Burts Bees Saves $25,000 a Year After Dumpster Diving
by Jaymi Heimbuch, San Francisco, California 
on 01.13.09
Photo via Burt's Bees
Burt's Bees employees stocked up two weeks of trash. They then suited up in Haz-Mat gear and dove in.
What they found is now saving them $25,000 a year and brings them much closer to their goal of sending zero waste to landfills by 2020.
By going through all that trash, employees found they weren't taking advantage of money- and waste-saving recycling opportunities. From what they learned with the experiment, they have now cut their waste stream in half, on top of the money savings.
Since setting their zero-waste goal 18 months ago, the company has cut their waste stream from 40 tons per month down to 10 tons. But going through their trash helped them figure out that there were things getting tossed that should have been recycled, and things that could be recycled if they're able to find outlets for them.
The excursion reinvigorated their efforts, and hopefully inspires more businesses to set similar goals. But it can do even more than that. It can inspire employees to change habits at work and at home.
"Once you've seen your garbage up close, it's hard to ignore it," jokes Shira E. Norman, a research consultant in the Chicago office of YRG Sustainability, a consulting firm that works with companies applying for LEED certification.While there may be a certain "yuck" factor to picking through your company's garbage, experts insist the exercise makes a strong impression on employees that can inspire behavior change with far greater impact than any written report or e-mail alert, Norman says.
There's nothing like hands-on experience to get minds to shift gears. And we're pretty certain wading through two weeks of trash is a pretty intense hands-on experience.
Via GreenBiz
More on the Impact of Trash:
The Great Pacific Garbage Patch: "Out of Sight, Out of Mind"
Recycling is Bullshit; Make Nov. 15 Zero Waste Day, not America Recycles Day
One Man's Mission: Not Throwing Any Trash 'Away' For 365 Days
Follow @TreeHugger on Twitter & get our headlines with @TH_rss!
Thirsty for more? Check out these related articles:
- Zero Waste—The Newest Eco-Fashion Innovation?
- Surf Green with Eco-Friendly Surf Gear
- Spring for Organic Dairy, Save Money Elsewhere
- iPhone 3GS: Snap Close-Up Pictures Like a Pro (Video!)
- Wa$ted Episode: Rockin' Out in Staten Island
- Green Glossary: Planet Bike
fantastic.
Then they cleaned up with anti-bacterial disinfecting bleach wipes supplied by their parent company: Clorox.
Great. They went through their own trash! Now people from companies like Chevron should follow and maybe go visit places where their mess is destroying other people's lives. Check out this blog to see what Chevron did in Ecuador
http://www.thechevronpit.blogspot.com
Great. They went through their own trash! Now people from companies like Chevron should follow and maybe go visit places where their mess is destroying other people's lives. Check out this blog to see what Chevron did in Ecuador
http://www.thechevronpit.blogspot.com
Someone needs to send them some decent beer!
I think I see how they could improve productivity: From the picture it looks like they're drinking on the job a bit too often ;).
I must agree with anna..
Also here is what they found....in bag one Hep A in bag 2 Hep B and .....you guessed it folks bag 3 with Hep C. Good job guys!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Please tell me that isn't actually a picture of their trash... at least 15 cases of beer in 2 weeks!! Woah... was that the motivation tool for BB employees to agree to dig through their trash?
Doubtful... This must have been taken outside of an auto manufacturing plant, especially with everyone 'sharing' cars these days.... sorry guys.
what did they find, got any specifics?
I certainly see a lot of beer boxes.
They need to do this in all aspects of society..schools, homes, businesses..etc
http://www.mainewoodscoalition.com/news/091506.html
The zero waste thing is just an attempt to help them save face. For those of you who don't know: Roxanne Quimby is slowly buying up chunks of the State of Maine for herself and squeezing out people who have owned the land for over a century. Not cool.
Did none of the commenters read the caption to the photo? It clearly states that this pile of trash is NOT Burt's Bees. It is just a random pile of trash.
Its this kind of news that makes me want to become a customer of this company for good.
It seems a bit unbelievable that a company that markets itself as socially and environmentally responsible, a leader even, wasn't even recycling basic materials until now. And more unbelievable Treehugger feels they desrve praise for this. Most Fortune 500 co's have long been reporting on recycling, with many recycling 80-99% of their byproducts
Recycling is even the law in some states. Has the bar fallen so low that we praise companies for long-overdue activities that are more compliance or cost cutting than true sustainability?
a) i may be blind, but where's the beer?
b) what's with all the hate? i know i'm not the only one who's been disenchanted by many involved in a sustainable movement by how arrogant and negative you are. i'm sure your farts smell like fair-trade organic goodness, but is it really necessary to be so negative toward people who are obviously trying?
This is some great news ,love it!