This week is Utah Climate Week and several local companies, including Young Living, are taking the lead to help share solutions focused on building a sustainable future for Utah.
Young Living Director of Sustainability Deven Patten joined us to tell us more about a pledge that organizations are taking.
The Utah Sustainable Business Coalition is a growing organization of more than 50 local businesses and community partners coming together to help improve the sustainability of the communities.
In honor of Climate Week, Patten says several companies in the coalition have made a pledge to drive sustainable business practices by investing in initiatives that make earth a better place.
Businesses like Young Living, Nu Skin, Adobe, Larry H. Miller and USANA have all made the commitment. Examples of the sustainability pledges include aiming to become a zero-waste facility, reducing carbon emissions and improving clean air.
You can find more information on the coalition at: utahsbc.org.
Patten also told us more about the initiatives Young Living is taking. The company is led by a vision to create a "healthy home for each of us, a healthy world for all of us". The company is anchored in a sustainable lifestyle.
As a global leader in essential oils, Young Living created the Seed to Seal program which is a rigorous set of industry-leading standards that is committed to providing pure products through the most environmentally conscious methods possible.
Some of their goals include:
- Achieving an 80% or greater landfill diversion rate at their Spanish Fork Distribution Center by the end of 2020.
- By the end of 2020, they will educate the entire employee force on proper recycling procedures.
- In 2021 they will perform a complete carbon accounting of their North America operations and implement practices to reduce their carbon footprint.
Young Living is committed to taking its global operations to zero waste and is well on track to make that a reality soon. Initiatives include recycling plastic bottles and making the switch to glass-only glass receptacles.
They will also reduce their carbon emissions through tree planting and farm water recycling.
Young Living is using sustainable packaging practices including using the "right-size" to avoid excess packaging, refuse materials deemed a risk for waste and looking first to recycled consumer content and/or sustainable materials.
Young Living partnered with The Nature Conservancy to create a conservation easement totaling 11,597 acres that will protect endangered animals and help preserve nature.
Young Living also donated $20,000 total to both the Arbor Day Foundation and TreeUtah. Over 5,000 trees were planted and will bring back much needed habitat restoration to Fish Lake National Forest right here in Utah.
And, in a nod to Young Living's Feather the Owl diffuser, they have donated over $100,000 this year to Tracy Aviary which will allow it to maintain operations and support conservation efforts amid the challenges from the COVID-19 pandemic.
You can find more information at youngliving.com.
