Long before he founded Shaklee Corporation in 1956, Dr. Forrest C. Shaklee understood the fundamental link between the health of people and the health of our planet. Dr. Shaklee believed that his own recovery from a life-threatening childhood illness had everything to do with the healthy natural environment in which he grew up – fresh air, clean water, fresh food, and lots of time to run, play – and to contemplate the powerful, positive effect of nature in our lives.

Dr. Shaklee’s thoughts about nature evolved into principles and philosophies about health, happiness and success that were decades ahead of their time. Many of these principles would later be understood as “sustainability.” Although that wasn’t a term Dr. Shaklee used, the words he did use, and the vision he created, imagined a company with principles of sustainability at its core.

Small Steps Add Up to a Big Effect

It was a big and bold investment for Shaklee to become the first company in the world to obtain Climate Neutral™ certification, and totally offset our CO2 emissions, resulting in a net zero impact on the environment. It was the perfect expression of our founding principles and that is why we have made the commitment to remain 100% carbon neutral each year.

But we also believe that small steps matter, because taken together, they add up to a big benefit – the ability of future generations to continue to enjoy the bounty and the beauty of nature.

Here are some of the recent “small steps” we’ve taken at Shaklee to do business more sustainably, with a lighter impact on the earth and its resources:

• Use of FedEx SmartPost® for packages up to 9 pounds reduces use of fuel, energy waste, and greenhouse gas emissions for the final step of order delivery.
• Right-sized shipping boxes, reducing packaging waste and the need for protective material during shipment.
• Increased the upper weight limit for product order shipping boxes from 26 to 35 lbs., which will eliminate the majority of two-box shipments, with reduction in fossil fuel energy use.
• Replaced high bay sodium vapor lighting at our Groveport Distribution Center with LED lighting which uses only ¼ the energy while producing less heat, reducing the need for cooling.
• Reduced water consumption at the Shaklee World Headquarters in Pleasanton by approximately 1,000,000 gallons annually by:
  • installing water softeners on all of our cooling towers
  • switching to drip irrigation systems versus pop-up sprinklers
  • installing aerators on faucets to reduce water flow from 1.5 gallons per minute to .5 gallons per minute, as well as low-flow shower heads and low-flow auto flushers, saving 1.5 gallons per minute per flush
• Replaced paper towels with air hand driers at Pleasanton, saving 2.5 tons of paper from being added to landfill annually.