Healthy Environment

As most of you know, Seventh Generation cares deeply about the environment.  Since our founding in 1988, we have expressed our belief that business is one of the most powerful instruments for meaningful change on our planet. That's why we have taken steps as a small Vermont company to make an impact where we can by reducing our reliance on fossil fuels. 

Seventh Generation understands the concern over Canadian tar sands petroleum reserves. We want everyone to know that we are unequivocally opposed to the exploitation of Alberta’s environmentally-sensitive tar sands region and to the use of petroleum obtained from it. In fact, not only do we think that tar sands oil development—from the extraction methods used to the proposed international pipeline to the final product itself—is a very bad idea, we believe that petroleum use of any kind is inherently unsustainable and undesirable no matter where that petroleum comes from. We continue to call on companies and governments alike to do everything they can to end the age of fossil fuel addiction and create a renewably powered economy.

To that end, despite a world that remains very much locked in petroleum's grip, we're trying very hard to create a sustainable model others can follow by improving our energy efficiency and reducing greenhouse gas emissions in every corner of our company. Our efforts to reduce the use of fuel to ship our products to our customers have resulted in a 35% drop in greenhouse gas emissions per ton of product shipped in the last three years alone. We're also re-engineering our products themselves. Our Laundry Liquid formulas, for example, will soon use an innovative new surfactant made completely from vegetable ingredients instead of petroleum—a hard-won advance that has created the world’s first nearly 100% renewable, bio-based laundry detergent with performance comparable to conventional brands. 

In addition to working internally on our own systems and products, we've partnered with CERES and Business of Innovative Climate and Energy Policy (BICEP) to work toward passage of national legislation that will address the growing threats presented by the climate crisis. This legislation favors investments in renewable energy resources over dirty fossil fuels like those obtained from tar sands. 

We haven’t taken a specific stand against Canadian oil sources because we've always taken a stand against all oil use in general. As part of that belief, we're working with our logistics providers, including OHL, to find and implement meaningful alternative solutions with the power to eventually eliminate our use of petroleum altogether.

photo: ItzaFineDay