Environmental Statement
The foundation: Raw materials from nature
The raw materials needed to manufacture medicines and cosmetics must first be obtained. The ingredients used include mineral- and plant-based raw materials, animal products, oils, fats and essential oils. Most of these substances are renewable raw materials. WALA is committed to obtaining the necessary raw materials from biodynamic or organic sources whenever possible. Dr.Hauschka Skin Care products are manufactured exclusively from ingredients tested and approved by the German industry association BDIH. BDIH examines among other things the traceability and transparency of the manufacturing processes and social contexts, as well as whether genetically engineered plant or animal materials are used. To the extent allowed in the pharmaceutical field, raw materials are transported in re-usable containers. It is planned to increase use of re-usable packaging in the future.
WALA pursues a four-pronged strategy in acquiring its raw materials:
- In-house cultivation in the WALA medicinal herb garden and neighbouring Demeter “Sonnenhof” farm
- Harvesting from the wild
- Purchasing from certified suppliers
Initiation and promotion of biodynamic farming projects and organically oriented processing in various countries
The WALA medicinal herb garden
Protecting nature goes without saying in the WALA medicinal herb garden, which is cultivated in accordance with Demeter guidelines. It begins with biodynamic cultivation, which does not use any kind of artificial fertilisers or synthetic pest and weed control. The seeds used largely originate from our own garden. Externally purchased plants almost all come from organic sources. All seedlings (approx. 25,000 per year) are grown by WALA gardeners themselves, for the most part without the use of peat. The gardeners rely instead on their own special substrates such as leaf compost. The soil is worked primarily by hand. The few machines that are used (e.g. lawn mowers) have operated for years now on fuel that is free of lead, benzene, sulphur and aromatics. Plant wastes generated within WALA, e.g. pressing residues from the manufacturing facilities, are not disposed of via incineration but are composted instead, completing the material cycle in the form of soil, substrate and fertiliser. This means no additional fertilisers or similar materials must be purchased. The only exceptions to this are mineral powder and algal limestone. Crop rotation helps prevent soil depletion. The gardeners also extensively improve the plant beds with green manure, for instance Persian clover, crimson clover, buckwheat, mustard and Phacelia (scorpionweed).
WALA relies on natural pest and weed control, primarily beneficial organisms but occasionally also the application of plant fortifying substances such as horsetail tea. This kind of biodynamic cultivation has been proven to increase soil fertility, improve the soil’s crumb structure, enhance humus content and soil fauna, and promote biodiversity. Bees are also kept in the WALA garden, raised in accordance with humane beekeeping principles. To help beneficial organisms and other wild animals feel at home in the garden, the gardeners have been sure to provide attractive habitats for them, including meadows, piles of stones, deadwood, piles of brushwood, undeveloped wild areas and other miniature biotopes. Hives are provided for solitary wild bees to deposit eggs and pollen. Groves of trees provide protection, nesting places and food for numerous birds. A colourful variety of bees and butterflies feed on plants in the WALA medicinal herb garden. Mowing of meadows is scheduled in accordance with the development cycles of the plants. The gardeners take care to disturb the animals in their habitat as little as possible when mowing. The renovation of the old pond system has given reptiles and amphibians a new home. European toads, yellow-bellied toads, tree frogs and grass snakes thrive here. Dragonflies are also frequent visitors to the re-landscaped site.
The neighbouring Demeter “Sonnenhof” farm also belongs to WALA. In addition to raising livestock, growing grain, making cheese and baking bread and other products, the farm also cultivates some 5 hectares of medicinal herbs for Dr.Hauschka Skin Care and WALA Medicines.
Gathering plants from the wild
Some plants are difficult or impossible to grow in a garden because their characteristics may change when cultivated. We instead gather these plants directly where they thrive in nature. The gatherers take great pains not to over-harvest. They precisely document the amount of wild plants gathered in harvest protocols. Moreover, some plants that we collect are threatened not by the harvesting itself but by competing plants that displace them; Stagshorn Clubmoss for instance is endangered in many areas. In conjunction with our harvesting from the wild, we simultaneous care for and maintain these populations of protected plants.
Purchasing from verified suppliers
WALA imposes high standards on suppliers when purchasing environmentally compatible products and quality raw materials. Quality and environmental certification are of highest priority in selecting partners. In response to demand from WALA, some suppliers initiate new organic cultivation projects or expand existing ones, for instance in France and Italy. WALA’s in-house laboratory for analysis and microbiology painstakingly checks the quality of all incoming raw materials and verifies the absence of residues before they are accepted and approved for use in manufacturing.
Biodynamic cultivation around the world
For many years now, WALA has promoted organic farming and biodynamic agriculture around the globe. These methods make do without pesticides and chemical fertilisers.
WALA launched its first such project as early as 1991 with a co-operative in Turkey to cultivate roses as a source of essential rose oil – a group which continues to supply WALA even today. Due to company growth, two new suppliers of rose oil have been identified and supported in Bulgaria. Of particular interest is our close partnership with a supplier in Iran, with which we have worked for many years and which is strongly committed to social sustainability. We also co-operate with German Agro Action in Afghanistan, where the organisation is developing rose cultivation as a source of income and viable alternative to opium farming.
We sponsor consulting in biodynamic farming for our partners and if needed also help them with loans or the costs of certification. To give our partners greater security in planning, we also sign long-term purchase agreements with them and in some cases provide advance payment for the harvest.
Demeter – For the benefit of more than mother nature
Demeter biodynamic agriculture as practiced in the WALA medicinal herb garden is oriented towards the “Agricultural Course”, a lecture given by Rudolf Steiner in Koberwitz, Germany in June 1924. Its basic ideas are as follows: A farm is healthy when it operates as a kind of self-contained individual entity. This concept of agricultural individuality encourages biodynamic gardeners and farmers to organise their operations in the form of a largely self-contained cycle. Whether humane animal husbandry, crop farming, vegetable and medicinal herb cultivation, the mixing and application of biodynamic preparations, the harvesting of one’s own seeds, the design of the farm landscape, the planting of hedges or the social context of a farm community – biodynamic concepts offer humans a rich field of opportunity which visibly manifests itself in the superior quality of Demeter products.
