United States Natural Products Association
USNPA (United States Natural Products Association) is America’s oldest and most prestigious accreditor of natural product manufacturers. NPA is arguably the most difficult accreditation to earn globally because of their incredibly high standards and strictness as to what natural ingredients can be used in all products. The USNPA demand that only approved ingredients and processes are allowed to be used. This required mastery of chemistry to produce a home cleaning range that uses only these certified ingredients to produce a range of products that really work in your household. To get this accreditation we are not permitted to put non-permitted, non-natural ingredients into our products, unlike many others. Living Green is the first New Zealand home cleaning range to gain thiscertification.
We are so proud of this achievement that the USNPA logo is on the front of every product in the Living Green range.
The first is Sodium Benzoate which we use to prevent mould growth. This preservative is most often used in food and is a copy of a plant-based preservative that is found in fruits such as cranberries, apples, cinnamon etc. The second is Phenoxyethanol which we use to prevent bacteria spoilage. Currently, this is the safest option on the market, and there are no proven natural alternatives for it which is why The United States Natural Products Association allows it to be used in both skin and cleaning products.
All skin and cleaning products that contain water must have preservatives added, this is especially important when all the rest of the ingredients are natural. Without preservatives, any natural product (like food) will become unsafe, and natural products like ours would have to be stored in a refrigerator.
Companies that claim they do not use preservatives in their skin and cleaning products that contain water are very probably misleading consumers and we prefer to be open and honest about the ingredients we use in our products