At method, we look at our supply chain as a vast opportunity to create social and
environmental change. We aren't happy only to reinvent cleaning products; we also
want to reinvent the ways in which they are made. We consider the impacts of our
supply chain, the wide array of ingredient and material suppliers, factories and
distributors, as our own impacts. So we take responsibility for improving them.
To do this, we invite all of our suppliers and manufacturers to work with us towards
the ultimate goal of zero-waste manufacturing, under a program we call Method
Greensourcing. Under this program, we monitor and audit our suppliers
to find ways to reduce waste, to save energy, to eliminate water use, and to use
closed-loop manufacturing practices wherever we can.
The strategies we employ are manifold, but some of the areas we focus on are:
- 1. Waste - our goal is to eliminate it all together. Have factories
that recycle 100% of their cardboard
and 100% of their shrink wrap, so
that nothing goes to the landfill. We are constantly looking for ways to design
out waste, and we're sharing best practices across our company
- 2. Toxics - simply put, we don't use any. Our products are based
around the Precautionary Principle, which essentially says "if there's a chance
it's bad, don't use it", rather than waiting for "burden of proof" to tell us it's
bad. More simply put, DDT did not become toxic on the day it was banned.
- 3. Energy - we are carbon neutral in 100% of our manufacturing,
office operations, and employee commuting in travel. We achieve this through a combination
of energy reduction, alternative fuels, generating
our own solar energy, and
offsetting everything else. Check out our
solar or biodiesel programs for examples.
- 4. Water - we have factories that put nothing down the drain and recycle 100% of the water we use
to make method products, but we have some that don't. We're working on making every
factory that way.
We invite you to take a look at our Greensourcing program. Read it, dive deep, and
let us know what you think. It's been working great so far. In partnership
with our suppliers, we are making method more responsibly every day. But we have
a long way to go!
