain dimethicone and parabens, neither of which I want in any of my beauty products. I won't buy their products.

[Jen]

THis was their response
Thanks for writing back.

Our consumers mean a great deal to us, and we're sorry you were unhappy with the service you received when you contacted us about Olay's packaging. Our goal is to provide excellent service to all consumers who reach us, and we appreciate learning of your unusual experience. I'm sharing your report with our Consumer Relations Manager.

Having said that, our packaging for Olay Regenerist & Definity was designed so the product would be protected from damage while also being clearly visible on the shelf. Please be assured I'm sharing your suggestion to minimize the amount of packaging used with our Packaging Team.

Thanks again for getting in touch.

Karen
Olay Team

[jenny]

Hey Jen,
That's good. You obviously got a lot more environmentally friendly representative than I did. That's the appropriate response in my book. Let's hope enough people contact them to make them think twice. Thanks for sharing that. Makes me feel a little better:)
jenny

[Suzy]

Acknowledging that Karen from Olay's response was customer friendly - everyone knows that secondary packaging has more to do with wanting the product to "pop" off the shelves than with protecting the product. I hope P&G listens to your comments and makes some adjustments in the coming months.

[Komal]

I emailed them too, when you pointed out the packaging thing and got the SAME response! Maybe they should hire someone to ACTUALLY READ THE EMAIL!

I want to say i'll boycott as well, but I dont use their stuff. I will refrain from any future temptation though.

Also, love your blog, I read it everyday. I'm one of the silent creepy readers who never comments, but since I am now, just thought i'd tell you it's hilarious! I am OBSESSED with skin care, (right now i'm using mostly Philosophy products and Paula's Choice moisturizers) so your blog is exactly the kind of thing I like to read.
Would love to hear about more products to stay away from though.

Anyway, enjoy your day!

Komal

Ps. I'll tell anyone who will listen about the blog I newly discovered (which I sadly am not in any way a part of) called Fail Blog. It's probably not new to everyone but it's new to me and it's hilarious, check it out! Not related to skin care though..

[K]

Thank you, Jenny!!

[jenny]

Hey Komal,
Thanks for not using Olay products along with me (even if you weren't going to anyway:) I've never heard of Paula's Choice. I'll check it out. I just looked at Failblog.org. Funny. I think it's the same people who do http://icanhascheezburger.com/ which is hilarious as well. Thanks for reading (and commenting).
Jenny

[Sonjasays]

Perhaps you could set up a petition. http://www.thepetitionsite.com/ is a good site for that. I think it would be really worthwhile and you'd get a lot of people to sign.

[jenny]

Hey Sonjasays,
That's a good idea. I'll do that. Thanks for the suggestion.
Jenny

[Virginia]

Hi Jenny,
Love the blog, which I actually found by googling "oil of olay packaging" to see if anyone else had shared the same feelings I have on their excessive packaging. I would be completely down with creating a website or organizing some sort of online or letter writing protest for not only Oil of Olay but several other cosmetics companies that have lost their minds (and common sense) when it comes to selecting the packaging for their products. Off the top of my head, Proactiv's bottles are not even labeled to be recycled. When I emailed the company about this, they noted that their bottles are not labeled because they are not easily recyclable. I kid you not. What century are these companies living in? Anyway, let me know how I can be of help.
Virginia

[jenny]

Hey Virginia,
I would love to work with you on this to see how we can get these companies to listen to the fact that we won't put up with them destroying the planet. What do you think next steps should be?
Thanks so much!
jenny

[Maggie]

Hey

I think this should not be only applied to Olay, but also to any other cosmetic companies out there. Every single cosmetic product we buy has a profound effect on the environment. Even if the packaging is recyclable, the chemicals will be harmful to environment. Also, looking at the rates in which we are recycling in, they are much slower than the rates of production.

Hope that made sense......

Thanks!
M.

[Helga]

Hi,
I'm so glad to see that others feel the same way I do. I also emailed Oil of Olay, and they gave me a forgettable response, at least you got a better one. Any update on the petition? I went to the website, and didn't find anything. I tried to set one up, but it didn't seem to work, but I'll definitely sign that petition. If they won't listen to one person here and there, maybe they'll listen to a long list of names

[jenny]

Hi Helga,
I tried to start a group on Yahoo groups but I couldn't figure out how it all worked. I wrote to treehugger and Jezebel because they have tons of readers and asked if they'd somehow cover the issue. No response from either. Went to a couple of the petition sites. There were so many, I kind of got overwhelmed and left. Maybe I'll just put one up on one of them and not worry about which is the best site with the most people.
thanks,
jenny

[ponds age miracle]

Nice jenny,thank you for this information.

vee