"Welcome to our 30-year journey in Solar Living and I hope you enjoy learning all about how to make the world and your own life more fulfilling, passionate, and sustainable." — John Schaeffer, President & Founder
Environmental Responsibility
We have continued as a major supporter of the nonprofit Solar Living Institute, a green living and renewable energy learning mecca that hosts 200,000 visitors a year. In 2006 we sponsored an SLI Earth Day for Kids field trip for 50 inner-city fifth graders. In May 2007, the SLI hosted its second group of disadvantaged kids - around 50 elementary schoolers from Bret Harte Elementary School in the very poor Hunter's Point district of San Francisco. Many of these kids had never been across the Golden Gate Bridge, let alone to an envrionmental paradise.
Gaiam launched the world’s first carbon-neutral product shipping program in 2006. Partnering with The Conservation Fund, we created our Go ZeroSM program to involve our millions of customers in climate-change action and build awareness about the impact of carbon dioxide emissions.
We have offset our corporate carbon footprint by purchasing nearly 1,500 trees through Go Zero to offset the CO2 impact of our operations at our headquarters and distribution center. We also prevented 136,000 pounds of carbon emissions by offering free EcoPass mass transit passes to employees at our headquarters.
Real Goods earned elite Forest Stewardship Council certification recognizing our strict responsible paper production standards. In 2007 we upgraded our catalog paper from 20% to 30% post-consumer recycled content. By using nonvirgin fibers in our catalogs, we’ve saved nearly 50,000 trees and 9 million pounds of greenhouse gases.
The number of catalogs our customers receive is based on past purchasing activity. We encourage customers to request limiting the number of catalogs we send them and to shop our web site, where all products are featured, allowing customers to stop receiving catalogs entirely.
We use 100% recyclable and biodegradable eco-conscious packaging for all media. Designed to make the smallest environmental footprint possible, the lightweight, tough and resilient packaging is made from 100% post-consumer waste and is printed with soy-based ink.
Real Goods is committed to zero-waste standards at our corporate office, adding composting collection to an already robust recycling program that includes materials not collected in most businesses, such as paperboard and yogurt containers. We reuse shipping containers and use biodegradable packing at our distribution center, and provide opportunity for employees to join off-site stream cleanups and Habitat for Humanity projects.
Social Responsibility
We have partnered with Fair Trade, an organized social movement that promotes standards for international labor, environmentalism, and social policy, empowering artisans to maintain cultural traditions and create better lives for their families and communities. We travel the globe to find fair trade partners, providing livable wages, skills training and sustainable business development — helping to break the cycle of poverty. Our growing list of Fair Trade partners includes artisans in Cambodia, India and Vietnam.
Real Goods does not knowingly do business with any companies that do not adhere to basic humanitarian practices. We screen our factories for a commitment to social responsibility and fair wages as well as efficiencies in materials usage. We demand a minimum of compliance with local labor standards in all Real Goods contracted factories and we are investigating codes of conduct and international monitoring programs in order to verify the quality of working conditions and fair wages in our partner factories.
