In packaging and more, finding every way to grow sustainability

We grow sustainability the same way we grow our food: with integrity, commitment and creativity. The fact is, when you start doing things the right way for the right reasons, you can't stop short. That's why we were the first in the industry to make our clamshell salad packages from 100% post-consumer recycled plastic, and why we keep searching for ways to reduce waste, save energy and employ renewable resources.
 

Goodness in a package

At Earthbound, we believe that the good we do the Earth by producing organic food can't stop there — so we constantly look for ways to extend sustainable practices throughout our business. That explains our zeal in using 100% post-consumer recycled polyethylene terephthalate (PCR PET) plastic for our clamshell salad packages. PCR PET is made from plastic consumer products like soda or water bottles that were previously used and then recycled. It requires less energy and water to produce, generates fewer greenhouse gases than virgin plastic, and diverts reusable materials out of the waste stream.

What can you do as a consumer? Look for PCR information on the package whenever you buy a product. That way, when you recycle your plastic beverage bottles, you’ll know there’s somewhere useful for them to go.
 

Keeping score by the numbers

Sustainability isn't just the right idea. We do the math to make sure our choices add up to a measurable difference. This list is just a start; we keep making improvements, and we count everything we do — because the planet is counting on us. 
 

By farming organically on more than 53,000 acres, in 2013 alone we will keep out of the environment:

• 620,000 pounds of toxic and persistent pesticides
• 18.4 million pounds of synthetic fertilizers
• 3 million gallons of petroleum used in petroleum-based chemicals
• 137.5 million pounds of carbon dioxide absorbed by the organic soil in our fields (as much as taking more than 12,600 cars off the road)
   

By using 100% PCR PET instead of virgin plastic for our salad clamshell packages, each year we save:

• 300,000 million BTUs (MMBTUs) of energy
• 10,000 tons of carbon dioxide emissions
• 2 million pounds of solid waste
   

By using shipping cartons made from 99% post-consumer/1% post-industrial recycled corrugate, annually  we save:

• 65,500 million BTUs (MMBTUs) of energy
  (about as much as 721 average homes use in a year)
• 65.4 million gallons of water
  (enough to fill about 99 Olympic swimming pools)
• 165,400 trees
• 21.1 million pounds of CO2 emissions
  (about as much carbon dioxide as 1,917 cars emit in a year)
• 9.5 million pounds of solid waste
  (about 342 fewer garbage truckloads sent to the landfill)