Have you heard of Norwex? Just in case you haven’t here’s a little info. The company claims that it desires to “improve quality of life by radically reducing the use of chemicals in personal care and cleaning.” It sells said products through independent sales consultants. I was formerly an Independent Consultant with The Body Shop, and I was excited to learn about a company like Norwex not only for the income potential but also a product line I could get excited about!
I started exploring the possibility of becoming a sales consultant with Norwex, and one of those steps, for me, was to confirm the validity of their claims. I searched high and low for a list of ingredients used in their products and found no such list. I contacted Women's Voices for the Earth (WVE) after finding nothing on Norwex’s or WVE’s websites. WVE confirmed the lack of transparency on Norwex’s part, making it impossible for WVE, or anyone for that matter, to determine if Norwex’s products are truly as safe as they claim.
I then contacted Norwex via email to see if maybe, just maybe, there was a list of ingredients available somewhere beyond the grasp of the interwebs and its mighty search engines. This is the response I received:
Hi Kayla,
Thank you for the email.
Cleaning product manufacturers are not required to list ingredients except for the ones that are hazardous and those will be on the MSDS. If customers are allergic to certain ingredients you can email those to us and we will check with the manufacturer if they are in the product.
The ingredients for the skin care products are listed on the box of the product and also in the Product Manual.
Thank you,
R---
**I removed the individual's name to be respectful as no title was included in the signature.
This frustrates me so, and so I started a petition on Change.org and decided to write this entry. I recognize that the law does not force full disclosure, but I truly believe that a company that claims to radically reduce the use of chemicals in personal care and cleaning products should go above the expectations of regulation to provide peace of mind to its customers. I cannot be confident that the company is truly reducing chemicals in our lives if it is not fully transparent, and I can only assume that others feel the same way. There are too many cleaning product manufacturers that claim to have safe products that aren’t actually safe. Additionally, I am fearful that Norwex’s independent sales consultants are selling a product to customers that may not actually be as safe as they, consultants and customers alike, think. This is a terrible position to be in as an independent consultant.
This frustrates me so, and so I started a petition on Change.org and decided to write this entry. I recognize that the law does not force full disclosure, but I truly believe that a company that claims to radically reduce the use of chemicals in personal care and cleaning products should go above the expectations of regulation to provide peace of mind to its customers. I cannot be confident that the company is truly reducing chemicals in our lives if it is not fully transparent, and I can only assume that others feel the same way. There are too many cleaning product manufacturers that claim to have safe products that aren’t actually safe. Additionally, I am fearful that Norwex’s independent sales consultants are selling a product to customers that may not actually be as safe as they, consultants and customers alike, think. This is a terrible position to be in as an independent consultant.
For these reasons I ask that you sign the petition to encourage Norwex to work toward a more transparent future. I hope to get at least 1,000 signatures, so please share far and wide.
