Sustainability is a pretty big idea. If you're like me you wonder: "What can I possibly do to make a difference?". Especially when some of us live and work in areas that don't even support recycling!
And, what does "sustainability" even really mean anyway? So, I looked it up. According to the United Nation's Brundtland Commission, sustainability means
"meeting the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs"
Being in manufacturing, the issues of environmental sustainability seem to come up a lot. While we may not be able to do as much as we'd like, I figure evey little bit helps. And, if everyone did a little bit it would make a huge difference overall.
Here's how the Dr. Wong's Essentials® family is bringing sustainability to our little part of the planet...
- Environmentally
- Socially
Recyclable Cardboard Boxes: are used in our packing/ shipping department for every package we ship from our offices.
Biodegradable Cellophane Candy Wrappers: are used in every bottle of product to keep the capsules from becoming damaged during handling and transit. Also compostable and produced from sustainably grown cottonwood trees. You can read more about them on this blog post: Cellophane Candy Wrappers
Recyclable Newsprint: is used in smaller packages to ensure each bottle arrives in perfect condition.
Recyclable Peanuts: are used in larger packages to ensure each bottle arrives in perfect condition.Oh, and the peanuts do offer some insulation against the cold and heat during shipping as well!
No Plastic Bottles: We supply our employees with water from a reusable 5 gallon water dispenser to reduce the plastic bottle impact in our local landfills. The water we purchase is from a local sustainable source with its own unique "healing" history. Click "here" if you'd like to find out more about the "Crazy Water" we offer to our employees.
Charitable Contributions: There are some environmental organizations that we support and you can read about them on our "Giving Back" section of our about us page.
Recycling Old Office Equipment: To keep our old office equipment out of landfills, we donate them to programs for recycling.
Future Ideas: In this industry, companies are just beginning to look into creaging plant based plastic bottles or recyclable bottles and so they aren't available yet. But, we are watching the market to see when they become available in a form and size usable for our products.
Made in the USA: Every Dr. Wong's Essentials® product is manufactured in the USA. In fact, we manufacture all of our own products in-house which gives us the unique ability to:
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- make sure the people who are responsible for making the products are taken care of and
- ensure the end products are manufactured to our exact specifications.
Competitive Wages: Every employee is paid at or above the industry standard for their job description.
Flexible Scheduling: People have lives, plain and simple. And, sometimes family "issues" need to be addressed so an employee and their family can be healthy and happy. So, we do have flexible scheduling to accommodate those unexpected issues.
Safe Working Environment: The safety of our employees is very important to us. We do everything we can to ensure a safe working environment for all of our staff.
Furthering Education: Education is very important to Dr. Wong and so we do support our employees who wish to take extra classes or get a degree by paying a portion of their class tuition as well as working with their scheduling needs while attending class.
Community: We are always looking for new ways to support our local community. From supporting our local Read to Ride program, making donations to local food banks, giving items to local charities as well as supporting our local Chanber in their fundraising and charitable projects.