We are in the middle of Earth Week, a time each year when we focus on the social, environmental and economic challenges facing our world today. At GOJO, we honor this week, and every week, by celebrating our commitment to creating Sustainable Value for all GOJO stakeholders.
Sustainability is inherent to the GOJO Purpose, Saving Lives and Making Life Better Through Well-Being Solutions, and living our Purpose allows us to have a positive impact on public health and the world in which we all live.
In honor of our celebration of Earth Week, I would like to share with you some of the milestones we have achieved along our sustainability journey. These accomplishments have brought with them opportunities for us to learn, share and collaborate with other organizations and individuals who share a similar commitment to sustainability.
- 1946 – Introduced a safer, gentler alternative to the harsh and carcinogenic chemicals used by factory workers to clean their hands.
- 1952 – The Lippmans, who founded GOJO, developed and patented the world’s first portion-controlled dispenser that was in part made from recycled components to reduce product waste.
- 2006 – First to introduce green certified soap, with certification from EcoLogo™.
- 2009 – Held our first GOJO Sustainability Summit, where we gathered hundreds of internal and external stakeholders to declare our commitment and identify specific priorities.
- 2010 – Launched PURELL® Green Certified Instant Hand Sanitizer, the world’s first green certified hand sanitizer.
- 2010 – Declared our first phase of sustainability goals for reductions in water usage, solid waste generation and greenhouse gas emissions by 2015.
- 2013 – Established our first generation Sustainable Chemistry and Packaging Policies to focus on guiding the selection of ingredients and materials to develop effective solutions with an even higher human and environmental safety profile.
- 2013 - Exceeded our operational sustainability goals, which were established in 2010, two years early.
- 2013 – Received the Summit of Sustainability Award for our commitment to social, environmental and economic sustainability efforts.
- 2015 – Announced our complete, non-antimicrobial soap portfolio now carries EcoLogo™ Certification.
- 2015 – Announced our 2020 Sustainable Value Strategies and Goals, a bold set of goals focused on creating value throughout our value chain that includes reducing our chemical footprint by 50% by 2020.
- 2016 – The PURELL® brand expands into the surface disinfecting and sanitizing category with the launch of PURELL® Surface Spray Products into the business-to-business market. PURELL® Surface Spray contains no harsh chemicals, received the EPA’s Category IV rating, and with its 30-second kill time, has the fastest overall disinfection times for bacteria and viruses of any other product that holds the EPA’s Design for the Environment Certification.
- 2017 – GOJO named a 2017 EPA Safer Choice Partner of the Year for its PURELL® Surface and Disinfecting and Sanitizing Sprays, which were developed based on the principles of the Safer Choice program – a product that performs well and contains ingredients that meet strict safety criteria for both human and environmental health.
- 2017 – The introduction of the PURELL SOLUTION™, a complete set of products including breakthrough soap and surface spray formulations and game-changing dispenser innovation that sets a higher standard for performance and sustainability.
- 2018 – The launch of PURELL® Multi Surface Disinfectant into the consumer market. This revolutionary alcohol-based formula, which kills germs as effectively as bleach, but without any harsh chemicals, was named the 2018 Product of the Year in the Home Cleaning category by 40,000 consumers.
As we look ahead, we will continue to hit milestones that deliver on all three domains of sustainability – social, environmental and economic. We look forward to sharing with you the progress we make on this journey. In the meantime, I invite you to not only learn more about our story, which is highlighted at
www.GOJO.com/Sustainability, but to also share your story with us at
SWOW@GOJO.com.