Have you ever noticed the expansive nature of small positive changes? Here’s an example: caring about our health leads to caring about the health of our family. In turn, this leads to caring about the health of our community and ultimately what unfolds is a profound concern for the health of our home, planet Earth.
Here's a real-life example from my professional home, Carlson, that illustrates exactly what I just described.
Plastic Neutral Packaging
At Carlson, we're as committed to protecting the health of the environment as we are to ensuring the high quality of every one of our products. In 2021, we joined IMPACT COLLECTIVE, a group of forward-thinking brands committed to a shared goal of making an immediate and positive impact on the health of our environment. We began our journey toward becoming plastic neutral by offsetting the plastic in a significant segment of our product line, including all of our omega-3 and children’s products.
This was done through investments in certified plastic removal projects taking place in our global waterways, which are the very source of our popular omega-3 products. One of our main missions is plastic removal and clean up in the Mediterranean. Each year, 570,000 tons of plastic end up in the Mediterranean waters, which amounts to 33,800 bottles per minute. Cleaning up our seas involves two important steps: first, stopping plastic waste from entering the sea and, next, working hard to clean up the plastic that’s already there.
Through our collaboration with IMPACT COLLECTIVE, we’ve partnered with local fisherman to efficiently and effectively clean the Grecian seabed. More than 229 medium-sized fishing boats have cleaned thousands of kilos of plastic from the sea – every week. The plastic is then recycled or upcycled. Plastic bottles are sent to a fashion company in Madrid that converts them into clothes. Fishing nets are sent to the environmental organization Healthy Seas, to be turned into useful products such as swimwear and socks. This reduces the amount of plastic and CO2 emissions produced to create new products, furthering our goal.
Going along with our mission of making our world cleaner and greener, through IMPACT COLLECTIVE, we’ve also partnered with the Arbor Day Foundation to plant 100 million trees where they’re needed most. The trees will absorb 8 million tons of carbon; remove 578,000 tons of chemical air pollution from the atmosphere; and intercept and filter 7.1 billion cubic meters of water runoff. The amount of water runoff offset is enough to fill a water bottle for every person on Earth daily for 5 years. 8 million tons of carbon is equivalent to taking 6.2 million cars off the road every year.
The old saying is, you are known by the company you keep. At Carlson, we celebrate our partnerships with these organizations that are making a difference, prioritizing our planet’s health, and empowering people to make a positive change.
Look for the Reduced Plastic Impact seal on bottles of Carlson omega-3 and Carlson for Kids® products. And please remember to recycle your Carlson bottle.
