Our Mission to Create the Most Sustainable Supplement Brand

This word gets thrown around a lot. When you hear most companies use it, you can tell that they are just trying to check a box for compliance and consumer preference. Our goal is to do so much more than that and push what it means to be sustainable.

Sustainability isn't that simple. It's way more than just "not using plastics" or using "organic" ingredients. There are three main areas that our company really focuses on when trying to be sustainable.

Packaging,

Operations,

Ingredients.

When we chose what type of packaging we wanted to use, there were 3 boxes we wanted to check.

First, it needed to be environmentally friendly material.

Second, it needed to protect our product by keeping it protected from the elements and by also not leaching anything into it.

Third, we needed to look into what went into the actual producing of the materials.

Yes, the sustainability rabbit hole is deep. Here is SOME of what we found.

• Plastic stays around for thousands of years if it’s not recycled, but it’s way less energy intensive (produces less emissions) than producing glass.
• Glass is more energy intensive, but it can be recycled indefinitely, though since it’s quite heavy, it trucks (and whatever else) that transport it burn more fuel.
• Cardboard can even be just as bad due to all of the processing that it goes through, transporting, and cutting down trees.
  
  
  

There's not a one-size fits all solution, and every company may be different.

For us, we decided to go with non-plastic, 100% compostable bags (and scoop).

These bags take about as much energy as a new plastic mylar bag, and have no plastic leaching into the product.

The environmental upside is huge, as these bags can literally break down in a home garden.

However, we know not everyone composts and these bags will release methane as all organic matter does if it ends up in a landfill. This is why we greatly encourage our customer to try and compost these bags, as this is the best thing that they can do with these bags after they are done.

Though these bags are expensive (nearly $3 per bag, plastic bags can be 10 cents) we'd rather our bottom line take the hit than the planet.

Using paper mailers keeps the weight down also.

We chose to be a remote team, not having a physical office. This means we use less of everything and do not have to drive anywhere.

We do, however, have our own manufacturing facility. Most supplement brands use a shared facility to product all of their supplements. This can work from a sustainability perspective. However, it is very tough to monitor the practices of a manufacturer, such as their environmental footprint and employee conditions.

We therefore have chosen an in-house method of manufacturing and of course, have all of the certifications that are needed to do so.

When it comes to ingredients, our greatest concerns are:

1. Will this help people?

2. Is there strong science behind it?

3. Is it from the best source available? Is it ethically grown?

Because of this, we don't have anything in our products that shouldn't be there. The supplement industry is FILLED with products and ingredients that just simply don't need to be a thing, having no science behind it.

We also make sure that none of our ingredients are made using unfair labor conditions.

Sustainability isn't a set it and forget it type of thing. You have to continuously monitor your footprint and improve your practices if you want to truly stay as sustainable as you can. We will keep making improvements, as everyone should.