This is the second in a series of blogs focusing on various aspects of the Regenerative Movement: from soil and farming, to leadership, and personal growth. We will be interviewing the movement's leaders and highlighting people & organizations that are pushing the Regenerative Movement forward to create a more resilient world. You can see our first blog article here.
Know Where Your Products Come From
Cozy pajamas, holiday cookies, and a box of chocolates. All of these share more than being thoughtful gifts during the holiday season they all have agriculture at the root of their production. Whether it is the fiber in the pajamas or the butter in the cookies, the way these products are grown can either have a positive or negative impact on the environment and the people who produce them. Bringing a product to market has many complex steps, and often as consumers, it's easy to forget the importance of the stories behind the brand label.
Support the Regenerative Movement
Gaia Herbs recently joined other leading conscious brands such as Patagonia, Kashi, and Organic Valley at the Regenerative Earth Summit: Food, Fiber, and Climate Summit in Boulder, Colorado. This two-day event featured a farm to fiber fashion show and highlighted examples of some incredible brands in action that are working across their entire operations to support the Regenerative Movement. This Movement is based on building a global culture where we are moving from doing less bad, to actually doing good for both people and for the planet.
Our VP of Sales & Marketing, Elene Lécué, participated on a panel with leaders from companies such as Indigenous Designs, Eileen Fisher, and Prana, to discuss the importance of traceability and transparency in a company's operating ethos. Gaia Herbs is proud to be in the company of brands that know their responsibility is not just to shareholders, but to all stakeholders in the supply web from farmers and ranchers, to employees, and the environment.
Become a Conscious Consumer
Being a Conscious Consumer means knowing what types of relationships companies have with their suppliers, what agriculture practices they use, and what kind of wages they pay their workers before choosing to make purchases with a company. With a little background research, it is easy to find brands that support your personal value system. Certified B Corporations® or B Corps are a great place to start when researching brands that are committed to using Business as a Force for Good as these are for-profit companies that meet the highest level of third party verified social and environmental performance, public transparency, and legal accountability to balance profit and purpose. Learn more about the Gaia Herbs B Corp story.
3 Ways Conscious Consumerism Creates a Healthier Planet
Helps Reverse Climate Change
Conventional industrial agriculture is one of the leading causes of climate change, but at the same time, it also has the potential to radically transform the health of ecosystems and reverse climate change. The solution lies within the management of the soil. Soil rich in organic matter is able to sequester carbon from the atmosphere, drawing down CO2, and reversing climate change. Practices such as low-tillage, cover cropping, and crop rotations are used in Regenerative Agriculture and many companies are prioritizing this type of land management. You can see other companies that are also committed to this movement on the Carbon Underground's resource page as well as the Climate Collaborative Regenerative Agriculture commitment page.
Combats Environmental Toxicity & Pollution
Have you ever thought about the lifespan of the chemicals that go into the many everyday products that we use? From dyes used in clothes to pesticide run-offs from farms, business as usual practices have polluted the water we drink from, the soil that grows our food, and the air that we breathe. Being the world's largest industry, agricultural practices play a huge role in the health of our overall ecosystem and even our own personal health.
How can you help? To ensure that farm workers and the environment are safe from toxic chemical exposure, purchase Certified Organic products whenever possible, and if it is not Certified, ask questions about how that material was grown. At Gaia Herbs, we grow about 25% of the herbs that we use in our products on our Certified Organic Farm in Brevard, NC. For the herbs that we purchase that are not grown on our farm approximately 80% are Certified Organic and the remaining 20% are herbs that come from responsibly managed wild-harvested plants.
Contributes to Local Economic Development
Purchasing products from companies that pay a living wage to their suppliers and employees those that are growing the plants, grazing the cattle, or spinning the fiber is a way you can support people around the globe, to earn a living through a respectable job that is safe and free of forced labor. This money is often re-invested within their local communities, which leads to long-term community health. Gaia Herbs is proud to be a Certified Living Wage Employer and to prioritize working with supplier partners that have similar certifications such as Fair for Life.
Even Small Changes Can Make a Difference
Becoming a Conscious Consumer is a journey, and it takes time to reprogram our traditional buying habits. We hope you will join us in this worthwhile movement to transform the way business is done in order to make a positive impact in our local communities and beyond.