For creating sustainable employment and products in an industry noted for its waste

Region: MENA  Sector: Retail  UN SDGs: 8, Decent Work and Economic Growth; 10, Reduced Inequalities

Consumers shopping for a new favorite fragrance usually look for a specific combination of notes — floral, woody, citrusy, or spicy being just a few of the possibilities. The raw materials that go into a perfume or cologne blend are drawn mainly from the natural world and might include, for example, cacao pods, vanilla beans, oils derived from citrus peels, herbs, or wood, and flower blossoms. But once the scent is extracted, where does the natural waste end up, and what is its impact on the environment?

That was just one of the questions that motivated Amy Christiansen when she founded Sana Jardin Perfumes, a socially conscious, high-end fragrance company. Christiansen, a former social worker, understood that the perfume industry produces tons of organic waste annually. Sana Jardin’s orange blossom waste alone weighs in at 900 tons per year. While that waste eventually breaks down, it generates carbon dioxide in the process. Perfume industry-generated waste also takes up valuable landfill space. Christiansen thought the flower waste from her own company could be upcycled, but not just for the benefit of the environment.

As a social worker, Christiansen had worked directly with families in need, but she realized that social service interventions delivered by nonprofit organizations often fell short. “I could have a greater impact if I focused on helping these groups on an institutional level by enabling them to access jobs, education, and financial opportunity,” she reflects.

The same thought came back to her after she launched her business as a luxury perfumier. Before implementing a business model that she describes as “Beyond Sustainability,” Christiansen saw how many of the rural, Indigenous women who harvested the flowers for Morocco’s perfume industry remained in a low-income socioeconomic status because their work was seasonal and failed to provide year-round economic opportunities. The lack of a consistent living wage created a domino effect in other areas of these women’s lives, and in the lives of their families and communities, making everything from food security to education more challenging. Christiansen believed she could change the dynamics of her industry, creating economic opportunities for women workers while simultaneously generating positive environmental outcomes.

In 2023, Christiansen launched a new project, a workers’ cooperative for the Indigenous Amazigh women in rural Morocco who pick orange blossom, jasmine and rose by hand for Sana Jardin’s perfumes. The project was made possible through a partnership with Nest, a nonprofit that connects artisans, businesses, and philanthropists “to bring the full beauty of handcraft to the world” by supporting artisans’ well-being and ethical business opportunities.

The waste from Sana Jardin’s annual harvest used to go to landfills. Christiansen explains that Sana Jardin’s Co-op trained women to upcycle orange blossom waste to create their own line of products, including scented candles and orange blossom water. Co-op members retain 100 percent of the proceeds from the sale of their products, providing them with a year-round income. “The women we work with are rural, low-income women with limited employment skills and opportunities,” Christiansen says. “We believe that perfume can be a vehicle for social change.”

The roll-out of the co-op project accomplished an immediate major milestone: co-op workers experienced a 128 percent increase in their annual income. The short-term outcomes have been so promising, that Sana Jardin intends to expand its co-op model to other areas of Morocco and to India, diverting more floral byproducts from the global waste stream, and creating more economic opportunities for women.