We’re delighted to announce Burt’s Bees first corporate social responsibility report, The Greater Good Social and Environmental Progress Report: 2008 and Before. It’s an account of where we are today on our road to truly sustainable business practices, and where we see ourselves headed in the near, and not so near future.
What an honor it is to enjoy the trust our consumers, partners, employees and other stakeholders place in our brand. We’re delighted by and thankful for the “personal relationship” you so often develop with the Burt’s Bees products you love. At the same time, we try to uphold our side of the relationship in the way we direct our operations, manage our workplace, manufacture and deliver our products and interact with our communities. This is what we believe corporate social responsibility is all about. It’s also what our report is about.
So while we've been on the job concocting earth-friendly, all-natural personal care and taking sustainability very seriously, what we've neglected to do is formalize our story in a CSR Report. Today, having finally taken this big step, we’re reflecting on the new lessons we culled along the way. A few things we learned:
1) For a candid picture of the impact a company has on society and on the environment, especially when it’s the first such effort, lots of that company’s people spend serious hours sifting through and delivering data, statistics, perspective and vision. And to paint that picture in an authentic, transparent way, those people need to be willing to hold nothing back. We think we were fortunate enough to find both and hope you’ll agree. Our thanks go to all who contributed, including our friends outside of Burt’s Bees who took time to read the report and enrich our process with their thoughtful commentaries.
2) A history of substantive data and standardized measures is the real beef of a CSR Report. As a company, we've only recently become champions of such discipline and writing this report has made its worth all the more apparent. While a shortage of hard core measures in some of our operations didn't discourage us from writing this first account, we recognize when it comes to practical metrics, consistent measures and grounded goals, more is better. And from here, we intend to go for more.
3) Most importantly, while one of our objectives for this report was to help you, our stakeholders, make informed decisions about Burt’s Bees commitment to sustainability, we discovered its added value as a guide for us and our own self assessment. The report clarifies and formalizes our road map, tells us where we are, and makes us accountable for getting where we say we want to be. To that end, you can expect regular updates on our progress towards our social and environmental goals.
Happy reading and we hope you’ll contact us with your questions and suggestions at csr@burtsbees.com
Yola Carlough
Director of Sustainability
Tuesday, September 9, 2008
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After reading this report, I have a new appreciation for the work that goes into a company’s first CSR report. I know first hand that it is extremely difficult for companies charting rapid growth (from mom & pop to mid-sized to a division of a publicly held company such as Clorox) to take the time from growth objectives to learn the skills required to engage in a CSR dialog. But I will hold your report out to others as a great example of how CSR works to promote brand equity, help companies communicate their core values to employees, and make exceptional strides in sustainability and in awareness. Well done!
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