Sustainability and social responsibility are at the very core of Seventh Generation's identity as a business. Today the company is the natural products industry leader in the paper products,
household cleaning, and baby diaper/wipe market segments. Through its packaging, web site, e-newsletter, booklets and presentations by their CEO, Seventh Generation provides information on its products and answers questions consumer most frequently ask about household products and their impact on the health of both people and the environment.
Innovation
Seventh Generation believes a name is more than just something to call a company; it is something the company and its employees should live by. So, in 1988 when a Native American employee suggested they draw inspiration from the Gayaneshakgowa, the Great Law of Peace of the hau de no sau nee - the Six Nations of the Iroquois Confederacy - which says "in our every deliberation we must consider the impact of our decisions on the next seven generations", the company name was born.
Seventh Generation seeks to provide effective, useful household products that will not harm the earth or its inhabitants. As the nation's leading brand of non-toxic and environmentally safe household products, its brand name products include non-chlorine bleached, 100% recycled paper towels, bathroom and facial tissues, napkins and paper plates; non-toxic, phosphate free, biodegradable cleaning, dish and laundry products; plastic trash bags made from 65-100% recycled plastic; natural spectrum light bulbs; and baby wipes. All products must be vegetable-derived, non-hazardous to the environment, biodegradable, phosphate free, chlorine free, not acutely toxic as used in the cleaning formulation, not chronically toxic, including non-carcinogenic and non-teratogenic, hypo-allergenic, minimal use of volatile organic compounds, not derived from animals, not tested on animals, and with no genetically modified organisms.
Impact
Since Seventh Generation products are made by manufacturing partners located in the U.S., Canada, and Europe, the majority of its environmental impacts occur in the supply chain and in the transportation, use, and disposal of its products. According to the company's 2003 CSR report, from 1988 to 2003, purchases of Seventh Generation products have saved 346,300 trees; 622,800 cubic feet of landfill space or enough waste to fill 920 garbage trucks; 1,397,400 gallons of petroleum, enough to heat and cool 80,000 U.S. homes for a year; 130,316,200 gallons of water, enough to supply 1,000 families of four for one year; and 19,313,500 pounds of greenhouse gas emissions, the kind that cause global warming. Between 2001 and 2003, they initiated changes to improve the environmental performance of their products.
In 2003, they began bypassing their warehouses and shipping significant amounts of Seventh Generation products directly from suppliers to customers. These shorter direct shipments resulted in measurable reductions in transportation pollution. That same year they introduced chlorine free diapers after convincing a European factory to switch from manufacturing elemental chlorine free pulp, which is bleached with chlorine dioxide, to manufacturing totally chlorine free pulp, which uses no form whatsoever of this hazardous chemical. This important change eliminated the mill’s release of organochlorines, an extremely dangerous family of deadly pollutants created when wood pulp reacts with chlorine during the bleaching process.
Inspiration
“In our every deliberation, we must consider the impact of our decisions on the next seven generations.”
From The Great Law Of The Iroquois Confederacy
Seventh Generation believes the environment is only temporarily entrusted to us and our actions upon it will affect it well into the future. Its name was chosen to reflect not only its philosophy but its dream of restoring and protecting the earth for our children and all who will follow in our path.
The World Inquiry editorial team edited this profile from the original submission of the interviewer or other source. The views expressed do not necessarily represent Case Western Reserve University, the Weatherhead School of Management or the Center for Business as an Agent of World Benefit. More >>
