Earth Day 2020 –Support Certified B Corps - For The Environment
Earth Day 2020 looks a lot different than Earth Day 2019. Pollution levels are down across the globe, air and water are clearer, and mountains are visible. While the underlying catalyst is the economic and health devastation caused by COVID-19, the reason for this environmental transformation is simply a significant reduction in emissions from factories and cars. Our direct environmental impact is no longer debatable. It is not theoretical, or something a scientist needs to try to explain. We stop producing emissions, and our world is cleaner.
However, business activity must and will return. Rather than aiming for a return to “normal”, we should aim for a to return to “better.” How do we return to “Better for the Environment?” By continuing to lower our personal environmental impacts and by choosing to move our buying power to companies that will not return to business as usual but will take this opportunity to reduce their environmental footprints.
Personal Impact
In my own life, the increased frequency of home cooked meals has measurably lowered my personal environmental footprint. I never enjoyed the planning, process and clean up that accompanied cooking, but the reality of the lockdown forced a new strategy. With limited opportunities to grocery shop, the need to use fresh items before they go bad results in healthy meals without the step of planning. My family eats every bite and there is minimal packaging so the amount of both composted food waste and of recycling / trash we produce as a family are meaningfully down.
That is my personal change, and although small in the grand scheme, it also makes our planet a little bit stronger, and I plan to continue this once restrictions are lifted. Your version is bound to be somewhat different, but could be equally meaningful to you. I have heard of all sorts of examples lately, from families planting their first garden, raising chickens, beginning a compost pile, to planning to continue to drive less and work from home more.
Holding Businesses Accountable
Our power to move the needle globally will also come from the ways that we hold our businesses accountable for their environmental footprints. When our economy reopens, companies will be compelled to return to business as usual. This translates to one factory at a time, one decision at a time, using the same equipment that has been polluting our air for decades. It means businesses requiring in-person meetings with long commutes to the office or choosing the cheaper supplier, the cheaper energy option, the cheaper transportation mechanism. These decisions can be impacted by us as consumer stakeholders. And there are companies that are already listening to us. These companies are called Certified B Corps. They adhere to rigorous social and environmental standards, and have earned the certification by running their businesses in a way that honors the planet, their workers, communities, and supply chains in addition to their financial goals.
This Earth Day, I encourage you to buy from Certified B Corps, such as these companies that are designated by B Lab as “Best for the World: Environment”:
Baby/Personal Care: https://bcorporation.net/directory/babo-botanicals
Wine: https://bcorporation.net/directory/a-to-z-wineworks
Beer: https://bcorporation.net/directory/new-belgium-brewing-co-inc
Tea: https://bcorporation.net/directory/numi-organic-tea
Home Goods: https://bcorporation.net/directory/seventh- generation, https://bcorporation.net/directory/bees-wrap, https://bcorporation.net/directory/preserve
And, of course, Patagonia: https://bcorporation.net/directory/patagonia-inc
Impact Growth Partners is a US-based, woman-owned, Certified B Corp. IGP's mission is to provide companies with specialized consulting services that improve their social and environmental impact and positions them as leaders of change. Reach out to us to hear more about joining this amazing community of businesses.