About Sigrid's

Growing up her mother and older brother had terrible asthma and Sigrid was sensitive to chemicals. They couldn't find truely natural products in the supermarket to use so out of love, Nigel (a biochemist) was constantly innovating old family recipes passed down from Sigrid’s Great grandmother (Sigrid Lindstrom) and grandmother who had used homemade natural products on their 11 children over the years, to create new, healthy products for his family to use. The products were good, and effective, so good in fact that others started asking if they could get them.

Sigrid believed that this was one family secret that was worth sharing with the world, so they did and decided to name it Sigrid's, a Scandinavian name from Old Norse Sigríðr, meaning "victory", "wisdom", and "beautiful". After the woman who came before her.

Today, Sigrid's products are still made with love, and with love,  we share them from our family to yours

FAMILY SAFE
We believe that proven natural & biodegradable products are much safer for your family and they are safer for the planet. Using Sigrid's products means:

  • Fewer toxins are present in your home environment

  • Biodegradable ingredients can be flushed away without concern for waterways, as the ingredients will easily breakdown

  • Packaging is elegant and can be reused, or recycled

  • Only safe ingredients are used – that pose no risk to peoples health or the environment

  • Natural ingredients are gentler on delicate and young skin

OUR PROMISE
We promise to share what ingredients we use in our products
We promise to be honest & a community focused business
We promise to keep sustainability top of mind 
We promise to ensure you have reliable, trusted and cost effective natural products for you and your family.
We promise excellent product results and a high level of customer service
We promise to keep our products natural & safe

OUR BELIEFS
We choose the health of the planet and people. In a bid to ensure we are looking after our environment, we need to ensure we are all making conscious and positive decisions when buying goods and services. Global warming and climate change have become the number one priority for the United Nations, so this issue truly needs addressing by every single person on earth. We want our customers to feel like they are doing their bit to look after the planet and we want to encourage education on how we can all make a difference.
Here at Sigrid's we are passionate about creating natural and biodegradable products and we recognise our role as a steward of the environment. Our environmental policy has been developed to ensure our actions match our vision, so we reduce the potential negative environmental effects we may have. Policy has been put in place so our daily operations combine innovation with environmentally responsible practice

SOAP FREE PRODUCTS
Soap is a cleaning or emulsifying agent made with animal or vegetable fats and or oils. Soaps act by emulsifying grease, which therefore lowers the surface tension of the water in the solution; this makes it easier for the product to penetrate materials. In personal care products soap can dry out your skin and in hair products it is said to encourage dandruff. Going ‘soap-free’ means you are using fewer chemicals. So it is particularly good for people with sensitive skin to choose products that are soap-free.

Information sourced from: 
ttp://dictionary.reverso.net/english-definition/soap%20free, http://beautyblitz.com/whats-soap-free-cleanser

GE FREE PRODUCTS
Genetic Engineering is a hot issue in New Zealand and the mere possibility of GE crops being produced here has lead to many protests and debates.There is a belief that even the smallest exposure or trials done to genetically engineer crops in New Zealand would be catastrophic, because in part it would destroy New Zealand’s reputation as a safe, clean food producer. We believe that nature shouldn’t be messed with and we would prefer our environment and all the good things in it, to be as natural and honest as possible, because we want New Zealand to stay beautiful and green forever. None of our plant-based ingredients come from GE crops – including ingredients like corn, wheat and coconut.

For further information see:
http://www.gefree.org.nz

INGREDIENTS
Our policy is to be open and honest about the ingredients we use in our products, the only ingredient that can be deemed as unsafe is our preservative - this is why we use them. All skin and cleaning products that contain water must have preservative added. Without preservative, like food, our products would have to be stored in a refrigerator, and even then food doesn't last very long.  We have looked to other major natural product providers internationally and we have chosen to use Sodium Benzoate as a preservative as it is the most common and safest available. We incorporate Phenoxyethanol to provide a better protection against spoilage bacteria and mould. The US Natural Products Association allow both these ingredients to be used in skin and cleaning products as they are considered compatible with natural products, and without preservatives the products will become unsafe. Sodium Benzoate is a food preservative and is a copy of a plant based preservative that is found in fruits such as cranberries, prunes, apples, cinnamon, cloves etc. and it is not a nasty product. 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 upfront.

100% BIODEGRADABLE
All of Sigrid's products are 100% Biodegradable which is a characteristic of 'organic' substances and it means that an ingredient is broken down by microbes when it goes down the drain and through sewage works or septic tanks, mainly into CO2 and water. Biodegradation is an important way of ensuring that the organic ingredients in cleaning products are removed from wastewater and don't enter rivers.

WHAT DOES BIODEGRADABLE MEAN
It is a type of waste which can be broken down in a reasonable amount of time, into its base compounds by being consumed by micro-organisms. Biodegradable matter is usually either organic material or substances originating from living organisms or artificial materials that are similar enough to living organisms.

SEPTIC TANK & GREY WATER SAFE
All our Products are grey water and septic tank safe. With proper grey water systems in place, any wastewater can safely be re-used on your flower gardens, lawns and trees. These products are suitable for septic tanks and are supplied in fully recyclable bottles (with no metal parts).

GLUTEN FREE
Everywhere you look today there are Gluten free food products lining the supermarket shelves, but what does this mean in cleaning and personal care products? Some people are sensitive enough to react to Gluten in the cleaning and personal care products they use. So with the Sigrid’s products we are giving people the option to avoid Gluten even in their cleaning products.
Where present we will clearly identify our use of Wheat or Gluten – so that it can be avoided. 

SAFE PACKAGING GUIDELINES
Our packaging guiding principles are as follows: Prevention is better than a cure, so we use as little packaging as possible. Recyclable material is important when choosing packaging - we have chosen to use PET plastics and in some cases HDPE, both materials are recyclable. Polyethylene Terephthalate or PET is 100% recyclable and is the most recycled plastic material around the world. Energy efficient packaging such as PET, is recycled and uses less than 30% of the energy needed to manufacture new PET plastic. Durability of PET bottles, make them easy to use and highly acceptable for bottle manufacturers. Demand for recycled PET also ensures that the recycling rate remains high and therefore makes PET the most environmentally friendly plastic in the world.

CRUELTY FREE PRODUCTS
Today many conventional cleaners are tested on animals, first and foremost this is inhumane but it also doesn’t always prove that the products are safe. We like to ensure that we do testing on our products, so that we can make sure they are safe and effective. Not only have we tested and proven ourselves in the commercial sector, we also continue to research and develop products to ensure they meet the changing needs of consumers. While we do not hold an official ‘cruelty free’ certification, we strongly believe that products should not be tested on animals in order to prove they are safe, so we do not condone any animal testing in our organisation.

MADE IN NEW ZEALAND
New Zealand has a strong reputation for being a clean, green and safe environment and we are world leaders in producing quality green and natural products. Here at Sigrid’s we pride ourselves on being an effective Kiwi manufacturer of quality cleaning and personal care products. Our team are dedicated to finding the best natural ingredients, sourced both locally and internationally to ensure we are cost effective and competitive in the marketplace. For New Zealand customers buying New Zealand made products supports local industry and improves the livelihood of Kiwi’s. It is also important to recognise that buying New Zealand made products means products have a shorter journey to your home and are better for the environment and sustainability.

WHAT IS THE UNITED STATES NATURAL PRODUCTS ASSOCIATION AND WHY DO WE USE IT?
Products bearing the USNPA Natural Seal are composed of 95% natural ingredients at minimum, however many certified products would contain well over 95% natural ingredients. The standard will help you, the customer become better educated about ingredients, raw materials and processes considered natural. This gives you, all the key information you need to easily identify which personal care products and home-care products, meet the standard for natural and therefore make the best decisions when choosing products. Until the USNPA standard, there was no definition of the term "natural" used in the home care & personal care industry. With the launch of the USNPA Natural Standard and Certification for home care products, consumers can look for the easily identifiable ‘natural products association certified’ seal to discern which home care & personal care products are truly natural.

The Natural Seal identifies;
1. Natural Ingredients: A product labelled "natural" should be made up of only (or at least almost only) natural ingredients and be manufactured with appropriate processes
2. Safety: A product labelled "natural" should avoid any ingredient that has peer-reviewed, scientific research showing human health or environmental risk
3. Responsibility: A product labelled "natural" should use no animal testing in its development except where required by law
4. Sustainability: A product labelled "natural" should use biodegradable ingredients and the most environmentally sensitive packaging

Key prohibited ingredients are:
• Parabens
• Sodium Lauryl Sulfate
• Petrolatum/Mineral Oil/Paraffin
• Chemical Sunscreens (Avobenzone/Oxybenzone)
• Glycols
• Phthalates
• Ethoxylated ingredients such as Sodium Sulfate and Sodium Laureth Sulfate, PEGs or PPGs
• Ethanolamines like MEA/DEA/TEA
• Synthetic polymers 
• Formaldehyde  

For more information visit http://www.npainfo.org/