Anita Roddick, founder of The Body Shop, dies

 

One of the women I truly admire, died Saturday. She was in her 60s and had been in ill health for a while.

I’ve been a supporter and customer of The Body Shop for around 20 or more years. Anita was a pioneer in the industry as she had some of the first “cruelty free” products on the market and was one of the first to use all natural (non petroleum-based) ingredients. She spent a lot of time traveling around the world looking for new ingredients to use and many of the products, processing and materials were produced by small woman-owned businesses in villages all over the world. She was an innovator, feminist, rebel and in love with life.

Anita did more than run a successful ethical business: she was a pioneer of the whole concept of ethical and green consumerism,” Tony Juniper, director of Friends of the Earth, wrote in The Evening Standard on Tuesday. “There are quite a few business people today who claim green credentials, but none came anywhere near Anita in terms of commitment and credibility.

he lived her life richly and managed to run a huge corporation that was both successful and ethical.

Read more: http://www.nytimes.com/2007/09/12/world/europe/12roddick.html