Badger Honored by B Corp as ‘Best for the Environment’
Gilsum, New Hampshire (PRWEB) April 14, 2015 -- Today, W.S. Badger Co. Inc., a family-owned manufacturer of USDA certified organic body care products, was recognized for creating the most positive overall environmental impact by the nonprofit B Lab with the release of the fourth annual ‘B Corp Best for the Environment’ list. The list recognizes businesses that earned an environmental score in the top 10% of more than 1,200 Certified B Corporations from over 120 industries on the B Impact Assessment, a rigorous and comprehensive assessment of a company’s impact on its workers, community, and the environment.
“I am really proud to be running a company with my family that makes the environment a priority, and we’re very pleased with this recognition from B Lab,” said Emily Schwerin-Whyte, co-owner and vice president of sales and marketing at Badger. “As a mission-based business from the start, we’ve always worked to run a sustainable business that is about doing good things in the world. B Corp certification and the B Impact Assessment has helped us measure our impact and make decisions on a daily basis for the greater good of our employees, our community, and the environment.”
In addition to being recognized as ‘Best for the Environment’, Badger recently completed it third recertification as a B Corporation by achieving a B Impact score of 138, which is 58 points above the minimum score needed for certification. Badger attributes three things to achieving a higher overall B Impact score and making the 'Best for the Environment' list: becoming one of the first New Hampshire businesses in 2015 to register legally as a Benefit Corporation; sourcing ingredients from fair trade and small-scale suppliers around the world; and practicing sustainable water usage during the manufacturing process.
“Today’s honorees inspire all companies to compete not only to be best in the world, but best for the world. We hope many will take the first step by using the B Impact Assessment to measure and manage their impact with as much rigor as their profit,” said Jay Coen Gilbert, Co-Founder of B Lab, the nonprofit organization that certifies B Corporations and governs the independent third party standard used to generate the comparable assessment of corporate impact.
The B Corp ‘Best for the Environment’ list sets the gold standard for high-impact companies and demonstrates any type of company can use business as a force for good. Honorees recognized were among micro, small, and mid-sized businesses worldwide, including well-known cleaning product brands Method Products and Seventh Generation. The 116 ‘Best for the Environment’ companies come from industries such as manufacturing, software development, sewerage, and agriculture. Twenty-seven percent of honorees are based outside the US, with companies operating in emerging markets such as Brazil, Kenya, and Colombia. (Full list at bestfortheworld.bcorporation.net)
B Lab simultaneously released separate lists recognizing the companies ‘Best for the World’ (overall impact), ‘Best for Community’ (community impact), and ‘Best for Workers’ (employee impact) which can be found at bestfortheworld.bcorporation.net. A total of 350 companies were named 2015 Best For the World Honorees, including King Arthur Flour, d.light designs, New Belgium Brewery, and Cooperative Home Care Associates. The 2015 Best for the World Honorees represent nearly one-third of all B Corps, displaying a wide range of excellence throughout the community.
Each honored company is a Certified B Corporation. These companies use the power of business to solve social and environmental problems and have met rigorous standards of social and environmental performance, accountability, and transparency. Today there are over 1,200 Certified B Corporations, across 121 industries and 38 countries, unified by one common goal: to redefine success in business. Any company can measure and manage social and environmental performance at bimpactassessment.net.
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W.S. Badger Co. Inc. has produced quality, all-natural and certified organic body care products since 1995. Badger aims to provide a safe haven for those seeking natural solutions by creating organic and natural products that protect, soothe, and heal with ingredients safe for all.
Family-owned and family-run, Badger was born when Badger Bill, a carpenter at the time, discovered a recipe of natural ingredients strong enough to soothe his rough, dry and cracked hands. Now a team of about 75 employees, Badger produces almost all of the products in Gilsum, N.H. Badger is a certified B Corp, demonstrating its hard work to create a healthy business with ethical and charitable principles, and is one of New Hampshire’s first registered Benefit Corporations.
For more information, visit http://www.badgerbalm.com.
B Lab is a nonprofit organization that serves a global movement of people using business as a force for good. Its vision is that one day all companies compete not only to be the best in the world, but the best for the world and society will enjoy prosperity for all for the long term.
B Lab drives this systemic change by 1) building a community of Certified B Corporations to make it easier for all of us to tell the difference between “good companies” and good marketing; 2) passing benefit corporation legislation to give business leaders the freedom to create value for society as well as shareholders; 3) helping businesses measure, compare and improve their social and environmental performance with the free B Impact Assessment; 4) driving capital to impact investments through use of its B Analytics and GIIRS Ratings platform.
For more information, visit http://www.bcorporation.net.
Dee Fitzgerald, W.S. Badger Company, http://www.badgerbalm.com/, +1 (603) 283-5220, [email protected]
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