English - The Clorox Company

PLANET
The
Greater Good
When Clorox acquired the Burt’s Bees ® brand in 2007, we
acquired not only a leading natural personal care brand,
but also an exemplar company in social responsibility.
The Burt’s Bees ® team follows a business model dubbed
The Greater Good that represents the highest ethical
choice that can be made to maximize the overall wellbeing
of people and the planet.
The Greater Good adheres to a set of beliefs that
helps guide the company and its actions, particularly as
it relates to the environment. After all, the company was
founded in 1984 on a foundation of earth-friendly natural
personal care products. The business nurtures a cycle
that is based on the belief that to take from nature, you
must also protect and provide for nature.
To this end, the business aspires to be “the greenest
personal care company on earth” and is working toward
a set of goals to achieve by 2020. Among these goals are a
carbon-free footprint, utilization of 100 percent renewable
energy, zero waste to landfills and Leadership in Energy
and Environmental Design certification for all facilities.
Already Burt’s Bees ® has achieved zero waste to landfill
at its manufacturing, distribution and office facilities, and
operating effectively in a carbon-neutral manner by buying
renewable energy certificates and carbon offsets to offset
their GHG footprint.
The Burt’s Bees ® business took employee involvement
to a new level in 2009 with the launch of “Live the
Greater Good,” a company-wide program that encourages
employees to formally and continuously integrate
environmental stewardship, social consciousness, natural
wellness and world-class leadership into their personal
and professional lives.
As the Burt’s Bees ® brand expands its products around
the world, the team is also exporting its greater good
philosophy and finding that it resonates with international
employees and consumers as well. This positive reception
is largely due to the degree of customization that is
encouraged in each country. The Burt’s Bees ® business
introduces its greater good model and values in each
country, and then its employees find ways to tailor it to
their particular areas of interest and passions. In Australia,
for example, educational programs and outreach efforts
are largely focused on biodiversity, an area of great
concern to Australian citizens.
It is hard to think of a better example than the
Burt’s Bees ® brand of the way good business and the
greater good can complement each other and, indeed,
grow and prosper together.
48 The Clorox Company | 2010 CRR