This website requires certain cookies to work and uses other cookies to help you have the best experience. By visiting this website, certain cookies have already been set, which you may delete and block. By closing this message or continuing to use our site, you agree to the use of cookies. Visit our updated privacy and cookie policy to learn more.
This Website Uses Cookies
By closing this message or continuing to use our site, you agree to our cookie policy. Learn More
This website requires certain cookies to work and uses other cookies to help you have the best experience. By visiting this website, certain cookies have already been set, which you may delete and block. By closing this message or continuing to use our site, you agree to the use of cookies. Visit our updated privacy and cookie policy to learn more.
Beverage Industry logo
search
cart
facebook twitter linkedin youtube
  • Sign In
  • Create Account
  • Sign Out
  • My Account
Beverage Industry logo
  • Home
  • Magazine
    • Current Issue
    • Digital Edition
    • Archives
    • Annual Manual
    • Newsletter
    • Contract Packaging Guide
  • News
    • Top 100 Beverage Companies
    • 2019 State of the Industry
  • Category Focus
    • Carbonated Soft Drinks
    • Bottled Water
    • Juice & Juice Drinks
    • Sports Drinks
    • Tea and Coffee
    • Energy Drinks & Shots
    • Alternative Drinks
    • Beer
      • Beer Market Report
      • Craft Beer Report
    • Wine & Spirits
    • Cannabis Beverages
    • Plant-Based Beverages
  • R&D
    • Beverage R&D Features
    • Ingredient Spotlight
    • Beverage R&D News
  • Packaging
    • Packaging Material
    • Packaging Equipment
    • New Packages
    • The Packaging School
  • Operations
    • Plant Focus
    • Distribution
      • Fleet Graphics Award
    • Supplier News
  • New Products
    • New Products
    • Product Poll
    • New Product Submission Form
  • Directories
    • Annual Manual
    • Take a Tour
    • Contract Packaging Guide
  • More
    • White Papers
    • Market Insights
    • Market Research
    • Store
    • Custom Content & Marketing Services
    • Events
    • Polls
    • The Beverage Forum
    • BevOps Fleet Summit
  • Multimedia
    • Videos
    • Image Galleries
    • Podcast
    • Interactive Product Spotlights
    • Webinars
  • Contact
    • Advertise
    • Contact Us
Home » 1% for the Planet champions environmental causes
Marketing

1% for the Planet champions environmental causes

Beverage companies team up with environmental nonprofit

Network Action Logo
(Image courtesy of 1% for the Planet)
September 15, 2016
Barbara Harfmann
KEYWORDS nonprofit organization / sustainability
Reprints
No Comments

With myriad issues impacting the planet, including climate change, dwindling rainforests and food waste, the nonprofit organization 1% for the Planet, in partnership with more than 1,200 member organizations and thousands of nonprofit partners in 40 countries, has been championing environmental change since 2002.

Celebrating its 15th anniversary next year, the Burlington, Vt.-based environmental nonprofit organization was founded by businessmen and environmentalists Yvon Chouinard and Craig Matthews, who launched clothing company Patagonia and fly fishing equipment company Blue Ribbon Flies, respectively. An “a-ha” moment while fishing in Montana was what led these two entrepreneurs to expand into the nonprofit sector, says 1% for the Planet Chief Executive Officer Kate Williams.

 “They realized that businesses have an opportunity and obligation to give back to and invest in the natural systems that support all economies,” she explains. “Their first project was to pool business resources to protect the very fishing area where the idea was born, exemplifying the inspiration of their own passion for the outdoors.”

From the initial idea, the 1% for the Planet network has grown to include diverse businesses from around the globe focusing on a variety of environmental issues ranging from reducing food waste to removing trash from oceans, the organization says. 

 “Companies donate at least 1 percent of sales directly to approved nonprofit organizations in our network, such as 350.org, Food Corps, the National Forest Foundation and Waterkeeper Alliance,” Williams explains. “… But the awesome part of our organization is that there are many ways members can fulfill their donation beyond writing a check.

 “… Our member businesses volunteer, donate product and run advertisements featuring the great work that their nonprofits do,” she continues. “In the last year, we’ve seen members bring employees out on service days in local community gardens, provide pro-bono legal advice and more. … Not only does it benefit the nonprofits, but it also serves as a great brand-building strategy by helping members more deeply engage with their staff and consumers around their company values.”

Bound together by a shared commitment to caring for the planet, the network has given more than $150 million to approved nonprofit organizations, according to Williams. Beverage companies, like Honest Tea, an independent operating unit of The Coca-Cola Co.; Finlandia Vodka, a division of Brown-Forman Corp.; Spindrift, and Maine Beer Co., have given more than $10 million to date, she adds.

 Member organizations, like Bethesda, Md.-based Honest Tea, can use the 1% for the Planet logo on their certified product line, helping increase the global impact of the 1% for the Planet brand. In return, the 1% for the Planet model provides third-party certification to a company’s giving, Williams explains.

“The health of the planet has always been at the core of Honest Tea’s mission,” Williams says. “They have been a 1% for the Planet member with their glass bottle product line sales since 2014 and have given generously to organizations such as FoodCorps, which helps to increase transparency around the way food is produced, distributed and consumed.”

Creating meaningful impact

Bringing awareness and solutions to broad issues like how energy is sourced, how to restore endangered habitats and rainforest preservation are among the ways member business and nonprofit partners are creating a meaningful impact, Williams says.

Beverage companies also are behind several causes. For example, because Finlandia Vodka is made with glacial spring water, the Helsinki, Finland-based brand supports Protect Our Winters and the New York/New Jersey Baykeepers, which focus on solutions to the water issues facing the planet, Williams says.

New York-based Juice Generation, which makes sustainably produced smoothies, is dedicated to giving more people access to healthy food. Through its partnership with Harlem Grown, a New York City nonprofit organization, the company funded three school garden projects, which grow 500 pounds of local food and help feed 800 children, she adds.

Additionally, Boxed Water is Better, Grand Rapids, Mich., and beauty supply company Caudalie, New York, have teamed up with the National Forest Foundation to support tree-planting initiatives in U.S. national forests throughout the next three years.

With 12 employees in the United States and additional capacity in France and Japan, 1% for the Planet is “a growing network of people paying it forward for the future of our planet,” Williams says.

More consumers also are committed to making a difference. According to New York-based Nielsen’s report titled “The Sustainability Imperative,” 66 percent of consumers say they’re willing to pay more for products and services provided by companies that are engaged in corporate social responsibility (CSR) initiatives.

Williams adds: “Consumers want their purchases to count — not just for them, but for the causes they care about. There is, in fact, a growing sense of urgency that is the context in which CSR initiatives are really resonating. Through the 1% for the Planet network, we are helping to build this awareness by bringing together dollars and doers to focus on the most pressing issues.”

Subscribe to Beverage Industry

Recent Articles by Barbara Harfmann

Premium tea ingredients leading the way in beverage development

Infographic: Better-for-you natural products continue upward trajectory

Warehouse management and control systems optimize fulfillment strategies

Beverage industry furthers initiatives to protect the planet

New blow-molding equipment fulfills lightweight design for PET

Barbara-h200x200

Barbara Harfmann, managing editor of Beverage Industry, visits beverage companies for cover stories and facility tours, and writes and edits for the magazine’s print and online components. She also represents the magazine at trade shows and events. She earned a Bachelor of Science in Mass Communications and Public Relations from Illinois State University.

Related Articles

Honest Kids available at Subway restaurants

Honest Tea asks consumers to pay with honesty

Fiji Water joins 1% for the Planet

The Adventurous Consumer named No. 1 trend for 2019

Related Products

The Soft Drinks Companion: A Technical Handbook for the Beverage Industry

You must login or register in order to post a comment.

Report Abusive Comment

Subscribe For Free!
  • Print & Digital Edition Subscriptions
  • Beverage Industry Insider eNewsletter
  • Online Registration
  • Subscription Customer Service

More Videos

Popular Stories

2019 Beverage Innovations of the Year

2019 Beverage Innovations of the Year

Pepsi Sparkling Rose

Pepsi launches Sparkling Rosé at BravoCon

Fairlife Smart Snacks Beverages

Repositioning beverages could aid dairy, non-dairy markets

Owyn protein drink.

Plant-based options gain consumer appeal

PRESS Hard Seltzer

PRESS Premium Alcohol Seltzer meets consumers’ flavor needs

How To, Directory Videos

Events

January 1, 2030

Webinar Sponsorship Information

For webinar sponsorship information, visit www.bnpevents.com/webinars or email webinars@bnpmedia.com.

View All Submit An Event

Poll

Bottled Water Trends

What bottled water trend will see the most gains in 2020?
View Results Poll Archive

Products

Beverage Quality and Safety

Beverage Quality and Safety

Based on an IFT short course, Beverage Quality and Safety offers information on the latest beverage industry trends related to products, processing, and packaging technologies - including new generation nutraceutical beverages

See More Products
webinars and events

Beverage Industry Magazine

Beverage Industry - November 2019

2019 November

Beverage Industry’s November issue highlights the 100-year advocacy of the American Beverage Association and what’s next for CEO Katherine Lugar and a new plastics initiative, Every Bottle Back. This issue includes a special report on craft beer, an Up Close With feature on PRESS hard cider and what is sparking innovation in natural colors. Read more about how protein is powering up beverages and how warehouses are using WMS and WCS systems to streamline operations. As usual, the latest trends in new products, packaging and ingredients are highlighted.

Check back throughout the month for additional content.

View More Create Account
  • More
    • Subscribe
    • Annual Manual
    • Connect with BI
    • Editorial Guidelines
    • eNews
    • Featured Products
    • Food & Beverage Brands
    • List Rental
    • New Products
    • New Product Submission Form
    • Polls
    • Reprints
    • Survey And Sample
    • Want More?
    • Privacy Policy
  • Exclusives
    • Beer Market Report
    • White Papers
    • Videos

Copyright ©2019. All Rights Reserved BNP Media.

Design, CMS, Hosting & Web Development :: ePublishing