Herbalist & Alchemist, the first herbal products company to become a Certified B Corp, released its annual sustainability report, which shows that the company continued to exceed environmental benchmarks in the past year.

The report recaps progress made in 2024 with prioritization of the company’s zero-waste program, sustainable sourcing initiative, and multi-scope emissions accounting.

“When we initially worked for B Corp certification in 2010, the process created a benchmark that we use to continually ask ourselves what more we can do, a process that continues,” said Beth Lambert, CEO. “After establishing our green team, with members from each department working together to find more ways to be sustainable, we’ve achieved far more than we thought possible 15 years ago.”   

In 2021, Herbalist & Alchemist qualified for Zero Waste certification for the first time, which requires that less than 10% of waste is landfilled, and the other 90% is diverted, reused, donated, or composted. In 2024, the company reduced the amount of waste landfilled to 4% (602.84 pounds), which is less than half of the amount of garbage the average American produces in one year (1,788.5 pounds).

The company recycled 11,079 pounds of material, upcycled 1,555 pounds, and generated 6,242 pounds of compost. Marc, the natural byproduct of fresh herb production, becomes a high-quality compost distributed to local farmers. All paper towels, which were previously one of the main landfilled items, are turned into compost by a specialty service.

H&A’s Scope 1 direct greenhouse gas emissions for the entire company are comparable to what a family of four produces. The company utilizes energy-saving technology and sources locally whenever possible, including from local farmers and wildcrafters, to reduce Scope 2 and Scope 3 emissions.

The company believes carbon-storing regenerative agriculture is essential to combating climate change, and it sources many raw materials from growers that follow practices in line with regenerative agriculture, organic, permaculture, biodynamics, regenerative organic, forest-grown, FairWild, ecologically and ethically wildcrafted, wild-simulated, non-GMO, grown naturally, and organic-compatible standards.

Over the years, the green team has found new ways to divert materials that were once landfilled. The fresh herbs H&A produces have to be kept cool with ice packs during shipping, which are then donated to local children’s camps and food pantries. The 55-gallon drums become rain barrels or raised vegetable beds, and are used for equine barrel racing.

The company has also reduced the size of its shipping boxes, replaced bubble wrap with plant-based material for smaller items, and collaborated with TerraCycle and SustainAbilities.

“David and I are so proud of our Green Team leadership and our whole staff for their commitment to sustainability,” said Lambert. “We truly believe that managing by principles that are good for people and the earth contributes to the long-term sustainability of our business.”