Every year on 18 July, people around the globe devote 67 minutes of service to honour the 67 years that Nelson Rolihlahla Mandela gave to public life. The United Nations formalised the observance in 2009, inviting citizens to translate admiration into action by uplifting communities and caring for the planet. For us at Aardvel, a South African artisanal skincare studio nestled in the sandstone folds of the Cederberg, Mandela Day resonates far beyond a single date on the calendar. It is a living reminder that ethical intention, community empowerment, and environmental stewardship must be woven into the daily fabric of business.
Mandela often reminded South Africans that “what counts in life is not the mere fact that we have lived. It is what difference we have made to the lives of others that will determine the significance of the life we lead.” Those words sit behind our workshop doors when we hand-pour a Buchu & Charcoal Cold Process Soap Blok, blend Cape Rooibos into a Moisturising Blok, or choose compostable paper over glossy plastic. Mandela’s legacy demands more than admiration – it calls for practical choices that heal rather than harm.
The Cederberg Connection: Where Heritage Meets Habitat
About 250 kilometres north of Cape Town, the Cederberg’s ochre peaks rise from Fynbos-covered valleys. This is the world’s smallest floral kingdom, yet it boasts the planet’s highest plant diversity per square kilometre. Wild Buchu (Agathosma betulina) thrives here, cherished for centuries by the Khoisan people for its refreshing, herbaceous aroma and soothing properties. Buchu is also the beating heart of every Aardvel formulation. We harvest it responsibly, ensuring enough seed heads remain for natural regeneration and for local small-scale harvesters to earn a dignified wage.
That respect for place mirrors Mandela’s own commitment to custodianship. In 1995, soon after becoming South Africa’s first democratically elected president, he signed the amendments that created the Greater St Lucia Wetland Park (now iSimangaliso), protecting an irreplaceable ecosystem from titanium mining. It was one of many moments where he linked liberation with environmental justice. By protecting Buchu stands, minimising water in production, and shipping solid not liquid skincare, we strive to echo that linkage in our own modest corner of the Fynbos.
Waterless Formulas for a Thirsty Planet
Mandela famously said, “It is in your hands to create a better world for all who live in it.” In South Africa those hands often reach for a tap that might run dry. Cape Town’s Day Zero scare of 2018 still lingers in public memory, and rural communities in the Northern Cape face seasonal shortages every year. By crafting solid, waterless bars, we keep precious litres where they belong: in aquifers, rivers, and household buckets rather than in single-use plastic bottles lining a bathroom shelf.
Look at your typical 250 ml bottle of liquid shampoo. Up to 80 percent is water, shipped across oceans at an enormous carbon cost. By contrast, our Buchu & Lavender Shampoo Blok replaces fourteen such bottles. It lasts longer, lathers luxuriously, and slips neatly into a Recycled Plastic Travel Case made from locally collected ocean waste. Using Mandela Day as a call-to-action, imagine fifteen showers taken with a solid bar and not a single throwaway bottle left behind.
Plastic-Free by Design, Not Trend
Long before “zero waste” hashtags became social currency, South Africans carried groceries in woven baskets and wrapped sandwiches in cotton napkins. Resourcefulness is part of our cultural DNA. Mandela often spoke of drawing on ancestral wisdom to shape a modern nation, and we embrace the same philosophy when we choose minimal, biodegradable packaging. Each Skin Cleansing Blok or Hair Cleansing Blok comes in FSC-certified paper or cardboard sleeves. No cellophane, no hidden layers, no guilt.
Even the accessories are circular. Our Recycled Plastic Soap Tray channels beach-combed polymers into a durable, textured base that keeps bars dry and bathrooms elegant. In the words of Madiba, “Clean air and water, and a livable climate are inalienable human rights.” We humbly extend that conviction to packaging that neither pollutes the air during incineration nor clogs river systems on its way to the ocean.
Tree-Planting Through Tree Nation: A Collective 67 Minutes, Every Day
Mandela taught that service is not a moment, it is a movement. That is why every Aardvel purchase funds a tree through Tree Nation. Customers receive a digital certificate showing where their sapling is rooted, from the reforestation corridors of Tanzania to the mangrove estuaries of Madagascar. While one tree may not halt climate change, thousands create habitats, livelihoods, and carbon sinks. Over time, the ripple effect of small daily choices can outpace a single concentrated effort on 18 July.
When you redeem an Aardvel Gift Card for a Buchu & Tea Tree Moisturising Blok or a Buchu & Rosemary Shampoo Blok, your self-care ritual morphs into ecosystem care. That, in essence, is ubuntu – the interconnectedness Mandela championed so persuasively.
From Robben Island to the Fynbos: Lessons in Patience and Craft
Mandela spent 18 of his 27 prison years on Robben Island, hand-breaking limestone under a merciless sun. The act was gruelling, repetitive, and painfully slow, yet he later remarked that it taught him perseverance and presence. When we cure a cold-process soap for six weeks, waiting for pH levels to settle into skin-loving neutrality, we think of that lesson. Good things take time. Quick fixes, whether political or cosmetic, rarely endure.
Each bar is mixed, poured, cut, and stamped in batches of fewer than 120 units. We smell the peppery top-note of Buchu mingle with the balsamic undertone of Cape Cedarwood. We watch natural glycerine form crystalline swirls on the surface. Patience is literally baked into the bar, and the result is a cleanser that respects the fragile acid mantle of sensitive skin. Our customers with eczema often report that the Buchu & Tea Tree Cold Process Soap Blok calms flare-ups without the sting they associate with conventional foaming gels. It is a microcosm of Mandela’s ethos: slow, intentional action creating profound long-term change.
67 Minutes: A Practical Guide for Aardvel Friends
- Swap one bottled product for a bar.
- Collect litter on your local trail or beach.
- Brew Rooibos and Buchu tea for neighbours and share plastic-free living tips.
- Donate gently used towels to a women’s shelter along with a Skin Cream Blok for each resident.
- Plant indigenous spekboom or join an existing Tree Nation campaign.
Tag #AardvelUbuntu on social media so we can cheer you on. Our team will repost selected stories on the Aardvel Journal throughout July.
The Science of Buchu: Indigenous Wisdom Meets Modern Research
South African ethnobotanists have documented Buchu’s anti-inflammatory and antimicrobial properties, attributes we preserve by working at low temperatures and avoiding synthetic fragrance. A 2019 study published in the journal Molecules found that Buchu essential oil exhibits strong free-radical scavenging activity, supporting its traditional use for wound care and skin wellness. Mandela believed in education and the fusion of knowledge systems. By combining ancestral plant lore with contemporary cosmetic chemistry, we embody that very fusion.
Community, Not Commodity
Just as Mandela insisted that the fruits of democracy be shared, we invest in our harvesters and soap-smiths. Each Aardvel team member receives above-market wages, flexible working hours to accommodate childcare, and paid time off for community volunteering. These policies are not marketing fluff. They are our contribution to the South Africa Mandela imagined – a place where dignity is a baseline, not a bonus.
Looking Ahead: A Legacy in Every Lather
When you lather a Buchu & Rosemary Moisturising Blok between damp palms and inhale its resinous scent, you participate in a quiet revolution. You affirm that personal well-being can harmonise with planetary health, that packaging can be beautiful without being wasteful, and that commerce can serve community. On this Nelson Mandela International Day, we invite you to see each Aardvel bar as more than a skincare product. It is a tiny, tangible vote for the compassionate, resilient world Madiba dreamt about through prison bars and presidential speeches alike.
Thank you for walking gently with us.
References
- United Nations. “Nelson Mandela International Day” (General Assembly Resolution 64/13, 2009).
- Nelson Mandela Foundation. “Mandela Day: Take Action. Inspire Change.”
- Nelson Mandela. Speech at Kensington Oval, Barbados, 30 July 1998.
- Mkhize, Nonhlanhla et al. “Essential Oil Composition and Antioxidant Activity of Agathosma betulina.” Molecules, 2019.
- World Wide Fund for Nature South Africa. “Mandela’s Environmental Legacy,” 2013.
