Humans, Nature & Earth
Holistic sustainability
Sustainability must be holistic in order to function. We are utterly convinced of this. We accept responsibility for everything we think and everything we do. It is the same in our dealings with each other, in the sustainable cultivation of our healing and rejuvenative plants, in the process from the mindful harvesting of raw materials to the finished Green Luxury natural product.
“While the foundation process for Pharmos Natur was still underway, I learned painfully, at first hand, what it means to work unecologically, unsustainably and with artificial chemicals. As a seasonal worker in Texas, in a field of Aloe Vera, in 45-degree heat and barefoot I discovered what it feels like coming into contact with chemical sprays, and how they damage your skin. In the evenings, my feet were raw, sore and shredded.
Immediately, I had to wonder: if my feet are so battered, what is happening to the plants that are absorbing this chemical spray?
I knew immediately that this is not what I wanted! I started cultivation trials with Aloe Vera plants around the world. How could I find the highest quality? What do the plants need? Where do they best grow? I was constantly learning about the laws of nature and began to understand them more and more.
It could not have been clearer. If we want high-quality Aloe Vera plants with genuine active substances, and we want to preserve these substances, then we need to look again and change our perspectives. We need to assimilate the laws of nature, so nature can work too.”
That is why it is so important to us that the sustainable protection of biodiversity, species diversity and organic farming is enshrined in our philosophy. For us, it is basis and underlying principle in one, essential for producing qualitatively high-value natural products. They should be good for people, nature, the environment and Mother Earth.
Reverence for Mother Earth
We love Mother Earth as she is. Her unique fertility and her breathtaking beauty. Her incalculable riches bestow on us everything we need, and we use this with great reverence, at all times.
We are always careful to make sure that the long-term effects of our actions are always positive, both for all those involved and for future generations. Quality, ethics and morality must be reflected in everything we do.
Indigenous peoples have thought seven generations ahead since time immemorial, and we need to do the same. This is the only way to improve quality of life for all people, to boost their well-being and ensure they remain healthy.
We are conscious that, when we take something from Mother Earth, we must also give something back. This means making every effort to balance everything we do, in order to preserve biodiversity and genetic diversity.
Our Planet Earth is a living organism, just as we are. When we take something from her, this creates a vacuum, as in the human body. Like our bodies, our planet is also losing her balance. That is why we constantly ask: how can we fill the vacuum and heal these wounds? How do we protect Mother Earth with all that she gives to us?
We know that plants are the expression of the power of creation and we respect this. They are living beings with body, spirit and soul in a natural unity. And only as this unity can they act beneficially and regenerate our bodies, spirits and souls from inside and out. This is the solid foundation for all of PHARMOS NATUR’s high-quality Green Luxury products.
In Latin, luxury originally meant “abundant fertility”. For us, this means: the origin, wholeness, plant potency.
In this green context, luxury is a value in and of itself and means genuine reverence towards Nature, Mother Earth and every living thing.
For a beautiful and healthy planet.
Shifting awareness over the course of time
“I knew that I had to follow my own path, and I wanted to. A path leading through experiences that I would always gain myself, with attempts to cultivate our starring plant all over the world, on all continents. I could see what people needed and I respected them as they are. From time to time I moved one step forward. I learned, experienced and saw a great deal. My thinking and emotions became ever more holistic. I sensed how everything is interconnected. Quite simply, nature has no borders.”
At Pharmos Natur, we live in and with the awareness that the world – people, nature and the planet – can only exist in unity. And we accept the responsibility for putting this into practice, both in our work and our daily lives. We have spent a lifetime swimming against the current, because that is the only way to reach the source.
We see the events of early 2020 as an opportunity to shape things differently. We need to take this opportunity to establish whether what we do in the company actually makes sense. To pause, reflect, re-orient, escape from consumerism. What do I stand for? What is my role? Am I authentic? This consciousness is very close to our hearts.
This shift is tangible everywhere in the world. For many, now, it has become a new currency: awareness, biodiversity, genetic diversity. Because fundamental structures across the world are changing, with the effect of cosmic, planetary forces on the Earth. This affects society and all institutions, and animals and plants.
Only then is Nature’s full energy unleashed, with all possibilities and resources. We are part of a greater whole, the link between Earth and the cosmos.
Cosmetics comes from the Greek word kosmos, which means order, harmony, universe. Our bodies, too, function only as a whole. There are no isolated processes. That is why we do not isolate any individual substances from our Sacred Plants and their many vital components, because plants also are living beings and only effective when whole.
A fair trade partnership with smallholders
For our healing and rejuvenative plants, everything depends on a suitable location and the right cultivation methods. But our fair, trusting and long-term partnerships with all the people involved in producing Green Luxury products are also highly important. These people come from all over the world, near and far. We foster a special, close partnership with our smallholders, who handle our Sacred Plants very carefully and lovingly, with mindful harvesting rituals.
We pay our farmers a fair price, which means we pay three times the current price on the world market (as at 2020) for our Aloe Vera plants. This enables them to live on their income and send their children to school. The resulting positive energy also affects our Green Luxury natural products, because everything is interconnected.
Partnerships that we value
Sustainability and the right partners for all company and work processes are inseparable for us. Because what is true of our plants is also true of our partners: only when there is mutual respect can precious natural products of the highest quality be made.
We are regularly in contact with each other and discuss everything that moves us, that makes a difference to us, and learn what we need to know from each other. It is so good that our business partners also believe in the Pharmos Natur philosophy. Long-standing relationships that go back as far as the company’s foundation show how reliably this works.
Our passionate team
We are rooted and grounded in our values; this is something we all agree on as a team. Pharmos Natur’s philosophy is in our lifeblood and we convey it to the world with our hearts and souls.
Management on equal footing, trust in one another, reliability and openness. Throwing ourselves wholeheartedly into our work is as much a part of it as talking to each other, communicating and developing ideas and putting them into practice. This is what makes our work so joyful and successful.
So that we all remain healthy and full of energy, we also ensure our canteen serves holistic, sustainable, organic food. A vegetodynamic cook is a permanent member of our team. Everyone is aware of and inspired by the interconnection of everything with everything else. This is another contribution we make to the well-being of all.
Spiritual sustenance is every bit as important as physical. We access our inner selves by regularly meditating together, with everyone participating as they wish. Our founder Margot Esser-Greineder supports us in this mindful process to our own selves. This, too, is Pharmos Natur.
Sustainable product design
We developed our packaging design in line with eco-design principles. For us, this means the best possible protection for the products, recyclability and ecological sustainability. All products are made and bottled in Germany. The containers and materials all come from Germany and Italy. The containers are made of glass, which prevents external substances from contaminating the products. Inside, the precious creams are vacuum packed in a certified food-grade polyethylene bag. This bag and its cap are fully recyclable. The bag allows the cream to be used completely, down to the very last drop. When empty, the bag and jar can be pulled apart for optimal waste separation. The precious oils are well protected in glass bottles with dispensers that are also fully recyclable. Hand-painted ZEN watercolours and consideration of the archetypes – the soul image in every human being – add a finishing touch to the holistic picture.
Far-sighted transport and suitable storage
Our numerous healing and rejuvenative plants are native to places all over the world, both near and far. That is why eco-friendly transport logistics are very important to us.
We rely on lower energy transport such as ships and trains wherever possible, when the post-harvest life duration of our raw materials or proximity of the cultivation site permits. This is an essential factor in a small carbon footprint.
We only use air freight when it is absolutely necessary due to the plants’ circumstances and home. In such cases we calculate the transport emissions and offset them.
With our EMAS environmental certification, we are constantly optimizing these processes further. Most importantly, this means reducing energy use, saving CO2 and also converting the company’s fleet to electric.
We then store our raw materials on site in a way that preserves the efficacy and quintessence of the healing and rejuvenative plants, sustainably and appropriately. They are stored in a cool place and protected from light.
For our very special Aloe Vera, we have a specific cool, dark storeroom, where the plants are very happy. When the leaves arrive, they are warmly welcomed and we thank them with a ritual.
Sustainable production and mindful processing
Over our years of experience, we have developed a special , very gentle Pharmos Natur production procedure. In this way we preserve the density and variety of the natural substances, the spirit and the vitality of our Sacred Plants.
We do not isolate individual substances, but respect the sacred unity of the plants. Their beneficial vitality and their life force are thus preserved for your body, skin and senses. These are animate natural products of the very best quality. This is nature that works. Production takes place exclusively in Germany.
Protecting habitats and Sacred Plants
What protects nature and thus preserves the basis of our existence? We ask ourselves this question day in, day out. Paul Greineder, PHARMOS NATUR’s managing director, supports us with his extensive knowledge and many years of experience in sustainable cultivation in agriculture. This motivates us to incorporate environmental protection and respect for nature into our everyday lives.
Our comprehensive environmental certification from EMAS allows us to document how we implement sustainability in every area of the company at PHARMOS NATUR Green Luxury. In addition, we are active in many group initiatives, such as Baum e.V. (the German Working Group for Environmentally Conscious Management), the association Förderung des Nationalparks Bayerischer Wald (Supporters of the Bavarian Forest National Park), or the company network Biodiversity in Good Company.
In specific terms, this means that we preserve the original natural purity of the site and protect our habitats. That is why our healing and rejuvenative plants grow in ecological mixed cultivation – with absolutely no artificial chemicals – in symbiotic exchange with other plants. This is an important prerequisite for our Sacred Plants, all around the world, both near and far.
They thrive in fertile, potent soils, in an incredible miniature world, where everything lives together in communion. Animals, bacteria and fungi interact with the right energy and many different nutrients. That is why we do not use agricultural poisons. We do not need either chemical fertilizers or pesticides. Our happy, healthy Aloe Vera plants can grow free and carefree.
And every plant has a place where it feels happiest. Our Aloe Vera comes from the humid tropics of Ecuador’s Pacific coast.
For cultivation, harvesting and processing, we are mindful of cosmic principles, such as the phases of the moon, and we follow the rhythms of nature. Everything has its own perfect order, because nothing in the cosmos is left to chance. When we pay attention to these rhythms, healing and rejuvenative plants bestow on us their comprehensive potent power, their intensive light energy/biophotons and their high vibrations.
Eco-social management and organic growth
Further development is important for every business. But the question that is always asked is: how?
We do not wish to live at the expense of other people, of nature or our environment, and particularly not at the expense of future generations. Eco-social management means creating a balance between nature and the environment, social needs and economic growth. This is a new challenge for all of us, every day.
That is why we think in terms of life cycles in our company too. We have chosen a circular, transparent value chain. We want to see and manage all materials, substances and content in cycles, wherever it is possible for us.
Whether in the short, medium or long term, this means that all the products we make should ideally be free of contaminants, not create any more waste and so perfectly serve the welfare of all people, nature and the environment.
With this objective in mind, we are committed to creating partnerships with a promising future, with whom we can grow organically together. We work with smallholder families from around the world who know our values.
Ecuador
Our special Aloe Vera grows in ecological mixed cultivation with absolutely no artificial chemicals on Ecuador’s Pacific coast. The foundation is a stable partnership with smallholders on the ground. We develop together, year after year.
Working together closely has led to us concluding long-term partnership agreements. The prices that we pay for the plants mean that approximately 500 children can now attend school, from primary right through high school.
We are absolutely convinced of this: sustainability cannot be unholistic. For us, there is no alternative to organic farming, genetic diversity and biodiversity.
Bolivia
We actively protect the rainforest with our partners in Bolivia. Our motto is “Helping others to help themselves” and we are successfully preventing soil erosion and desertification at the sites where our black sesame seed is grown. Our partnership with 50 smallholder families in southern Bolivia enables them to build a new life and farm organically with no artificial chemicals, sustainably and for the long term. An exchange of cultures, as in crop rotation, is allowed for, because only in this way can the soil renew itself, and live.
This means fair, transparent and sustainable supply chains for everyone, from the field to the finished product.
Working together with smallholders and supporting their families is very important to us, because building up regional infrastructure supports the self-sufficiency of the local people. Less land clearance can be achieved by making the soil more fertile.
This also contributes to improving the micro-climate. A variety of different cultures in small-scale cultivations provides people, animals and plants with a better habitat. School education will pass this knowledge on, which means peace and moderate prosperity. Everything comes full circle again.
