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Healthy Environment

Submitted by sthompson2 on Sun, Apr. 03, 2011

We track the materials, ingredients, and packaging used in Seventh Generation products to help us report on and understand trends in our cradle-to-gate greenhouse gas emissions. As we work to improve our products, we are particularly focused on increasing the renewable and recycled content of our materials, so we track these performance measures very closely. Our future priorities will be guided by our new sustainability goals: The materials in our products will be composed of 100% renewable materials by 2015, and we will reduce our virgin plastic use 80% by 2014.

Our total materials use shrank 5.5% due to a small decrease in sales and a 7% drop in water use, which can be attributed to sales of our 2X concentrate laundry detergent. Other trends, such as the decline in total recycled and renewable materials, arise from changes in our product mix – notably the decline in paper sales and the significant increase in diaper sales in 2009.

Total Materials Use

The tremendous increase in our use of materials that are recycled is a tribute to the success of the redesign of our boxes (now 100% PCR) and our bottles (three are now 90% PCR). It’s gratifying to see our hard work reflected in these numbers. The impressive rise in our renewable materials reflects our efforts to increase the renewable carbon content in our products by eliminating synthetic ingredients. The 15.5% drop in our water use is a tribute to our sales of 2X concentrate laundry detergent. Our total materials use shrank slightly due to our decreased water use and the small decrease in sales.

Total Materials Use

Item 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009
Other 2,621 3,658 4,088 3,287 3,263 5,698 5,798 5,816
Plastic 388 621 1,039 1,316 1,551 2,920 3,339 3,443
Cardboard & Chipboard 501 691 971 1,429 1,347 2,075 2,397 2,271
Surfactants & Polymers 802 1,044 1,521 1,144 1,198 2,232 3,306 3,509
Organic Cotton - - 8 33 11 20 43 10
Paper 3,187 3,715 4,564 5,858 5,839 7,162 8,829 7,646
Water 2,523 2,823 4,595 7,460 8,666 15,275 16,042 14,876

Recycled Materials Use
Item 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009
Cardboard & Chipboard 44 65 85 227 231 351 395 359
Plastic PIR 95 100 112 0 12 33 58 114
Plastic PCR 38 39 131 245 241 446 441 477
Paper PIR 556 629 733 1,008 971 856 1,079 929
Carboard & Chipboard PCR 205 322 560 679 514 856 1,241 1,346
Paper PCR 2,532 2,864 3,341 3,851 3,674 3,955 5,003 4,237

PIR: Postindustrial recycled content. PCR: Postconsumer recycled content.

Renewable Materials Chart

Item 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009
Other Tons 657 851 1,250 162 449 888 1,565 1,832
Organic Cotton 0 0 8 33 11 20 43 10
Surfactants 0 0 0 722 755 1,430 2,149 2,292
Cardboard 501 691 971 1,429 1,347 2,075 2,397 2,271
Paper 3,187 3,715 4,564 5,858 5,839 7,162 8,829 7,646