Three sustainability experts offer valuable guidance on building a climate plan from the ground up. Here’s how to go about engaging everyone—from grower to consumer to employee—and why this all matters in the world of natural consumer packaged goods.

3 Min Read
How to create a climate plan for your business
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"For this to be meaningful for your organization—for climate action to matter—you must look at your entire system. It's simply inadequate to look only within your four walls; you've got to incorporate the supply chain, too."

—Renauld des Rosiers, Amy's Kitchen

Part 1: Materiality and buy-in

Highlights:

  • There's no perfect formula to follow: It's as unique as your company's DNA. 

  • Figure out what's important vs. what's realistic, and what could have the biggest impact. 

  • Agriculture can be a great option to help mitigate climate change because of the huge ability of soil to build and retain carbon. 

  • Discover the nine commitment areas for The Climate Collaborative, and use these as a foundation for building your climate action plan.

  • You need a climate champion to keep this going and drive it through your company. 

 

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Part 2: Amy's Kitchen—a recipe for sustainability

Highlights:

  • Leverage your partnerships, especially when you have small departments and limited resources. 

  • Some 70 percent to 95 percent of value chain emissions are outside of a company's four walls; you have less control but your level of impact is potentially higher.

  • Peer collaboration: STFA, OSC2, the Climate Collaborative and Sustainable Packaging Coalition are just a few of the groups out there to support your efforts.

  • Third-party certification is a really good way to go in terms of making it real and concrete (e.g., True from GBCI, RE100, Science Based Targets, USDA Organic and more. 

  • Learn the barriers to climate action and how to overcome them. 

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Part 3: Farm to yum—our food choices matter

Highlights:

  • The food system now contributes to one-third of global greenhouse gas emissions; we're part of the problem but also part of the solution.

  • Several life cycle assessments (LCAs) revealed the biggest opportunities lie in the agriculture space, specifically in the supply chain. Annie's has a Code of Conduct for manufacturers and a Green Bernie award for top-performing suppliers.

  • Grassroots education on packaging raises consumer awareness around issues such as organic. 

  • Lead by example: LEED Gold certified HQ, Bay Area Green Business certification, 100 percent Energy Star laptops.

  • Annie's tracks everything: energy, waste and water use; roughly 81 percent of office waste is now diverted from the landfill. 

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Part 4: Climate mitigation conversion—the low-hanging fruit

Highlights:

  • Amy's moved to an automated case-packing system, resulting in 15 percent less outer case material used.

  • Long-term, Amy's is committed to R&D for "a product that doesn't yet exist:" renewable materials, made from plants, recycled back into the soil.

  • For the first time ever, dinosaurs are not cool when it comes to plastic packaging. 

  • Annie's has a different perspective, focused on education: find "a green hero" who's willing to take on the effort to engage your workforce. 

  • Financial savings can be one incentive for people, but you really need to engage your employees to see the value of sustainability.

  • Size of sustainability teams and how to work with limited resources. 

  • The WIIFM factor: What's in it for me? 

  • Tracking trash in the supply chain. 

This session—Climate 101: The Building Blocks of Climate Actions for Your Company—was recorded at Natural Products Expo West 2018.

 

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